Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ARISTOS (ARISTOS Postdoctoral Program in Biomedicine and Health Sciences)
Reporting period: 2023-06-01 to 2025-05-31
ARISTOS is a Postdoctoral Program in Biomedicine and Health Sciences cofunded by the Horizon Europe Marie Skłodowska-Curie COFUND scheme and the Consorcio Centro de Investigación Biomédica en Red M.P. (CIBER) in Spain. ARISTOS offered up to 27 postdoctoral positions for three years each, at CIBER groups led by distinguished principal investigators. Through an open and merit-based recruitment procedure, ARISTOS provides excellent opportunities for international, intersectoral and interdisciplinary research and training under attractive working conditions for the Fellows in line with the European Charter for Researchers and Code of Conduct and in compliance with the Spanish legislation for employment contracts.
CIBER is a public research consortium that embraces 507 research groups which belong to more than 100 different Affiliated Institutions (universities, research centers and hospitals) around Spain. CIBER is an international reference in research and innovation. Several of CIBER researchers feature among the most cited worldwide. Scientific progress, talent promotion and technology transfer are among CIBER priorities served by a dynamic and vigorous interdisciplinary and multi-institutional knowledge network formed by academic and clinical research groups belonging to different public or private entities. CIBER’s most significant asset is its own research staff that is currently exceeding 800 members. CIBER clusters some of the most important facilities of biomedicine research in Spain directly participating in more than 17 technology and research platforms. As a network of excellence is tasked with being a reference in research and innovation in Spain and internationally.
Fellows participating in the ARISTOS Program will carry out a research project in a CIBER group on a topic of their choice along the scientific lines of CIBER, related with disease prevention, diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment and come closer to the private sector by collaborating with medical and healthcare companies during their secondments. The individual research projects should be designed to:
i) significantly develop and extend the competences of the researcher in terms of multi- or interdisciplinary expertise, inter-sectoral experience and transferable skills,
and ii) be part of a structured, long-term professional development plan, coherent with past achievements and clearly identifying the future aims of the researchers’ career in the public or private sector.
Beyond the Fellows' training through their own research, the ARISTOS Program also provides to the Fellows career enhancing opportunities through training courses in research techniques, complementary workshops for transferable skills, scientific meetings and conferences and the access to international scientific and clinical networks, with the final aim to promote knowledge exchange and the mobility among the academic, clinical and private sectors.
ARISTOS Objectives
- To provide training and career development to postdoctoral researchers according to the individual-driven mobility and equal opportunities principles in order to enable sustainable career paths.
- To accelerate the scientific progress and excellence of Europe by attracting top-class researchers of any nationality to work on innovative research projects in emerging fields of biomedicine and health sciences.
- To enhance international cooperation and transfer of knowledge in research related with disease prevention, diagnosis, monitoring and treatment as well as reinforce the transfer of knowledge among research and clinical networks in these fields.
- To promote knowledge transfer by the collaboration with medical and healthcare industry and policy stakeholders.
- To encourage the multidisciplinary attitude among professionals to boost the adaptation capacity to new arising challenges, instilling a sense of “collective science” among professionals and society.
Expected impact
- To support the career development and training of researchers -with a focus on innovation skills-in biomedicine disciplines through international and intersectoral (public-private, preclinical-clinical) mobility.
- To contribute to the potential progress of a researcher towards a position of maturity and leadership in the academic or private sector.
- To steer the research outcomes towards commercial exploitation, clinical application and societal impact taking profit of established connections with policy stakeholders.
- To contribute to the researchers training in the highly important areas of health and clinical sciences leveraging regional, national and international competence towards a competitive European Research Area and helping to solve current and future societal changes
CIBER is a public research consortium that embraces 507 research groups which belong to more than 100 different Affiliated Institutions (universities, research centers and hospitals) around Spain. CIBER is an international reference in research and innovation. Several of CIBER researchers feature among the most cited worldwide. Scientific progress, talent promotion and technology transfer are among CIBER priorities served by a dynamic and vigorous interdisciplinary and multi-institutional knowledge network formed by academic and clinical research groups belonging to different public or private entities. CIBER’s most significant asset is its own research staff that is currently exceeding 800 members. CIBER clusters some of the most important facilities of biomedicine research in Spain directly participating in more than 17 technology and research platforms. As a network of excellence is tasked with being a reference in research and innovation in Spain and internationally.
Fellows participating in the ARISTOS Program will carry out a research project in a CIBER group on a topic of their choice along the scientific lines of CIBER, related with disease prevention, diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment and come closer to the private sector by collaborating with medical and healthcare companies during their secondments. The individual research projects should be designed to:
i) significantly develop and extend the competences of the researcher in terms of multi- or interdisciplinary expertise, inter-sectoral experience and transferable skills,
and ii) be part of a structured, long-term professional development plan, coherent with past achievements and clearly identifying the future aims of the researchers’ career in the public or private sector.
Beyond the Fellows' training through their own research, the ARISTOS Program also provides to the Fellows career enhancing opportunities through training courses in research techniques, complementary workshops for transferable skills, scientific meetings and conferences and the access to international scientific and clinical networks, with the final aim to promote knowledge exchange and the mobility among the academic, clinical and private sectors.
ARISTOS Objectives
- To provide training and career development to postdoctoral researchers according to the individual-driven mobility and equal opportunities principles in order to enable sustainable career paths.
- To accelerate the scientific progress and excellence of Europe by attracting top-class researchers of any nationality to work on innovative research projects in emerging fields of biomedicine and health sciences.
- To enhance international cooperation and transfer of knowledge in research related with disease prevention, diagnosis, monitoring and treatment as well as reinforce the transfer of knowledge among research and clinical networks in these fields.
- To promote knowledge transfer by the collaboration with medical and healthcare industry and policy stakeholders.
- To encourage the multidisciplinary attitude among professionals to boost the adaptation capacity to new arising challenges, instilling a sense of “collective science” among professionals and society.
Expected impact
- To support the career development and training of researchers -with a focus on innovation skills-in biomedicine disciplines through international and intersectoral (public-private, preclinical-clinical) mobility.
- To contribute to the potential progress of a researcher towards a position of maturity and leadership in the academic or private sector.
- To steer the research outcomes towards commercial exploitation, clinical application and societal impact taking profit of established connections with policy stakeholders.
- To contribute to the researchers training in the highly important areas of health and clinical sciences leveraging regional, national and international competence towards a competitive European Research Area and helping to solve current and future societal changes
During the first 24 months, the ARISTOS Program is running in the correct direction. The activities are progressing well and according to the planning established. The project has achieved 2 milestones and submitted 14 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 10 fellows in the 1st call;
- the eappointment of a total of 15 fellows in the 2nd call;
- the publication of 1 work in peer-reviewed high impact journal;
- creation of an Open-Access and Open-Data research culture promoting the publication of results in open access journals and archives;
- the publication of the ARISTOS 1st Data Management Plan and as for the individual projects, 1st call ARISTOS Fellows (10) delivered a data management plan (DMP).
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 10 fellows in the 1st call;
- the eappointment of a total of 15 fellows in the 2nd call;
- the publication of 1 work in peer-reviewed high impact journal;
- creation of an Open-Access and Open-Data research culture promoting the publication of results in open access journals and archives;
- the publication of the ARISTOS 1st Data Management Plan and as for the individual projects, 1st call ARISTOS Fellows (10) delivered a data management plan (DMP).
Fellows participating in the ARISTOS Program carry out a research project in a CIBER group on a topic of their choice along the scientific lines of CIBER, related with disease prevention, diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment and come closer to the private sector by collaborating with medical and healthcare companies during their secondments.
The ARISTOS Program also provides to the Fellows career enhancing opportunities through training courses in research techniques, complementary workshops for transferable skills, scientific meetings and conferences and the access to international scientific and clinical networks, with the final aim to promote knowledge exchange and the mobility among the academic, clinical and private sectors
The ARISTOS Program also provides to the Fellows career enhancing opportunities through training courses in research techniques, complementary workshops for transferable skills, scientific meetings and conferences and the access to international scientific and clinical networks, with the final aim to promote knowledge exchange and the mobility among the academic, clinical and private sectors