Periodic Reporting for period 1 - E4F (ENERGY FOR FUTURE)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2021-07-01 al 2023-06-30
In the fight against Climate Change, European Union (EU) is totally committed to transitioning towards a sustainable, secure and competitive energy system aiming a climate-neutral Europe with net-zero emissions by 2050 outlined in the European Green Deal, with clear milestones towards decarbonisation defined as part of the Fit for 55 Package. To this end, a large number of initiatives and projects have been planned and carried out.
Particularly, the “ENERGY FOR FUTURE” (E4F) project, a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action COFUND (MSCA-COFUND) programme, will contribute to the challenges defined by the EU, depositing its main motivation in the following main objectives: (1) Attraction of outstanding worldwide Experienced Researchers (ERs) to embrace a research career in the high-priority clean and sustainable energy field; (2) Improvement of the working and employment conditions (e.g. competitive salaries); (3) Development of innovative and attractive training programmes; and (4) Creation of an Open-Access and Open-Data research culture through the dissemination of fellow’s outcomes: mandatory publication in Open-Access.
E4F is based on a 5-years Fellowship Programme (FP) that will recruit 28 experienced researchers (ERs) in two calls, who will be hosted for a period of 24 months, in 14 universities and Research Centres from Spain, France, UK, Germany, and US. The Programme also includes a compulsory secondment in one of the companies of the Iberdrola Group in Spain, UK, US or Mexico. E4F ERs will dedicate their efforts in individual projects focused in 5 research areas that are critical to for a climate-neutral Europe by 2050, such as: Photovoltaic Energy, Wind Energy, Smart Grids, Energy Storage, and Electric Vehicle.
During the implementation of E4F, ERs will undertake a structured training programme and work in multidisciplinary teams and, thus, they will gain an in depth technical knowledge that is required to achieve a level of scientific excellence in their chosen subject area, as well as an appreciation of the wider context required to enable the fuel for future vision. Benefiting from a fertile environment, the selected ERs will launch and develop professional careers within the rapidly expanding fields of renewable energy, smart solutions for consumers, energy efficiency in Industry, e-mobility, and secure energy systems.
Particularly, the “ENERGY FOR FUTURE” (E4F) project, a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Action COFUND (MSCA-COFUND) programme, will contribute to the challenges defined by the EU, depositing its main motivation in the following main objectives: (1) Attraction of outstanding worldwide Experienced Researchers (ERs) to embrace a research career in the high-priority clean and sustainable energy field; (2) Improvement of the working and employment conditions (e.g. competitive salaries); (3) Development of innovative and attractive training programmes; and (4) Creation of an Open-Access and Open-Data research culture through the dissemination of fellow’s outcomes: mandatory publication in Open-Access.
E4F is based on a 5-years Fellowship Programme (FP) that will recruit 28 experienced researchers (ERs) in two calls, who will be hosted for a period of 24 months, in 14 universities and Research Centres from Spain, France, UK, Germany, and US. The Programme also includes a compulsory secondment in one of the companies of the Iberdrola Group in Spain, UK, US or Mexico. E4F ERs will dedicate their efforts in individual projects focused in 5 research areas that are critical to for a climate-neutral Europe by 2050, such as: Photovoltaic Energy, Wind Energy, Smart Grids, Energy Storage, and Electric Vehicle.
During the implementation of E4F, ERs will undertake a structured training programme and work in multidisciplinary teams and, thus, they will gain an in depth technical knowledge that is required to achieve a level of scientific excellence in their chosen subject area, as well as an appreciation of the wider context required to enable the fuel for future vision. Benefiting from a fertile environment, the selected ERs will launch and develop professional careers within the rapidly expanding fields of renewable energy, smart solutions for consumers, energy efficiency in Industry, e-mobility, and secure energy systems.
During the first 24 months, the E4F project is running in the correct direction and has begun producing promising results linked to dissemination, exploitation and impact potential. The activities are progressing well and according to the planning established. The project has achieved 2 milestones and submitted 9 deliverables.
The following results are highlighted:
- the publication and dissemination of 2 calls for the attraction of outstanding Experienced Researchers (ERs);
- the enrolment of a total of 12 ERs in the 1st project call in the affiliated entities participating to the project;
- the publication of 18 works in peer-reviewed high impact journals;
- reaching more than >10.000 industry and scientific community experts in dissemination activities (conference, workshops, seminars) and more than >10M people in communication activities (website, webinars, press release, radio and television interviews);
- creation of an Open-Access and Open-Data research culture promoting the publication of results in open access journals and archives.
The following results are highlighted:
- the publication and dissemination of 2 calls for the attraction of outstanding Experienced Researchers (ERs);
- the enrolment of a total of 12 ERs in the 1st project call in the affiliated entities participating to the project;
- the publication of 18 works in peer-reviewed high impact journals;
- reaching more than >10.000 industry and scientific community experts in dissemination activities (conference, workshops, seminars) and more than >10M people in communication activities (website, webinars, press release, radio and television interviews);
- creation of an Open-Access and Open-Data research culture promoting the publication of results in open access journals and archives.
E4F project is aiming to build a scientific community promoting the enrolment of ERs in the project affiliated entities to bring forward the knowledge in five main research lines within the clean and sustainable energy field, nominally: i) Photovoltaic energy, ii) wind energy, iii) energy storage, iv) smart grids, v) electric vehicles.
The E4F network will equip the fellows with enhanced skillsets, both in research and transferable domains, that will boost their employability and career opportunities in academic and non-academic sectors, and enable them to pursue long-term careers successfully. E4F is indeed working in line with:
- Providing ERs with the necessary skills to pursue and succeed in a scientific career;
- Providing professional development opportunities, both network-wide and tailored to the individual.
- Providing the opportunity to work in different sectors (both academic and non-academic) to the ERs;
- Setting up an highly structured training programme promoting excellence in education and transferable skills development, in order to build opportunities to apply to a wide range of careers or to create their own business.
All of this achievements are being implemented ensuring equal training opportunities irrespective of nationality, institution and gender of the participant and aligning the participating organisations practices with the principles set out by the EU for human resources development in research and innovation.
Besides, E4F is willing to achieve the following general objectives:
- Attract outstanding worldwide ERs to embrace a research career in the high-priority clean and sustainable energy field, and improvement of their working conditions;
- Development of an innovative and attractive training programme for all the selected researchers;
- Creation of an Open-Access and Open-Data research culture
- Prove commitment of the beneficiary Fundación Iberdrola España (FIBE) and Partner Organisations with the European Charter & Code for Researchers.
The E4F network will equip the fellows with enhanced skillsets, both in research and transferable domains, that will boost their employability and career opportunities in academic and non-academic sectors, and enable them to pursue long-term careers successfully. E4F is indeed working in line with:
- Providing ERs with the necessary skills to pursue and succeed in a scientific career;
- Providing professional development opportunities, both network-wide and tailored to the individual.
- Providing the opportunity to work in different sectors (both academic and non-academic) to the ERs;
- Setting up an highly structured training programme promoting excellence in education and transferable skills development, in order to build opportunities to apply to a wide range of careers or to create their own business.
All of this achievements are being implemented ensuring equal training opportunities irrespective of nationality, institution and gender of the participant and aligning the participating organisations practices with the principles set out by the EU for human resources development in research and innovation.
Besides, E4F is willing to achieve the following general objectives:
- Attract outstanding worldwide ERs to embrace a research career in the high-priority clean and sustainable energy field, and improvement of their working conditions;
- Development of an innovative and attractive training programme for all the selected researchers;
- Creation of an Open-Access and Open-Data research culture
- Prove commitment of the beneficiary Fundación Iberdrola España (FIBE) and Partner Organisations with the European Charter & Code for Researchers.