Universities - Research Professional News https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/category/europe/europe-universities/ Research policy, research funding and research politics news Fri, 26 Jul 2024 11:12:25 +0000 en-GB hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.4.5 Swiss funding agency to increase doctoral salaries https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-universities-2024-7-swiss-funding-agency-to-increase-doctoral-salaries/ Fri, 26 Jul 2024 11:12:25 +0000 https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-universities-2024-7-swiss-funding-agency-to-increase-doctoral-salaries/ Minimum salaries will increase by 6 per cent in 2026 to ‘maintain attractiveness’ of PhDs

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Minimum salaries will increase by 6 per cent in 2026 to ‘maintain attractiveness’ of PhDs

Switzerland’s main research funder has decided to raise minimum PhD salaries by 6 per cent from 2026 onwards.

The Swiss National Science Foundation announced on 24 July that its board and representatives from the higher education sector have agreed to the first salary adjustment for doctoral students since 2014.

Thomas Werder, a member of the SNSF executive management team and head of research funding, said in the statement that “this salary increase is essential if we are to maintain the attractiveness of the doctorate and of Switzerland as a research centre”.

The SNSF allocated 52 million Swiss francs (€52 million) in its 2025-28 financial programme to be used in raising doctoral salaries. Minimum doctoral salaries will increase from 47,040 to 50,000 Swiss francs per year.

The raise will take effect from January 2026 to give institutions time to plan their budgets and “guarantee equal treatment for their doctoral students”, according to SNSF.

The foundation has already adjusted the upper limit of doctoral salaries, to 55,000 Swiss francs per annum, in both 2023 and 2024 to adjust for inflation.

The SNSF is the largest research funder in Switzerland and since 2021 has been providing a domestic alternative to the EU’s research programme, Horizon Europe, until accession negotiations recently re-started.

It supports more than 6,000 PhD students and recruits approximately 2,000 new doctoral candidates each year.

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European higher education ‘evolving not transforming’ https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-universities-2024-7-european-higher-education-evolving-not-transforming/ Thu, 25 Jul 2024 14:04:03 +0000 https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-universities-2024-7-european-higher-education-evolving-not-transforming/ EUA report finds university policies shift steadily even while facing global health and geopolitical crises

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EUA report finds university policies shift steadily even while facing global health and geopolitical crises

Global crises are driving steady change in universities, according to a European University Association report based on a major international survey, which highlights flexible learning and the purpose of internationalisation as key areas where institutions and policymakers should focus.

The EUA released Trends 2024, the latest in its long-running series, on 25 July, based on a survey of 480 higher education institutions in 46 European higher education systems, analysed in depth for trends across Europe since the last report was published in 2018.

The survey shows that institutions are “evolving rather than radically transforming, with relatively common horizons and resulting in the adoption of concrete policies and measures”.

Key areas

The report sets out three key areas for policymakers and universities to focus on: the need to avoid “mission overload”; to have “urgent and proper reflection on the education offer” and consider “what flexible learning would mean and entail for each institution”, plus “the role of HEIs in lifelong learning”; and to consider the “state and purpose(s) of internationalisation in the higher education sector”.

The report comes at the end of a working cycle of the 25-year-old Bologna Process, the initiative to harmonise degree recognition and quality assurance across the European Higher Education Area.

Amanda Crowfoot, secretary-general of the EUA, writes in the introduction to the report that “while many key commitments of the Bologna Process, such as quality assurance, degree cycles and recognition, remain on the agenda and still require attention, this is also a moment to set priorities for the future”.

Issues that have profoundly affected universities, she adds, include the pandemic, which “challenged existing practices yet at the same time provided invaluable opportunities to mainstream the use of digital tools”, alongside geopolitical challenges such as the war in Ukraine, accompanied by subsequent energy and economic crises in Europe, which “brought to the forefront questions related not only to economic and technological sovereignty but also to integrity, solidarity and inclusiveness”.

However, the report finds that higher education institutions and the EHEA are merely “evolving rather than radically transforming”. It suggests that moving forward, policymakers and institutions should focus more on the central mission of universities to avoid demanding too much with too few resources; re-evaluate their education in accordance with a changing student body and learning environment; and be more strategic around internationalisation.

Degrees

The report highlights that the pandemic resulted in policy changes around teaching practices at most universities in the EU. However, 79 per cent of students still exclusively receive campus-based teaching, although there is now greater diversity in what that looks like, and it often includes more video elements.

There has also been an increase in non-degree education, and microcredentials are seen as a positive addition by 75 per cent of institutions.

However, the report finds that most institutions also identify a lack of framework for establishing microcredentials as a problem.

The EHEA is facilitating better credit mobility between institutions but still faces structural challenges, the findings suggest. The report says “the Bologna Process benchmark of 20 per cent of graduates having a mobility experience is still in the far distance” due to issues such as “lack of funding, the lack of sufficient fellowships in both number and cost coverage, but also the rising costs and the shortages of affordable accommodation”.

The EUA calls for a better implementation of the Bologna Process and stricter adherence to the rules of Erasmus+, the EU’s student exchange programme.

Mobility

The report also finds that while there is a growing demand for staff mobility to be prioritised, there is no systematic approach to the issue.

However, collaboration leading to joint degrees is of high priority for policymakers and for institutions, which “are quite positive regarding joint programmes and degrees, despite the complexity of the matter and the effort it entails for institutions”.

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Joint Research Centre promotes sharing of life sciences methods https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-universities-2024-7-joint-research-centre-promotes-sharing-of-life-sciences-methods/ Fri, 19 Jul 2024 11:36:28 +0000 https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-universities-2024-7-joint-research-centre-promotes-sharing-of-life-sciences-methods/ Initiative aims to improve “quality and efficiency” of research

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Initiative aims to improve “quality and efficiency” of research

The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre evidence service has launched an initiative to promote the sharing of methodologies by researchers in life sciences.

Pro-Map, short for Promoting Reusable and Open Methods and Protocols, is intended to address the JRC’s concern that “academic research papers from life sciences fields, such as biomedicine and biology, are often missing essential details about study methods”.

“This can undermine trust, limit the use of new methods, and hinder reproducibility and data reuse,” the JRC explains in a report on Pro-Map that it published on 18 July.

To address the issue, the report sets out recommendations for researchers, their institutions, funders and publishers to ultimately improve the “quality and efficiency” of research, to the benefit of society.

Researchers have a critical part to play, the report says, as they are the people who create and use methodologies. The JRC says they should document and share methods within their group, describing them in enough detail for them to be reproduced by others. 

They should also include statements in their research papers saying whether and where their methodologies are available, it adds.

Research institutions are encouraged to create an environment that rewards the sharing of methodologies, such as by offering prizes and training, while funders should allow the use of funds for methodology-sharing, and ask researchers to publish their methodologies as part of their data-sharing requirements. 

Publishers are urged to ensure that methodologies are described in sufficient detail, including by eliminating word limits on these sections in papers. They should be clear that reusing a previously published phrasing for methodology sections of papers does not constitute plagiarism, if the appropriate citation is used.

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What you need to know about the ERC’s lump-sum pilot https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-careers-2024-7-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-erc-s-lump-sum-pilot/ Thu, 18 Jul 2024 07:00:00 +0000 https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-careers-2024-7-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-erc-s-lump-sum-pilot/ European Research Council seeks to allay fears as Advanced Grants deadline nears

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European Research Council seeks to allay fears as Advanced Grants deadline nears

The EU’s rollout of a lump-sum funding model across more of its Horizon Europe research and innovation programme reached an important milestone with the opening of the European Research Council’s 2024 Advanced Grants competition.

This year’s competition—the deadline for which is 29 August—will use the lump-sum model instead of the ERC’s traditional actual-costs model. This has understandably provoked some trepidation among applicants and their institutions, which the ERC sought to allay during a recent webinar presented by Josefina Enfedaque, chair of the European Research Council Executive Agency (Ercea) taskforce on lump sums. Here are the main points that, considering the ongoing rollout of the new model, potential applicants to other Horizon Europe instruments may also be minded to consider.

1. Most elements of Advanced Grant applications are unchanged

The ERC has done much to publicise its adoption of the lump-sum model to help prepare applicants for its implementation. However, this has arguably had the effect of leading some researchers and support staff to expect wide-reaching ramifications on how proposals should be prepared and submitted, and how they will be assessed. The webinar was peppered with reassurances that such fears were unfounded.

For example, Angela Wittelsberger, head of sector in the life sciences unit at the Ercea Scientific Department, said that, while the new system does indeed bundle up all the financial aspects of an Advanced Grant proposal into one lump sum—very much like one work package—this does not mean that proposals should now be structured that way.

Wittelsberger said: “Applicants should not change the way they think about or develop their proposals, and they should not change the way they think about structuring their project. They can structure it how they see fit, with or without scientific work packages.”

Similarly, when the question of assessment and evaluation was addressed, she stressed: “The focus of the evaluation remains on the scientific merits of the proposal; it is scientific excellence only—there’s no change there.”

And although most ERC grants have only a single beneficiary, the principal investigator—which Mila Bas, head of the grant management department at Ercea, acknowledged—that is not always so. In such cases the ERC will award a lump sum per beneficiary.

Furthermore, while the use of the term lump sum may lead some applicants to expect the designation of an unalterable fixed amount once a proposal has been approved, Wittelsberger assured attendees that the ERC’s principles of “serendipity and flexibility” would not change for this competition.

She said: “We know that frontier research does not always go exactly as planned, and we will continue to be as flexible as we were in the past with deviations to the original work plan. The principle of portability—the right of the principal investigator to transfer their grant to a different host institution—also remains valid.”

2. For applicants, changes mostly concern the budget forms

With the lump-sum model, instead of grant-winners tracking their costs and claiming them back after carrying out their research, applicants submit extra detail on budget in their grant proposal and receive payment when they reach agreed milestones. In the case of Advanced Grants, this will happen in two instalments: at the beginning and at the end of the project.

The changes to application requirements, therefore, mostly hinge on providing that extra detail. In particular there are changes to how both personnel and equipment costs are submitted.

For personnel costs, the budget table now has an additional column to be filled in with the number of person-months—a measurement taking into account the number of people working on the project and the amount of time each person spends on it—per staff category. (There is a further additional column in which the average monthly cost is automatically calculated.)

For equipment, an extra table—the ‘equipment depreciation table’—has been added to the list of mandatory documents, which also requires some input from applicants, with some columns calculated automatically. Bas stressed that, for the 2024 round, even applicants with projects that do not include any equipment costs must complete this table.

3. Assessment panels will pay closer attention to the budget

The lump-sum model sets the overall amount that beneficiaries are entitled to receive during the evaluation of proposals (although this can be adjusted as the project advances—see below). Logically then, there is greater scrutiny of proposal budgets than under the actual-costs model.

This is particularly true regarding assessment of personnel costs, Wittelsberger said, as the panel will not only assess whether the number of personnel is appropriate for the project but also consider the related costs. Both panellists and applicants have access to historical ERC personnel cost data via a dashboard on the ERC website to guide them, Wittelsberger continued. The data provided is granular, with costs broken down by staff category and country.

The ERC provided this purely for benchmarking, she said: “The idea is not that you have to align with the historical data when you plan for your personnel costs [but that] you should plan and request what you think you will incur…If you find you are not aligned, that [should encourage] you to provide an explanation of why this is.”

Bas agreed, adding that while applicants do not have to follow the historical data, they should make sure they align with their institutions’ accounting practices and personnel costs grid.

One attendee mentioned that postdocs in their institution are typically paid 80 per cent more than the rates for their country in the Advanced Grants dashboard. They asked what kind of justification the ERC would expect beyond “those are our actual current salary rates”.

Bas replied: “In most cases, that’s a very good justification [if] you have that salary grid in your institution.” She reminded applicants in similar situations to put such a justification “very clearly in the proposal”.

Another attendee asked what the outcome would be if the panel concludes that the proposal fulfils the scientific excellence criterion but its budget is not well-dimensioned. Bas replied that even if the budget would receive closer attention with the lump-sum system, scientific excellence remains of paramount importance. Such a bid “will be in the same place in the ranking list” as it would have been in the actual-cost model, she said.

Wittelsberger added: “The first thing [the panel] would do is ask a question about it in the interview. And based on the explanations and justifications provided, they might, or might not, consider a cut in a particular cost, as they do now.”

Wittelsberger advised applicants not to worry that the assessment panels would be overbearing. “Our panels will not start to micromanage the budget or the personnel costs just because we have moved to a lump-sum model,” she said. “Mostly, the details of the budget will be looked at by experts once the rank list has been established, but our panels do this already. Under the lump-sum model, this step of the assessment has an increased importance because, remember, there’s no additional checks on costs anymore during the lifetime of the project.”

4. Post-award grant management should be easier

Ease of post-award management is one of the major drivers of the EU’s move towards the lump-sum model. No timesheets are required to be submitted, and there will be “no financial audits, no certificate of financial payments”, according to Bas, who then laid out how financing will proceed.

The ERC will pay 80 per cent of the budget as pre-financing, she said, a maximum of 30 days after the grant agreement is signed. As with the existing model, there will be a scientific mid-term report to assess project progress and whether any deviations from the project plan have taken place, requiring amendments to the budget, but the mid-term report “will not be associated with a payment”, Bas specified. 

Payment of the remaining 20 per cent, or the appropriate amount in the case of modifications, will be made following a final report and a scientific assessment. As Wittelsberger stressed at the start, payment is dependent entirely on the work having been completed, not on the outcome or results.

This is an extract from an article in Research Professional’s Funding Insight service. To subscribe contact sales@researchresearch.com

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Students seek bigger role in European Education Area https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-universities-2024-7-students-seek-bigger-role-in-european-education-area/ Mon, 15 Jul 2024 12:00:43 +0000 https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-universities-2024-7-students-seek-bigger-role-in-european-education-area/ European Students’ Union wants direct participation embedded in governance structures of EU education initiatives

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European Students’ Union wants direct participation embedded in governance structures of EU education initiatives

Students should be given the chance to directly participate in the governance of European Education Area initiatives, the European Students’ Union has said.

The EEA is an initiative in which EU member states work together to improve education quality and mobility, and is currently undergoing a mid-term review.

In a contribution to that review it published on 10 July, the ESU, which mainly represents university students, said that “essential pieces of the puzzle are still missing…such as…a framework for adequate student participation”.

Its reasoning was that, “as the main stakeholders in higher education, students are the ones who will benefit from it the most, or the ones who will be most affected by its shortcomings if not well thought through”.

The ESU is calling for student participation to be directly embedded in the governance structures of EEA schemes such as the European Universities Initiative, which supports cross-border institutional collaboration.

“Alliances cannot thrive without respect [for] fundamental values, and especially…ensuring proper student participation and student rights guaranteed at alliance level,” it said.

Other calls

The ESU also wants the EU to focus more on student mobility initiatives, including by increasing funding for its academic mobility programme, Erasmus+.

It wants full and swift implementation of the 25-year-old Bologna Process, through which governments are working to improve mobility through mutual recognition of qualifications, and a scaling up of the mobility-supporting European Student Card.

It also called for a European framework for diversity and inclusion to help universities act on elements including gender equality.

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Science Europe ‘renews focus’ on research integrity https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-universities-2024-7-science-europe-renews-focus-on-research-integrity/ Fri, 12 Jul 2024 12:15:14 +0000 https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-universities-2024-7-science-europe-renews-focus-on-research-integrity/ Group of major research funding and performing organisations offers recommendations for “cornerstone” of research

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Group of major research funding and performing organisations offers recommendations for “cornerstone” of research

Science Europe, the group of major research funding and performing organisations, has adopted a “renewed focus” on research integrity, describing it as a “cornerstone” of research.

The association, whose members include the French National Research Agency, the German Research Foundation and UK Research and Innovation, published a position paper on research integrity on 11 July.

The paper announced “a renewal of Science Europe’s focus on research integrity as part of its activities to contribute to the evolution of research cultures and support research quality”.

Rationale

Such a renewal is “right” at this time due to the “challenges and strains” research systems are facing at present, it said.

These include “limited funding, research precarity, narrow incentives and the influence of technologies such as generative artificial intelligence”, which it said could “result in elevated levels of misconduct and other breaches of integrity”.

According to Science Europe, improving research integrity would have a knock-on effect not only on research quality, but also on working environments, science dissemination, career progression and research assessment.

The associated pointed out that research funding and performing organisations “exert influence over all aspects of the research system and have a myriad of responsibilities when it comes to how research is conceived, conducted, disseminated, and managed”.

It made several recommendations for how such research organisations can help to bolster research integrity.

Recommendations

Science Europe encouraged the exchange of best practices on research integrity between organisations, as well as collaboration “to ensure that misconduct from one national system does not prevail or impact upon another system”.

It also suggested that research organisations should document their investigations into misconduct and publish these documents in an anonymised form, when possible. “The data published should include types of cases investigated, outcome of the procedures, and measures taken,” it said.

Organisations should also consider ways to reward actors who work to ensure integrity and improve cultures, the association suggested, adding that they should also encourage community engagement in discussions around integrity issues.

They should provide training and guidance, it said, including to proposal reviewers and programme managers. Completion of such training should be incentivised and recognised in career progression considerations, it added.

Science Europe also called for an “in-depth review of integrity guidelines” related to artificial intelligence, beyond the living guidelines for the responsible use of AI already set by the European Commission. 

It suggested that the European Research Area initiative provides the best means to discuss research integrity at European level.

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Francis Crick Institute announces new director and chief executive https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-charities-and-societies-2024-7-francis-crick-institute-announces-new-director-and-chief-executive/ Tue, 09 Jul 2024 10:00:27 +0000 https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-charities-and-societies-2024-7-francis-crick-institute-announces-new-director-and-chief-executive/ European Molecular Biology Laboratory leader gets top job at UK biomedical research centre

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European Molecular Biology Laboratory leader gets top job at UK biomedical research centre

The Francis Crick Institute in London has announced Edith Heard as its new director and chief executive, to succeed Paul Nurse, who will continue to maintain a laboratory at the institute.

Heard, an epigenetics researcher who has led the European Molecular Biology Laboratory since 2019, is expected to start in summer 2025.

“I am delighted to be able to take up this position at one of the world’s premier scientific institutions, although very sad to leave EMBL next year,” she said.

“The Francis Crick Institute has quickly established a global reputation for its work at the frontiers of science. I relish the challenge of building on that work.”

The Crick’s chairman, John Browne, said the appointment followed a “year-long search for an exceptional candidate to lead our exceptional institute” and that Heard would bring an “exemplary international research record, compelling vision and strong leadership experience”.

“She will enable the Crick to continue to grow, building on its reputation for research excellence and for being the home for world-class leaders in life sciences,” Browne added.

Nurse said: “After over a decade at the helm of our institute, I am proud of all who work here and the scientific excellence we have created together.”

He described Heard as “an excellent scientist and leader”, adding: “I am completely confident that the Crick will continue to flourish under her leadership.”

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Opportunity profile: Bringing the skin research community together https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-careers-2024-7-opportunity-profile-bringing-the-skin-research-community-together/ Thu, 04 Jul 2024 07:00:01 +0000 https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-careers-2024-7-opportunity-profile-bringing-the-skin-research-community-together/ The Leo Foundation launches a Research Networking Grant scheme

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The Leo Foundation launches a Research Networking Grant scheme

The Leo Foundation launches a Research Networking Grant scheme

Top tips

  • The international element is very important in this scheme.
  • These grants should not be used for meetings to support ongoing research projects or potential research bids.
  • Encourage participation across career stages at events.
  • Meetings can be open beyond the research community where appropriate.

The Leo Foundation is the world’s largest private funder dedicated to skin and skin disease research. It granted 217 million Danish Kroner in 2023 and aims to award half a billion Danish Kroner a year by 2030. 

The Foundation’s best-known grants are its Research Grants, profiled in Funding Insight in February 2023. These open to applications three times a year, with the next deadline on 12 September.

This year, the foundation added two schemes to its portfolio, the Visiting Researchers programme, which supports international visits from Danish research institutions and vice versa, and the Research Networking Grants, which supports international knowledge-sharing within dermatology. Both schemes will open for their second round on 15 August and close on 2 October.

The Research Networking Grant can be worth up to 500,000 Danish Kroner (€67,000) and is open worldwide. It encourages participation from researchers at any career stage, including students, and money can be allocated for travel costs. 

Anne-Marie Engel, the chief scientific officer at the Leo Foundation, discusses what the foundation hopes for from its new schemes, focusing on the networking grant.

Why did the foundation launch its new calls in 2024? 

We are in the process of implementing our 2025 grant strategy, which directs our philanthropic activities into two main tracks: one supporting world-class skin research in different programmes, such as the long-standing Research Grants in Open Competition, and the Leo Foundation Dr Abildgaard Fellowships programme and Serendipity Grants, which were introduced last year. These programmes all support research projects.

The other track is to catalyse a strong and coherent global skin and skin disease research ecosystem.

Research Grants are of course an important instrument, but another important way of supporting the ecosystem is making sure people eager to meet and exchange ideas and challenge each other can do so. This is why we have introduced the networking grants.

We know from experience that new ideas come up when researchers meet in different settings, or when they visit people from another research tribe, so to speak. When researchers challenge each other in physical meetings, new and maybe important collaborations can emerge. 

What are the eligibility criteria for the networking grant? 

There are specific criteria for this instrument, and one is that it should be open to an international public. You cannot say that at this hospital we are having an internal educational session of some kind, and then apply for money. That will not work.

The call is also not open to researchers who would for instance like to get together to write an application for a large grant, for example to the Horizon Europe programme, together. 

The idea is for people who have a common interest in setting up a meeting or a network event of some kind to develop what they are already doing.

Should these groups also be open to the general public? 

Whether you invite people from the public will depend on those who make the agenda and what kind of meeting they would like to have. If it is relevant for a meeting to invite patients or representative organisations to discuss relevant topics, designing trials for example, that will be fine. We would not exclude anything like that.  

The meeting must have a starting point in a shared scientific question or topic, but who they invite to give input or inspiration is up to applicants.

What errors were made on bids to the first round? 

We had some applicants who saw the scheme as an opportunity to obtain funding for project meetings, for people to travel and meet to discuss a project funded elsewhere—and that was too narrow a mission. 

We also had a couple of applicants who saw this as a research project grant involving travel and meetings. They scoped a research project for us which we have other instruments for. The Research Networking Grants are specifically for meetings, for conferences, for symposia. It is important that applicants distinguish between our different programmes and their purposes. 

Does that point to a more general error that you might see on bids to other schemes?

Yes, a general pitfall is that people read the guidelines, but they read the guidelines through a lens to see what they would really like funding for. Quite a few applicants give us a call, or send us an email saying, “You’ve got this scheme, I’ve got this project, does it fit? What would it take to make it fit?”. We have a lot of good dialogue through which we can also learn about how people read the guidelines that we put out. This helps us to improve and adjust them.

Is this a pilot scheme or can it be considered as a permanent one now? 

When we introduce a new instrument, we introduce two deadlines that year. We like to run a few rounds just to gather experience. Even though we have done our best to design the instrument so it answers all the questions we can think of, we will not know them all. 

After a few rounds, we can stop and say “Okay, are there questions popping up or are people disregarding what we think is very clear guidance? Should we adjust anything? Do we get too many of some and too few of others? Should we try to invite some more people in with specific kinds of applications?”. But it is still too early to say about that for this year’s new instruments.

Were there many bids to the first round?

We didn’t get that many applications, but we did not announce it long ago. In our experience, it takes time to build up awareness in the scientific community, even though there is always a lack of money for good projects or good meetings. It takes maybe a year or so, depending on how frequent your application deadlines are, for the community to be aware that there is this option. 

There will be a build-up of interest, that is for sure. We know the need is there, it just takes a bit of patience from our side as well.

This is an extract from an article in Research Professional’s Funding Insight service. To subscribe contact sales@researchresearch.com

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Year of elections ‘key for university-government talks’ https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-universities-2024-7-election-year-key-for-universities-and-governments-to-talk/ Wed, 03 Jul 2024 10:32:44 +0000 https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-uk-universities-2024-7-election-year-key-for-universities-and-governments-to-talk/ UK and global research-intensive universities call for collaboration amid rising geopolitical tensions and new technologies

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UK and global research-intensive universities call for collaboration amid rising geopolitical tensions and new technologies

The head of the Russell Group of research-intensive universities has said that now is the “right time” to be calling for greater collaboration between universities and governments, as the organisation issued a joint call for action with similar groups abroad.

Tim Bradshaw told Research Professional News that it is “an election-heavy year, when more voters around the world than ever before will be heading to the polls”, including those in the UK, which head to the polls tomorrow.

He said the elections are happening in an environment of “rising global tensions, debates over freedom of speech, and polarising politics, [which] are all causing concern in many countries” and as “developing technologies such as AI and automation are set to reshape our societies in ways we don’t yet fully grasp”.

“It’s therefore more important than ever that the existing global connections, research capabilities and innovative approach of research-intensive universities […] are harnessed to develop solutions and prepare the next generation for future challenges,” Bradshaw said.

The comments came after his group called on governments to collaborate with the international university sector to realise the full potential of its unique research, innovation and partnership opportunities.

Importance of collaboration

The call was issued on 1 July in a joint statement at a meeting of the Global Research-Intensive Universities Network in Berlin, where university leaders were discussing the importance of collaboration in addressing shared global challenges.

The call was signed by other research-intensive university representatives present at the meeting, including the Association of American Universities, the League of European Research Universities, and the U15 Group of Canadian Research Universities.

“These are global challenges emerging around the globe that require global efforts and global leadership to address, even if their immediate impacts may be more regional or local,” the statement says. “Our research-intensive universities play a key role in this endeavour, bringing our expertise and resources together with the goal of creating the capacity for effective global cooperation.”

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University alliances ‘should be iteratively experimental’ https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-universities-2024-7-university-alliances-should-be-iteratively-experimental/ Wed, 03 Jul 2024 10:00:00 +0000 https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-universities-2024-7-university-alliances-should-be-iteratively-experimental/ Cesaer says transnational alliances can act as learning laboratories but need programmatic funding from EU

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Cesaer says transnational alliances can act as learning laboratories but need programmatic funding from EU

The cross-border alliances of higher education institutions being funded by the EU should be allowed to “undertake an iterative experimental cycle” in which they explore ideas and drop ones that do not work out, a university association has recommended.

Following an announcement of the latest funding allocation earlier this week, the EU is now funding 64 international alliances involving more than 560 higher education institutions under its European Universities Initiative scheme. The EUI is intended to help institutions collaborate on projects such as joint campuses, courses and posts, benefiting from combining their strengths.

On 2 July, the Cesaer group of European science and technology universities said in a position paper that the EUI scheme has a  “unique potential to pioneer new methods of long-term structural and systemic cooperation”, in part due to their high political support. But the scheme is now at “a critical juncture”, including because the EU is about to start a new political cycle that will decide its next seven-year budget framework.

Experimentation

Cesaer therefore set out recommendations for the future of the scheme. These included that “the focus should be on areas where there is the most value-add and continuing experimentation to explore ways to scale-up such success stories”.

“Alliances should not be confined to a ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach…instead, alliances should be encouraged to adopt their unique high-risk, high-gain experimental approaches, transforming [them] into laboratories for knowledge development, learning across barriers and establishing good practice,” Cesaer said.

When experiments test ideas that turn out not to work well, the results should be shared as “lessons learned”. Monitoring of the alliances should support an assessment of what works and the sharing of these results.

Funding

Such an approach will require the EUI scheme to shift from project-based to programme-based funding, according to Cesaer. The EU has allocated €1.1 billion to the initiative over 2021-27, with each of the 14 newly announced alliances getting €14.4 million over four years from the EU’s academic exchange programme, Erasmus+.

There is a need to “create a funding pathway for the sustainable development of alliances”, Cesaer said, which it suggested could be through the next iteration of Erasmus+.

Alliances should also be allowed to win competitive funding from the EU’s research and innovation programme, it said, but initially “there is an immediate need for separate, dedicated financial support…during a transition period [that] should aim to boost the alliances’ capacity to conduct joint R&I activities”.

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Europe funding at a glance: 14-27 June https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-careers-2024-7-europe-funding-at-a-glance-14-27-june/ Wed, 03 Jul 2024 07:00:00 +0000 https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-careers-2024-7-europe-funding-at-a-glance-14-27-june/ This week: EU investment strategy, medical treatments, Swiss national centres and Cost Actions

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This week: EU investment strategy, medical treatments, Swiss national centres and Cost Actions

Europe funding in depth

The EU’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme is in line for a year-on-year budget cut of €160 million under a European Commission proposal.

Full story: Horizon Europe faces budget cut next year



Here is the rest of the funding news this fortnight…

European Investment Bank strategy approved

A new strategy has been approved for the European Investment Bank, prioritising support for fighting climate change and for digitalisation, innovation, security, cohesion, agriculture and the bioeconomy. It includes the launch of an investment programme called Strategic Tech-EU, which is focused on technologies including artificial intelligence, microchips, life sciences and quantum computing. “This initiative will cover the entire value chain, including critical raw materials, thus reinforcing Europe’s strategic autonomy and fostering homegrown innovation,” the EIB said. The bank will also expand its European Tech Champions Initiative for supporting startup growth.

€96.5m Innovative Health Initiative call

The Innovative Health Initiative, the EU’s public-private research and innovation partnership for supporting the development of medical treatments, has launched its eighth call for proposals, worth €96.5 million. Of this, €47.6m is coming from Horizon Europe, the EU’s R&I programme, €40.9m from IHI industry members and €8.1m from partners. There are four call topics: treating cardiovascular disease in cities, using data to treat osteoarthritis, using regulatory carve-outs to support innovation, and helping clinical trials address patients’ needs. The deadline for initial short proposals is 10 October.

Switzerland to evaluate proposals for national centres

The Swiss National Science Foundation is to evaluate 75 outline proposals for creating National Centres of Competence in Research. The proposals were submitted in response to a call launched in November, which closed in April. The SNSF announced that the proposals span topics from artificial intelligence to strengthening democracy. “Almost all the cantonal universities plus the two federal institutes of technology, seven universities of applied sciences and three research institutes are participating in the call as home institutions (ie those that provide an NCCR with long-term financial and structural support),” the funder said. The results of the evaluations are expected at the end of September.

Spain boosts funding for research careers

The Spanish government has announced that it will use €93.3 million from Spain’s share of the EU’s €800 billion Covid-19 recovery fund to support the careers of 439 researchers. This is 7 per cent more researchers than were supported under the previous call of the national research consolidation scheme and 23 per cent more funding, according to the science ministry. The funding will create permanent positions in public and private research institutions, with universities getting just over half. Science and universities minister Diana Morant said: “Our way out of the [Covid] crisis has been to bet like never before on science and on our talent.”

Cost Actions open to applications

The European Cooperation in Science and Technology, an organisation that funds thematic researcher networks called Cost Actions, has published details of 60 newly approved networks that are now open for researchers to join. “Cost Actions are different to many other EU-funded projects because it is possible to join and participate in one of our research networks once it has started, even if you were not involved at the proposal phase,” the funder explained. It said the new networks cover topics ranging from detecting cancer to optimising insect nutrition.

Cost and NSF team up

The European Cooperation in Science and Technology has also signed a memorandum of understanding with the US National Science Foundation for what Cost described as “facilitating international networking and research coordination opportunities” for researchers supported by the two funders. Cost said that the agreement “creates opportunities by connecting researchers with complementary strengths and shared interests, enabling them to coordinate research on a scale larger than individual research networks or labs”. It said that such partnering is essential because no single country has all the expertise needed. The agreement is specifically with the NSF’s AccelNet programme, which supports links with non-US organisations.

This is an extract from an article in Research Professional’s Funding Insight service. To subscribe contact sales@researchresearch.com

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Cross-border recognition of qualifications still a problem https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-universities-2024-7-cross-border-recognition-of-qualifications-still-a-problem/ Tue, 02 Jul 2024 12:00:06 +0000 https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-universities-2024-7-cross-border-recognition-of-qualifications-still-a-problem/ Labour mobility between EU countries can be a “long and bureaucratic” process, auditors say

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Labour mobility between EU countries can be a “long and bureaucratic” process, auditors say

EU citizens are still struggling to get their professional qualifications recognised when they want to work in another member state, according to the European Court of Auditors.

There are “many obstacles” to professionals moving between countries for work or to set up a business, the auditors reported on 1 July.

Although the EU adopted a directive in 2005 to tackle these issues, there are “shortcomings” in the way the directive is applied by national authorities and the European Commission, the auditors said.

Stef Blok, the court member responsible for the audit, said: “A nurse or mechanic who wants to work in another member state can be discouraged by the process of having their professional qualifications recognised: it can be a long and excessively bureaucratic process.”

‘Huge procedural disparities’

Each member state regulates on average 212 professions, according to the court. And Blok said there are “huge procedural disparities between member states when they apply EU rules”, with some not acting as quickly as they are required to.

“Excessive documentation is requested [and] there is rarely any justification of the way fees are calculated, or the reasons why these fees differ considerably between member states or authorities,” the court said.

Responding to the report, the Commission called on the member states to only regulate professions “where justified” and to the minimum degree necessary. It said that, ideally, citizens should not be charged for applying to have their qualifications recognised.

It accepted all of the court’s recommendations, including that it should monitor the effectiveness of the overall system.

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EU funding 14 more European Universities Initiative alliances https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-universities-2024-7-eu-funding-14-more-european-universities-initiative-alliances/ Mon, 01 Jul 2024 11:55:59 +0000 https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-universities-2024-7-eu-funding-14-more-european-universities-initiative-alliances/ More than 560 institutions are now taking part in initiative supporting cross-border cooperation

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More than 560 institutions are now taking part in initiative supporting cross-border cooperation

The EU has announced funding for 14 more cross-border alliances as part of its European Universities Initiative, bringing the total to 64 alliances, involving more than 560 institutions.

The EUI scheme uses EU funding, in some cases topped up with national funding, to help higher education institutions in different countries collaborate on projects including joint campuses and courses.

On 28 June the European Commission announced that, with the 14 additional alliances, the EU has now met its goal of creating at least 60, with more than 500 universities involved, by mid-2024.

“The EUI alliances bring together a new generation of Europeans and allow them to study and work in different European countries, in different languages and across sectors and academic disciplines,” it said.

“Students can obtain a high-level degree by combining studies in several European countries, contributing to the international attractiveness and competitiveness of Europe’s higher education.”

Fourteen new alliances

Each of the new alliances will receive €14.4 million over four years from the EU’s academic exchange programme, Erasmus+. The Commission said that the programme will devote €1.1 billion to the EUI scheme over 2021-27.

It said the new alliances will start their activities in the autumn, which is when a new community of practice for the alliances, also called European Universities, will kick off. The community is intended to help the alliances share best practice with each other and more broadly.

One of the new alliances, called OpenEU, is coordinated by University Oberta de Catalunya in Spain; it involves 14 universities and several civil society organisations. It said in a press release that it “brings together Europe’s leading open and distance universities alongside five on-campus universities that are committed to pushing forward with their digital transformation”.

Àngels Fitó, the rector of University Oberta de Catalunya and president of OpenEU, said that the creation of the alliance “represents a unique opportunity to extend the scope and impact of Europe’s open and distance universities”.

She said that the alliance will “boost innovation in technology-mediated” education and “provide the backbone for lifelong learning in Europe”.  

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Universities want ‘substantial leap forward’ in cooperation support https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-universities-2024-6-universities-want-substantial-leap-forward-in-cooperation-support/ Thu, 20 Jun 2024 08:00:00 +0000 https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-universities-2024-6-universities-want-substantial-leap-forward-in-cooperation-support/ EUA seeks longer-term funding for transnational cooperation and flexibility for universities to direct its use

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EUA seeks longer-term funding for transnational cooperation and flexibility for universities to direct its use

A “substantial leap forward in supporting transnational university cooperation” is needed from European and national policymakers, according to the European University Association.

The EUA published a position paper on 20 June setting out what it thinks is needed to better support not only the cross-border alliances formed under the EU’s European Universities Initiative (EUI), but also international institutional cooperation more broadly.

“The goal…until 2030 must be to create a strategic, transparent and smooth system of transnational university cooperation that benefits the entire university sector,” the paper says.

Such cooperation is crucial to promote high-quality research and education, it says, in turn enabling universities to help increase Europe’s sustainability and competitiveness.

Policy recommendations

Although the EUI has been an “important catalyst” for transnational cooperation among universities, “challenges remain”, the paper says, including regulatory barriers and a lack of funding.

It suggests a range of improvement measures, including longer-term funding for collaboration and giving universities the financial autonomy to allocate resources as they see fit.

This financial support should go beyond its focus so far on education, to better encompass research, the paper says. “Joint calls, combining funds from different EU programmes and providing one entry point for applicants, would make the application process more efficient,” it adds.

The paper calls for a continuous assessment of cooperation needs and the full implementation of existing tools to overcome them. It stresses that such tools must not be limited to the EUI alliances.

Within the alliances, however, it calls for “dedicated support for leadership and governance capacity”.

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Safe haven https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-careers-2024-6-safe-haven/ Thu, 20 Jun 2024 07:00:00 +0000 https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-careers-2024-6-safe-haven/ The fellowship for harried academics—and political exiles

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The fellowship for harried academics—and political exiles

The Hanse-Wissenschafts-kolleg (HWK), one of Germany’s Institutes for Advanced Study, is run as a not-for-profit foundation of the states of Bremen and Lower Saxony and the city of Delmenhorst in north-west Germany. It has ties with universities in Bremen and Oldenburg, and other scientific institutions in the north-west, and focuses its activity on four research fields: brain and mind; earth; technology and science; and arts and literature.

The HWK’s fellowships give scholars of any nationality the opportunity to study at the HWK for between three and 10 months. Regular fellowships are for researchers with more than five years’ post-PhD experience and are supported by a personal stipend of up to €5,000 a month.

Junior fellowships are for those who have completed their PhD within the past five years, with stipends of up to €2,000 a month. Proposed projects must fit in with one of the HWK’s research fields.

All fellows are granted rent-free accommodation on the HWK campus, with some provision for families also available. Fellows can also apply for a one-off payment to cover personal travel costs, but funding of research expenditure is not provided.

Applications should be submitted between one and two years before the desired start date. The call for fellowships opens once a year: the 2024 round is open now, with a deadline of 15 July.

The fellowships are open to scholars in a variety of professional situations, including political exiles. This was Andrei Yakovlev’s case, and he was glad to find a welcoming environment to work in, as he relates here. His fellowship runs until October.

What is your project about? 

I am trying to understand how the degradation of Russian political and social institutions that led to the country’s declaration of war on Ukraine could have happened. I want to determine what actions internal and external actors could take to prevent similar developments in other countries. 

What was your personal situation when you applied?  

I left Russia, along with my position at my home university in Moscow, after the war in Ukraine started. [I became a] visiting scholar at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University and started to think about a book on this topic.

The idea to apply for this fellowship came from German colleagues and friends who I’ve known for many years. I considered other opportunities, but this fellowship was best suited to me because it provided not only financial support for the project but also an apartment to live in and a friendly environment. 

Are you collaborating with colleagues in Germany? 

Yes. While my project proposal for the HWK was about preparing a book based on my research, it’s not just about me but other colleagues as well. 

I have two partners on this project at the University of Bremen: Heiko Pleines from the Research Centre for East European Studies, and Michael Rochlitz from the Department of Economics. Both are colleagues and collaborators of long standing. I have also extended my local contacts to colleagues at Constructor University [a private university in Bremen]. 

What feedback did you get on your application and how did it alter the bid?

I actually got most of the feedback from my project partners, as the HWK did not provide formal feedback during the application process. In particular, there was a comment about the structure and composition of my proposal.

Initially I tried to provide more specific details about Russian [examples and events] but I was told there was not enough general information about the economic and political development in Russia for non-specialist readers. They recommended I formulate some specific points shortly and clearly while adding links to theories in a broader spectrum of literature. This was very useful. 

What advice would you give to potential applicants? 

It’s important to have counter-parts in local universities or local research institutions who are interested in your research and in collaborating with you. In this case, you can expect more detailed feedback on your project. At the application stage, you will only get responses on technical questions about timing and formal conditions. It’s your partners who can really help you improve your proposal. 

I would also advise contacting previous HWK fellows in your field. The HWK supports a very broad spectrum of research; there are only a few people in the social sciences but there are still scholars you can find online who you may be able to contact.

How has the fellowship been so far? 

The HWK is a very good place to do research. It is a very friendly environment, and is excellent in terms of administrative support to manage all necessary formalities, such as getting a bank account in the country.  

When I was in the US, it took me four to six weeks to rent an apartment, find the furniture for it and obtain a Social Security number. All that took me about three days here. Here, you have more time for your project. 

This is an extract from an article in Research Professional’s Funding Insight service. To subscribe contact sales@researchresearch.com

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Project aims to promote European higher education globally https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-universities-2024-6-project-aims-to-promote-european-higher-education-globally/ Mon, 17 Jun 2024 11:25:32 +0000 https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-universities-2024-6-project-aims-to-promote-european-higher-education-globally/ Czech government sees “unique opportunity” in contributing to EU-backed initiative

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Czech government sees “unique opportunity” in contributing to EU-backed initiative

An EU project aimed at promoting European higher education globally and boosting cooperation between European universities is set to continue after a consortium won a tender to keep it going.

The Czech National Agency for International Education and Research (DZS), a government body, announced on 14 June that a consortium had won the tender from the European Commission for the Study in Europe project.

The DZS joined the consortium—which also features the French national agency Campus France, the German Academic Exchange Service and Nuffic, a Dutch organisation for internationalisation in education—in September.

The project provides information around the world on the higher education opportunities available in 33 European countries, while helping European higher education institutions to contact potential students and partners.

The DZS said that, as part of the new tender, it would participate in creating a strategy for the unified promotion of Europe as a study destination and would help to organise fairs for foreign students.

Soňa Lippmann, head of the communication and analytical section of the DZS, said: “This cooperation represents a unique opportunity for the Czech Republic to shape and influence the future of European education.”

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EU science and technology workforce growing steadily https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-universities-2024-6-eu-science-and-technology-workforce-growing-steadily/ Fri, 14 Jun 2024 10:54:16 +0000 https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-universities-2024-6-eu-science-and-technology-workforce-growing-steadily/ Sector employment is rising—and women are well represented, according to Eurostat

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Sector employment is rising—and women are well represented, according to Eurostat

The EU’s science and technology workforce increased by almost 3 per cent in 2023 from the previous year and has grown consistently over the past decade, according to official statistics.

Numbers published on 13 June by the EU’s statistical service, Eurostat, show that in 2023 a total of 78.3 million people in the EU were employed in science and technology, and 52 per cent of those were women.

The EU science and technology workforce has grown by 25 per cent since 2013, Eurostat said.

People employed in science and technology are defined by Eurostat as those aged 15-75 “whose main tasks require either a high level of professional knowledge or technical knowledge and experience in one or more fields of physical and life sciences, or social sciences and humanities”.

The share of women in science differs for different specific locations and professions.

Malta was reported to be the country with the least women employed in science and technology, at 45 per cent, while Latvia and Lithuania both had the highest rates of women in the sectors, at 63 per cent.

Women were underrepresented within the scientist and engineering professions, however, making up only 41 per cent of this population, despite the absolute number of women scientists and engineers having grown by 50 per cent from 5.1m in 2012 to 7.7m in 2023.

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‘EU must keep up coordinated action on research careers’ https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-universities-2024-6-eu-must-keep-up-coordinated-action-on-research-careers/ Wed, 12 Jun 2024 13:30:05 +0000 https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-universities-2024-6-eu-must-keep-up-coordinated-action-on-research-careers/ University group says attractive working conditions for researchers are needed to help tackle pressing challenges

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University group says attractive working conditions for researchers are needed to help tackle pressing challenges

The EU needs to continue taking coordinated action to improve research careers, a university group has stressed.

In an article it published on 12 June, the Young European Research Universities Network reflects on the current situation for research careers and researcher assessment in the EU and how both could be further improved.

Co-authored with the Abis Academy of Business in Society, a network of companies and academic organisations, the article is a summary of work they and other organisations are carrying out as part of an EU-funded project called Sustainable Careers for Researcher Empowerment, or Secure.

Response to challenges

Global competition, geopolitics and technological advances are posing significant challenges for Europe, the article says, requiring a response that must have researchers “at the heart”.

Researchers “are crucial to maintaining the continent’s competitive edge and transforming research potential into solutions that improve the lives of citizens and support industries and businesses in Europe and beyond”, it says.

But although the EU has made “concerted efforts to improve research careers and reduce [their] precarity” in recent years, the article concludes that “the need for coordinated action at the EU level remains”.

There is a need for a “serious reconsideration of the choices made with respect to [researcher] recruitment, performance expectations and assessment, the industrialised publication culture, wellbeing management and more”, it says.

Specific demands

The article calls for EU coordination on attracting researchers to Europe and promoting balanced researcher mobility within it. The research ecosystem also needs to be made more “inclusive, flexible, transparent and supportive”, it says.

In addition, it says there should be incentives for researchers to adopt open-science practices, for collaboration and for generating socioeconomic benefits from research results through valorisation.

The authors say there is a need for “continuous efforts” to ensure there is sufficient investment to improve working conditions and support diverse career paths.

They praise several EU policies, initiatives and tools already developed, including an update to a charter on good working conditions, a competence framework for facilitating researcher assessment and the Euraxess portal, which “serves as a one-stop shop…providing essential information and access to job opportunities across Europe”.

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EU opens portal to information on research careers https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-infrastructure-2024-6-eu-opens-portal-to-information-on-research-careers/ Tue, 11 Jun 2024 11:10:48 +0000 https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-infrastructure-2024-6-eu-opens-portal-to-information-on-research-careers/ Commissioner says move could help attract researchers to Europe and facilitate their mobility

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Commissioner says move could help attract researchers to Europe and facilitate their mobility

The European Commission has launched a centralised online platform for researchers to access information to help them with their career development.

The ERA Talent Platform—which is named in reference to the European Research Area, an initiative to harmonise research-related policies across European countries—provides information and services on issues including mobility and visas, human resources, pensions and career opportunities.

Research and innovation commissioner Iliana Ivanova described it as “a one-stop shop for vital information and services for the research community”.

She said its launch on 10 June was a step towards facilitating talent mobility in the European Research Area and part of efforts to “attract and retain talent in Europe for research and innovation to thrive and underpin our prosperity and competitiveness”.

The platform also provides access to the Euraxess support services centre, which has itself been revamped in an effort to make it easier to navigate and to increase its interoperability with other EU data systems. 

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Prominent MEP slams academic response to Gaza conflict https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-universities-2024-6-prominent-mep-slams-academic-response-to-gaza-conflict/ Fri, 07 Jun 2024 13:00:50 +0000 https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-universities-2024-6-prominent-mep-slams-academic-response-to-gaza-conflict/ Christian Ehler criticises university leaders he says are halting research collaborations with Israel

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Christian Ehler criticises university leaders he says are halting research collaborations with Israel

A prominent MEP has criticised European academia’s response to the Gaza conflict in a letter to EU research and education commissioner Iliana Ivanova.

On 4 June, Christian Ehler (pictured), a German MEP for the Christian Democratic Union, wrote to Ivanova expressing “deep concern regarding the European treatment of Israel and its researchers in recent weeks”.

“I am abhorred [sic] by these actions by the European academic sector and by the prospect of any debate on Israel’s place in Horizon Europe,” he said. Horizon Europe is the EU’s research and innovation funding programme, for which Israel has associate membership.

Israel has been carrying out attacks in Gaza since the Palestinian group Hamas attacked Israelis in October last year. The conflict has led to many civilian deaths, with the scale of those caused by the Israeli attacks contributing to widespread protests in Western countries, including on university campuses.

In response, some universities in Europe have been examining or pausing their collaborations with Israeli academia.

Call for action

In his letter, Ehler said: “The actions of the Israeli government to exercise Israel’s right to defend itself and guarantee the safety of its citizens have been met by protest and resistance across Europe. Protest and resistance steeped in anti-Semitism.

“European universities have been at the centre of these protests and increasingly European university leaders give in to the pressure of some radical student groups…This has led to increasing numbers of boycotts and stops of institutional collaboration with Israeli universities, including the cancellation of participation in Horizon Europe projects,” he said.

Ehler called on Ivanova and the European Commission to “do everything in your power to guarantee the place of Israel and Israeli researchers in the European community”. He demanded the addition of a priority action on antisemitism in European academia to the European Research Area, which is the EU’s initiative for raising research standards.

Freedom of expression

Mattias Björnmalm, secretary-general of the Cesaer group of European science and technology universities, told Research Professional News that the situation around the conflict in Gaza was “dire” and had “brought to the forefront the role of universities in political and social action”.

“It is crucial that Europe collaborates with partners in the Middle East and globally to support all efforts aimed at alleviating and halting civilian suffering as swiftly and effectively as possible,” he said.

“Members of the university community should have the right to express a diversity of viewpoints, with a commitment to dignity and respect. Upholding this right can be seen as one of the most fundamental obligations of a university.

“A key priority for leaders of universities is to ensure a safe, supportive and respectful environment at the university,” he added. “Even on topics of intense polarisation, views should be shared with civility and consideration. This not only benefits the university community, but also enables the university to be a positive force in broader society.”

A version of this article also appeared in Research Europe

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EHEA ‘needs institutional involvement’ https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-universities-2024-6-ehea-needs-institutional-involvement/ Thu, 06 Jun 2024 07:00:03 +0000 https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-universities-2024-6-ehea-needs-institutional-involvement/ University representative says European Higher Education Area should focus on implementation

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University representative says European Higher Education Area should focus on implementation

The European Higher Education Area needs more institutional involvement to achieve its aims, according to a sector leader. 

Michael Gaebel, director of higher education policy at the European University Association (EUA), was speaking after politicians and sector representatives met in Tirana, Albania (pictured), to discuss the 25-year-old EHEA and its Bologna Process. Through these, 49 countries are working towards better aligning their national degree systems, qualification recognition and quality assur-ance. Before the meeting, the European Commission published a report critiquing the unequal implementation of the key EHEA commitments and calling for it to define its values to bring about a more cohesive approach.

The ministerial meeting then adopted a communiqué defining the six central values of the EHEA: academic freedom, academic integrity, institutional autonomy, student and staff participation in higher education governance, public responsibility for higher education, and the public responsibility of higher education. 

Ministers also agreed rules of procedure and underscored the need to establish a central secretariat that will facilitate assessments of the EHEA’s implementation and future proposals. This secretariat is set to be established at the next ministerial meeting, which will be hosted by Moldova and Romania in 2027.

Strong agreement

Gaebel said that among participants “there is a strong agreement on the issues, but I think what is still to be explored is how we get there”.

Inclusion in higher education, for example, is generally handled in the Nordic countries by a universal welfare system that cares for all students, regardless of their social backgrounds, while in other countries there are means-tested approaches targeting students who are particularly challenged due to their situation, he pointed out.

The Bologna Process reflects the changes taking place in the sector and tries to find agreement on supportive universal policies for the EHEA countries to implement in different ways. Gaebel said “that is a good direction, but there are probably ways of improving it”.

For Gaebel, the largest challenge of the EHEA is that “more and more of what must be done depends on proactive responses at the institutions”, and yet on whether they are receptive to change, he said “the Bologna Process appears to be quite distant from the sector”. He thinks there is a need for better communication and collaboration between EHEA stakeholders, and for more institutional involvement, although he said there have already been positive shifts in this regard in recent years. 

The EUA has high hopes for the measures adopted to accompany the EHEA values and monitoring, he said, because “that is what helps the sector change get going—you have to build these cultures”. 

This article also appeared in Research Europe

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EU election: Getting the vote out https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-politics-2024-6-eu-election-getting-the-vote-out/ Thu, 06 Jun 2024 07:00:00 +0000 https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-politics-2024-6-eu-election-getting-the-vote-out/ The European elections could have big implications for higher education, says the European University Association

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The European elections could have big implications for higher education, says the European University Association

As this issue is published, polls open across the EU to elect the next European Parliament. EU citizens have until 9 June to vote for their MEPs—a process that will also usher in the next European Commission.

Universities typically get involved in encouraging their staff and students to vote, an endeavour especially pertinent for European elections, which often have low turnout. In the last election in 2019, just over 50 per cent of citizens voted—a figure considered relatively high in historical terms.

The European University Association, which represents over 800 higher education institutions with millions of staff and students between them, has reminded its members how the European Parliament impacts their sector and why voting is important. 

Anna-Lena Claeys-Kulik, deputy director of policy coordination and foresight at the EUA, tells Research Europe that universities should encourage participation in the election, especially among students, as voting turnout tends to be low in younger age groups. “We are not telling people [how] to vote but why it is important, not only for European cooperation among universities but eventually for our societies in Europe as a whole,” she says.

Money and more

Alongside the impact MEPs will have on key ongoing EU initiatives for the higher education sector, Claeys-Kulik says this election is particularly important because the EU is preparing for its next long-term budget. The next Multiannual Financial Framework, the EU’s seven-year budget that sets spending across policy areas, is due to start in 2028. 

“The next MFF and the future generation of programmes is the next big policy thing that universities are looking towards because they are funding programmes that directly concern our sector,” says Claeys-Kulik.

The parliament will play a key role in determining how much money there is to spend at the European level, and Claeys-Kulik warns there may be strings attached to how much the parliament and member states are willing to spend. Opinion polls are predicting there will be a shift to the right across many countries, with gains for many far-right parties sceptical of Brussels, which may not bode well for a bigger European R&I budget. 

It is also about more than budgets and money, Claeys-Kulik says, as “important values” for universities, such as institutional autonomy and academic freedom, are also at stake. She points out that universities are “more and more” impacted by other EU policies in areas including foreign policy, digital regulation or strategic autonomy, and that these areas could impact the way universities collaborate globally.

EUA president Josep Garrell said in a video recently posted on YouTube: “We need to make sure that EU policies continue to support universities, uphold our core values of university autonomy and academic freedom, and enable universities to serve open, pluralistic and democratic societies.”

Garrell highlighted that the EU provides a “unique framework” for universities to work together through the European Research Area, the European Education Area, and programmes such as the academic mobility scheme Erasmus+ and the R&I funding scheme Horizon Europe. “We need members of the European Parliament who will champion the cause of research, innovation and higher education,” Garrell said, urging university leaders to “spread the word”.

Beyond encouraging voting, Claeys-Kulik says universities have a role in the election in providing a space for discussion of ideas. “Nowadays, many discussions are politically loaded, and it is important to have spaces where different voices can be heard and people can discuss together in a meaningful way that fosters engagement,” she says.

In a few days, the democratic framework through which European-level policy is shaped—for universities, research and wider society—will be set for the next five years. 

This article also appeared in Research Europe

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Plan ahead https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-careers-2024-6-plan-ahead/ Thu, 06 Jun 2024 07:00:00 +0000 https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-careers-2024-6-plan-ahead/ Partnerships for EU bids need long-term commitment

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Partnerships for EU bids need long-term commitment

Collaboration and partnerships are very much the seeds from which the EU’s research and innovation framework programmes have grown. 

Under the current incarnation, Horizon Europe, funding for collaborative projects totals over €50 billion—more than half the entire funding pot from 2021 to 2027—and is channelled through the programme’s pillar two, which provides funding for R&I projects on pre-defined topics.

Most consortia are combinations of academic and non-academic partners, requiring university-based researchers to cast a wider net than they might be accustomed to doing.

Attendees at an event on Horizon Europe held at the University of Birmingham in the UK in March heard tips from successful grant winners on finding partners and working up bids.

Management issues

Alicia El Haj, interdisciplinary chair of cell engineering at the University of Birmingham, has won several European grants. She said that major collaborations could require a change in thinking for many academic applicants and that bringing specialist project managers on board to help tackle some of the challenges is something that should be considered.

“With partnerships come management issues: how do you manage groups of people? How do you get the most out of your communities?”

For one project, El Haj said: “We actually brought in a partner called Efficient Innovation, which was designed essentially to run the management on these programmes… Over the years in European funding, there’s a whole community of managers which has evolved and is there to help you.”

Constructing consortia

Tiffany Jedrecka is research development lead at Naturemetrics, a company spun out from the University of East Anglia in 2013 that uses DNA to monitor biodiversity. Naturemetrics is a partner on two EU-funded projects. Jedrecka urged academics to break out of their home environments, both online and in the real world, if they wanted to find and approach valuable commercial partners.

Jedrecka’s top advice for finding private sector partners: “If you’re an academic, get on LinkedIn. Very simple. That is how we meet each other.”

She said that while conferences are a good way to meet other researchers, they tend not to be attended by companies, “but we’re all on LinkedIn”.

Jedrecka said that Naturemetrics is often approached to be part of consortia—on average once every two weeks. While she thinks this is partly due to having strong academic links, most approaches have been from other companies in Europe, illustrating that university-based researchers could be more proactive.

Partnering with companies can also throw up opportunities to access a much wider network, often enabled via EU grants. Jedrecka said that Naturemetrics’ R&D team is currently working with 44 partners across 12 countries, many of which are well beyond Europe’s borders, including in Côte d’Ivoire, Cambodia and Peru. “It’s opened up huge amounts of data from different parts of the world,” she said.

Like El Haj, Jedrecka spoke about the value of experienced project managers, but added that this doesn’t necessarily mean partnering with a specialist. In fact, small companies often value the management resources offered by academic partners, she said. “Not only are academics really good, usually, at managing grants, but also they have access to things like grant offices at universities, which are incredibly valuable.”

Including members in a consortium with previous experience of EU funding can also be a huge bonus, Jedrecka added. Experience of actually executing an EU grant can be particularly valuable here, she stressed, because such people can provide advice on what should, and shouldn’t, go into a proposal with an eye on delivery. In her words: “You’ve got to think about, in the best-case scenario, if we win, how do we deliver?”

Company considerations

Like Jedrecka, private-sector applicants for EU funding may have come from a background in academic research, while some university-based researchers applying to Horizon may also be in the process of starting a spin-out company.

For such applicants, Jedrecka suggested a serious stock-take before embarking on what can be a drawn-out process. “Absolutely do it, but make sure that what you are trying to get out of this is suited towards Horizon Europe—this is long-term funding,” she said. “It is important to look forward and think about problems that are likely to crop up in three or four years, rather than more immediate ones.

“My other advice is to consider intellectual property from day one, particularly if you’re going to be part of a grant that has multiple companies in it. It will make your life so much harder down the road if you haven’t thought about who’s going to own what and made sure it’s clearly divided.” 

For those new to applying for EU collaborative grants, the process can seem daunting, but successful bids can forge partnerships that last well beyond the lifetime of a grant. 

This is an extract from an article in Research Professional’s Funding Insight service. To subscribe contact sales@researchresearch.com

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Commission sets out work still needed on EHEA https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-universities-2024-5-commission-sets-out-work-still-needed-on-ehea/ Wed, 29 May 2024 10:11:36 +0000 https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-universities-2024-5-commission-sets-out-work-still-needed-on-ehea/ European Higher Education Area needs more uniform qualification structure and better-defined values, report says

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European Higher Education Area needs more uniform qualification structure and better-defined values, report says

The European Commission has released a report outlining the further work needed on the European Higher Education Area.

Started 25 years ago, the EHEA is an initiative to make Europe’s national education systems more compatible through voluntary actions to harmonise policies and processes on qualification structures, quality and recognition.

In a foreword to the report published on 27 May, EU research and education commissioner Iliana Ivanova said there have been “many positive developments” since then but that more remains to be done.

Main results

The report says there are inconsistencies in the 49 participating countries’ degree structures, that student mobility goals have not been met and that the values of the EHEA still need to be properly defined.

One commitment of the EHEA is that participant countries should offer degrees at bachelor’s, master’s and PhD levels. While most EHEA countries now do so, the report says “there remain a handful of national systems” with educational offerings of a different structure.

Such anomalies do not result in “easily understandable and comparable [higher] education provision throughout the EHEA”.

The report also says that a goal of 20 per cent student mobility within the EHEA by 2020 was not met, but that this was partly due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Countries agree to six fundamental values when joining the EHEA: academic freedom, academic integrity, institutional autonomy, student and staff participation, and public responsibility for and of higher education. But the report says that academic freedom is the only one that has been officially defined so far—and even then, national definitions “may not cover all aspects agreed in the EHEA understanding, and this should be examined in the future”.

Ministerial meeting

Sharing the report on social media, Ivanova said that a ministerial meeting starting the following day would “take stock of progress and chart the way forward”.

She said the meeting would “focus on mobility, academic values, competitiveness and accessible and inclusive higher education”.

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European Higher Education Area ‘lacks implementation’ https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-politics-2024-5-european-higher-education-area-lacks-implementation/ Fri, 24 May 2024 08:15:00 +0000 https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-politics-2024-5-european-higher-education-area-lacks-implementation/ European University Association calls for more action from governments ahead of ministerial meeting

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European University Association calls for more action from governments ahead of ministerial meeting

A “lack of implementation” is holding back progress on Europe’s initiative to make its national education systems more compatible, the European University Association has complained.

The EUA published a statement on the European Higher Education Area on 22 May, ahead of a ministerial meeting to discuss the future policy direction of the initiative as part of the Bologna Process, a voluntary means for driving progress that started 25 years ago.

At the meeting in Albania on 29 and 30 May, ministers are due to discuss the next work programme for the EHEA, which currently involves 49 countries.

Credibility at stake

“The persisting lack of implementation across the entire EHEA diminishes the benefits of the Bologna Process for institutions, students and staff,” which could undermine “the reputation and credibility of existing European policy initiatives and instruments”, the EUA warned.

It said that while participants in the Bologna Process have agreed on the main aims around making their qualification recognition and quality assurance processes more compatible, actions to achieve these aims are “still not fully implemented” or even “sufficiently acknowledged” in some countries.

Most of the tools for the EHEA are “fit for purpose”, but changes are needed to elements including the Standards and Guidelines for Quality Assurance, the EUA said.

Suggested improvements

The EUA also called for better synergies across Europe’s various reform initiatives affecting higher education.

For example, better transnational cooperation is needed not only in the EHEA but also in the similar European Education Area and European Research Area, it said, adding that reforming academic careers affects both research and education.

It also reiterated its call for a ‘university check’ in EU policymaking in general, to ensure that universities are taken into account.

This year, the EHEA began revising its rules of operation and announced the establishment of a secretariat by 2027 to support its work. While the EUA welcomed these steps, it said the goal should not be to “reach the finishing line for a certain number of reforms, but to maintain and enhance a European platform for policy reform, information exchange and collaboration”.

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‘More cash needed’ for EU mobility targets https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-universities-2024-5-more-cash-needed-for-eu-mobility-targets/ Thu, 23 May 2024 07:00:03 +0000 https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-universities-2024-5-more-cash-needed-for-eu-mobility-targets/ Higher education leaders say European Commission must provide more support for mobility in their sector

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Higher education leaders say European Commission must provide more support for mobility in their sector

Higher education leaders want the European Commission to do more to help the EU achieve its new mobility targets for the sector, which were agreed by education ministers this month. 

At the Council of the EU meeting with education commissioner Iliana Ivanova on 13 May, ministers agreed that the EU should aim for 23 per cent of higher education students to undertake at least part of their study abroad, and that at least 20 per cent of people with fewer socioeconomic opportunities should experience educational mobility.

“Learning abroad can provide valuable skills and a stronger sense of the EU’s common values. Today’s [agreement] will help expand opportunities for everyone to take advantage of the immense benefits that come with learning, studying or training outside their country of birth,” said Belgium’s education minister Caroline Désir, who chaired the meeting. 

Michael Gaebel, director of higher education at the European University Association, told Research Europe that “[while] the new target [for higher education] is welcome, it appears as a compromise compared to the 25 per cent that the Commission had proposed”. This is not only because the target is lower, but also because it counts blended mobility, which includes receiving education from abroad virtually. 

Gaebel stressed that blended mobility should be used to complement physical mobility, rather than “inflate numbers” or encourage the “replacement” of physical mobility.

In a webinar on higher education hosted by the Netherlands house for education and research, Neth-ER, speakers emphasised the need for more funding to meet the targets.

“Ambitious mobility targets, coupled with inclusion targets, will require an increased investment in the [EU’s] Erasmus+ programme [for academic exchange]”, said Ivana Didak, head of higher education policy at the Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities.

Dominique Selier, a Neth-ER policy officer, also urged the Commission to provide more funding “especially for the administrative labour”.

Ministers also agreed at the meeting that the EU should promote research on education to help raise standards. More opportunities for such research should be provided through EU programmes including Erasmus+ and the Horizon Europe research programme, they said.

“Research in education is needed because jobs are rapidly changing—for example digital jobs are increasing and agriculture jobs are decreasing, so education systems must adapt quickly,” said Scilla Cuijlenborg, vice-president of EuproVET—which represents European vocational providers—during the webinar.

Didak said there is a lack of evidence on what constitutes “best practice” in education, and that better data are needed to assess this. She added that “pedagogical research is underfunded in a number of national systems”. 

This article also appeared in Research Europe

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‘EU should consider grants for teaching excellence’ https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-universities-2024-5-eu-should-consider-grants-for-teaching-excellence/ Thu, 23 May 2024 07:00:00 +0000 https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-universities-2024-5-eu-should-consider-grants-for-teaching-excellence/ University association advocates funding for “teaching innovation” in response to Commission proposal

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University association advocates funding for “teaching innovation” in response to Commission proposal

The EU should consider providing grants to support teaching excellence to help improve education and academic careers, a university association has suggested.

In a statement on 22 May, the Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities welcomed various parts of a package of proposals for higher education set out by the European Commission in March.

The package centred around facilitating the provision of joint cross-border degrees, which is currently hampered by the divergence of rules and procedures among EU member states. Education remains primarily a national competence.

As well as presenting a blueprint for joint degrees, the package included proposals to ease the quality assurance and recognition of degrees and to better value the diversity of academic staff.

Staff recognition

In relation to recognition for staff, the Guild said it was welcome that the EU was providing guidance on the matter, such as that the sector should better recognise activities other than research. 

“Universities need both excellent researchers and excellent teachers. Universities need to lead on changing the practice and narrative around academic careers, taking into account different institutional settings and career stages,” the Guild said.

“Although new recognition practices have already been introduced at many institutions, substantive change is possible only with support at the national and EU level, including by creating the necessary conditions and providing investment.”

Such investment could include EU-level competitive funding to support teaching excellence, the Guild suggested, such as “through field-specific prestigious grants for teaching and learning, or collaborative grants for teaching innovation in higher education.”

Joint degree blueprint

The Commission’s proposal outlined two classifications for joint degrees: a label for degrees that meet certain criteria, or a new type of European degree that will be integrated into national legislation.

But the Guild said it was not clear how these two systems would work in parallel if some member states opt for one route and some for the other.

More generally, it said that joint degrees “should be ambitious enough to transcend traditional ways of approaching study programme design”. It said universities should retain autonomy over the choice of disciplines in which they offer joint degrees and over degree curricula.

Quality assurance

The Guild said that the third part of the package, on quality assurance and course recognition, was “the most technical but crucial part”.

It warned that a proposal for a new quality assurance framework for the European Universities Initiative cross-border alliances risked “adding new layers of administration which may increase complexity and require resourcing”.

More generally, however, it welcomed a focus on reducing red tape and strengthening trust in institutional processes.

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Early starter https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-careers-2024-5-early-starter/ Thu, 23 May 2024 07:00:00 +0000 https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-careers-2024-5-early-starter/ On beginning an ERC bid before you have really begun

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On beginning an ERC bid before you have really begun

When James Reynolds won a Starting Grant from the European Research Council, it marked a significant step up in his grant-winning record.

“Up until that point the only grant I’d won was £6,000 (€6,980) and this was a €1.5 million grant,” Reynolds said, addressing attendees at a recent event on the EU’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme held at the University of Birmingham.

ERC Starting Grants are open to researchers with between two and seven years of experience since completing their PhD, based in EU member states or countries associated to Horizon Europe. The awards are worth up to €1.5m over five years, with an additional €1m for start-up costs, and the next funding call is expected to open in July this year with a deadline likely in October.

Reynolds, a lecturer in psychology at Aston University in the UK, successfully applied to the ERC for a Starting Grant project on maximising public support for health policies.

He won the grant in 2022 while the UK was frozen out of Horizon Europe, so had to claim funding for the project from the British government rather than the EU. Nonetheless, he went through the same evaluation process as every other applicant.

His top advice for applying to the ERC is to start early. Before taking his position at Aston he was a research associate at the University of Cambridge, focusing on the question of why the public supports or opposes health policies.

“I spent a total of four years working on this topic, which gave me an opportunity to immerse myself in this research, to become completely familiarised with all the different methodologies, the research domains, the leading researchers in the field,” he said.

“Over this time, I started developing my ideas for when I eventually knew I would leave Cambridge and I would have to apply for funding of my own—I was starting to pull together ideas of what I wanted to focus on.”

He said that each time he noticed a flawed methodology, an evidence gap or a big unanswered question he would make a note of it. 

“My document of study ideas started growing and eventually coalesced into these themes of similar ideas that ultimately became various different grant applications,” Reynolds said.

By starting early, he said that “rather than some panicked, month-long sprint to the end” when he applied to the ERC, he was ready to submit “in a relatively unpanicked way when the deadline loomed”.

Despite still being in the early stages of the project—which has largely involved building his research team—he has taken his own advice and begun to think about his next big grant. He has his eye on the ERC’s Consolidator Grant, worth up to €2m over five years, with an additional €1m for start-up costs. “I’m thinking long-term,” he said.

Another key message from Reynolds’ experience of applying to the ERC is to go big. “This piece of advice was given to me multiple times by people at my university,” he said.

He initially thought he would apply to the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council for a grant worth around £350,000, but then “was convinced by a colleague of mine at Aston to go bigger, to apply for the ERC Starter Grant, which was worth about four times as much money.

“Instead of having some small ideas about reforming methodology, I planned to do an entire revamp of all the areas of methodology in the field that I thought needed improving and set out how I was going to fix them,” he explained.

Reynolds was aware that, having only previously won a £6,000 grant, there would be questions about whether he was up to the task of running a much bigger project. “To demonstrate that I could actually do that was a big part of it,” he said.

Having read through the ERC’s reviewer notes, he realised that he would need to demonstrate to the reviewers that he had the necessary skills.

“One of the reasons they ultimately decided to award it is because one of the field projects that I had run on behaviour change had demonstrated that I had run a longitudinal, long-term project with hundreds of stakeholders, collaborators and other people involved,” he said.

With such an ambitious proposal, Reynolds said it was important to get feedback from his colleagues at every stage of the process. After getting shortlisted and invited for an interview, he rigorously prepared for what he might face.

“I had my university set up three mock panels in the same format it was going to be, where very senior and scary professors sat me down and interrogated every little detail of my proposal,” he said, adding that this process “made huge progress in making me ready”.

Reynolds admitted that one of the mistakes he made in his first practice interview was not being bullish enough when questioned about the choices he had made in his proposal.

“The feedback I got was: you wrote this, you know what you’re doing, defend your position,” he said. The preparation paid off as he was asked the same question when facing the ERC evaluation panel. “In the interview, I was prepped, I was ready, I defended, and I stuck to my guns.” 

This is an extract from an article in Research Professional’s Funding Insight service. To subscribe contact sales@researchresearch.com

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European universities ‘need AI strategies’ https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-universities-2024-5-european-universities-need-ai-strategies/ Mon, 20 May 2024 13:14:45 +0000 https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-universities-2024-5-european-universities-need-ai-strategies/ “Clear leadership” and a “well-defined” strategy are needed on artificial intelligence, says vice-rector

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“Clear leadership” and a “well-defined” strategy are needed on artificial intelligence, says vice-rector

European universities need “well-defined” strategies on artificial intelligence, with uptake of the technology currently uncoordinated within institutions, a vice-rector has said.

Pedro Ruiz Martínez, vice-rector for strategy and digital at the University of Murcia in Spain, said that senior management at European universities must provide “clear leadership” on AI.

Following recent advances in generative AI, students, researchers and research managers have been using it to help them carry out certain tasks, such as writing parts of research papers or grant proposals.

During a webinar on AI hosted by the European University Association on 17 May, Martínez said that the various units within universities are currently using AI in different ways, without any coordination.

Universities therefore face a “challenge” in evolving from carrying out “uncoordinated” pilots on using AI to a “governed adoption” of the technology.

“I am sure that AI cannot happen without the leadership of top management in institutions and also without having a well-defined strategy,” Martínez said.

He added that universities’ AI strategies should plan for an “orderly and controlled” implementation.

Keeping pace

Martínez said he was “very positive about the potential of AI in transforming and helping higher education institutions”. He warned universities against “being left behind” by not taking advantage of the “transformative potential” of AI.

Martínez also called for European universities to develop their AI capabilities by providing training to their staff.

He added that universities should experiment with how to use AI in a “responsible manner”, and they should only scale up pilots on the use of AI that are “viable and sustainable”.

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No winner of EU’s intersectional gender equality award https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-universities-2024-5-no-winner-of-eu-s-intersectional-gender-equality-award/ Thu, 16 May 2024 13:00:13 +0000 https://www.researchprofessionalnews.com/rr-news-europe-universities-2024-5-no-winner-of-eu-s-intersectional-gender-equality-award/ Commission says lack of winner reflects need for change

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Commission says lack of winner reflects need for change

The European Commission has been unable to find a winner for the second round of its Inclusive Gender Equality Champions award, one of three categories in an annual competition recognising academic institutions’ progress in developing gender equality plans and policies.

To promote more effective gender equality policies in research and innovation, the Commission requires academic institutions applying for funding from the EU’s Horizon Europe R&I programme to have a gender equality plan in place. It launched a set of awards in 2022 to further encourage the adoption and development of such plans.

Intersectional considerations

The inclusive equality category in these awards is designed for academic and research organisations that have implemented innovative gender equality plans addressing the intersection with other social categories, such as ethnicity, social origin, sexual orientation and gender identity (LGBTIQ) or disability.

Announcing the competition winners on 15 May, the Commission said that none of the entries in the category fulfilled the award criteria, adding that this “reflects a reality the Commission is making efforts to transform”.

Last year, Ireland’s South East Technological University won an award in the intersectional category.

There were winners in the other two categories in the second year of the competition: for France’s Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique and Spain’s Universitat Rovira i Virgili in the Sustainable Gender Equality Champions category, and for Ireland’s Technological University of the Shannon: Midlands Midwest in the Newcomer Gender Equality Champions category.

Winners each receive a prize of €100,000.

EU R&I commissioner Iliana Ivanova said: “I warmly congratulate the winners of the Horizon Europe Award for Gender Equality Champions. Their remarkable achievements in creating more gender-equal working environments are an inspiration to organisations across the European Research Area.”

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