H.C. Ørsted Fellows Programme – co-funded by Marie Skłodowska Curie Actions (COFUNDfellowsDTU)

Project Information

COFUNDfellowsDTU

Grant agreement ID: 713683

DOI

10.3030/713683

Project closed

EC signature date 22 April 2016

Start date 1 January 2017

End date 31 December 2022

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 8 920 800,00

EU contribution

€ 4 460 400,00

Coordinated by

DANMARKS TEKNISKE UNIVERSITET
Denmark

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - COFUNDfellowsDTU (H.C. Ørsted Fellows Programme – co-funded by Marie Skłodowska Curie Actions (COFUNDfellowsDTU))

Reporting period: 2019-01-01 to 2022-12-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Technical University of Denmark (DTU) has proudly implemented the H.C. Ørsted Fellows Programme, co-funded by Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, COFUNDFellowsDTU (grant no. 713683).

DTU is a research-based, business-oriented and internationally oriented polytechnic university. Based on technical and natural sciences, DTU strives to create sustainable value and welfare in society by developing value-adding technology for people.

The programme, launched in January 2017, is named after Hans Christian Ørsted, the world-renowned Danish physicist and chemist who discovered electromagnetism and founded DTU. The programme is based on incoming mobility and has given 66 young researchers from around the world a unique opportunity to shape their personal career perspectives by carrying out curiosity-driven, bottom-up research projects within all branches of engineering science at DTU.

The programme achieves the goals of Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions COFUND by:
1) Increasing international mobility as the programme welcomed applicants world-wide
2) Increasing inter-sectoral and inter-disciplinary research possibilities by encouraging applicants to include these aspects and by including this as part of the application evaluation criteria
3) Fostering excellence through research related training and promotion of transferable soft skills development, thereby enhancing the fellows career possibilities.

Fellowships have been granted by the Selection Committee following external international peer review. Throughout the implementation of the programme measures have been taken to promote equal opportunities and equity. The programme has introduced gender-blinded evaluation of applications by removing all gender-related information from the applications prior to the external evaluation. The programme has been open to candidates irrespective of sex, gender, age, nationality and ethnicity. Recruited fellows are of 24 different nationalities and 28% are female.

The fellowship at DTU is pivotal in the COFUNDFellowsDTU fellow’s future career as they have carried out innovative research, formed professional networks within ERA and industry, as well as developed their soft skills. The programme has contributed to the individual researcher’s development: broadening and deepening individual competencies through exposure to the international and multidisciplinary environment at DTU.

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

During the programme DTU has attracted 66 highly talented young researchers through three open calls. The program is based on incoming mobility of researchers from around the world and has offered both junior (postdoc level) and senior (assistant/associate professor level). All projects have been bottom-up, allowing fellows to define their own research within all available branches of engineering science conducted at DTU. In an effort to prime fellows for careers in either academia or industry, the programme has offered the opportunity to include secondments and collaborations with industry or other universities, thereby setting an international, interdisciplinary and intersectoral frame for the fellowships.

An important aspect of the programme has been to develop the fellows understanding of innovation as an integral part of their research and future career. This is exemplified by the topics of workshops organized, specifically “Considerations towards research excellence; pathways and opportunities”, “Gender dimension in sciences, research and innovation” and “Innovation and entrepreneurship”. These workshops included inspirational talks as well as group sessions where the topics were discussed. All participants have been invited to apply the principles and ideas directly to their own research project and have received immediate feedback from their peers as well as professional innovation and business consultants. These sessions have shed light on the importance of including different stakeholders as well as considering gender and diversity during all phases of research and development. This ensures that alumni of the programme carries with them an understanding of the importance of these aspects and enables them to incorporate it in their future endeavours, whether it be within academia or industry. The majority of the fellows report that the fellowship has had a positive effect on their personal and scientific network. Virtually all fellows had secured employment by the end of their fellowship. This is testimony to the success of the programme in strengthening the career perspectives of the recruited fellows.

The scientific outcomes have been widely disseminated both to the scientific community with 210+ open access scientific publications and conference proceedings, workshops and trainings, as well as with the general public through popularized publications, dedicated websites and social media. Additionally relevant results have been shared with policy makers.

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)

The programme has enhanced local, regional and global excellence by allowing exchange of ideas through geographical as well as sectoral mobility. As it is based on incoming mobility, both recruited fellows and researchers at DTU has been able to expand professional networks, mutually taking advantage and elaborating on these. This has taken shape of fellows bringing into play their existing contacts to the benefit of DTU while also tapping into the already well established networks and strategic alliances at DTU. The opportunity to freely define projects and identify needs for new collaborations has been to the benefit of all parties and has synergistically enhanced points of contact for all involved.

During the projects, the vast majority of fellows have collaborated with researchers at other universities both in Denmark, Europe and abroad. In addition, a number of them have collaborated with private companies in the industry sector.

The majority of the fellows have reported a positive impact of the fellowship and the associated trainings on their career and transferable skillset.

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