Periodic Reporting for period 1 - SMART-ER (ECIU University Research Institute for Smart European Regions)
Reporting period: 2021-02-01 to 2022-07-31
ECIU University is piloting a Virtual Research institute on SMART European Regions as a model for institutional transformation at research and innovation level based on a Challenge-based research approach. SMART-ER suggests a new model of barrier-free collaboration overcoming languages, borders, disciplines and sectors, pushing the barriers of fundamental research and applied science, mobilising innovation ecosystems and empowering engaged and active citizens to transform the way we live and work, choosing a bottom-up, research community approach.
This summary covering the first reporting period of SMART-ER, is a first step towards addressing structural and operational issues hampering deeper and more ambitious European institutional transnational cooperation. By identifying the obstacles in building a European University we aim to open the path to allow citizens, researchers and stakeholders to collaborate across Europe and create societal impact, supporting the EU impact-oriented approach.
Nearly 5,000 researchers within SMART-ER institutions work on topics related to SDG 11.
This virtual research institutes aims to boost R&I collaboration actions through 3 main objectives:
O1. To develop a common Research & Innovation agenda and convergence action plan, in synergy with education strategies and regional engagement, sharing infrastructures and resources
O2. To develop and implement strategies for strengthening human capital and collaborations in research and innovation
O3. To promote and integrate dialogue with society in R&I activities of SMART-ER.
This summary covering the first reporting period of SMART-ER, is a first step towards addressing structural and operational issues hampering deeper and more ambitious European institutional transnational cooperation. By identifying the obstacles in building a European University we aim to open the path to allow citizens, researchers and stakeholders to collaborate across Europe and create societal impact, supporting the EU impact-oriented approach.
Nearly 5,000 researchers within SMART-ER institutions work on topics related to SDG 11.
This virtual research institutes aims to boost R&I collaboration actions through 3 main objectives:
O1. To develop a common Research & Innovation agenda and convergence action plan, in synergy with education strategies and regional engagement, sharing infrastructures and resources
O2. To develop and implement strategies for strengthening human capital and collaborations in research and innovation
O3. To promote and integrate dialogue with society in R&I activities of SMART-ER.
An overview of the project results in the first 18 months towards these objectives, including summary of deliverables and milestones, is provided below:
i.TO DEVELOP A COMMON RESEARCH & INNOVATION AGENDA AND CONVERGENCE ACTION PLAN AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION, SHARING INFRASTRUCTURES AND RESOURCES, IN SYNERGY WITH EDUCATION STRATEGIES AND REGIONAL ENGAGEMENT
• The first step towards this objective was to map different research groups, infrastructures and capabilities working on SDG11. To do this, SMART-ER developed a mapping of researcher groups to promote institutional collaboration from M1-M4, corresponding to D1.1 (Research group map: https://www.eciu.org/smart-er-for-researchers#research-maps)
• To develop a joint and shared R&I agenda on the four key topics, the corresponding Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and the convergent action plan for the pilot phase, the SMART-ER produced D1.2 (Co-created research agenda), D1.5 (Evaluation and monitoring model) and D2.1 (Statutes of the SMART-ER pilot phase) meeting Milestone (MS) 1 and 2 of the project.
• To facilitate smooth research collaborations and to spread SMART-ER opportunities, SMART-ER developed a searchable database with information about R&I and researchers, hosted in the existing web platform of ECIU (www.eciu.org) and a communication plan based on the shared agenda, capacities, opportunities, and incentives. In this framework, D1.3 (R&I agenda communication plan) and D1.4 (Collaborative and infrastructure access platform) were submitted.
ii.TO DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT STRATEGIES FOR STRENGTHENING HUMAN CAPITAL IN RESEARCH AND INNOVATION
• To achieve this objective, two main actions have been developed, the SMART-ER Academy and the SMART-ER Seed Programme. The Academy includes a mapping of training capacities in the consortium and the design of an Online PhD Training Programme and an Open Science and Leadership Training Programme for Researchers, while the SMART-ER Seed Programme developed the scope and guidelines for the different types of funding. Both actions, encompassed within WP3, were reported in D3.1 (Training programmes) and D3.2 (Seed programme guidelines). Both programmes launched actions at M12 (meeting MS3) that will keep running until M34, in the scope of tasks 3.3 and assessed through the implementation of task 3.4.
iii.TO EMBED CITIZENS AND SOCIETY, INVOLVING AND ENGAGING CITIZENS, CIVIL SOCIETY AND AUTHORITIES IN RESEARCH AND INNOVATION
• The first step towards this objective was to provide a comprehensive overview of public engagement (PE) practices in the context of SMART-ER. The practices are summarized in an internal document (Appendix 1 in D4.1) related to Task 4.1 devoted to elaborate the SMART-ER guidelines for public engagement.
• To articulate public engagement, a Community of Practice for Public Engagement has been consolidated through different seminars with members of different universities. The creation of a PE unit of expertise was MS4 of the project and will be achieve in month 20.
• With the aim to engage citizens, civil society and authorities in Citizen Science (CS) and dynamize regional communities, the Virtual Citizen Science Hub was established and launched as a collaborative portal for pooling expertise, sharing resources, data and projects and to build a community of Citizen Science. The outcome of this initiative is D5.1 (Web-based citizen science hub platform-https://www.csinitiative.eu/-) submitted in month 12, and MS5, launch of the web-based platform. In turn, by using the CS platform, pilot projects were co-created following a methodological approach specifically designed and implemented to develop this Community, consisting of 4 distinct stages, spanning 6 months: 1) Collaborative platform design, 2) Critical mass identification, 3) Co-creation workshop and 4) Pilot Project co-creation.
i.TO DEVELOP A COMMON RESEARCH & INNOVATION AGENDA AND CONVERGENCE ACTION PLAN AND ITS IMPLEMENTATION, SHARING INFRASTRUCTURES AND RESOURCES, IN SYNERGY WITH EDUCATION STRATEGIES AND REGIONAL ENGAGEMENT
• The first step towards this objective was to map different research groups, infrastructures and capabilities working on SDG11. To do this, SMART-ER developed a mapping of researcher groups to promote institutional collaboration from M1-M4, corresponding to D1.1 (Research group map: https://www.eciu.org/smart-er-for-researchers#research-maps)
• To develop a joint and shared R&I agenda on the four key topics, the corresponding Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and the convergent action plan for the pilot phase, the SMART-ER produced D1.2 (Co-created research agenda), D1.5 (Evaluation and monitoring model) and D2.1 (Statutes of the SMART-ER pilot phase) meeting Milestone (MS) 1 and 2 of the project.
• To facilitate smooth research collaborations and to spread SMART-ER opportunities, SMART-ER developed a searchable database with information about R&I and researchers, hosted in the existing web platform of ECIU (www.eciu.org) and a communication plan based on the shared agenda, capacities, opportunities, and incentives. In this framework, D1.3 (R&I agenda communication plan) and D1.4 (Collaborative and infrastructure access platform) were submitted.
ii.TO DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT STRATEGIES FOR STRENGTHENING HUMAN CAPITAL IN RESEARCH AND INNOVATION
• To achieve this objective, two main actions have been developed, the SMART-ER Academy and the SMART-ER Seed Programme. The Academy includes a mapping of training capacities in the consortium and the design of an Online PhD Training Programme and an Open Science and Leadership Training Programme for Researchers, while the SMART-ER Seed Programme developed the scope and guidelines for the different types of funding. Both actions, encompassed within WP3, were reported in D3.1 (Training programmes) and D3.2 (Seed programme guidelines). Both programmes launched actions at M12 (meeting MS3) that will keep running until M34, in the scope of tasks 3.3 and assessed through the implementation of task 3.4.
iii.TO EMBED CITIZENS AND SOCIETY, INVOLVING AND ENGAGING CITIZENS, CIVIL SOCIETY AND AUTHORITIES IN RESEARCH AND INNOVATION
• The first step towards this objective was to provide a comprehensive overview of public engagement (PE) practices in the context of SMART-ER. The practices are summarized in an internal document (Appendix 1 in D4.1) related to Task 4.1 devoted to elaborate the SMART-ER guidelines for public engagement.
• To articulate public engagement, a Community of Practice for Public Engagement has been consolidated through different seminars with members of different universities. The creation of a PE unit of expertise was MS4 of the project and will be achieve in month 20.
• With the aim to engage citizens, civil society and authorities in Citizen Science (CS) and dynamize regional communities, the Virtual Citizen Science Hub was established and launched as a collaborative portal for pooling expertise, sharing resources, data and projects and to build a community of Citizen Science. The outcome of this initiative is D5.1 (Web-based citizen science hub platform-https://www.csinitiative.eu/-) submitted in month 12, and MS5, launch of the web-based platform. In turn, by using the CS platform, pilot projects were co-created following a methodological approach specifically designed and implemented to develop this Community, consisting of 4 distinct stages, spanning 6 months: 1) Collaborative platform design, 2) Critical mass identification, 3) Co-creation workshop and 4) Pilot Project co-creation.
Most significant contributions of SMART-ER so far are:
- 128 researchers from all partners institutions were engaged to discuss and agree on common needs, barriers and enablers to start working as a VRI focused on SDG11 regional challenges (WP1).
-More than 1340 researchers reached during the internal communication campaign (WP1).
-6 research field coordinators appointed (WP2) to create long-lasting collaboration.
- The SMART-ER Academy (WP3) have developed a training programme containing 12 courses to be implement during the project, 4 of them tested during the first reporting period. High interest was demonstrated, engaging 223 researchers in the application process and 62 researchers completing the courses. The following 8 courses will be launched in the following months.
- The seed programme (WP3) received a total of 50 applications for the 2 calls launched in the project, with a total of 435 researchers participating and including external stakeholders.
- 23 ECIU members involve in the public engagement community of practice -WP4.
- More than 258 CS practitioners (including researchers and technical staff) across the different universities have taken part in the different activities organized by SMART-ER. As a result of the community building action (WP5), 3 trans-national Citizen Science Pilot projects with a total budget of 360.000€ are already running, involving at least 48 researchers and technical staff and supported by local 4-helix stakeholders.
- The citizen Science platform (WP5) for promoting and engaging new CS iniciatives.
- 128 researchers from all partners institutions were engaged to discuss and agree on common needs, barriers and enablers to start working as a VRI focused on SDG11 regional challenges (WP1).
-More than 1340 researchers reached during the internal communication campaign (WP1).
-6 research field coordinators appointed (WP2) to create long-lasting collaboration.
- The SMART-ER Academy (WP3) have developed a training programme containing 12 courses to be implement during the project, 4 of them tested during the first reporting period. High interest was demonstrated, engaging 223 researchers in the application process and 62 researchers completing the courses. The following 8 courses will be launched in the following months.
- The seed programme (WP3) received a total of 50 applications for the 2 calls launched in the project, with a total of 435 researchers participating and including external stakeholders.
- 23 ECIU members involve in the public engagement community of practice -WP4.
- More than 258 CS practitioners (including researchers and technical staff) across the different universities have taken part in the different activities organized by SMART-ER. As a result of the community building action (WP5), 3 trans-national Citizen Science Pilot projects with a total budget of 360.000€ are already running, involving at least 48 researchers and technical staff and supported by local 4-helix stakeholders.
- The citizen Science platform (WP5) for promoting and engaging new CS iniciatives.