AIAS-COFUND II Fellowship Programme

Project Information

AIAS-COFUND II

Grant agreement ID: 754513

DOI

10.3030/754513

Project closed

EC signature date 12 May 2017

Start date 1 October 2017

End date 30 September 2024

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 9 912 000,00

EU contribution

€ 4 956 000,00

Coordinated by

AARHUS UNIVERSITET
Denmark

Periodic Reporting for period 3 - AIAS-COFUND II (AIAS-COFUND II Fellowship Programme)

Reporting period: 2022-10-01 to 2024-09-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies (AIAS) is a scientific platform for curiosity-driven and independent research that hosts excellent scholars from all disciplines, from anthropology to astrophysics. AIAS offers a highly competitive international fellowship programme, and in its multidisciplinary setting, it focuses solely on research excellence and training of research talents. The long-term ambition of AIAS is to become a scientific hallmark for researcher-driven research that can attract the most talented researchers from around the globe in competition with other prestigious fellowship programmes in the US and China. By building such outstanding research platforms in Europe, institutes like AIAS can contribute to retaining talent and reintegrating European scholars into European science. The programme offers full academic freedom to the fellows to pursue their ideas and independently develop ground-breaking ideas in a stimulating scientific environment. The Programme has had a distinct focus on career development. The fellowship programme has provided space and time for the researchers to nurture their intellectual and academic development. The AIAS-COFUND II programme has effectively reinforced research excellence by:
•Allowing fellows to choose their research topic freely and fully focus on deepening their research skills
•Enhancing fellows’ genuine understanding of the methodologies and approaches of other scientific disciplines, enabling them to work across disciplines, tackling societal multifaceted problems.
•Establishing a multidisciplinary training platform to develop the fellows’ academic openness in their careers and to strengthen their capabilities to work anywhere in Europe or abroad, not just in their country of origin.
•Attracting junior and senior researchers from around the globe to Europe and thereby contributing to the European goals of increasing the number of researchers with innovation skills in Europe.

The results of the AIAS-COFUND II Programme include:
•A highly competitive programme: The programme has received 1243 applications in four calls, a threshold of a minimum of 4 in all calls for the selected fellows. The programme has resulted in 1588 fellowship months distributed on 61 fellowships of 26 different nationalities.
•Interdisciplinary exchanges, dissemination, and exploitation of project results: 128 peer-reviewed publications registered in the Participant Portal and 497 conference and workshop presentations by the fellows, highlighting the global reach and academic impact of the fellows’ research outputs.
•Quality career-enhancing activities: 20 targeted career development seminars and workshops have been offered, tailored specifically to the career and development needs of this cohort of fellows.
•Career grants and improved employability: 16 individual large career grants were awarded to fellows. The programme achieved a 100% employment rate among fellows after the end of their fellowship, with 30% retained at Aarhus University.
•High-impact research on societal challenges: Fellows have conducted research projects addressing critical societal issues, including climate change, sustainability, and the COVID-19 pandemic. These projects contribute with valuable insights and solutions to global challenges, underscoring the fellowships’ commitment to advancing research with an impact on pressing contemporary issues.

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 work performed for the past 84 months of this project (01-10-2017 to 30-09-2024) summarized in the four headings below:
1) Announcement and conclusion of four calls:
The calls have been widely promoted and the broad dissemination of the calls has resulted in 1243 applications in all four calls and 1588 fellowship months distributed on 61 fellowships.
2)Interdisciplinary exchanges, conferences and workshop; dissemination, and exploitation of project results: Interdisciplinary exchanges, conferences and workshops have been the core of the programme. These exchanges include e.g. weekly seminars, which are open to the public and accessible online via Zoom, ensuring broader outreach and engagement. Throughout their fellowship, all fellows have organized at least one workshop, conference, or networking event at AIAS. Moreover, fellows have exploited their projects at 497 international conferences and workshops worldwide. Fellows have produced substantial research results, disseminated in peer-reviewed journals and books and 128 publications were registered in the Participant Portal. Furthermore, the research is disseminated via the AIAS website, social media (especially LinkedIn), and newsletter (484 subscribers).
3) Networking and mentorship meetings:
The AIAS framework fosters a supportive research culture and informal mentoring across career stages. In addition to this informal mentorship, all junior fellows have been paired with a designated mentor, while senior fellows have received introductions to key collaborators.
4) Different career development and training activities in transferable skill:
20 targeted career development workshops have been offered, tailored specifically to the career and development needs of the cohort e.g. a yearly workshop on strategic fundraising and grant proposal writing.

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 cross-field nature of an AIAS fellowship provides the possibility for truly groundbreaking ideas to evolve, which eventually can have societal impacts. The fellows have undertaken diverse research projects to address key societal challenges. Examples include efforts to find cures for HIV, develop COVID-19 vaccines, and tackle climate change through innovative approaches to air pollution, water resource management, and environmental concerns like wastewater treatment and converting sewage sludge into fuel. Another interdisciplinary project integrates micropaleontology, geochemistry, and ecological modelling to offer new insights into the ecosystem dynamics of extinct polar biomes. This research aligns with EU Societal Challenges, particularly in ‘Climate action, environment, resource efficiency, and raw materials’ A complete list of the fellows' projects, research highlights, etc. can be found on the AIAS website: https://aias.au.dk/research
A confirmed impact of the programme is improved employability, which the AIAS’ annual impact survey confirms. The fellows that participated in the survey are mostly employed within academia, and a few have left to do research in the private sector. Fellows have improved their career perspectives and increased the depth and width of their research decisively, which have resulted in improved bibliometric records, different individual career grants and to establish new profound research collaborations and valuable knowledge exchange between research fields. Fellows have been awarded 16 individual large career grants during or immediately after their fellowship, including grants from ERC, Villum Young Investigator and the Danish Independent Research Council. Fellows have advanced in their careers from researcher to group leader or to tenure track positions and even full professorships throughout Europe after their fellowship. This is demonstrated by a 100% employment rate following the end of the fellowship, with a 30% retention rate at Aarhus University.

AIAS-COFUND Fellows