International, Interdisciplinary and Intersectoral Postdocs

Project Information

PSI-FELLOW-II-3i

Grant agreement ID: 701647

DOI

10.3030/701647

Project closed

EC signature date 13 May 2016

Start date 1 October 2016

End date 30 September 2021

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 8 496 000,00

EU contribution

€ 4 248 000,00

Coordinated by

PAUL SCHERRER INSTITUT
Switzerland

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - PSI-FELLOW-II-3i (International, Interdisciplinary and Intersectoral Postdocs)

Reporting period: 2018-10-01 to 2021-09-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), Switzerland’s largest research institute for natural and engineering sciences, excels in world-class research on condensed matter, materials sciences, energy, environment and health. It is particularly renowned for its high-class, large-scale infrastructures with photon, neutron, muon and proton sources at one site. This attractive research environment and the broad international network with academia and industry attracts top-class researchers from all over the world to per¬form their research activities at PSI as PhDs, postdoctoral fellows, or senior scientists.

From 2017-2021 the 60 months MSCA PSI-Fellow postdoctoral programme at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI, see figure) was open to candidates from all over the world and was intended for experienced researchers after their PhD study to further their scientific training in the four broad areas of expertise at the PSI.
In brief, the programme strived for transparency in the selection process, merit-based evaluation of applicants by a reviewing panel of internal and international experts and client-friendliness towards applicant researchers. Further information is available on the PSI-Fellow-II-3i webpage (http://www.psi.ch/psi-fellow).

The overall objective of the programme was to boost the fellows’ careers by:
- Providing an interdisciplinary research environment
- Access to a unique combination of complex large-scale research facilities, leading to world-class research and high impact publications
- Broad training opportunities in transferable skills and career development support through individual mentoring schemes
- Access to a strong inter-sectoral and academic network
- Access to a very inspiring international environment with staff from more than 60 nations

This programme has trained the next generation of researchers who are specialised in harnessing the full potential of large-scale research facilities and stimulating innovation in European industry through forward-looking research and cutting-edge technology that is uniquely available at PSI. The free choice of research topics within the existing wide range of research themes of PSI has fostered new ideas and facilitated innovation.

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

The tasks could be fully achieved in the timeframe of the programme. The two calls (1st of October 2016 and 1st of September 2018) have been published on time and the selection could be accomplished within the planned time frame. External reviewers and the PSI internal research commission have performed the selection of the candidates. The quality of the submitted written applications was high in both calls. In total 61 of these candidates have received a two-year PSI contract. The following numbers (in brackets) show the distribution of the successful candidates per PSI division: Biology and Chemistry (8), Centre for Proton Therapy (1), General Energy Research (4), Large Scale Facilities (1), Nuclear Energy and Safety (18), Neutrons and Muons (11), Photon Science (18).

The PSI-Fellow programme has been managed by a dedicated programme management unit at PSI. It was not only responsible for quality management of the programme but also has mastered the administrative requirements needed for the execution of the programme. The programme management unit was also supported by an Advisory Board Committee with expert members that have provided advice on various activities of the programme. The integration of the postdoctoral researchers in a research group and laboratory as well as in the PSI-FELLOW programme was an important objective to be coordinated by the management team. At the kick-off meetings, the fellows were informed about the concept of the programme and about the available resources and training opportunities.

The programme generated significant scientific output with 134 PSI-Fellow presentations and 50 posters at European and international conferences. The Fellows achieved with 178 open access articles in peer reviewed journals an excellent scientific output. The average impact factor of these publications is with 8.2 only slightly below the high impact factor of ≥8.4.

The fellows benefited from a broad range of training and educational opportunities. The educational programme offered a set of mandatory and free selectable courses. Beside attending our transferable skill trainings (17 courses), the fellows have shown great interest in increasing their scientific and technical skills by attending scientific schools, workshops or equivalent trainings (471 participations). 58 lectures have been given by the fellows at universities and partner institutes. The programme management unit could organise a very broad partnership for the PSI-FELLOW-II-3i programme. The fellows made use of these established collaboration network. Beside 48 collaborations with numerous academic institutions and 38 PSI-internal interdisciplinary collaborations also 11 inter-sectoral collaborations with companies have been performed. Several fellows made short to medium-term secondments at these academic institutions and companies.

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)

Over their 2-year postdoc time at PSI, the fellows conducted multidisciplinary research with the support of high-level scientists to address some of the world’s key challenges related to industry, society, economy, and environment. This multidisciplinary research environment led to excellent results to be broadly disseminated. The fellows’ research was disseminated through more than 178 peer-reviewed open access journals and 134 conference contributions. In addition, the offered transferable skill trainings helped to support the Fellows in the combination of their scientific qualifications with managerial skills which will strengthen their career opportunities in academia or the private sector.

Overall, the programme was instrumental in retaining talent in Europe and in contributing to the ERA. It raised research competitiveness and contributed a wealth of findings and outcomes to stimulate the knowledge-led economy of Europe. Lastly, the programme has helped launch the fellows’ careers and increase the pool of researchers in the continent, who are now armed with a plethora of skills and experiences.

Aerial view of Paul Scherrer Institute