Periodic Reporting for period 1 - WIRE FilmEU (WIRE - Widening Innovation+Research Excellence in FilmEU))
Période du rapport: 2024-01-01 au 2025-03-31
WIRE is a collaboration of eight top European HEIs, led by ULusófona (Portugal), with LUCA (Belgium), IADT (Ireland), Tallinn University (Estonia), VŠMU (Slovakia), LMTA (Lithuania), VIA (Denmark), and NATFA (Bulgaria), plus the FilmEU Association. This expanded Alliance reflects Europe’s rich geographical, cultural, and linguistic diversity. WIRE launches at a key moment, growing from four to eight members and advancing a joint agenda focused on practice-based artistic research.
At its core, WIRE aims to reform and upgrade the research and innovation (R&I) systems of participating HEIs, especially those from widening countries, driving institutional transformation, improving competitiveness, and consolidating FilmEU as a geographically inclusive, excellence-driven alliance. By extending the benefits of past projects like FilmEU_RIT to new partners, WIRE strengthens shared capacities, fosters institutional reform, and promotes joint outcomes with clear societal impact.
To achieve these ambitions, WIRE is structured around five capacitation modules that interconnect and reinforce its main objectives. The first module focuses on research strategy and inclusiveness, ensuring all partners—especially in widening countries—are empowered through structural reforms and the adoption of inclusive gender equality policies. The second builds the infrastructure and innovation capacity needed to support interdisciplinary practice-based artistic research, centred on a shared HUB of eight innovation labs. The third module addresses research career development and assessment reform, modernising how artistic research is evaluated and aligning practices with the COARA principles. The fourth boosts international cooperation, aligning the Alliance with the European Research Area (ERA) and European Education Area (EEA), raising FilmEU’s global profile and deepening ties with partners worldwide. Finally, the fifth module accelerates the digital and green transition, embedding open science, sustainability, and knowledge sharing across all institutional activities.
Together, these modules guide WIRE’s pursuit of its strategic objectives: modernising R&I careers and systems, implementing seed funding and exploratory initiatives linked to Horizon Europe Missions, expanding the Alliance’s critical mass and R&I competitiveness, and embedding sustainability, inclusiveness, and international cooperation at every level. With this integrated approach, WIRE positions FilmEU as a model European University, driving forward a vision where artistic research is at the heart of innovation, education, and societal transformation.
At its core, WIRE aims to reform and upgrade the research and innovation (R&I) systems of participating HEIs, especially those from widening countries, driving institutional transformation, improving competitiveness, and consolidating FilmEU as a geographically inclusive, excellence-driven alliance. By extending the benefits of past projects like FilmEU_RIT to new partners, WIRE strengthens shared capacities, fosters institutional reform, and promotes joint outcomes with clear societal impact.
To achieve these ambitions, WIRE is structured around five capacitation modules that interconnect and reinforce its main objectives. The first module focuses on research strategy and inclusiveness, ensuring all partners—especially in widening countries—are empowered through structural reforms and the adoption of inclusive gender equality policies. The second builds the infrastructure and innovation capacity needed to support interdisciplinary practice-based artistic research, centred on a shared HUB of eight innovation labs. The third module addresses research career development and assessment reform, modernising how artistic research is evaluated and aligning practices with the COARA principles. The fourth boosts international cooperation, aligning the Alliance with the European Research Area (ERA) and European Education Area (EEA), raising FilmEU’s global profile and deepening ties with partners worldwide. Finally, the fifth module accelerates the digital and green transition, embedding open science, sustainability, and knowledge sharing across all institutional activities.
Together, these modules guide WIRE’s pursuit of its strategic objectives: modernising R&I careers and systems, implementing seed funding and exploratory initiatives linked to Horizon Europe Missions, expanding the Alliance’s critical mass and R&I competitiveness, and embedding sustainability, inclusiveness, and international cooperation at every level. With this integrated approach, WIRE positions FilmEU as a model European University, driving forward a vision where artistic research is at the heart of innovation, education, and societal transformation.
WIRE integrates 12 work packages (WPs) across its work program, designed to cover all essential aspects of the Alliance’s R&I capacitation and objectives.
WP1 and WP2, led by UL, ensures management and scientific coordination, aligning partners on progress, timelines, and deliverables under the Grant Agreement. Centralised support is provided via MS Teams, with dedicated channels for each WP, ensuring structured communication, shared documentation, and collaborative workspaces.
WP3 has launched dynamic interdisciplinary research clusters and annual seed funding calls, supporting inter-institutional research pilots and student projects aligned with Horizon Missions. These initiatives strengthen research capacity, promote shared infrastructure, and enhance knowledge transfer, with outcomes showcased at the annual WIRE exhibition. Insights from these pilots will inform the Joint Research Agenda, capturing the Alliance’s understanding of Artistic Research and its interdisciplinary reach. WP4 will continue this work.
WP5 has already designed and partially implemented the WIRE HUB, establishing one operational lab and advancing seven more to support artistic research under the seed-funded pilots. WP6 remains pending.
WP7 focuses on strengthening science management (RMA) by creating a Joint Research Office, improving research support across all partners, especially widening countries. It targets five key goals: setting up joint science management, enhancing RMA capacity, facilitating staff exchange and training, developing joint policies and research assessment tools, and enabling sustainable shared services. The design phase has been completed, with operations now moving into full deployment.
WP8 advances six goals: data collection and preservation, a green transition white paper, analysis of artistic research outputs, open science practices, policy guidelines for interdisciplinary research, and a handbook on successes and failures in film/media arts research. In this period, the platform design and metadata frameworks were completed, and pilots were implemented.
WP9 establishes eight WIRE Artistic Research Labs, five in widening regions, to drive local and international co-creation ecosystems, linking researchers, students, cultural industries, and tech partners. The innovation model was finalised and is now being rolled out.
WP10 (People) strengthens institutional competitiveness and research excellence through capacity building, career modernisation, and artistic research initiatives. Trainings for staff, researchers, and PhD students were conducted, alongside the rollout of the HRS4R framework, tailored mobility activities (Collegium), young scholar calls (NOVUS), and the ongoing DOCTUS program for PhD researchers.
Finally, WP11and WP12 successfully advanced the Alliance’s communication and dissemination efforts, ensuring broad visibility and engagement.
WP1 and WP2, led by UL, ensures management and scientific coordination, aligning partners on progress, timelines, and deliverables under the Grant Agreement. Centralised support is provided via MS Teams, with dedicated channels for each WP, ensuring structured communication, shared documentation, and collaborative workspaces.
WP3 has launched dynamic interdisciplinary research clusters and annual seed funding calls, supporting inter-institutional research pilots and student projects aligned with Horizon Missions. These initiatives strengthen research capacity, promote shared infrastructure, and enhance knowledge transfer, with outcomes showcased at the annual WIRE exhibition. Insights from these pilots will inform the Joint Research Agenda, capturing the Alliance’s understanding of Artistic Research and its interdisciplinary reach. WP4 will continue this work.
WP5 has already designed and partially implemented the WIRE HUB, establishing one operational lab and advancing seven more to support artistic research under the seed-funded pilots. WP6 remains pending.
WP7 focuses on strengthening science management (RMA) by creating a Joint Research Office, improving research support across all partners, especially widening countries. It targets five key goals: setting up joint science management, enhancing RMA capacity, facilitating staff exchange and training, developing joint policies and research assessment tools, and enabling sustainable shared services. The design phase has been completed, with operations now moving into full deployment.
WP8 advances six goals: data collection and preservation, a green transition white paper, analysis of artistic research outputs, open science practices, policy guidelines for interdisciplinary research, and a handbook on successes and failures in film/media arts research. In this period, the platform design and metadata frameworks were completed, and pilots were implemented.
WP9 establishes eight WIRE Artistic Research Labs, five in widening regions, to drive local and international co-creation ecosystems, linking researchers, students, cultural industries, and tech partners. The innovation model was finalised and is now being rolled out.
WP10 (People) strengthens institutional competitiveness and research excellence through capacity building, career modernisation, and artistic research initiatives. Trainings for staff, researchers, and PhD students were conducted, alongside the rollout of the HRS4R framework, tailored mobility activities (Collegium), young scholar calls (NOVUS), and the ongoing DOCTUS program for PhD researchers.
Finally, WP11and WP12 successfully advanced the Alliance’s communication and dissemination efforts, ensuring broad visibility and engagement.
WIRE’s progress so far shows clear, measurable impacts across three dimensions: (a) scientific, centred on artistic research as the Alliance’s core methodology; (b) organisational, focused on people and shared structures; and (c) societal/economic, targeting outreach, networking, and regional development. These reflect the implementation of WIRE’s five capacitation modules.
For CM1 (Research Strategy), key impacts include transferring the artistic research agenda to new Alliance partners and deepening joint community efforts, especially through pilot projects aligned with Horizon Missions, enhancing Alliance capacity in the Horizon program.
For CM2 (Infrastructure), impacts stem from designing joint labs (FilmEU HUB, AR labs) and transferring research-support platforms like Zenodo, the FilmEU Community, and shared metadata systems.
For CM3 (Research Talent), progress includes staff, researcher, and student training (via programs like Doctus, Illumina, ARE) and further rollout of HRS4R across partners.
For CM4 (Interdisciplinarity), impacts include creating joint teams using internal seed funding, boosting research capacity, and developing joint data-sharing protocols that align with EU open science policies.
For CM5 (Resources), key impacts involve enhanced ability to secure competitive funding, new support models, and the creation of joint science management and innovation structures (e.g. the RIT Office, AR labs guidelines), positioning the Alliance as a strong research and innovation player across Europe’s cultural and creative sectors.
For CM1 (Research Strategy), key impacts include transferring the artistic research agenda to new Alliance partners and deepening joint community efforts, especially through pilot projects aligned with Horizon Missions, enhancing Alliance capacity in the Horizon program.
For CM2 (Infrastructure), impacts stem from designing joint labs (FilmEU HUB, AR labs) and transferring research-support platforms like Zenodo, the FilmEU Community, and shared metadata systems.
For CM3 (Research Talent), progress includes staff, researcher, and student training (via programs like Doctus, Illumina, ARE) and further rollout of HRS4R across partners.
For CM4 (Interdisciplinarity), impacts include creating joint teams using internal seed funding, boosting research capacity, and developing joint data-sharing protocols that align with EU open science policies.
For CM5 (Resources), key impacts involve enhanced ability to secure competitive funding, new support models, and the creation of joint science management and innovation structures (e.g. the RIT Office, AR labs guidelines), positioning the Alliance as a strong research and innovation player across Europe’s cultural and creative sectors.