Periodic Reporting for period 1 - CIVIS3i (The CIVIS Alliance Programme for International, Interdisciplinary, Intersectoral Research and Training for Experienced Researchers)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2021-06-01 al 2023-05-31
CIVIS3i is an international postdoctoral programme COFUNDed by the European Commission and four Universities of the CIVIS Alliance: Aix-Marseille Université (AMU), Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Sapienza Università di Roma (SUR) and Universidad Autónoma de Madrid (UAM). The programme aims to recruit 32 postdoctoral researchers in two calls, between 2021 and 2025. At each call CIVIS3i offers 16 24 months positions for incoming mobility at any institute of one of the four CIVIS3i universities. The positions are open to researchers from all over the world, in all fields, who submit a bottom-up project.
CIVIS3i enables scholars of all disciplines to establish their scientific independence and conduct ground-breaking research. CIVIS3i provides outstanding Experienced Researchers with opportunities to perform state-of-the-art research and receive wide-ranging training in a dynamic environment of scientific excellence, under the supervision of renowned academics, and to benefit from an extensive collaboration network with academic and non-academic institutions. CIVIS3i laureates can choose a co-host university among the wider CIVIS Alliance of 11 Universities: AMU, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA), Universitatea din Bucuresti (UB), ULB, UAM, SUR, Stockholm University (SU), Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen (UT), University of Glasgow (UG), Paris Lodron University of Salzburg (PLUS), and University of Lausanne (UNIL); and a secondment among the 24 non-academic partners and beyond. The proposals submitted to CIVIS3i calls are evaluated by international experts with high level of professional expertise. The pool of evaluation experts is balanced in terms of gender, geographical distribution and expertise. CIVIS3i follows the ethical guidelines of Horizon 2020.
Researchers recruited in the CIVIS3i programme receive support to maximize the impact of their research. CIVIS3I aims at communicating the activities of research projects to non-scientific audience and at promoting public engagement.
CIVIS3i has three main objectives:
• To offer talented researchers an attractive environment for research, and train a future generation of employable, mobile, first-class researchers, able to conducted a high-level research - interdisciplinary and intersectoral - on five important global societal challenges in 1) Health; 2) Climate, Environment, Energy; 3) Digital and Technological Transformation; 4) Cities, Territories and mobilities; 5) Society, Culture, Heritage.
• To promote the best practices of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions by aligning the recruitment conditions at the local level with the best conditions recommended at the European level, according to the requirements of the “Human Resources Excellence in Research” label, while sharing experience on implementing the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers (the Charter and the Code).
• To create a leverage effect on the research component of the CIVIS European University and contribute to the implementation of the European Research Area by developing research collaborations between the universities of the Alliance.
The CIVIS3i universities and institutes provide excellent research environments cooperating with hundreds of international organizations providing a very strong potential for researchers to gain research expertise. Networking activities within CIVIS3i and CIVIS, as well as with a wider scientific community, have strong impacts on fellows career perspectives and notably contribute to strengthening the human potential at the national and international level.
CIVIS3i enables scholars of all disciplines to establish their scientific independence and conduct ground-breaking research. CIVIS3i provides outstanding Experienced Researchers with opportunities to perform state-of-the-art research and receive wide-ranging training in a dynamic environment of scientific excellence, under the supervision of renowned academics, and to benefit from an extensive collaboration network with academic and non-academic institutions. CIVIS3i laureates can choose a co-host university among the wider CIVIS Alliance of 11 Universities: AMU, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens (NKUA), Universitatea din Bucuresti (UB), ULB, UAM, SUR, Stockholm University (SU), Eberhard Karls Universität Tübingen (UT), University of Glasgow (UG), Paris Lodron University of Salzburg (PLUS), and University of Lausanne (UNIL); and a secondment among the 24 non-academic partners and beyond. The proposals submitted to CIVIS3i calls are evaluated by international experts with high level of professional expertise. The pool of evaluation experts is balanced in terms of gender, geographical distribution and expertise. CIVIS3i follows the ethical guidelines of Horizon 2020.
Researchers recruited in the CIVIS3i programme receive support to maximize the impact of their research. CIVIS3I aims at communicating the activities of research projects to non-scientific audience and at promoting public engagement.
CIVIS3i has three main objectives:
• To offer talented researchers an attractive environment for research, and train a future generation of employable, mobile, first-class researchers, able to conducted a high-level research - interdisciplinary and intersectoral - on five important global societal challenges in 1) Health; 2) Climate, Environment, Energy; 3) Digital and Technological Transformation; 4) Cities, Territories and mobilities; 5) Society, Culture, Heritage.
• To promote the best practices of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions by aligning the recruitment conditions at the local level with the best conditions recommended at the European level, according to the requirements of the “Human Resources Excellence in Research” label, while sharing experience on implementing the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers (the Charter and the Code).
• To create a leverage effect on the research component of the CIVIS European University and contribute to the implementation of the European Research Area by developing research collaborations between the universities of the Alliance.
The CIVIS3i universities and institutes provide excellent research environments cooperating with hundreds of international organizations providing a very strong potential for researchers to gain research expertise. Networking activities within CIVIS3i and CIVIS, as well as with a wider scientific community, have strong impacts on fellows career perspectives and notably contribute to strengthening the human potential at the national and international level.
To maximise visibility and ensure the recruitment of top-level researchers, AMU created a dedicated CIVIS3i website. The program and the calls were advertised through a wide communication campaign.
The two CIVIS3i calls, announced in July 2022 and 2023, attracted many researchers from around the world – we received nearly 500 proposals from researchers of 71 nationalities. We obtained 259 proposals in Physical Sciences and Engineering, 204 in Social Sciences and Humanities, and 125 in Life Sciences, many of which interdisciplinary.
In Call 1 nearly 70% of all proposals were submitted by men (50% of the hired researchers are female) whereas in Call 2 the proportion of female applicants increased (>43%). The research experience of the Applicants varied significantly – from applicants who just finished their PhD or were in the process of finalizing it to a few decades of experience.
Independent evaluators have chosen 32 outstanding researchers; the first cohort came to the four CIVIS3i recruiting universities between September 2022 and February 2023 and the second cohort will start soon.
Objective #1 - attained: Fellows benefit from training and career development. Activities offered include collective training sessions on transferable skills, first held in Marseille (22-25 May 2023). Support is offered to fellows to valorise intellectual property. Validation of the high employability enhanced by the programme is the retaining of talent at the local level: At the time of this reporting, three fellows have obtained a permanent research position.
Objective #2 - attained: Up to May 31st 2023, 16 fellows have been recruited through one call. Fellows received clear information and abundant support during the recruitment period and benefit from the MSCA practices, such as family and mobility allowances. Call 2 researchers - being recruited.
Objective #3 - attained: First Call fellows developed academic collaborations beyond their recruiting university. Total of six CIVIS universities involved as co-hosts (SUR, AMU, UAM, UG, NKUA, SU).
The two CIVIS3i calls, announced in July 2022 and 2023, attracted many researchers from around the world – we received nearly 500 proposals from researchers of 71 nationalities. We obtained 259 proposals in Physical Sciences and Engineering, 204 in Social Sciences and Humanities, and 125 in Life Sciences, many of which interdisciplinary.
In Call 1 nearly 70% of all proposals were submitted by men (50% of the hired researchers are female) whereas in Call 2 the proportion of female applicants increased (>43%). The research experience of the Applicants varied significantly – from applicants who just finished their PhD or were in the process of finalizing it to a few decades of experience.
Independent evaluators have chosen 32 outstanding researchers; the first cohort came to the four CIVIS3i recruiting universities between September 2022 and February 2023 and the second cohort will start soon.
Objective #1 - attained: Fellows benefit from training and career development. Activities offered include collective training sessions on transferable skills, first held in Marseille (22-25 May 2023). Support is offered to fellows to valorise intellectual property. Validation of the high employability enhanced by the programme is the retaining of talent at the local level: At the time of this reporting, three fellows have obtained a permanent research position.
Objective #2 - attained: Up to May 31st 2023, 16 fellows have been recruited through one call. Fellows received clear information and abundant support during the recruitment period and benefit from the MSCA practices, such as family and mobility allowances. Call 2 researchers - being recruited.
Objective #3 - attained: First Call fellows developed academic collaborations beyond their recruiting university. Total of six CIVIS universities involved as co-hosts (SUR, AMU, UAM, UG, NKUA, SU).
The CIVIS3i programme is expected to have a significant and widespread impact at various levels. It funds projects in varied disciplines, both in fundamental and applied research. 50% of the projects fall in the Society, Culture, Heritage hub, 38% in the Digital and Technological Transformations hub, and 6% in the Climate, Environment, Energy hub: The scientific impact is diverse.
The 3i dimensions bring an important contribution to the incoming researchers careers, to the participating institutes and regions, and to the non-academic sector and other scientific structures with which the CIVIS3i consortium cooperates, as well as to society in a wider sense. The interdisciplinary aspects contribute to produce excellent science in significant research domains for the partner universities, and align with the regional Smart Specialisation Strategies. The intersectoral features create new partnerships, while training fellows to work outside of academia. New synergies were developed at the regional and international levels that ensure more excellent science and the development of pivotal career skills for the hired researchers.
Being open to both European and Non-European researchers, the Programme contributes to enhancing and strengthening of the European Research Area via the CIVIS3i 3-way transfer of knowledge. The trainings available at the Host Institutes help the fellows develop a vast set of competences on writing research proposals, on project management skills, on commercialization of research results, on intellectual property rights and communication of research results to the public. CIVIS3i adds to the prestige of the participating organisations as important research hubs hosting promising and outstanding scientists.
The 3i dimensions bring an important contribution to the incoming researchers careers, to the participating institutes and regions, and to the non-academic sector and other scientific structures with which the CIVIS3i consortium cooperates, as well as to society in a wider sense. The interdisciplinary aspects contribute to produce excellent science in significant research domains for the partner universities, and align with the regional Smart Specialisation Strategies. The intersectoral features create new partnerships, while training fellows to work outside of academia. New synergies were developed at the regional and international levels that ensure more excellent science and the development of pivotal career skills for the hired researchers.
Being open to both European and Non-European researchers, the Programme contributes to enhancing and strengthening of the European Research Area via the CIVIS3i 3-way transfer of knowledge. The trainings available at the Host Institutes help the fellows develop a vast set of competences on writing research proposals, on project management skills, on commercialization of research results, on intellectual property rights and communication of research results to the public. CIVIS3i adds to the prestige of the participating organisations as important research hubs hosting promising and outstanding scientists.