Social, entrepreneurial and excelling doctors for water technology

Project Information

WaterSEED

Grant agreement ID: 665874

DOI

10.3030/665874

Project closed

EC signature date 20 May 2015

Start date 1 February 2016

End date 31 January 2023

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 6 670 800,00

EU contribution

€ 3 335 400,00

Coordinated by

STICHTING WETSUS, EUROPEAN CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE FOR SUSTAINABLE WATER TECHNOLOGY
Netherlands

Periodic Reporting for period 3 - WaterSEED (Social, entrepreneurial and excelling doctors for water technology)

Reporting period: 2021-02-01 to 2023-01-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

WaterSEED stands for Societal Entrepreneurs and Excelling Doctors in water technology. The objective of the WaterSEED project is to provide a doctoral program to excellent early stage researchers (ESRs) that want to develop their skills and contribute to the development of breakthrough technologies for water related challenges. Wetsus aims to offer a breeding place for innovate breakthrough processes by bringing together innovative companies and creative scientists to jointly operate a pioneering multi-disciplinary research program aiming at original solutions. The role of the creative scientists is to come up with ideas and to ensure the scientific quality of the research. To bring these innovative breakthrough processes into practice, companies are needed to further develop, produce and distribute these solutions. The role of companies is thus to ensure commercial relevance and to bring the new ideas to real applications.

Not only new solutions are needed, but also new minds that can develop and bring such solutions further are a necessity. Therefore, the core of the research program is a PhD program that brings PhD researchers from various disciplines together in one research lab. This gives the PhD researcher a unique possibility to work in a multidisciplinary environment, see figure 1 for the overview of the main disciplines relevant for water technology. Wetsus research takes place where different research disciplines have significant overlap. The WaterSEED project aimed to further expand and strengthen the research program by attracting 45 international, excellent young researchers to the program. It will also strengthen the European connection of the program by increasing the number of researchers from other countries than the host organization to over 70%.

These new PhD fellows are recruited within the WaterSEED project via the WaterSEED recruitment procedure. The candidates go through a three-step procedure, where the first step is an evaluation of CV and motivation letter, the second an oral interview, and for the third step, the so-called WaterSEED Recruitment Challenge, the selected candidates are invited to come to Wetsus. On that day they have a job interview and also presentation and communication skills are assessed. In all steps, both the university and Wetsus are involved in the assessment. In addition, an experienced researcher from the so-called expert committee performs an independent assessment.

Personal development is necessary to equip the PhD researchers with the soft skills and competences needed to thrive in their working life after the PhD program. Therefore, a PhD training program has been set up. This program is additional to the training provided to the PhD students from the different research schools and focuses on “soft skills”. The training program covers the full PhD research period and is schematically depicted in the figure attached (uploaded).

The recruitment of PhDs was organized twice a year. A total of 12 calls was organized within the WaterSEED project, with 4-21 positions per call. A total of 68 early stage researchers (ESRs) were recruited of which 35 were assigned as Marie Curie PhD fellows. The percentage of international PhD’s at Wetsus increased from 51% to 84%.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

In the period from September 2015 to March 2021, 12 calls have been launched. The research projects were advertised at the dedicated website www.phdpositionswetsus.eu at several job portals like EURAXESS, Academic Transfer, ResearchGate and Jobvector.de and the positions were posted on social media platforms Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn. Additionally, events and fairs (before the COVID-19 pandemic) were visited to promote the position.

A transparent and thorough selection process was followed, as defined by the WaterSEED project. On average 7.9% of the applicants made it to the 2nd round, 3.1% reached the recruitment challenge (3rd round), and 1.2% was employed. A total of 68 early stage researchers (ESRs) were recruited of which 35 were assigned as Marie Curie PhD fellows. Of the employed Marie Curie PhD fellows, 54% are women and 46% are men (19 women and 16 men). The 35 employed Marie Curie PhD fellows had 19 different nationalities, 14 came from the EU, 21 came from the rest of the world. At the start of the WaterSEED project the percentage of ESRs from outside the Netherlands was 51% (27 out of 44). The percentage of international PhD’s is now 84% (43 out of 51). The WaterSEED program contributed to this increase in the percentage of international PhD’s at Wetsus. Currently, 18 PhD fellows have successfully defended their PhD thesis. Two PhD fellows stopped before the end of the project. 15 PhD fellows are currently working on completing their PhD.

Wetsus believes that the WaterSEED recruitment procedure helped in recruiting higher quality PhD students. Combined with Wetsus’ available assets, resources and network, this resulted in world-class research, publications and impact for the private sector as well as society.

No ethical issues have arisen.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

It was expected that at the end of the project several of the recruited PhD students will probably have found positions in collaborating industry, or academic, partner organizations, or in some of the spin-off companies that have been created from their research projects. All 18 PhD fellows who have successfully defended their PhD thesis found employment, so the employment rate is 100%. The majority, however, is employed outside Wetsus’ network.

The number of publications was expected to rise to 50 and the numbers of patents to 10 at the end of the project period. So far, the Marie Curie PhD fellows published a total of 97 peer reviewed international articles, all open access. The average impact factor of the journals WaterSEED PhD's published in was very high: 7.231 (2.745- 16.774 impact factor values for 2021). Three patents have been filed based on the research outcomes of the Marie Curie PhD fellows. The number of articles and patents is expected to increase in the future, as about half of the Marie Curie PhD fellows are still working on their PhD.

All researchers joined the personal development program. The PhD students are positive about their experience in the program, with extensive professional development opportunities, both through formal training courses at Wetsus and their "home" universities and informal interactions with industry partners and their peers.

There is a wide range of global and regional water-related issues and challenges that Wetsus research makes strong contributions to. These cover not only the provision of water with adequate quality to society, but also include environmental and biodiversity protection, the recovery of valuable materials from waste, the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions, the development of energy-efficient water treatment processes and the exploitation of novel sustainable energy sources. These issues are all pervasive and the Wetsus program is making significant and growing impacts in these areas, therefore the research of Wetsus is very relevant to society. Currently, 7 companies are testing/using the technologies/knowledge developed by the graduated Marie Curie PhD fellows. 7 companies showed interest in the results obtained. These numbers show the relevance and socio-economic impact of the research carried out during the WaterSEED project.

schematic representation of the PhD personal develoment program

main disciplines relevant for water technology.