Periodic Reporting for period 1 - MILESTONE (UpstreaM synergIes to overcome Locked-in effects in widEning regions and broaden internationalization pathwayS for susTainable innOvatioN and compEtitive grant applications)
Période du rapport: 2024-06-01 au 2025-08-31
MILESTONE attempts to establish strong collaboration links among three widening academic institutes from Greece (UPAT), Slovenia (KI), and the Czech Republic (MU), as well as with an advanced partner (AMU, FR), to overcome locked-in institutional effects, build synergies, and create a pathway to excellence, producing new knowledge in antiviral research and pandemic preparedness. UPAT, KI, and CEITEC, all acknowledged national/regional research actors funded by ERDF, share common interests in biosciences and will collaborate with a world-class expert in biochemistry, virology, and infrastructure management, the AMU.
The MILESTONE strategy seeks to internationalize widening partners to boost their access to EU R&I consortia in joint applications under Pillars I & II, as well as to unlock, reinforce, and improve the utilization of existing R&I capacity. A key project module is training, knowledge sharing, and the acquisition of transferable skills for R&I personnel to increase performance in research, research management, fund raising, and communication.
MILESTONE’s implementation is based on well-designed WPs with specific tasks and roles for each partner, to have a large impact at the scientific, societal, and economic/technological levels, and to increase the competitiveness and reputation of all partners in the direction of future sustainable development.
Furthermore, MILESTONE is guided by the principles of gender equality and open research, data management. Project progress will be communicated to all prospective stakeholders as well as the public through e-communication channels and live events.
Overall, MILESTONE aims to establish an effective collaborative network among participating partners to pave the way for excellence and to address several global sustainability challenges, such as health and well-being, gender equality, decent jobs and growth, and reduced inequalities in science, and is built on the project's partnership to accomplish these goals.
The main objectives of the MILESTONE are the following:
O1: Diagnosis of individual and common barriers, gaps, and locked-in policies in EU-widening beneficiaries and preparation of a Roadmap to Internationalization and Sustainability,
O2: Enhance the research and scientific potential, and establish synergies among partners, producing high-impact scientific outcomes.
O3: Improve the soft skills and the research management capacity of the human resources.
O4: Increase synergies among consortium partners for the successful participation in new HE calls (see WP5 & WP6), build links with private sector, and increase fund raising
O5: Establish an internationalisation strategy based on an effective Dissemination, Exploitation, Communication, and Mobility plan to allow networking with EU, regional or National consortia or scientific communities.
The MILESTONE strategy seeks to internationalize widening partners to boost their access to EU R&I consortia in joint applications under Pillars I & II, as well as to unlock, reinforce, and improve the utilization of existing R&I capacity. A key project module is training, knowledge sharing, and the acquisition of transferable skills for R&I personnel to increase performance in research, research management, fund raising, and communication.
MILESTONE’s implementation is based on well-designed WPs with specific tasks and roles for each partner, to have a large impact at the scientific, societal, and economic/technological levels, and to increase the competitiveness and reputation of all partners in the direction of future sustainable development.
Furthermore, MILESTONE is guided by the principles of gender equality and open research, data management. Project progress will be communicated to all prospective stakeholders as well as the public through e-communication channels and live events.
Overall, MILESTONE aims to establish an effective collaborative network among participating partners to pave the way for excellence and to address several global sustainability challenges, such as health and well-being, gender equality, decent jobs and growth, and reduced inequalities in science, and is built on the project's partnership to accomplish these goals.
The main objectives of the MILESTONE are the following:
O1: Diagnosis of individual and common barriers, gaps, and locked-in policies in EU-widening beneficiaries and preparation of a Roadmap to Internationalization and Sustainability,
O2: Enhance the research and scientific potential, and establish synergies among partners, producing high-impact scientific outcomes.
O3: Improve the soft skills and the research management capacity of the human resources.
O4: Increase synergies among consortium partners for the successful participation in new HE calls (see WP5 & WP6), build links with private sector, and increase fund raising
O5: Establish an internationalisation strategy based on an effective Dissemination, Exploitation, Communication, and Mobility plan to allow networking with EU, regional or National consortia or scientific communities.
During RP1, all objectives were addressed according to the foreseen time plan through activities in WP2, WP3, WP4, WP5, and WP6, while the Coordination and Management (WP1) of the project was smooth and according to the original implementation plan. The project started with the organization by the the Coordinating Institute (UPAT) with the kick-off meeting at UPAT (June 2024) and the formation of the External Advisory Board: Prof. Frances Separovic (University of Melbourne, Australia), Prof. Michael Sattler (Technical University of Munich, Germany), and Dr. Audrey Richard (Executive Director of ERINHA RI). Other activities in WP1 included the collection of the KPIs based on the 5-year period before the start of the MILESTONE project (D1.4) which will be also monitored during the course of the project and the appointment of talented researchers, tech/admin staff and a Communication Manager (mostly females) through open calls.
Consortium identified the weaknesses and locked-in effects in MILESTONE widening institutes/countries and set up the MILESTONE Roadmap for internationalization and Sustainable Development (WP2). We are also organizing joint collaborative efforts and new research initiatives and ‘secondments’ (SCDM, (WP3).
For training, we organized scientific training courses, workshops and an International Conference, seminars on soft skills, and seminars on national/EU call identification and fund raising (WP4 & WP5).
Additionally, we apply a plan for dissemination, exploitation, and communication, namely the DEC plan (WP6, D6.3 M6), as well as a data management plan (D1.2 M6). We launched the project's website (WP6, D6.1) at https://milestone-he.eu/(s’ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre) which has been operational since the project's inception. We are currently implementing new features for data management and sharing for internal/institutional, national, and external/international users of our facilities.
Overall, during the first 15 months of the MILESTONE project, the participating groups performed all planned activities and to achieve the goals set according to the MILESTONE objectives.
Consortium identified the weaknesses and locked-in effects in MILESTONE widening institutes/countries and set up the MILESTONE Roadmap for internationalization and Sustainable Development (WP2). We are also organizing joint collaborative efforts and new research initiatives and ‘secondments’ (SCDM, (WP3).
For training, we organized scientific training courses, workshops and an International Conference, seminars on soft skills, and seminars on national/EU call identification and fund raising (WP4 & WP5).
Additionally, we apply a plan for dissemination, exploitation, and communication, namely the DEC plan (WP6, D6.3 M6), as well as a data management plan (D1.2 M6). We launched the project's website (WP6, D6.1) at https://milestone-he.eu/(s’ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre) which has been operational since the project's inception. We are currently implementing new features for data management and sharing for internal/institutional, national, and external/international users of our facilities.
Overall, during the first 15 months of the MILESTONE project, the participating groups performed all planned activities and to achieve the goals set according to the MILESTONE objectives.
MILESTONE organized training activities to (a) introduce new tools in Life Sciences, such as Artificial Intelligence in Structural Biology to predict protein structure to design new proteins and to analyze fast and with no supervision NMR data and perform NMR-driven 3D protein structure determination, (b) present modern in-cell imaging techniques, (c) implement new methods in ligand screening efforts and set up a synergy between biophysical and structural tools to identify new lead compounds.
In Fund raising level, MILESTONE partners set up new synergies and prepared grant applications which are positively evaluated, establishing joint collaborative effort for the very first time among their Institutions (UPAT, CEITEC/MU, NIC and AMU). It should be also noted that some MILESTONE partners were part of competitive EU Consortia with SMEs and big companies that synthesize and built chemical libraries with >40M of compounds suitable for drug design campaigns.
Also, new scientific publications resulted in high-impact journals, in some cases as the results of collaboration between MILESTONE partners.
Finally, the MILESTONE webpage implements a new tool to ensure free access to, management, sharing and downloading of the data acquired by the ERDF-funded RIs. This tools, namely LOGS (https://milestone-he.eu/data-management/(s’ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre)) is under testing and pilot use by the UPAT users.
In Fund raising level, MILESTONE partners set up new synergies and prepared grant applications which are positively evaluated, establishing joint collaborative effort for the very first time among their Institutions (UPAT, CEITEC/MU, NIC and AMU). It should be also noted that some MILESTONE partners were part of competitive EU Consortia with SMEs and big companies that synthesize and built chemical libraries with >40M of compounds suitable for drug design campaigns.
Also, new scientific publications resulted in high-impact journals, in some cases as the results of collaboration between MILESTONE partners.
Finally, the MILESTONE webpage implements a new tool to ensure free access to, management, sharing and downloading of the data acquired by the ERDF-funded RIs. This tools, namely LOGS (https://milestone-he.eu/data-management/(s’ouvre dans une nouvelle fenêtre)) is under testing and pilot use by the UPAT users.