Deusto International Research School

Project Information

DIRS

Grant agreement ID: 665959

DOI 10.3030/665959

Project closed

EC signature date 20 April 2015

Start date 1 January 2016

End date 31 January 2021

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost € 2 511 360,00

EU contribution € 1 255 680,00

Coordinated by

UNIVERSIDAD DE LA IGLESIA DE DEUSTO ENTIDAD RELIGIOSA
Spain

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - DIRS (Deusto International Research School)

Reporting period: 2018-01-01 to 2021-01-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

DIRS project was based on the need to develop the profiles of researchers capable of leading high-quality research projects not only in the academic institutions, which have been the traditional outlet for PhDs but also in public and private institutions, in which knowledge and innovation are becoming key factors for success. Through the DIRS project, the research skills of professionals who work in different organisations were reinforced, strengthening the processes and structures that ensure competitiveness and the sustainability of organisations, regions and countries. Therefore, with the aim of combating the fragmentation of objectives, evaluation methods and working conditions of regional, national or international offers for young researchers, the project exploited synergies between the COFUND action and other actions at the regional, national and international levels through strengthening existing collaboration with different partner institutions worldwide. The project has brought together European and regional financing, having a leverage effect on existing regional funding programmes that have traditionally supported fellowships for PhD candidates. The project has developed synergies to ensure the production of world-class science, removing barriers to innovation and enabling collaboration between academic and non-academic actors.
DIRS was created to meet the broader objective of generating new and useful knowledge for and by society, ensuring the highest level of scientific quality and promoting quality, mobility, transparency and employability. The University of Deusto (UDEUSTO) has actively and creatively procured conditions conductive to frequent dialogues between economic, cultural and social actors whose cooperation and exchanges help realise DIRS aims. These dialogues ensure international and intersectoral mobility, including placements/internships to broaden ESRs career employability tracks, cross-fertilisation of ideas and ideation of solutions to societal challenges fuelled by shared concerns and funding.
Aligned with the main purpose of the COFUND programme, the overall objective of DIRS has been to foster excellence in the training, mobility and career development of researchers, as well as to develop attractive career and knowledge-exchange opportunities for a new generation of young researchers, aiming to better prepare them for current and future social challenges.

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

Through the launching of 2 different callsDeusto selected and employed the envisaged 16 MSC PhD candidates through an open, transparent and merit-based selection process and carried out the corresponding dissemination, evaluation and selection activities. Subsequently, UDEUSTO completed an exhaustive evaluation and selection process of the candidates.
Once the selected researchers accepted the offered positions, constant guidance was provided to the Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) for smoothing the contractual issues, registration and enrolment at the University, as well as for assisting them in their transferring to a different cultural, institutional and working environment. Upon their arrival ESRs were incorporated both to their corresponding PhD programmes and to the hosting research teams. Therefore, they followed the training activities within the context of the PhD programmes as well as within a research team that cultivate the candidates, contributing to the excellence of their training and curricular development and enabling future opportunities. The university offered the selected PhD candidates additional training oriented to enhance research activities as well as others intended to acquire, complementary and transferable skills.
A Personal Career Development Plan (PCDP) was created by each ESR together with his/her supervisor in order to monitor progress over the course of their research, acquire new skills and improve existing ones, amongst other objectives. It was implemented according to a timeframe designed by the researcher in agreement with his/her supervisor, indicating milestones and deliverables to be produced in line with the objectives of the research programme. As part of each PCDP, and, in order to comply with the programme’s and university´s itself ethical requirements, every candidate’s project was analysed through a deep ethical review by UDEUSTO Research Ethics Committee at the ending of their first-year enrolment in the corresponding PhD programme.
Finally, UDEUSTO has also carried out every necessary management and coordination activities to implement the action as expected.
Pursuing the main objective of the DIRS project mentioned before, the following results were achieved:
• Launching of DIRS calls and to guarantee the widest dissemination
• Ensuring the quality and transparency of the selection process and the recruitment of the most qualified candidates and to guarantee research excellence and gender parity
• Recruitment of the 16 initially foreseen PhD qualified international ESR through an open selection process through the launching of two different calls, in 2016 and 2017 respectively.
• Identification of possible ethical implications of ESRs' research projects, applying ethical principles and current national and European legislation
• Follow-up of the PCDPs of the recruited researchers
• Contribution of the recruited researchers to the advancement of science
• PhD thesis dissertations
• Managing the implementation of the DIRS research training programme as scheduled and facilitating the timely submission of all required reports.
All these objectives have been accomplished as planned, with absence of delays and inefficiencies.

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)

DIRS has achieved its objective of generating new and useful knowledge for and by society, ensuring the highest level of scientific quality and promoting quality, mobility, transparency and employability. The project has developed synergies with regional, national and international stakeholders to ensure the production of world-class science, removing barriers to innovation and enabling collaboration between academic and non-academic actors for the delivery of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth and innovation within the Europe 2020 Strategy and the Basque Specialisation Strategy.
In terms of impact, by developing the international dimension of the PhD programme, with the support of COFUND, the DIRS project has significantly contributed to enabling high-quality human resources for relevant regional, national and international actors by:
- Offering high-quality training to young researchers working in all interested institutions
- Encouraging international and inter-sectoral mobility
- Opening internships and opportunities for joint research collaborations
On this international level, the project aimed to provide the possibility to partake and learn from research efforts involving multiple stakeholders related to the most pressing challenges in the economic, social and cultural realms, as well as provide PhD candidates with the development of the right set of skills to pursue collaborative endeavours; thus, enhancing the prospects of graduates to stand out beyond the academic sector. In fact, the recruited researchers have pursued secondments and international mobility, as well as participated in different tasks within the research projects their assigned research teams take part in.

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