Periodic Reporting for period 2 - CIRCLE U. ERIA (Empowering Research and Innovation Actions in Circle U.)
Reporting period: 2023-03-01 to 2024-10-31
The Circle U. European University Alliance brings together nine comprehensive, research-intensive, interdisciplinary and international universities with the aim to create a European university ecosystem that trains engaged citizens, promotes equality and excellence in teaching and research, and is open to society.
Co-funded under the Horizon 2020 Science with and for Society (Swafs) Action and launched on September 1, 2021 under the coordination of Université Paris Cité, the Circle U. ERIA (Empowering Research and Innovation Actions) project was designed to contribute to selected ERA Actions, specifically:
• Action 4: Promote attractive and sustainable research careers, balanced talent circulation and international, transdisciplinary and inter-sectoral mobility across the ERA;
• Action 5: Promote gender equality and foster inclusiveness, taking note of the Ljubljana Declaration;
• Action 13: Empowering HEI to develop selected ERA in synergy with the European Education Area;
• Action 14: Bring science closer to citizens;
• Action 15: Build up research and innovation ecosystems to improve excellence and competitiveness.
During a project period of thirty-eight months, the Circle U. ERIA project steered initiatives with the ambition to strengthen and deepen research collaboration and innovation within and through the Circle U. Alliance.
In order to provide structure to the project, we defined the following seven key objectives, focusing on interdisciplinary research, science and society, Early-Career Researchers (ECR), and the European Research Area (ERA):
• Objective 1: Fostering inter- and transdisciplinarity in research and innovation activities
• Objective 2: Fostering the co-construction of solutions with external stakeholders outside academia
• Objective 3: Making research more accessible to citizens and practitioners in order to engage them with science
• Objective 4: Empowering early-career researchers in their career path within and outside of academia
• Objective 5: Increasing the international exposure of early-career researchers
• Objective 6: Promoting the three EU objectives for gender equality in research in Circle U.
• Objective 7: Structuring Collaboration at the European level, among pilot alliances
Co-funded under the Horizon 2020 Science with and for Society (Swafs) Action and launched on September 1, 2021 under the coordination of Université Paris Cité, the Circle U. ERIA (Empowering Research and Innovation Actions) project was designed to contribute to selected ERA Actions, specifically:
• Action 4: Promote attractive and sustainable research careers, balanced talent circulation and international, transdisciplinary and inter-sectoral mobility across the ERA;
• Action 5: Promote gender equality and foster inclusiveness, taking note of the Ljubljana Declaration;
• Action 13: Empowering HEI to develop selected ERA in synergy with the European Education Area;
• Action 14: Bring science closer to citizens;
• Action 15: Build up research and innovation ecosystems to improve excellence and competitiveness.
During a project period of thirty-eight months, the Circle U. ERIA project steered initiatives with the ambition to strengthen and deepen research collaboration and innovation within and through the Circle U. Alliance.
In order to provide structure to the project, we defined the following seven key objectives, focusing on interdisciplinary research, science and society, Early-Career Researchers (ECR), and the European Research Area (ERA):
• Objective 1: Fostering inter- and transdisciplinarity in research and innovation activities
• Objective 2: Fostering the co-construction of solutions with external stakeholders outside academia
• Objective 3: Making research more accessible to citizens and practitioners in order to engage them with science
• Objective 4: Empowering early-career researchers in their career path within and outside of academia
• Objective 5: Increasing the international exposure of early-career researchers
• Objective 6: Promoting the three EU objectives for gender equality in research in Circle U.
• Objective 7: Structuring Collaboration at the European level, among pilot alliances
The project's workload was divided into the following fourteen activities:
• Activity 1: Setting up and awarding the Inter Circle U. Prize
• Activity 2: Organising two Circle U. “sandboxes”
• Activity 3: Networking for interdisciplinary research projects in the Knowledge Hubs
• Activity 4: Analysing the effectivity and impact of the three transversal Pilot Actions in fostering inter- and transdisciplinary activities in research and innovation (“research on research” approach)
• Activity 5: Democracy in Schools Initiative
• Activity 6: Creation of Training Programme for Practitioners on Climate Change
• Activity 7: Public Interactive Lecture Series on Global Health
• Activity 8: Analysing the effectivity and impact of the three thematic Pilot Actions in engaging citizens and society in research and innovation (“research on research” approach)
• Activity 9: Setting up an Early-career researchers Forum as a shared space where common issues related to doctoral training and PhD/post-doc careers are discussed
• Activity 10: Organizing Thematic Summer schools for PhD students
• Activity 11: Developing online doctoral training sessions on transversal issues
• Activity 12: Boosting international and inter-sectoral mobility of early-career researchers within Circle U.
• Activity 13: Integrating gender balance in Circle U. activities
• Activity 14: Participating in the Forum FOREU2 with the other alliances
Each of these activities was successfully completed by the end of the project period except for the second of two planned thematic summer schools (Activity 10).
• Activity 1: Setting up and awarding the Inter Circle U. Prize
• Activity 2: Organising two Circle U. “sandboxes”
• Activity 3: Networking for interdisciplinary research projects in the Knowledge Hubs
• Activity 4: Analysing the effectivity and impact of the three transversal Pilot Actions in fostering inter- and transdisciplinary activities in research and innovation (“research on research” approach)
• Activity 5: Democracy in Schools Initiative
• Activity 6: Creation of Training Programme for Practitioners on Climate Change
• Activity 7: Public Interactive Lecture Series on Global Health
• Activity 8: Analysing the effectivity and impact of the three thematic Pilot Actions in engaging citizens and society in research and innovation (“research on research” approach)
• Activity 9: Setting up an Early-career researchers Forum as a shared space where common issues related to doctoral training and PhD/post-doc careers are discussed
• Activity 10: Organizing Thematic Summer schools for PhD students
• Activity 11: Developing online doctoral training sessions on transversal issues
• Activity 12: Boosting international and inter-sectoral mobility of early-career researchers within Circle U.
• Activity 13: Integrating gender balance in Circle U. activities
• Activity 14: Participating in the Forum FOREU2 with the other alliances
Each of these activities was successfully completed by the end of the project period except for the second of two planned thematic summer schools (Activity 10).
The Circle U. ERIA project aimed to strengthen the Research and Innovation dimension of the Circle U. Alliance by driving internal changes in each of our universities and helping to structure the European Research Area. Thanks to our activities linked to our Circle U. Knowledge Hubs and cooperation with other European university alliances, the Circle U. ERIA project has contributed to the achievement of the Circle U. Alliance's goal of gaining a strong strategical position on Research and Innovation at national and European levels.