Periodic Reporting for period 1 - ROSETTA (RespOnSiblE Time and Tech in an Accelerated Digitised World)
Reporting period: 2024-01-01 to 2025-12-31
In an era defined by relentless technological acceleration, society faces the implications of innovation. From the proliferation of digital devices to the omnipresence of AI, the pace of change outstrips our ability to comprehend its full consequences. As technology permeates every aspect of our lives, questions arise about its long-term effects on individuals, communities, and the planet. Responsible tech matters when pressure is highest: executives rushing to deliver growth, developers and regulators under pressure and struggling to keep pace with rapid software acceleration.
To address this, the Responsible Time and Tech in an Accelerated Digitised World (ROSETTA) project proposes a transformative agenda to examining the impact of technology in an increasingly accelerated, high pressured world and focuses on the theme of ‘Time and Responsible Technology’. With a total funding of €3.5 million, ROSETTA is co-funded by LERO, the Research Ireland Centre for Software, the European Commission’s Marie Sklodowska Curie Actions (MSCA) COFUND scheme and the University of Galway. ROSETTA’s aim is to train and develop the next generation of European leaders to understand and evaluate the complex relationship between time and technology.
ROSETTA will recruit 19 postdoctoral fellows, each with a duration of 2 years, offering researchers a unique change to explore how time and technology intersect within our rapidly evolving digital world. The postdoctoral fellows will be provided with the highest quality research environment and a training programme where they will critically examine the extent to which responsible efforts from businesses and policymakers are real and effective. The objective of ROSETTA is to provide the researchers with a unique chance to investigate the development, use and regulation of technology from a time perspective across all aspects of life from children, people with disabilities, people in the workplace, to healthcare and social inclusion for older people. Fellows will be recruited from interdisciplinary fields, bringing together computer science, biomedical engineering, education, economics, humanities, psychology, software engineering, information systems and business management. The ROSETTA fellows will be hosted by the host institution of their supervisor, where they will conduct their research and participate in invaluable training and career development opportunities. They will also complete a secondment to a secondment host to suit their research project and career development needs and participate in an international research visit to a research collaborator. ROSETTA postdoctoral researchers will be encouraged to view their fellowship as an opportunity to build expertise, develop skills and experience to position themselves for future advancement in either academia or industry.
ROSETTA fellows will
1. Choose their own research topic within the ROSETTA themes.
2. Will get access to international mobility, intersectoral exposure, and interdisciplinarity.
3. Receive training on the latest theories, methods, and equipment through five Summer/Winter schools.
4. Be provided with a comprehensive set of courses to improve their transferrable skills.
5. Have access to Lero supports such as workshops and seminars, industry collaboration, public engagement, and communications.
6. Be uniquely positioned to design and evaluate technology, and policies and legislation on technology use with new expertise and perspectives on how technology affects our time.
To address this, the Responsible Time and Tech in an Accelerated Digitised World (ROSETTA) project proposes a transformative agenda to examining the impact of technology in an increasingly accelerated, high pressured world and focuses on the theme of ‘Time and Responsible Technology’. With a total funding of €3.5 million, ROSETTA is co-funded by LERO, the Research Ireland Centre for Software, the European Commission’s Marie Sklodowska Curie Actions (MSCA) COFUND scheme and the University of Galway. ROSETTA’s aim is to train and develop the next generation of European leaders to understand and evaluate the complex relationship between time and technology.
ROSETTA will recruit 19 postdoctoral fellows, each with a duration of 2 years, offering researchers a unique change to explore how time and technology intersect within our rapidly evolving digital world. The postdoctoral fellows will be provided with the highest quality research environment and a training programme where they will critically examine the extent to which responsible efforts from businesses and policymakers are real and effective. The objective of ROSETTA is to provide the researchers with a unique chance to investigate the development, use and regulation of technology from a time perspective across all aspects of life from children, people with disabilities, people in the workplace, to healthcare and social inclusion for older people. Fellows will be recruited from interdisciplinary fields, bringing together computer science, biomedical engineering, education, economics, humanities, psychology, software engineering, information systems and business management. The ROSETTA fellows will be hosted by the host institution of their supervisor, where they will conduct their research and participate in invaluable training and career development opportunities. They will also complete a secondment to a secondment host to suit their research project and career development needs and participate in an international research visit to a research collaborator. ROSETTA postdoctoral researchers will be encouraged to view their fellowship as an opportunity to build expertise, develop skills and experience to position themselves for future advancement in either academia or industry.
ROSETTA fellows will
1. Choose their own research topic within the ROSETTA themes.
2. Will get access to international mobility, intersectoral exposure, and interdisciplinarity.
3. Receive training on the latest theories, methods, and equipment through five Summer/Winter schools.
4. Be provided with a comprehensive set of courses to improve their transferrable skills.
5. Have access to Lero supports such as workshops and seminars, industry collaboration, public engagement, and communications.
6. Be uniquely positioned to design and evaluate technology, and policies and legislation on technology use with new expertise and perspectives on how technology affects our time.
Programme launch: The launch event was held at University of Galway on 22nd March 2024 as part of the University’s Annual Business Summit. A focus of the summit was discussion around Digitalisation at Speed – Responsible Technology in an Accelerated World. Current assumptions around digital responsibility and leading practices such as AI, analytics and cybersecurity were presented. An example of leading research in this area included the newly funded ROSETTA Fellowship Training programme. The event was attended by over 400 business leaders. There was excellent press coverage in the media and articles were published in a number of leading online news outlets and print media.
Programme promotion: ROSETTA developed a visual identity for the programme, including a logo, brand assets and a dedicated website https://rosetta.lero.ie/(opens in new window) and LinkedIn page https://www.linkedin.com/company/rosetta-fellowships/(opens in new window). Our strategy focused on attracting high-quality applications and internationally publicising the programme through various channels and means including call publication in Euraxess, launch event, press releases, published articles, websites, social media, and call dissemination through national and international networks, international conferences and distribution lists.
Evaluation and Selection: ROSETTA published two internationally advertised calls for proposals. Both calls were highly competitive and included an international peer review followed by an interview stage. Overall, ROSETTA received 113 eligible applications for a total of 19 fellowships available. The fellows were selected following an open, transparent, merit-based, impartial and equitable selection procedure. The recruitment for the 9 fellows funded in the first call has been completed, and the recruitment for the 10 fellows funded in the second call is currently ongoing. The second call fellows are due to commence their fellowship later in 2026.
The training programme is being implemented, and the fellows funded in the first call have already participated in various training and career development opportunities. In addition, some fellows have already delivered peer-reviewed publications or submitted publications. Furthermore, the fellows have completed communication and outreach activities. There is a full training schedule planned as well as secondments and short international research visits. All fellows will avail of the complete training programme.
Programme promotion: ROSETTA developed a visual identity for the programme, including a logo, brand assets and a dedicated website https://rosetta.lero.ie/(opens in new window) and LinkedIn page https://www.linkedin.com/company/rosetta-fellowships/(opens in new window). Our strategy focused on attracting high-quality applications and internationally publicising the programme through various channels and means including call publication in Euraxess, launch event, press releases, published articles, websites, social media, and call dissemination through national and international networks, international conferences and distribution lists.
Evaluation and Selection: ROSETTA published two internationally advertised calls for proposals. Both calls were highly competitive and included an international peer review followed by an interview stage. Overall, ROSETTA received 113 eligible applications for a total of 19 fellowships available. The fellows were selected following an open, transparent, merit-based, impartial and equitable selection procedure. The recruitment for the 9 fellows funded in the first call has been completed, and the recruitment for the 10 fellows funded in the second call is currently ongoing. The second call fellows are due to commence their fellowship later in 2026.
The training programme is being implemented, and the fellows funded in the first call have already participated in various training and career development opportunities. In addition, some fellows have already delivered peer-reviewed publications or submitted publications. Furthermore, the fellows have completed communication and outreach activities. There is a full training schedule planned as well as secondments and short international research visits. All fellows will avail of the complete training programme.
ROSETTA will provide a unique research training programme to 19 postdoctoral fellows who will critically examine how technology is developed, used and regulated through a time lens – addressing its impact across diverse domains.
The programme aims to develop future research leaders in responsible technology through implementing an individual research project. Together with their supervisor, they will create a career development plan, select a secondment to an industry or academic partner to suit the research project and complete a training programme which includes modules in discipline-specific and complementary research skills and transferable skills. Fellows will also receive advanced training in interdisciplinary research methods, innovation and entrepreneurship, open science practices, and industry engagement. The programme will provide an opportunity for ROSETTA fellows to build expertise, develop skills and experience to position themselves for future advancement in either academia or industry.
All fellowships will be based in Ireland at University of Galway and ROSETTA’s implementing partners (UCC, UCD, UL, TCD) The fellows will be hosted by their supervisor’s host institutions.
Early results from ROSETTA demonstrate strong momentum and emerging impact across ROSETTA themes. Initial findings have already contributed to the submission of several peer-reviewed papers, with abstracts accepted for presentation at international conferences and currently under review for publication in leading journals. These outputs highlight the novelty and relevance of the research and provide an important foundation for future high-impact dissemination.
The programme has also begun to attract recognition through competitive awards and invitations to participate in international research networks. These early achievements are expected to build significant collaboration across the European Union, strengthening interdisciplinary partnerships and enabling knowledge exchange between academic institutions, industry stakeholders, and policy communities.
Through close engagement with academic and industry partners, the programme will foster international collaboration, promote mobility between sectors, and support the development of a highly skilled research community capable of addressing complex societal and technological challenges at European scale.
The programme aims to develop future research leaders in responsible technology through implementing an individual research project. Together with their supervisor, they will create a career development plan, select a secondment to an industry or academic partner to suit the research project and complete a training programme which includes modules in discipline-specific and complementary research skills and transferable skills. Fellows will also receive advanced training in interdisciplinary research methods, innovation and entrepreneurship, open science practices, and industry engagement. The programme will provide an opportunity for ROSETTA fellows to build expertise, develop skills and experience to position themselves for future advancement in either academia or industry.
All fellowships will be based in Ireland at University of Galway and ROSETTA’s implementing partners (UCC, UCD, UL, TCD) The fellows will be hosted by their supervisor’s host institutions.
Early results from ROSETTA demonstrate strong momentum and emerging impact across ROSETTA themes. Initial findings have already contributed to the submission of several peer-reviewed papers, with abstracts accepted for presentation at international conferences and currently under review for publication in leading journals. These outputs highlight the novelty and relevance of the research and provide an important foundation for future high-impact dissemination.
The programme has also begun to attract recognition through competitive awards and invitations to participate in international research networks. These early achievements are expected to build significant collaboration across the European Union, strengthening interdisciplinary partnerships and enabling knowledge exchange between academic institutions, industry stakeholders, and policy communities.
Through close engagement with academic and industry partners, the programme will foster international collaboration, promote mobility between sectors, and support the development of a highly skilled research community capable of addressing complex societal and technological challenges at European scale.