Objective 1: Bring together Green and Blue Transition research areas under a competitive international postdoctoral fellowship scheme. The programme has operationalised a unified Green and Blue Transition platform through the launch and completion of Call-1, activating a pool of 60+ supervisors and enabling interdisciplinary proposal development across the defined thematic scope.
Objective 2: Organise three open, transparent and merit-based international calls aligned with EU HR Excellence in Research principles. Call-1, which attracted 44 applications, was successfully completed in full compliance with HR Excellence in Research principles. Call-2, attracting 41 applications, is in progress with significant operational enhancements built on lessons learned from Call-1.
Objective 3: Recruit 20 high-skilled post-doctoral researchers under a structured 24-month programme. Six candidates were selected in Call-1, four recruited within this reporting period. Following recruitment, Cohort-1 fellows were actively supported in relocation, visa procedures, onboarding (including childcare and family reunification), research budget management, secondment planning and day-to-day administrative and academic integration, ensuring smooth and inclusive implementation of their fellowship activities. Recruitment will continue through Call-2. Call-3 might be required after assessing the Call-2 results.
Objective 4: Implement tailor-made training, career development, dissemination and exploitation and Open Science and data management frameworks. Programme-level structures were established and operationalised, with tailor-made individual-level implementation initiated for Cohort-1.
Objective 5: Strengthen METU’s institutional capacity and visibility, while contributing to the European Research Area. Governance, ethical compliance, structured supervision and dissemination frameworks were fully founded, reinforcing institutional alignment with European Research Area and HR Excellence in Research principles.
