Periodic Reporting for period 2 - UNITE.H2020 (Planning the Future of Research & Innovation in the European University Alliance UNITE!)
Reporting period: 2022-07-01 to 2023-12-31
The European Commission invited the universities in the EU to create transnational Alliances that will become the universities of the future, promoting European values and identity, and revolutionizing the quality and competitiveness of European higher education and research.
Unite! - the University Network for Innovation, Technology and Engineering - is one of the first 17 European University Alliances funded by the Erasmus+ pilot project in 2019, and recently supported until the end of 2026, in which the nine technological European universities are developing a long-term joint strategy for education addressing societal challenges and promoting the mobility of students, doctoral candidates, faculty and staff.
With the UNITE.H2020 project - Planning the Future of Research & Innovation in the European University Alliance Unite! - the Unite! Alliance took up the challenge launched by the EC to develop, in synergy with its education dimension, a shared, integrated, long-term research and innovation (R&I) strategy.
The aim of UNITE.H2020 was to develop a common R&I agenda and action plan for the Unite! Alliance, emphasizing the Unite! STEM nature, impacting society by addressing global challenges and the EU Missions with the implementation of several pilot initiatives aimed at exploring new ways of collaborations promoting institutional transformations in different areas: Development of a joint R&I Agenda; Sharing Research Infrastructures; Reinforcing academia-business relations; Researchers’ career actions; Promoting open science; Societal outreach activities; Collaboration with other European University Alliances.
Unite! - the University Network for Innovation, Technology and Engineering - is one of the first 17 European University Alliances funded by the Erasmus+ pilot project in 2019, and recently supported until the end of 2026, in which the nine technological European universities are developing a long-term joint strategy for education addressing societal challenges and promoting the mobility of students, doctoral candidates, faculty and staff.
With the UNITE.H2020 project - Planning the Future of Research & Innovation in the European University Alliance Unite! - the Unite! Alliance took up the challenge launched by the EC to develop, in synergy with its education dimension, a shared, integrated, long-term research and innovation (R&I) strategy.
The aim of UNITE.H2020 was to develop a common R&I agenda and action plan for the Unite! Alliance, emphasizing the Unite! STEM nature, impacting society by addressing global challenges and the EU Missions with the implementation of several pilot initiatives aimed at exploring new ways of collaborations promoting institutional transformations in different areas: Development of a joint R&I Agenda; Sharing Research Infrastructures; Reinforcing academia-business relations; Researchers’ career actions; Promoting open science; Societal outreach activities; Collaboration with other European University Alliances.
The analysis of partner universities' strategic plans and relevant policies enabled identification of Unite!'s R&I challenges and common interests. This process defined a roadmap for addressing global challenges and aligning partners' long-term visions into a joint R&I strategy
On the basis of this roadmap and of the analysis of the State-of-the-Art in the Unite! universities in the different R&I institutional transformation areas, as well as of the existing EU University Alliances for possible collaboration with Unite!, the consortium highlighted best practices and barriers to overcome in R&I and agreed on a common R&I Agenda aimed at articulating a common strategy to establish tighter links among alliance members and facilitate synergistic actions.
The common Unite! R&I agenda saw its first practical implementation in an action plan, made of feasible pilot transformation actions consistent with the policy of each partner, relying on the open science principles and coordinated through the different WPs:
• Creation of a researcher’s open network in multidisciplinary areas trough the organization of a thematic workshop addressed to early career researchers
• Creation of the IRIS Network of Research & Innovation Services of Unite! to support the Alliance and its community in R&I collaboration, with the development of a list of services and some tools to promote collaboration among Unite! researchers
• Testing the physical sharing of infrastructure as well as the sharing of data with Living Lab, to be promoted also by the online RIs catalogue and the Handbook for Effective Access Management of Research Infrastructures
• Pilot actions with companies to identify the value of Unite! for the companies in the Unite! ecosystem in order to reinforce academia-business collaboration at the alliance-level
• Developing actions to strengthen researchers’ career, such as a Train of Trainers in Mentorship, the definition of a new common framework for Researchers Assessment and a framework for the assessment of Gender Equality Plans
• Open science comparative case study of 70 Unite! research teams and organization of 5 Unite! OS policy forums, leading to the definition of a new University governance model and policy to enhance efficient management of OS and innovation in universities and EU Alliances
• Unite! outreach activities: Unite! European Researchers’ Night; Unite! mapathon; Unite! creative challenge with the development of a Unite! strategy for societal outreach
• Thematic R&I Matchmaking Workshops with Una Europa and with EELISA Alliances promoting the preparation of Horizon Europe proposals and to discuss topics of common interest about institutional changes
The pilots of UNITE.H2020 represent the first seeds of the action plan, which oversees the longer time horizon of 2030. The work performed for the implementation of the pilots allowed to better understand what are the challenges in the collaboration at the Unite! level in the different areas and to identify possible solutions. At the end of the project, the partners provided some Guidelines for the further development of the Unite! R&I Agenda, as a set of recommendations addressed to the UNITE! governance highlighting main actions, impacts and stakeholders, and identifying possible successful models for modernization/ transformation at research and innovation level.
The project results should pave the way for the future R&I strategy of Unite! as a European Alliance.
On the basis of this roadmap and of the analysis of the State-of-the-Art in the Unite! universities in the different R&I institutional transformation areas, as well as of the existing EU University Alliances for possible collaboration with Unite!, the consortium highlighted best practices and barriers to overcome in R&I and agreed on a common R&I Agenda aimed at articulating a common strategy to establish tighter links among alliance members and facilitate synergistic actions.
The common Unite! R&I agenda saw its first practical implementation in an action plan, made of feasible pilot transformation actions consistent with the policy of each partner, relying on the open science principles and coordinated through the different WPs:
• Creation of a researcher’s open network in multidisciplinary areas trough the organization of a thematic workshop addressed to early career researchers
• Creation of the IRIS Network of Research & Innovation Services of Unite! to support the Alliance and its community in R&I collaboration, with the development of a list of services and some tools to promote collaboration among Unite! researchers
• Testing the physical sharing of infrastructure as well as the sharing of data with Living Lab, to be promoted also by the online RIs catalogue and the Handbook for Effective Access Management of Research Infrastructures
• Pilot actions with companies to identify the value of Unite! for the companies in the Unite! ecosystem in order to reinforce academia-business collaboration at the alliance-level
• Developing actions to strengthen researchers’ career, such as a Train of Trainers in Mentorship, the definition of a new common framework for Researchers Assessment and a framework for the assessment of Gender Equality Plans
• Open science comparative case study of 70 Unite! research teams and organization of 5 Unite! OS policy forums, leading to the definition of a new University governance model and policy to enhance efficient management of OS and innovation in universities and EU Alliances
• Unite! outreach activities: Unite! European Researchers’ Night; Unite! mapathon; Unite! creative challenge with the development of a Unite! strategy for societal outreach
• Thematic R&I Matchmaking Workshops with Una Europa and with EELISA Alliances promoting the preparation of Horizon Europe proposals and to discuss topics of common interest about institutional changes
The pilots of UNITE.H2020 represent the first seeds of the action plan, which oversees the longer time horizon of 2030. The work performed for the implementation of the pilots allowed to better understand what are the challenges in the collaboration at the Unite! level in the different areas and to identify possible solutions. At the end of the project, the partners provided some Guidelines for the further development of the Unite! R&I Agenda, as a set of recommendations addressed to the UNITE! governance highlighting main actions, impacts and stakeholders, and identifying possible successful models for modernization/ transformation at research and innovation level.
The project results should pave the way for the future R&I strategy of Unite! as a European Alliance.
UNITE.H2020 was a unique opportunity to pool the extensive R&I expertise of its members. Ideally, each partner's long-term vision should merge into a joint R&I strategy where strengths complement each other. Moreover, it offers individual institutions an opportunity to make tangible progresses toward aligning with EC objectives through institutional transformations.
UNITE.H2020 results - by initiating the creation of researcher’s communities, promoting the participation in Horizon Europe, improving access to research infrastructures, fostering academia-business cooperation and entrepreneurial culture, supporting research career actions such as mentorship programs and new researcher assessment framework, by promoting Open Science practices - are expected to be a seed to foster collaboration, innovation, and excellence in European research thus promoting institutional transformations in Unite! universities and in HEIs. Short-term impact is expected with an increase in collaboration opportunities and greater participation in EU/Horizon Europe projects while in the long, it is expected to promote the internationalization of research, the realization of high-quality research projects, and research excellence. Expected impacts are also an increased awareness of the need for a reform of the Research Assessment processes and the implementation in the universities of the open scientific paradigm that is emerging in the ongoing evolving digital era.
The creation of joint R&I services is expected to streamline research management processes, enhance institutional efficiency of all the involved universities of the Alliance, and ultimately contribute to a more robust and interconnected European research landscape.
The societal outreach initiatives increased Unite! visibility and promoted European values among citizens.
The alignment of the action plans of the Unite! universities is expected to boost the Alliance capability to address future missions and specific goals with higher impact of the research outcomes, that can also be translated in socio- economic terms. The proposed cooperation and governance alignment models could be beneficial for the wider higher education and university sector community for replication and adaptation, and could be also used for future policy initiatives of the EC.
UNITE.H2020 results - by initiating the creation of researcher’s communities, promoting the participation in Horizon Europe, improving access to research infrastructures, fostering academia-business cooperation and entrepreneurial culture, supporting research career actions such as mentorship programs and new researcher assessment framework, by promoting Open Science practices - are expected to be a seed to foster collaboration, innovation, and excellence in European research thus promoting institutional transformations in Unite! universities and in HEIs. Short-term impact is expected with an increase in collaboration opportunities and greater participation in EU/Horizon Europe projects while in the long, it is expected to promote the internationalization of research, the realization of high-quality research projects, and research excellence. Expected impacts are also an increased awareness of the need for a reform of the Research Assessment processes and the implementation in the universities of the open scientific paradigm that is emerging in the ongoing evolving digital era.
The creation of joint R&I services is expected to streamline research management processes, enhance institutional efficiency of all the involved universities of the Alliance, and ultimately contribute to a more robust and interconnected European research landscape.
The societal outreach initiatives increased Unite! visibility and promoted European values among citizens.
The alignment of the action plans of the Unite! universities is expected to boost the Alliance capability to address future missions and specific goals with higher impact of the research outcomes, that can also be translated in socio- economic terms. The proposed cooperation and governance alignment models could be beneficial for the wider higher education and university sector community for replication and adaptation, and could be also used for future policy initiatives of the EC.