Advanced Skills and Career excellence of Early-career Neutron scienTists

Obiettivo

The Advanced Skills and Career excellence of Early-career Neutron scienTists (ASCENT) programme will accelerate the careers of six outstanding early-career researchers (ECRs) in neutron science by providing each with the opportunity to lead a five-year research project at the Institut Laue-Langevin, one of Europe's leading Research Infrastructures. Beyond fundamental research and through applied research, with industry partners, neutron science addresses critical societal challenges including the energy transition, the environment and sustainable materials, quantum materials, and health care. ASCENT will support the EU's objectives of addressing brain drain and researcher instability while fostering career development, and deliver societally impactful research that is of the highest scientific quality and innovation oriented, aligning with the recently published European Strategy for Research and Technology Infrastructures. The ASCENT five-year contracts will enable the ECRs to undertake ambitious, collaborative projects with significant regional, national, and European impact, benefitting from ILL’s comprehensive, international network of academic and industry partners. ASCENT will operate through an open call for research projects, with selection based on excellence, while ensuring they will contribute to the institute's strategic priorities and fully benefit from the institute’s infrastructure, thus granting ECRs intellectual freedom and maximum support. ASCENT will develop a training and mentoring programme to support career transition from R2 - Recognized Researchers to R3 - Established Researchers. Career progression will be reflected in new knowledge, transferable skills, and research and innovation achievements through academia-business collaboration. Through this investment in human capital, ASCENT will establish a sustainable model for nurturing the next generation of research leaders with key experience in large-scale Research Infrastructures.