Final Report Summary - DISCOVER EUROPE (Romanian mobility centre initiative to strengthen ERA-MORE)
Executive summary:
Today's world has changed. We entered in an era that can be easily named the 'Mobility Era'. Being static is not that attractive anymore. People understand now more than ever that in order to move forward you need to work together and share knowledge with people from all over the world, and if you are in a Union, such as the European Union (EU) then this moving and exchanging process is even more accessible.
Bulgaria and Romania joined EU in January 2007, and still have a lot to learn in how to deal with mobility and multiculturalism. The DISCOVER EUROPE project aims to enhance the overall performance of the ERA-MORE (EURAXESS) network and to stimulate cooperation between EURAXESS members on operational and strategic issues.
In order to attempt this ambitious goal two specific objectives have been consider:
1. To increase the expertise of the New Member State (NMS) mobility centre (Romanian and Bulgarian) using the experience of other European mobility centres in order to reduce the disparities between the network members.
2. To set up a pilot action aimed to support the networking with other European centres in order to increase the cooperation within the EURAXESS network.
Through this ambitious goal the DISCOVER EUROPE project will support the removing of obstacles to mobility and enhancing the career perspectives of researchers in Europe coming or going to the two NMS (Romania and Bulgaria). Also, the ambition of DISCOVER EUROPE project is to highly increase the level of EURAXESS services across Europe, especially in view of Innovation Union challenges where a core issue is to support the international collaboration on human resources partnership scheme focusing on staff exchange between several European research organisations and organisations from countries covered by the European neighbourhood policy.
Project context and objectives:
The work plan of DISCOVER EUROPE gathers a coherent set of activities that will fulfil these ambitious goals. The work within the project is divided in 5 Work package (WP)s: 2 administrative (WP1: 'Management' and WP2: 'Dissemination'), 1 WP of support activity (WP3: 'Know-how exchange') and 2 WPs of coordination activities (WP4: 'National coordination' and WP5: 'International coordination').
The DISCOVER EUROPE project started on 3 September 2008 with the kick-off meeting that was held in Bucharest, Romania. A meeting that promised a fruitful collaboration between the partners coming from countries such as Bulgaria, Romania, France and Poland. In order to increase the expertise of the two NMS Mobility centres two exploratory visits of the NMS partners (Romania and Bulgaria) to their partners (France, Poland) was organised in order to achieve two important goals, namely: good practice sharing, as well as identification of customers' needs.
The first visit was organised in France to Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris (Bureau d'Accueil des Chercheurs Etrangers) between 27 - 29 May, 2009. Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris started to welcome foreign students in the 1920s, nearly a century ago.
The second visit was organised between 29 June - 1 July 2009 to the Institute of Fundamental Technological Research, Warszawa, Poland which hosts the headquarters of the Polish Network of Mobility Information Centres.
Both NMS mobility centres (Romania and Bulgaria) are formed by regional centres (8 regional centres for Romania and 4 regional centres for Bulgaria). All these regional centres need to be trained at the same level and thus the activity of WP4 will focus in the coordination of these regional centres. In order to spread the experience gained through the visit to France and Poland, two day training courses have been organised for the rest of the Romanian and Bulgarian regional mobility centres. The training consisted in information on the survey studies realised in WP3 and in the good practices experience gained through the visits planed in WP3.
In order to bust the cooperation between Romanian and Bulgaria mobility centres with the more experienced colleagues from EURAXESS two pilot actions have been foreseen for WP5: 'Discover Romania' and 'Discover Bulgaria'. A group of 8-10 colleagues from the EURAXESS network were invited to a 5 days visit to discover Romania (T5.2). This visit start from Bucharest and will continue: Timisoara and Iasi. Each of these towns is regional contact points for ERA-MORE and also important university centres. The visit allowed our guests to interact directly with their colleagues from the Romanian regional offices and make connections with them. During the visit they also visit the main universities and research institutes from those regions in order to be able to promote the opportunities that researchers can have in Romania. Last but not least our guests had the opportunity to learn more about the Romanian lifestyle.
The same activities as in T5.2 were performed by the Bulgarian partner. The ERA-MORE 'Discover Bulgaria' pilot action was for 6 days and implied visits to Sofia, Varna, Stara Zagora and Rousse Regional Centre also targeting visits to the main research performers (universities, research institutes).
The dissemination activities foreseen within the project focuses on: informing the general public (innovation media, politicians and policy makers) on the objectives, scope, activities and results of the DISCOVER EUROPE project. The main dissemination tool is represented by the project webpage: http://www.icmpp.ro/discovereurope.
Project results:
The work plan of DISCOVER EUROPE consisted of 5 WPs. The first two were administrative WPs (WP1: 'Management', WP2: 'Dissemination') and aimed to support the proper implementation and dissemination of the project activities or results. The other three WPs aimed to develop tools that have increased and strengthen the cooperation of clusters within the EURAXESS network.
The tools that have been created in the DISCOVER EUROPE project have focused on the two factors:
1. The quality of clusters
In this direction, the project have focused on the services of the two new EURAXESS clusters from Romania and Bulgaria. Know - how exchange visits of the representatives of those clusters to other EURAXESS centres have been organised. The host centres (France and Poland) have been selected considering their high experience (France) and the similarity in encountered problems (Poland).
2. The 'connection' between the clusters
DISCOVER EUROPE also focused on the better integration of the two new clusters in the EURAXESS network. Firstly, by sharing the experience gained through the know-how exchange visits at each cluster level (representatives from Turkey, Serbia and Moldova have been also included). Secondly, by organising two pilot actions (WP5: 'Discover Romania' and 'Discover Bulgaria') that allowed both a better interaction between the new clusters and the other traditional EURAXESS clusters and a better understanding of the mobility opportunities that the new EU countries can offer.
The target of the project is to offer a real support in the networking between the EURAXESS members and in this view a set of measurable results have been considered to add value to the whole network:
- trained Romanian and Bulgarian mobility networks - WP3 and WP4;
- Green Charta of cooperation between Ro - Bg - Fr - Pl (that will set up the guiding line for an optimum cooperation between the mobility offices in the four countries in order to offer the best services to their customers) - WP3 and WP4;
- EURAXESS network straightened (different data collections (WP3, WP4)), know - how exchange - WP3 and WP5.
The final results of the DISCOVER EUROPE project for each WP are summarised below:
WP2 expected results:
- DISCOVER EUROPE website;
- general public informed (9 newsletter, 1 brochure, 3 interviews in local / national media).
WP3 expected results:
- survey study;
- Green Charta.
WP4 expected results WP4:
- Romanian and Bulgarian mobility networks trained.
WP5 expected results:
- ERA-MORE 'Discover Romania' pilot action;
- ERA-MORE 'Discover Bulgaria' pilot action;
- ERA-MORE network strengthening.
DISCOVER EUROPE project has directly contribute, by increasing the qualitative and quantitative participation of the incoming foreign researchers in Romanian and Bulgarian research organisations, to the improvement and rising of the scientific level of knowledge of the two research communities and, by that, to the strengthening of the European Research Area (ERA) and the EURAXESS network.
DISCOVER EUROPE project, by networking and establishing of structural links among the institutions and activities concerned at national, regional and European level, in particular using information society technologies, has contribute to a harmonisation of the technical knowledge concerning the rules for mobility and will facilitate a smooth operation of the network as a whole and its proper visibility.
The activities under this project intended to respond to the needs and expectation of the mobile researchers, to the mobility policies of the Community, supporting the implementation of Community policies, bearing in mind also the national interests. The gap between Romania and Bulgaria and the other EU countries in the area of scientific research is still important. The DISCOVER EUROPE project has contributed to at least a scientific integration of Romania and Bulgaria in the EURAXESS family.
The main lesson learned by each participant within the DISCOVER EUROPE project are summarised below:
Lessons learned by the Romanian participants
The next trainees that we will look upon are the Romanian participants. There were six main lessons learned by the Romanian counterparts. These did not limit themselves on the National contact point (NCP) centres, but also to other structures involved in managing scientific environment.
It was noticed that visibility and good scientific portfolio are nothing but prerequisites for increasing scientific mobility. Better promotion not only increases awareness, but also improves the national scientific portfolio. The main lessons however, were learned, as expected, by NCP centres. In order to grow, these centres need to learn from their more experienced colleagues, in the case of the DISCOVER EUROPE project, the French and Polish partners. There is an acute need for proper financial resources. Even the best ideas are short lived without a solid financial base to sustain them. Moreover a good performance of the centres employees is vital. They should be trained to meet the expectations of incoming researchers. Good performance is advertising by itself, as actions speak louder than words. In training these employees on site examples seems to be the best solution. That way they can have a first-hand practice of how more experienced partners handle different issues. These hands-on experiences are more than any guidebook could offer. Lastly, the services offered by NCPs should not only limit themselves on the researchers coming from abroad, but also on outgoing researchers, as that is also an important publicity mean at a national level, and also helps in increasing mobility. These are all important lessons that need to be put into practice for the improvement of the services of the NCPs and for straightening the EURAXESS network, as a whole.
Lessons Learned by the Bulgarian participants
The closing date for the DISCOVER EUROPE project is approaching quickly, therefore, it is important to see what were the main lessons learned by its trainees. The first stop will be the Bulgarian participants. There were nine main lessons identified, most of them related to the local contact points, but not only.
First of all, there is an acute need for a clear data base system, to ease the workload, and avoid duplication. These databases should keep a close overview of the incoming researchers and other institutions approaching the local contact points. These databases could help in creating a clear profile of the target group and of their main needs and requirements. Another important element identified by the Bulgarian counterpart is the need for social activities for incoming researchers. These social events could help researchers create networks, friendships and integrate better in the Bulgarian culture. In terms of the local contact points themselves, they need to provide accurate key scientific lists for both incoming and outgoing researchers. Statistical information is also needed to see what were the main channels used by researchers to approach the centre, what were the main topics of concern. Moreover, there should be a clear evidence of what were the most problematic issues for the centre. Another important issue is the need to create strong links with strategic partners, such as government, cultural and research institutions, universities and embassies. There is also a need to create twinning activities and staff exchange between ESCs and local contact points from different countries in order to increase international cooperation. Moreover it is important that local contact points from neighbouring countries to work together and share knowledge, due to the fact that they tend to be confronted with similar problems. Funding was also identified as a key problem and there is a crucial need to solve it at a national level. Lastly, the Bulgarian network needs to make use more of the national EURAXESS portal.
These are all issues that regard neighbouring countries as well. The Bulgarian EURAXESS network was restructured within the duration of the DISCOVER EUROPE project due to reforms in the area of science and higher education. The next years should be looked upon with enthusiasm and faith that the Bulgarian local contact points will manage to improve their services.
Lessons learned by the French participants
Although the French participants were selected as teachers, they still managed to learn and confirm some important lessons.
One of the most important lessons learned along the DISCOVER EUROPE project was that statistic data is the backbone of any successful local EURAXESS office. Collecting, systematising and analysing all the information, from the mean of contact to the issue itself, eases the work of the office and allows employees to give more competent information to the interested parties.
Funding is also a very sensitive topic. Money is needed to make great ideas flourish, and offices have to find ways to generate or procure sufficient resources in order to offer quality services for incoming researchers.
Lastly, one needs to understand that an NCP office is only about offering information, but also about creating networks. Social activities are very important in that sense.
They help in bringing people together, growing ideas and a better integration in the culture of the host culture.
Altogether, the DISCOVER EUROPE project was a wonderful opportunity for all countries involved to discover each other and create not only connections at a professional level, but also personal.
Lessons learned by the Polish participants
The position and types of activities carried out by the Bridgehead Organisations and each centre vary significantly from one country to another. There are many reasons of this situation but two of them seem to be the most important ones, namely: the recognition of centre usefulness by the national (appropriate ministry) and local authorities (university, research centre), a number of incoming fellows staying for longer time in a particular country.
An indispensable factor for a correctly functioning of any domestic EURAXESS network is to provide a minimum national funds for networking activities, at least. Some of the problems Bulgarian and Romanian networks faced with lack of this kind of support. The situation is different in Poland and France due to available funds for daily activities of these both centres and, in case of Poland also national network.
A growth or sufficient number of incoming fellows is a necessary factor for improvement the visibility and increasing the importance of centre's work inside of each country. Sometimes helping own researchers to go abroad is perceived as supporting a brain drain process. However, the situation can be changed by an appropriate political strategy at the national level through a wide promotion of the country research potential, creation of national fellowship programmes for foreign researchers or participation in international projects, which is outside of a capability of the EURAXESS.
The international recognition of the country research potential affects the activities carried out by the centres. Countries with a low tradition and experiences in attracting foreigners, (PL, BG, RO) help mainly their own outgoing scientists whereas centres located in a country being a popular destination (FR) put a minimum or none effort on this issue. What's more, that situation gives them more time and possibilities to create even more friendly and attractive environment for foreigners.
In order to prove an importance of the EURAXESS work at different level, a coherent approach should be taken for collection of the statistical data.
Bridgehead organisations should be in close contact with the national, regional and local authorities in order to provide them with their knowledge of different issues related to cross-border mobility of researchers.
Potential impact:
The impact of DISCOVER EUROPE project in the research and development activities in Romania and Bulgaria have been the following one:
- making Romania and Bulgaria more attractive for foreign researchers;
- identify and remove the obstacles to mobility.
The impact of DISCOVER EUROPE project related to EURAXESS network is the following one:
- better cooperation and coordination within the network;
- better visibility of the network;
- improved service offered by the EURAXESS mobility centres to their customers;
- better repartition of EURAXESS support services across Europe.
DISCOVER EUROPE project addresses European-wide scientific, technical and societal issues such as strengthening the EURAXESS network, empowering European citizens by providing them with better access to personalised information, strengthening the integration of the NMS mobility centres into EURAXESS, bridging the barriers between the different European countries and providing them with opportunities to conduct multinational cooperation. All these issues are related to the vision of creating Europe as a knowledge-based society. In this vision ERA concept should:
- combine an European 'internal market' for research, where researchers, technology and knowledge freely circulate;
- insure an effective European-level coordination of national and regional research activities, programmes and policies.
However, there is still much further to go to build the ERA, particularly to overcome the fragmentation of research activities, programmes and policies across Europe. With this aim, the DISCOVER EUROPE project aims to create an activate a bridge between the Romanian and Bulgarian mobility centres and the other European mobility centres that will allow an adequate flow of competent researchers, effective knowledge-sharing and a well-coordinated research programmes and priorities, at regional/national level, able to support the European standards.
The purpose of the dissemination plan of DISCOVER EUROPE project was the diffusion of project information and results, preparing and publishing a brief project presentation accessible to the non-specialist. This plan has paved the way to exploitation and open communication channels to potential end-users and final customers.
The project presentation website, where the objectives, partners and results are presented. The dissemination through DISCOVER EUROPE Web site presents: Project results (reports on pilot actions, training materials); Reports on survey study; Green Charta; All materials on the DISCOVER EUROPE website are public free. The DISCOVER EUROPE webpage is hosted by the PPIMC and is linked also to the EURAXESS Romanian portal in order to ensure best visibility for the project webpage. Periodically newsletters that have been widely disseminated in the NMS countries.
Part of the exploitable results that can be used after the end of the project are:
- dates collected in the survey studies and questionnaire;
- Green Charta;
- assessment reports recommendations;
- final conference recommendations.
All this data can be used in future studies for EURAXESS members and as best practice models or success stories. Part of them are already on the webpage of the project.
List of websites: http://www.icmpp.ro/discovereurope
Today's world has changed. We entered in an era that can be easily named the 'Mobility Era'. Being static is not that attractive anymore. People understand now more than ever that in order to move forward you need to work together and share knowledge with people from all over the world, and if you are in a Union, such as the European Union (EU) then this moving and exchanging process is even more accessible.
Bulgaria and Romania joined EU in January 2007, and still have a lot to learn in how to deal with mobility and multiculturalism. The DISCOVER EUROPE project aims to enhance the overall performance of the ERA-MORE (EURAXESS) network and to stimulate cooperation between EURAXESS members on operational and strategic issues.
In order to attempt this ambitious goal two specific objectives have been consider:
1. To increase the expertise of the New Member State (NMS) mobility centre (Romanian and Bulgarian) using the experience of other European mobility centres in order to reduce the disparities between the network members.
2. To set up a pilot action aimed to support the networking with other European centres in order to increase the cooperation within the EURAXESS network.
Through this ambitious goal the DISCOVER EUROPE project will support the removing of obstacles to mobility and enhancing the career perspectives of researchers in Europe coming or going to the two NMS (Romania and Bulgaria). Also, the ambition of DISCOVER EUROPE project is to highly increase the level of EURAXESS services across Europe, especially in view of Innovation Union challenges where a core issue is to support the international collaboration on human resources partnership scheme focusing on staff exchange between several European research organisations and organisations from countries covered by the European neighbourhood policy.
Project context and objectives:
The work plan of DISCOVER EUROPE gathers a coherent set of activities that will fulfil these ambitious goals. The work within the project is divided in 5 Work package (WP)s: 2 administrative (WP1: 'Management' and WP2: 'Dissemination'), 1 WP of support activity (WP3: 'Know-how exchange') and 2 WPs of coordination activities (WP4: 'National coordination' and WP5: 'International coordination').
The DISCOVER EUROPE project started on 3 September 2008 with the kick-off meeting that was held in Bucharest, Romania. A meeting that promised a fruitful collaboration between the partners coming from countries such as Bulgaria, Romania, France and Poland. In order to increase the expertise of the two NMS Mobility centres two exploratory visits of the NMS partners (Romania and Bulgaria) to their partners (France, Poland) was organised in order to achieve two important goals, namely: good practice sharing, as well as identification of customers' needs.
The first visit was organised in France to Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris (Bureau d'Accueil des Chercheurs Etrangers) between 27 - 29 May, 2009. Cité Internationale Universitaire de Paris started to welcome foreign students in the 1920s, nearly a century ago.
The second visit was organised between 29 June - 1 July 2009 to the Institute of Fundamental Technological Research, Warszawa, Poland which hosts the headquarters of the Polish Network of Mobility Information Centres.
Both NMS mobility centres (Romania and Bulgaria) are formed by regional centres (8 regional centres for Romania and 4 regional centres for Bulgaria). All these regional centres need to be trained at the same level and thus the activity of WP4 will focus in the coordination of these regional centres. In order to spread the experience gained through the visit to France and Poland, two day training courses have been organised for the rest of the Romanian and Bulgarian regional mobility centres. The training consisted in information on the survey studies realised in WP3 and in the good practices experience gained through the visits planed in WP3.
In order to bust the cooperation between Romanian and Bulgaria mobility centres with the more experienced colleagues from EURAXESS two pilot actions have been foreseen for WP5: 'Discover Romania' and 'Discover Bulgaria'. A group of 8-10 colleagues from the EURAXESS network were invited to a 5 days visit to discover Romania (T5.2). This visit start from Bucharest and will continue: Timisoara and Iasi. Each of these towns is regional contact points for ERA-MORE and also important university centres. The visit allowed our guests to interact directly with their colleagues from the Romanian regional offices and make connections with them. During the visit they also visit the main universities and research institutes from those regions in order to be able to promote the opportunities that researchers can have in Romania. Last but not least our guests had the opportunity to learn more about the Romanian lifestyle.
The same activities as in T5.2 were performed by the Bulgarian partner. The ERA-MORE 'Discover Bulgaria' pilot action was for 6 days and implied visits to Sofia, Varna, Stara Zagora and Rousse Regional Centre also targeting visits to the main research performers (universities, research institutes).
The dissemination activities foreseen within the project focuses on: informing the general public (innovation media, politicians and policy makers) on the objectives, scope, activities and results of the DISCOVER EUROPE project. The main dissemination tool is represented by the project webpage: http://www.icmpp.ro/discovereurope.
Project results:
The work plan of DISCOVER EUROPE consisted of 5 WPs. The first two were administrative WPs (WP1: 'Management', WP2: 'Dissemination') and aimed to support the proper implementation and dissemination of the project activities or results. The other three WPs aimed to develop tools that have increased and strengthen the cooperation of clusters within the EURAXESS network.
The tools that have been created in the DISCOVER EUROPE project have focused on the two factors:
1. The quality of clusters
In this direction, the project have focused on the services of the two new EURAXESS clusters from Romania and Bulgaria. Know - how exchange visits of the representatives of those clusters to other EURAXESS centres have been organised. The host centres (France and Poland) have been selected considering their high experience (France) and the similarity in encountered problems (Poland).
2. The 'connection' between the clusters
DISCOVER EUROPE also focused on the better integration of the two new clusters in the EURAXESS network. Firstly, by sharing the experience gained through the know-how exchange visits at each cluster level (representatives from Turkey, Serbia and Moldova have been also included). Secondly, by organising two pilot actions (WP5: 'Discover Romania' and 'Discover Bulgaria') that allowed both a better interaction between the new clusters and the other traditional EURAXESS clusters and a better understanding of the mobility opportunities that the new EU countries can offer.
The target of the project is to offer a real support in the networking between the EURAXESS members and in this view a set of measurable results have been considered to add value to the whole network:
- trained Romanian and Bulgarian mobility networks - WP3 and WP4;
- Green Charta of cooperation between Ro - Bg - Fr - Pl (that will set up the guiding line for an optimum cooperation between the mobility offices in the four countries in order to offer the best services to their customers) - WP3 and WP4;
- EURAXESS network straightened (different data collections (WP3, WP4)), know - how exchange - WP3 and WP5.
The final results of the DISCOVER EUROPE project for each WP are summarised below:
WP2 expected results:
- DISCOVER EUROPE website;
- general public informed (9 newsletter, 1 brochure, 3 interviews in local / national media).
WP3 expected results:
- survey study;
- Green Charta.
WP4 expected results WP4:
- Romanian and Bulgarian mobility networks trained.
WP5 expected results:
- ERA-MORE 'Discover Romania' pilot action;
- ERA-MORE 'Discover Bulgaria' pilot action;
- ERA-MORE network strengthening.
DISCOVER EUROPE project has directly contribute, by increasing the qualitative and quantitative participation of the incoming foreign researchers in Romanian and Bulgarian research organisations, to the improvement and rising of the scientific level of knowledge of the two research communities and, by that, to the strengthening of the European Research Area (ERA) and the EURAXESS network.
DISCOVER EUROPE project, by networking and establishing of structural links among the institutions and activities concerned at national, regional and European level, in particular using information society technologies, has contribute to a harmonisation of the technical knowledge concerning the rules for mobility and will facilitate a smooth operation of the network as a whole and its proper visibility.
The activities under this project intended to respond to the needs and expectation of the mobile researchers, to the mobility policies of the Community, supporting the implementation of Community policies, bearing in mind also the national interests. The gap between Romania and Bulgaria and the other EU countries in the area of scientific research is still important. The DISCOVER EUROPE project has contributed to at least a scientific integration of Romania and Bulgaria in the EURAXESS family.
The main lesson learned by each participant within the DISCOVER EUROPE project are summarised below:
Lessons learned by the Romanian participants
The next trainees that we will look upon are the Romanian participants. There were six main lessons learned by the Romanian counterparts. These did not limit themselves on the National contact point (NCP) centres, but also to other structures involved in managing scientific environment.
It was noticed that visibility and good scientific portfolio are nothing but prerequisites for increasing scientific mobility. Better promotion not only increases awareness, but also improves the national scientific portfolio. The main lessons however, were learned, as expected, by NCP centres. In order to grow, these centres need to learn from their more experienced colleagues, in the case of the DISCOVER EUROPE project, the French and Polish partners. There is an acute need for proper financial resources. Even the best ideas are short lived without a solid financial base to sustain them. Moreover a good performance of the centres employees is vital. They should be trained to meet the expectations of incoming researchers. Good performance is advertising by itself, as actions speak louder than words. In training these employees on site examples seems to be the best solution. That way they can have a first-hand practice of how more experienced partners handle different issues. These hands-on experiences are more than any guidebook could offer. Lastly, the services offered by NCPs should not only limit themselves on the researchers coming from abroad, but also on outgoing researchers, as that is also an important publicity mean at a national level, and also helps in increasing mobility. These are all important lessons that need to be put into practice for the improvement of the services of the NCPs and for straightening the EURAXESS network, as a whole.
Lessons Learned by the Bulgarian participants
The closing date for the DISCOVER EUROPE project is approaching quickly, therefore, it is important to see what were the main lessons learned by its trainees. The first stop will be the Bulgarian participants. There were nine main lessons identified, most of them related to the local contact points, but not only.
First of all, there is an acute need for a clear data base system, to ease the workload, and avoid duplication. These databases should keep a close overview of the incoming researchers and other institutions approaching the local contact points. These databases could help in creating a clear profile of the target group and of their main needs and requirements. Another important element identified by the Bulgarian counterpart is the need for social activities for incoming researchers. These social events could help researchers create networks, friendships and integrate better in the Bulgarian culture. In terms of the local contact points themselves, they need to provide accurate key scientific lists for both incoming and outgoing researchers. Statistical information is also needed to see what were the main channels used by researchers to approach the centre, what were the main topics of concern. Moreover, there should be a clear evidence of what were the most problematic issues for the centre. Another important issue is the need to create strong links with strategic partners, such as government, cultural and research institutions, universities and embassies. There is also a need to create twinning activities and staff exchange between ESCs and local contact points from different countries in order to increase international cooperation. Moreover it is important that local contact points from neighbouring countries to work together and share knowledge, due to the fact that they tend to be confronted with similar problems. Funding was also identified as a key problem and there is a crucial need to solve it at a national level. Lastly, the Bulgarian network needs to make use more of the national EURAXESS portal.
These are all issues that regard neighbouring countries as well. The Bulgarian EURAXESS network was restructured within the duration of the DISCOVER EUROPE project due to reforms in the area of science and higher education. The next years should be looked upon with enthusiasm and faith that the Bulgarian local contact points will manage to improve their services.
Lessons learned by the French participants
Although the French participants were selected as teachers, they still managed to learn and confirm some important lessons.
One of the most important lessons learned along the DISCOVER EUROPE project was that statistic data is the backbone of any successful local EURAXESS office. Collecting, systematising and analysing all the information, from the mean of contact to the issue itself, eases the work of the office and allows employees to give more competent information to the interested parties.
Funding is also a very sensitive topic. Money is needed to make great ideas flourish, and offices have to find ways to generate or procure sufficient resources in order to offer quality services for incoming researchers.
Lastly, one needs to understand that an NCP office is only about offering information, but also about creating networks. Social activities are very important in that sense.
They help in bringing people together, growing ideas and a better integration in the culture of the host culture.
Altogether, the DISCOVER EUROPE project was a wonderful opportunity for all countries involved to discover each other and create not only connections at a professional level, but also personal.
Lessons learned by the Polish participants
The position and types of activities carried out by the Bridgehead Organisations and each centre vary significantly from one country to another. There are many reasons of this situation but two of them seem to be the most important ones, namely: the recognition of centre usefulness by the national (appropriate ministry) and local authorities (university, research centre), a number of incoming fellows staying for longer time in a particular country.
An indispensable factor for a correctly functioning of any domestic EURAXESS network is to provide a minimum national funds for networking activities, at least. Some of the problems Bulgarian and Romanian networks faced with lack of this kind of support. The situation is different in Poland and France due to available funds for daily activities of these both centres and, in case of Poland also national network.
A growth or sufficient number of incoming fellows is a necessary factor for improvement the visibility and increasing the importance of centre's work inside of each country. Sometimes helping own researchers to go abroad is perceived as supporting a brain drain process. However, the situation can be changed by an appropriate political strategy at the national level through a wide promotion of the country research potential, creation of national fellowship programmes for foreign researchers or participation in international projects, which is outside of a capability of the EURAXESS.
The international recognition of the country research potential affects the activities carried out by the centres. Countries with a low tradition and experiences in attracting foreigners, (PL, BG, RO) help mainly their own outgoing scientists whereas centres located in a country being a popular destination (FR) put a minimum or none effort on this issue. What's more, that situation gives them more time and possibilities to create even more friendly and attractive environment for foreigners.
In order to prove an importance of the EURAXESS work at different level, a coherent approach should be taken for collection of the statistical data.
Bridgehead organisations should be in close contact with the national, regional and local authorities in order to provide them with their knowledge of different issues related to cross-border mobility of researchers.
Potential impact:
The impact of DISCOVER EUROPE project in the research and development activities in Romania and Bulgaria have been the following one:
- making Romania and Bulgaria more attractive for foreign researchers;
- identify and remove the obstacles to mobility.
The impact of DISCOVER EUROPE project related to EURAXESS network is the following one:
- better cooperation and coordination within the network;
- better visibility of the network;
- improved service offered by the EURAXESS mobility centres to their customers;
- better repartition of EURAXESS support services across Europe.
DISCOVER EUROPE project addresses European-wide scientific, technical and societal issues such as strengthening the EURAXESS network, empowering European citizens by providing them with better access to personalised information, strengthening the integration of the NMS mobility centres into EURAXESS, bridging the barriers between the different European countries and providing them with opportunities to conduct multinational cooperation. All these issues are related to the vision of creating Europe as a knowledge-based society. In this vision ERA concept should:
- combine an European 'internal market' for research, where researchers, technology and knowledge freely circulate;
- insure an effective European-level coordination of national and regional research activities, programmes and policies.
However, there is still much further to go to build the ERA, particularly to overcome the fragmentation of research activities, programmes and policies across Europe. With this aim, the DISCOVER EUROPE project aims to create an activate a bridge between the Romanian and Bulgarian mobility centres and the other European mobility centres that will allow an adequate flow of competent researchers, effective knowledge-sharing and a well-coordinated research programmes and priorities, at regional/national level, able to support the European standards.
The purpose of the dissemination plan of DISCOVER EUROPE project was the diffusion of project information and results, preparing and publishing a brief project presentation accessible to the non-specialist. This plan has paved the way to exploitation and open communication channels to potential end-users and final customers.
The project presentation website, where the objectives, partners and results are presented. The dissemination through DISCOVER EUROPE Web site presents: Project results (reports on pilot actions, training materials); Reports on survey study; Green Charta; All materials on the DISCOVER EUROPE website are public free. The DISCOVER EUROPE webpage is hosted by the PPIMC and is linked also to the EURAXESS Romanian portal in order to ensure best visibility for the project webpage. Periodically newsletters that have been widely disseminated in the NMS countries.
Part of the exploitable results that can be used after the end of the project are:
- dates collected in the survey studies and questionnaire;
- Green Charta;
- assessment reports recommendations;
- final conference recommendations.
All this data can be used in future studies for EURAXESS members and as best practice models or success stories. Part of them are already on the webpage of the project.
List of websites: http://www.icmpp.ro/discovereurope