Final Report Summary - ELEVATE (Irish Research Council International Career Development Fellowships in Science, Engineering and Technology – Co-funded by Marie Curie Actions.)
The ELEVATE International Career Development Fellowship Programme was set up by the Irish Research Council (www.research.ie) to assist Experienced Researchers (ERs) in the development of their research careers in both Humanities and Social Sciences (HSS), and Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) areas. ELEVATE is co-funded by the Irish Research Council and the European Commission Marie Curie Actions via an award under the FP7 COFUND Programme. ELEVATE is a 3-year Fellowship, open to ERs of any nationality and residing in Ireland, to undertake a research period of up to two years in a research organisation abroad (i.e. the Outgoing Phase), followed by a reintegration period of one year in an Irish research organisation (i.e. the Returning Phase).
Fellows were able to freely choose the research topic and host organizations that can best facilitate their professional development. All disciplines were represented, with the following disciplinary breakdown: Social and Human Sciences 19 awards, followed by Information Science and Engineering 9, Environment and Geoscience 5, Life Sciences 4, Physics 4, Chemistry 2, Economic Sciences 1 and Mathematics 1.
Experienced researchers applying for fellowships were required to design, monitor and review an individual Career Development Plan, and had two Mentors throughout the Fellowship. The evaluation criteria reflected the importance of professional and personal development of the Experienced Researchers. ELEVATE fully supports the objectives of the activity heading ‘Life-long learning and career development’, and other European policies, such as the Innovation Union. Fellows were spending their mobility period in some of the world’s most prestigious institutions such as the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, Columbia University, Stanford University, Harvard University, UC Berkeley and MIT.
ELEVATE programme filled a gap in the Irish funding opportunities that has been present for a number of years, and has made a significant impact on careers of the Fellows as well as on the Irish and European research landscape. Progress reports and early termination reports received by the Council indicate substantial research outputs produced by the Fellows: more than 200 published articles/book chapters, 340 conference papers and presentations, 150 seminars and lectures, various outreach activities and numerous other outputs or knowledge exchange activities such as research visits, participations in organisation of research conferences and other. Fellows also engaged in teaching and supervision of PhD students. Additional research outputs were reported in final reports as accepted for publication, submitted or under preparation. Fellows have also been successful in securing prestigious PI-lead research grant, such as ERC grants and the recently established prestigious Irish Research Council’s Laurate Awards which provide funding for frontier research (http://research.ie/2018/03/22/government-announces-e29-6m-investment-in-frontier-research/).
A significant proportion of ELEVATE Fellows have secured employment during the lifetime of their fellowship, in many cases a permanent academic position. Feedback from Fellows indicates that ELEVATE Fellowship was a key contributing factor that strengthened their competitiveness as candidates for these positions. Not only are all these Fellows in good position but a significant number of Fellows are employed within Europe, which means that the European Research Area benefits from their knowledge and experience.
List of host organisations
Home host organisations in Ireland (employing Fellows):
Dublin City University
Dublin Institute of Technology
Institute of Technology Waterford
Royal College of Surgeons Ireland
St. Patricks College Drumcondra
The National University of Ireland, Galway
The National University of Ireland, Maynooth
The University of Dublin, Trinity College
The University of Limerick
University College Cork
University College Dublin
International host organisations (hosting Fellows during their outgoing phase):
Aberystwyth University
Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute
Columbia University
Cornell University
Durham University, UK
Freie Universität Berlin
Georgia Institute of Technology & Emory University School of Medicine
H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Florida
Harvard University, Boston
ICAHM - ICOMOS
Imperial College London
INRIA, France
KTH Royal Institute of Tech, Sweden
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. USA
Paris Observatory, France
Queen Mary University of London, London
Queen's University, Belfast, Northern Ireland
RWTH Aachen University, Germany
Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Maryland, USA
Stanford University School of Medicine, USA
Stanford University
Station Biologique de Roscoff (CNRS – UPMC)
Stockholm School of Economics
Technical University Dresden
The University of Bergen, Norway
The University of Oxford, UK
Universidad de Almería, Spain
University College London
University of Aberdeen, Scotland
University of Birmingham, UK
University of British Columbia, Canada
University of California, Berkeley, USA
University of California, Santa Barbara, USA
University of Cambridge
University of Denver, USA
University of Guelph
University of Kaiserslautern
University of Massachusetts Amherst
University of Melbourne
University of Oxford
University of Oxford, UIK
University of Pennsylvania
University of Tokyo Center for Philosophy, Japan
University of York, UK
Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Project public website: www.research.ie/ELEVATE
Fellows were able to freely choose the research topic and host organizations that can best facilitate their professional development. All disciplines were represented, with the following disciplinary breakdown: Social and Human Sciences 19 awards, followed by Information Science and Engineering 9, Environment and Geoscience 5, Life Sciences 4, Physics 4, Chemistry 2, Economic Sciences 1 and Mathematics 1.
Experienced researchers applying for fellowships were required to design, monitor and review an individual Career Development Plan, and had two Mentors throughout the Fellowship. The evaluation criteria reflected the importance of professional and personal development of the Experienced Researchers. ELEVATE fully supports the objectives of the activity heading ‘Life-long learning and career development’, and other European policies, such as the Innovation Union. Fellows were spending their mobility period in some of the world’s most prestigious institutions such as the University of Oxford, the University of Cambridge, Columbia University, Stanford University, Harvard University, UC Berkeley and MIT.
ELEVATE programme filled a gap in the Irish funding opportunities that has been present for a number of years, and has made a significant impact on careers of the Fellows as well as on the Irish and European research landscape. Progress reports and early termination reports received by the Council indicate substantial research outputs produced by the Fellows: more than 200 published articles/book chapters, 340 conference papers and presentations, 150 seminars and lectures, various outreach activities and numerous other outputs or knowledge exchange activities such as research visits, participations in organisation of research conferences and other. Fellows also engaged in teaching and supervision of PhD students. Additional research outputs were reported in final reports as accepted for publication, submitted or under preparation. Fellows have also been successful in securing prestigious PI-lead research grant, such as ERC grants and the recently established prestigious Irish Research Council’s Laurate Awards which provide funding for frontier research (http://research.ie/2018/03/22/government-announces-e29-6m-investment-in-frontier-research/).
A significant proportion of ELEVATE Fellows have secured employment during the lifetime of their fellowship, in many cases a permanent academic position. Feedback from Fellows indicates that ELEVATE Fellowship was a key contributing factor that strengthened their competitiveness as candidates for these positions. Not only are all these Fellows in good position but a significant number of Fellows are employed within Europe, which means that the European Research Area benefits from their knowledge and experience.
List of host organisations
Home host organisations in Ireland (employing Fellows):
Dublin City University
Dublin Institute of Technology
Institute of Technology Waterford
Royal College of Surgeons Ireland
St. Patricks College Drumcondra
The National University of Ireland, Galway
The National University of Ireland, Maynooth
The University of Dublin, Trinity College
The University of Limerick
University College Cork
University College Dublin
International host organisations (hosting Fellows during their outgoing phase):
Aberystwyth University
Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute
Columbia University
Cornell University
Durham University, UK
Freie Universität Berlin
Georgia Institute of Technology & Emory University School of Medicine
H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Florida
Harvard University, Boston
ICAHM - ICOMOS
Imperial College London
INRIA, France
KTH Royal Institute of Tech, Sweden
Massachusetts Institute of Technology. USA
Paris Observatory, France
Queen Mary University of London, London
Queen's University, Belfast, Northern Ireland
RWTH Aachen University, Germany
Smithsonian Environmental Research Center, Maryland, USA
Stanford University School of Medicine, USA
Stanford University
Station Biologique de Roscoff (CNRS – UPMC)
Stockholm School of Economics
Technical University Dresden
The University of Bergen, Norway
The University of Oxford, UK
Universidad de Almería, Spain
University College London
University of Aberdeen, Scotland
University of Birmingham, UK
University of British Columbia, Canada
University of California, Berkeley, USA
University of California, Santa Barbara, USA
University of Cambridge
University of Denver, USA
University of Guelph
University of Kaiserslautern
University of Massachusetts Amherst
University of Melbourne
University of Oxford
University of Oxford, UIK
University of Pennsylvania
University of Tokyo Center for Philosophy, Japan
University of York, UK
Utrecht University, The Netherlands
Project public website: www.research.ie/ELEVATE