Periodic Reporting for period 2 - REUNICE (Research with and for society in EUNICE)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2023-04-01 al 2024-12-31
REUNICE European project was launched to deal with the topics related to research with and for society. REUNICE was a supplementary project of the ERASMUS+ project “EUNICE” (European University for Customized Education) and funded by the European Union’s H2020 Research and Innovation Programme to align research and innovation agendas within EUNICE alliance.
Europe has high-quality researchers recognised worldwide. But, in an increasingly competitive context, it is important to support European research. Providing a tool enhancing the collaboration between European researchers was one of the objectives of the REUNICE project.
At the same time, to help European citizens to better perceive the quality of European research by consulting publications and projects, and to facilitate access to this knowledge by companies, in order to encourage cooperation between research and industries, the REUNICE project aimed to be the reference, to be the "intelligent and structured Yellow Pages" of European research.
Therefore, in this context, the REUNICE European project was launched to deal with the topics related to research with and for society. It focused on four main topics related to research with and for society, namely: (1) open science; (2) diversity; (3) ties with industry; and, (4) sustainable science.
REUNICE aimed to align the education, research and innovation strategies of European universities.
The project design allowed the alliance to foster a transformative agenda that has a trans-disciplinary, intercultural, shared, integrated, and long-term joint strategy as its main foundation.
By doing so, the alliance is contributing to the development of a society based on knowledge and innovation, focused on a smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.
Europe has high-quality researchers recognised worldwide. But, in an increasingly competitive context, it is important to support European research. Providing a tool enhancing the collaboration between European researchers was one of the objectives of the REUNICE project.
At the same time, to help European citizens to better perceive the quality of European research by consulting publications and projects, and to facilitate access to this knowledge by companies, in order to encourage cooperation between research and industries, the REUNICE project aimed to be the reference, to be the "intelligent and structured Yellow Pages" of European research.
Therefore, in this context, the REUNICE European project was launched to deal with the topics related to research with and for society. It focused on four main topics related to research with and for society, namely: (1) open science; (2) diversity; (3) ties with industry; and, (4) sustainable science.
REUNICE aimed to align the education, research and innovation strategies of European universities.
The project design allowed the alliance to foster a transformative agenda that has a trans-disciplinary, intercultural, shared, integrated, and long-term joint strategy as its main foundation.
By doing so, the alliance is contributing to the development of a society based on knowledge and innovation, focused on a smart, sustainable and inclusive growth.
The work realized within REUNICE project was organized in 7 Work Packages: Management (WP1), Promoting cooperation between universities and other sectors (WP2), Promoting Open Science as result of EUNICE researchers’ collaboration (WP3), Promoting excellence in research and innovation, fostering diversity, inclusiveness and gender equality (WP4), Promoting sustainable Science for Business and Society: in line with current and future challenges of European Universities (WP5), Dissemination and Communication (WP6) and Ethics (WP7).
The management planned within WP1 was assuring the right implementation of the project taking care of the management structure organization, ways of communication within the partners and the IT tool solutions serving the implementation of the project.
The main objective of the WP2 was to support the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem by developing an Expertise Exchange Platform (EEP) connecting university actors with other societal actors in a transactional setting and by defining and piloting a solution enabling deeper strategic cooperation between universities and other sectors. These activities enabled the EUNICE Alliance to take an even more active role in promoting cooperation in research and innovation between universities and other sectors by extending it with a cross-border aspect in a digital setting.
Within WP3, after researching open science within the Alliance and drafting an open science strategy, a blockchain-based collaborative platform was developed to enhance open science across the Alliance and beyond. REUNICE Open Science platform aims to strengthen collaboration between EUNICE universities by leveraging advanced digital technologies such as AI and blockchain. By facilitating knowledge sharing and interdisciplinary cooperation, the platform fosters innovation and accelerates the impact of open science within and beyond academia.
WP4 was a cross-cutting work package implementing H2020 Transformation Module “Developing and implementing strategies for strengthening human capital in research and innovation and for enabling balanced brain circulation”. Research careers were evaluated in accordance with recently developed CoARA principles. Other activities focused on the promotion of talents by identifying the inventory of available research and innovation support staff. Coaching and mentoring programmes were established to address scientists from early-career to experienced level. WP4 took care of promoting inclusivity within the Alliance, by creating an Inclusive Communication Charter as a key output.
Within WP5 the internship portal developed earlier in the EUNICE project has been renewed with new functionalities, where the research groups and laboratories of the EUNICE universities can post open position for Ph.D. recruitment and offer international internships. Aware raising actions regarding practical uses of AI were realized and the platform prototype was implemented (Artificial Intelligence Competence Centre - AICC) that enables involved parties to share information about their research and competences within AI.
WP6 has developed the Communication Strategy and Communication Action Plan, aligned with the EUNICE Communication Strategy. REUNICE Diversity, Inclusiveness and Gender Equality Style Manual was created which established some common criteria related to the values of diversity, inclusiveness and gender equality. The communication and dissemination activities during the entire project were effectively implemented on the ongoing basis and actively supported the developments and outcomes achieved by each of work packages of REUNICE project.
The management planned within WP1 was assuring the right implementation of the project taking care of the management structure organization, ways of communication within the partners and the IT tool solutions serving the implementation of the project.
The main objective of the WP2 was to support the innovation and entrepreneurship ecosystem by developing an Expertise Exchange Platform (EEP) connecting university actors with other societal actors in a transactional setting and by defining and piloting a solution enabling deeper strategic cooperation between universities and other sectors. These activities enabled the EUNICE Alliance to take an even more active role in promoting cooperation in research and innovation between universities and other sectors by extending it with a cross-border aspect in a digital setting.
Within WP3, after researching open science within the Alliance and drafting an open science strategy, a blockchain-based collaborative platform was developed to enhance open science across the Alliance and beyond. REUNICE Open Science platform aims to strengthen collaboration between EUNICE universities by leveraging advanced digital technologies such as AI and blockchain. By facilitating knowledge sharing and interdisciplinary cooperation, the platform fosters innovation and accelerates the impact of open science within and beyond academia.
WP4 was a cross-cutting work package implementing H2020 Transformation Module “Developing and implementing strategies for strengthening human capital in research and innovation and for enabling balanced brain circulation”. Research careers were evaluated in accordance with recently developed CoARA principles. Other activities focused on the promotion of talents by identifying the inventory of available research and innovation support staff. Coaching and mentoring programmes were established to address scientists from early-career to experienced level. WP4 took care of promoting inclusivity within the Alliance, by creating an Inclusive Communication Charter as a key output.
Within WP5 the internship portal developed earlier in the EUNICE project has been renewed with new functionalities, where the research groups and laboratories of the EUNICE universities can post open position for Ph.D. recruitment and offer international internships. Aware raising actions regarding practical uses of AI were realized and the platform prototype was implemented (Artificial Intelligence Competence Centre - AICC) that enables involved parties to share information about their research and competences within AI.
WP6 has developed the Communication Strategy and Communication Action Plan, aligned with the EUNICE Communication Strategy. REUNICE Diversity, Inclusiveness and Gender Equality Style Manual was created which established some common criteria related to the values of diversity, inclusiveness and gender equality. The communication and dissemination activities during the entire project were effectively implemented on the ongoing basis and actively supported the developments and outcomes achieved by each of work packages of REUNICE project.
REUNICE aimed to build an effective cooperation between Science and Society. The cooperation with non-academic actors, especially academia-business cooperation was reinforced thanks to the project. The REUNICE project aimed to align Alliances education, research and innovation strategies. It contributed to the consolidation of the Alliance as a European University through the improvement and extension of the academic and research networks that have already been initiated through the activities in the EUNICE project.
The sharing of research infrastructure has been a key element already proposed with the EUNICE Alliance as well as cooperation with the non-academic sector. The digital Expertise Exchange Platform, is a way to connect university actors with other societal actors.
The collaborative environment for Open Science directly impacts how science is conducted and perceived by all EUNICE partners and the Alliance itself.
The promotion of AI-based solutions are encouraging to implement the usage of AI tools and their potential applications also enhance cross-disciplinary partnerships.
Strengthening human capital by customised education is one of the main goals of the EUNICE Alliance. A joint human resources strategy based on HRS4R, which is already implemented at some partners of the EUNICE Alliance on different levels creates an important internal framework that impacts the consortium widely with good practices possibly to be implemented.
The identified career paths and possible educational offer for young scientists at all partner universities (Career Paths Catalogue) and the career assessment methods are helping to identify the needs and providing support to the researchers in their early careers.
The ongoing dissemination activities raise awareness on Higher Education Institutions, public administrations and policy makers on the challenges to be faced by European Universities in terms of institutional cooperation and academia-business collaboration.
The sharing of research infrastructure has been a key element already proposed with the EUNICE Alliance as well as cooperation with the non-academic sector. The digital Expertise Exchange Platform, is a way to connect university actors with other societal actors.
The collaborative environment for Open Science directly impacts how science is conducted and perceived by all EUNICE partners and the Alliance itself.
The promotion of AI-based solutions are encouraging to implement the usage of AI tools and their potential applications also enhance cross-disciplinary partnerships.
Strengthening human capital by customised education is one of the main goals of the EUNICE Alliance. A joint human resources strategy based on HRS4R, which is already implemented at some partners of the EUNICE Alliance on different levels creates an important internal framework that impacts the consortium widely with good practices possibly to be implemented.
The identified career paths and possible educational offer for young scientists at all partner universities (Career Paths Catalogue) and the career assessment methods are helping to identify the needs and providing support to the researchers in their early careers.
The ongoing dissemination activities raise awareness on Higher Education Institutions, public administrations and policy makers on the challenges to be faced by European Universities in terms of institutional cooperation and academia-business collaboration.