Periodic Reporting for period 3 - ALECS (Advanced Learning in Evolving Critical Systems)
Reporting period: 2022-07-01 to 2023-06-30
Globally, software-based systems are increasingly important to economic activity and to the normal functioning of our everyday lives. The scope, scale and interconnected nature of such systems are increasing rapidly, with the potential consequences of failure, security breaches or malfunction becoming a growing cause of concern. Evolving Critical Systems (ECS) that change over time and that are strategically important to their users are increasingly prevalent in software development, from business-critical systems to safety-critical systems. Advanced Learning in Evolving Critical Systems (ALECS) is a training and career development programme coordinated by Lero – Science Foundation Ireland Research Centre for Software. The programme funds incoming fellowships to Ireland, providing international mobility, intersectoral exposure and interdisciplinary research opportunities at Lero. It is co-funded by Science Foundation Ireland and the European Commission under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie programme. ALECS ran 3 calls and recruited a total of 20 fellows, who are supervised by leading Lero researchers. The fellows are based across 6 host universities: University of Limerick, Trinity College Dublin, Maynooth University and Munster Technological University, University of Galway and Dublin City University. ALECS will generate a diverse, mobile, skilled workforce and contribute to European research and innovation. While developing researcher’s skills, it will directly contribute to sustainable economic growth through supporting evidence-based research to drive innovation and new product development. The ALECS training programme was developed to enhance the fellows’ skills and forge their career ambitions in both academic and industry settings. This programme was specifically designed to address the fellows' needs and the changing needs of the software sector. ALECS will also enable the researchers to enforce their professional network in the academic and non-academic sectors. In addition, it will also positively impact Lero’s academic and industry partners, enhancing Lero’s reputation as a world-class research centre and a leading developer of research talent. The main objectives are to provide: research opportunities at Lero in strategic priority areas in software research, international mobility and interdisciplinary and intersectoral exposure, career development/training opportunities.
ALECS ran 3 internationally advertised calls. Researchers were selected following an open, transparent, merit-based, impartial and equitable selection procedure. There was a peer review stage followed by an interview stage. 20 fellows were recruited over 3 calls. There was a diverse mix of 17 nationalities across the fellows. ALECS complied with the H2020 ethics policy. All ALECS host universities have specific procedures for ethical approval in line with national ethical regulations. The fellows followed their host university's ethics guidelines and submitted an ethics review application to their host university for projects with ethical issues. All projects that required ethical approval received full ethical approval, which was obtained prior to commencing any project activity involving ethical issues. ALECS offered a training programme that was specifically developed to meet the needs of the fellows and the changing needs of the software sector, both in academia and industry, thus facilitating the rapid development of fellows to key leadership positions in the field. It comprised courses, workshops and online modules covering topics such as communications and public engagement, commercialisation and IP, proposal funding and research project management, teaching and scholarship, open science, and equality, inclusion, and diversity training. All fellows had access to the researcher development programme at their host university, which complemented the training organised by ALECS. ALECS fellows established multiple interactions with the non-academic sector via secondments and through research engagement and collaboration with industry and other non-academic organisations. In addition, they participated in various external research collaborations between their host university and other academic institutions, both in Ireland and abroad. Overall, the fellows completed: 765 training activities,178 dissemination outputs, and 156 EPE activities (70 EPE/communication training and 86 EPE activities).As a result of the comprehensive training programme and research opportunities provided by ALECS, the fellows successfully secured advancing career positions. 69% of ALECS alumni continue on to successful careers in academia, while 31% secured positions in the non-academic sector. 44% of ALECS alumni are based abroad, and 56% continue their careers in Ireland.
ALECS provided superior research opportunities and a comprehensive training programme in the area of ECS, a critical and rapidly growing research area in Europe that impacts both European industry and citizens. The goal was to develop and enhance the fellows’ skills to forge their career ambitions in both academic and non-academic settings. The training programme was specifically designed to address the fellows' needs and the changing needs of the software sector. The benefits of the ALECS fellowship to fellows included superior research training, intersectoral and interdisciplinary exposure, exploitation of research output, dissemination, communication and engagement opportunities and professional network development. The fellows were supervised by leading Lero researchers and were fully integrated into Lero, one of the world's best-known and most highly regarded software research centres. Lero and the host universities provided fellows with interdisciplinary research opportunities, superior expertise, research facilities and infrastructure. ALECS fellows had access to Lero's established academic and industry networks, researchers based across multiple institutions in Ireland and abroad, and partner organisations through full integration in Lero. By providing training to researchers in the unique research environment of Lero and including substantial intersectoral and interdisciplinary involvement in the training programme, ALECS offered its fellows a diverse range of opportunities for career advancement in both the academic and the non-academic, in Ireland and abroad. ALECS also positively impacted Lero’s academic and industry partners, enhancing Lero’s reputation as a world-class research centre and a leading developer of emerging research talent. The research experience, skills gained, intersectoral and interdisciplinary exposure and professional networks developed through the ALECS fellowship enabled the fellows to enhance their career prospects and successfully secure career-advancing positions in Ireland and abroad in the non-academic and academic sectors. 69% of ALECS alumni continue on to successful careers in academia across 6 countries: Ireland, Sweden, Austria, Canada, Denmark and the United Arab Emirates. 31% secured positions in the non-academic sector across 3 countries: Ireland, Norway and Italy. 44% of ALECS alumni are based abroad, and 56% continue their careers in Ireland.