Periodic Reporting for period 2 - DOC2AMU (International, inter-sectoral and inter-disciplinary Doctoral Training Programme to Aix-Marseille University)
Berichtszeitraum: 2018-12-01 bis 2021-11-30
DOC2AMU raised out of the willpower of the Provence Alpes Cote d’Azur key regional actors in Research and Innovation to offer to the most promising early stage researchers (ESRs) an international, inter-sectoral and inter-disciplinary innovative doctoral training programme. The excellence is ensured not only by the research ecosystem of Aix- Marseille University but also through the open, transparent, merit-based, impartial and equitable selection process set up to assess the perfect match between the proposed doctoral projects and the ESRs. Further to ensure the best career development and perspectives after ESRs’ graduation, DOC2AMU set up an original training programme offering a training scheme combining options of the 3 international/inter-sectoral and interdisciplinary dimensions, including a comprehensive package of transferable skills training, along with a specific mentoring scheme involving an academic Supervisor, a non-academic and/or international tutor(s) and a Scientific & Training Supervisory Committee. Beyond the recruitment of 30 ESRs, the aim of the project was to:
• enhance skills of AMU ESRs including transferrable ones;
• upgrade AMU doctorate’s curriculum, by generalizing the innovative Doctorate Principles as a standard for all Doctoral training in AMU;
• reinforce AMU capacities to host talented international researchers in high standard working and improved employment conditions;
• intensify the cooperation and the alignment of AMU Human Resources practices between key regional academic and non-academic research and innovation players;
• develop new synergies on the regional territory;
• Strengthen the innovative and international aspects of the existing Regional Doctoral programme by systematically implementing “3I” Doctorates and spreading HR and training good practices in other Universities and Research organisations in PACA;
• Prioritize research projects focusing on the regional Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialization strategies to create a regional leverage in terms of knowledge and innovation.
• enhance skills of AMU ESRs including transferrable ones;
• upgrade AMU doctorate’s curriculum, by generalizing the innovative Doctorate Principles as a standard for all Doctoral training in AMU;
• reinforce AMU capacities to host talented international researchers in high standard working and improved employment conditions;
• intensify the cooperation and the alignment of AMU Human Resources practices between key regional academic and non-academic research and innovation players;
• develop new synergies on the regional territory;
• Strengthen the innovative and international aspects of the existing Regional Doctoral programme by systematically implementing “3I” Doctorates and spreading HR and training good practices in other Universities and Research organisations in PACA;
• Prioritize research projects focusing on the regional Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialization strategies to create a regional leverage in terms of knowledge and innovation.
30 ESRs have been recruited. The doctoral candidates, except one of them, have successfully defended their theses and the last cohort is, because of the delay due to the Covid-19 pandemic, expected to do so in 2022. The measurable results and milestones therefore pertain mostly to the evaluation of submitted research projects and applications and selection processes.
Objective #1, “Reinforcing scientific Excellence of AMU on the selected interdisciplinary research topics, namely ‘Imaging’; ‘Nano-Health’; ‘Big data’; ‘Network’, ‘Climate change’ and ‘Globalization’”, has been partly attained: the selected thesis projects all fall under one of the thematic axes, except for the “Globalisation” axis for which very few projects were submitted and which were not retained at the end of the selection process.
Objective #2, “Attracting young talented international ESRs in Aix-Marseille willing to follow a high standard interdisciplinary Doctoral Programme”, has been fully attained with the recruitment of the 30 ESRs among which 27 are international coming from 17 different countries in Europe, Middle East, Asia and America.
Objective #3, “Enhancing skills of ESR including transferrable ones to maximise their professional integration either in academic or non-academic sectors”, has been fully attained.
Objective #4, “Upgrading AMU Doctorate’s curriculum, aiming at generalizing the innovative Doctorate Principles set up in DOC2AMU as a standard for all Doctoral training in AMU” and Objective #5 “Reinforcing AMU capacities to host talented international researchers in high standard working and improved employment conditions”, have been fully attained.
Objectives #6, "Intensifying the cooperation and the alignment of AMU human resources (HR) practices between key regional academic and non-academic research and innovation players", has been fully attained.
Objective #7, “Develop new synergies and new public/private partnerships in the regional territory”, has also been fully attained. DOC2AMU thesis projects have permitted the creation of 15 new partnerships between AMU research teams and non-academic actors.
Objective #8 “Strengthening the innovative and international aspects of the existing Regional Doctoral programme by systematically implementing “3I” Doctorates and spreading HR and training good practices in other Universities and Research organisations in PACA” was attained partly as many researchers from research organisations in PACA (CNRS and INSERM namely) were part of the thesis projects. However, the other Universities of the region were not concerned since they were not selected in any thesis project.
Objectives #9 "Prioritizing research projects focusing on the regional RIS3 strategies to create a regional leverage effects in terms of knowledge and innovation, multiplying the collaborations between AMU academic partners and the regional clusters on the long term", has been fully attained.
Objective #1, “Reinforcing scientific Excellence of AMU on the selected interdisciplinary research topics, namely ‘Imaging’; ‘Nano-Health’; ‘Big data’; ‘Network’, ‘Climate change’ and ‘Globalization’”, has been partly attained: the selected thesis projects all fall under one of the thematic axes, except for the “Globalisation” axis for which very few projects were submitted and which were not retained at the end of the selection process.
Objective #2, “Attracting young talented international ESRs in Aix-Marseille willing to follow a high standard interdisciplinary Doctoral Programme”, has been fully attained with the recruitment of the 30 ESRs among which 27 are international coming from 17 different countries in Europe, Middle East, Asia and America.
Objective #3, “Enhancing skills of ESR including transferrable ones to maximise their professional integration either in academic or non-academic sectors”, has been fully attained.
Objective #4, “Upgrading AMU Doctorate’s curriculum, aiming at generalizing the innovative Doctorate Principles set up in DOC2AMU as a standard for all Doctoral training in AMU” and Objective #5 “Reinforcing AMU capacities to host talented international researchers in high standard working and improved employment conditions”, have been fully attained.
Objectives #6, "Intensifying the cooperation and the alignment of AMU human resources (HR) practices between key regional academic and non-academic research and innovation players", has been fully attained.
Objective #7, “Develop new synergies and new public/private partnerships in the regional territory”, has also been fully attained. DOC2AMU thesis projects have permitted the creation of 15 new partnerships between AMU research teams and non-academic actors.
Objective #8 “Strengthening the innovative and international aspects of the existing Regional Doctoral programme by systematically implementing “3I” Doctorates and spreading HR and training good practices in other Universities and Research organisations in PACA” was attained partly as many researchers from research organisations in PACA (CNRS and INSERM namely) were part of the thesis projects. However, the other Universities of the region were not concerned since they were not selected in any thesis project.
Objectives #9 "Prioritizing research projects focusing on the regional RIS3 strategies to create a regional leverage effects in terms of knowledge and innovation, multiplying the collaborations between AMU academic partners and the regional clusters on the long term", has been fully attained.
DOC2AMU funds 30 thesis projects in varied disciplines, both in basic and applied research. 41% of the thesis projects fall in the Imaging axis, 32% in Climate change, 13% in Nano-health, 9% in Networks and 5% in Big data. Seven ESRs have begun their doctoral thesis in 2016, twelve in 2017, and 11 in 2018. As such, their scientific impact is diverse, and at different stages.
In terms of impact, the 3i dimensions of the programme bring an important contribution both to the ESRs’ individual career and to society in a wider sense. The interdisciplinary aspects of the thesis projects help produce excellent science in research axis identified as significant in AMU’s research environment, and in concertation with the regional Smart Specialisation Strategies. The intersectoral features of the thesis projects create new partnerships and configurations between AMU research teams and non-academic partners, while training ESRs to work outside academia. The programme has developed new synergies and public/private partnerships in the regional territory to ensure both the production of excellent science and the development of pivotal career skills for the recruited ESRs. Finally, the international components of the thesis projects serve both to bring young, talented international researchers in the PACA region, and to facilitate international mobility and training for these ESRs.
In terms of impact, the 3i dimensions of the programme bring an important contribution both to the ESRs’ individual career and to society in a wider sense. The interdisciplinary aspects of the thesis projects help produce excellent science in research axis identified as significant in AMU’s research environment, and in concertation with the regional Smart Specialisation Strategies. The intersectoral features of the thesis projects create new partnerships and configurations between AMU research teams and non-academic partners, while training ESRs to work outside academia. The programme has developed new synergies and public/private partnerships in the regional territory to ensure both the production of excellent science and the development of pivotal career skills for the recruited ESRs. Finally, the international components of the thesis projects serve both to bring young, talented international researchers in the PACA region, and to facilitate international mobility and training for these ESRs.