Periodic Reporting for period 2 - E3I ECLAUSion (Excellence, International, Intersectoral and Interdisciplinary doctoral training at Ecole Centrale Lyon in cotutelle with royal melbourne institute of technology AUStralia)
Reporting period: 2021-09-01 to 2023-08-31
E3I ECLAUSion, a joint venture between Ecole Centrale de Lyon (ECL) and RMIT University, Melbourne Australia aims to build a highly nurturing and multi-faceted PhD training environment that would benefit the emergence (‘eclosion’) of the next generation - 10 doctoral fellows in 2 cohorts- of not only highly skilled researchers but also entrepreneurs with an international mind-set and interdisciplinary training.
Training a rare breed of highly skilled researchers with a double hat European/Australian, will create i) a potential bridge between Australian and European science ii) but also a new generation of leaders capable of discerning or creating new market opportunities between these two continents.
The overall objectives of ECLAUSion are to:
i) Reinforce research excellence in ECL in partnership with RMIT and increase scientific output and international visibility;
ii) Expand on existing doctoral programs by attracting highly promising international early career researchers (ESRs) to ECL and providing a nurturing environment with global reach (both in terms of scientific supervision, mentoring, working conditions, administrative support and social life);
iii) Educate and train these ESRs; enhance their research and transferable skills with a 3I dimension by offering them Interdisciplinary research options, exposure to Industry (both at local, regional and international levels), and an inherently International network to maximise their opportunities and their emergence into successful professionals in their future careers;
iv) Leverage the existing rich biotech and ICT local/regional/global ecosystem and capitalise on it to develop new synergies between academia and the private sectors and more generally;
v) Strengthen EU-Australia research collaboration in key areas for investment and growth in particular in Health; Biotechnology, Environment; Energy; Information and communications technologies; Nanotechnologies, materials and production technology.
Training a rare breed of highly skilled researchers with a double hat European/Australian, will create i) a potential bridge between Australian and European science ii) but also a new generation of leaders capable of discerning or creating new market opportunities between these two continents.
The overall objectives of ECLAUSion are to:
i) Reinforce research excellence in ECL in partnership with RMIT and increase scientific output and international visibility;
ii) Expand on existing doctoral programs by attracting highly promising international early career researchers (ESRs) to ECL and providing a nurturing environment with global reach (both in terms of scientific supervision, mentoring, working conditions, administrative support and social life);
iii) Educate and train these ESRs; enhance their research and transferable skills with a 3I dimension by offering them Interdisciplinary research options, exposure to Industry (both at local, regional and international levels), and an inherently International network to maximise their opportunities and their emergence into successful professionals in their future careers;
iv) Leverage the existing rich biotech and ICT local/regional/global ecosystem and capitalise on it to develop new synergies between academia and the private sectors and more generally;
v) Strengthen EU-Australia research collaboration in key areas for investment and growth in particular in Health; Biotechnology, Environment; Energy; Information and communications technologies; Nanotechnologies, materials and production technology.
10 ESRs have been recruited and enrolled bot at EC-Lyon and RMIT across interdisciplinary topics at the forefront of science related to nanotechnologies and its applications (ranging from cancer cell detection in optofluidic platform, neuromorphic architecture, artificial synapses, development of embedded sensors in the Back End of Line of CMOS chips, integrated & non-linear photonics, 2D materials for optoelectronics applications…).
* ECLAUSion has reinforced research excellence in ECL in partnership with RMIT and increase scientific output and international visibility. Scientifically, ECLAUSion has led to a wealth of scientific achievements published in international journals, presentated in prestigious conferences of the field, organisations of workshops and conferences (with the presence of Nobel prize winner and the successful PhDs completion of 5 out 10 ESRs. ESRs from the second cohort are not expected to defend their PhDs before February 2024 (due to the delay in the recruitment process associated with the pandemic). ECLAUSion has been the foundation to even more ambitious initiatives by their scale like REDI and AUFRANDE (see impact section).
* ECLAUSion has provided a nurturing environment with global reach. We effectively disseminated the calls (223 applications received for the 1st call, 225 applications received for the 2nd call) through multiple channels. We effectively selected, recruited 10 cotutelle (RMIT Melbourne and EC-Lyon) PhDs students through a highly selective process (1st call, 5 selected/223 applications; 2nd call 5 selected/225 applications) 4 of these ESRs have already defended their PhDs and 6 are still fully active within their respective research teams (and close to completion). We enhanced their research and transferable skills with a 3i dimension (Interdisciplinary research options, exposure to Industry, International network). The 10 PhDs students are enrolled in EC-Lyon and RMIT, they have access to the EC-Lyon, Université de Lyon, RMIT Melbourne and doctoral schools in-person and on-line resources for education and training. Our 1st wave ESRs (who started in November 2019) have performed and validated 120 hours of personalised training suited to their project and their career goals (this is a mandatory requirement for thesis submission from the doctoral schools).
4 out 5 PhDs students of the 1st wave have already defended their PhDs and obtained their diplomas both in ECL and RMIT.
5 out of ten of our ESRs have achieved their international mobility in Australia with their long stay in RMIT supervised on-sites by their RMIT supervisors. Some of our ESRs received mentorship from industrial global players (Thales, ST microelectronics, LETI). Our graduated ESRs are sought-after and they have been recruited by prestigious universities to pursue their academic careers.
* ECLAUSion has reinforced research excellence in ECL in partnership with RMIT and increase scientific output and international visibility. Scientifically, ECLAUSion has led to a wealth of scientific achievements published in international journals, presentated in prestigious conferences of the field, organisations of workshops and conferences (with the presence of Nobel prize winner and the successful PhDs completion of 5 out 10 ESRs. ESRs from the second cohort are not expected to defend their PhDs before February 2024 (due to the delay in the recruitment process associated with the pandemic). ECLAUSion has been the foundation to even more ambitious initiatives by their scale like REDI and AUFRANDE (see impact section).
* ECLAUSion has provided a nurturing environment with global reach. We effectively disseminated the calls (223 applications received for the 1st call, 225 applications received for the 2nd call) through multiple channels. We effectively selected, recruited 10 cotutelle (RMIT Melbourne and EC-Lyon) PhDs students through a highly selective process (1st call, 5 selected/223 applications; 2nd call 5 selected/225 applications) 4 of these ESRs have already defended their PhDs and 6 are still fully active within their respective research teams (and close to completion). We enhanced their research and transferable skills with a 3i dimension (Interdisciplinary research options, exposure to Industry, International network). The 10 PhDs students are enrolled in EC-Lyon and RMIT, they have access to the EC-Lyon, Université de Lyon, RMIT Melbourne and doctoral schools in-person and on-line resources for education and training. Our 1st wave ESRs (who started in November 2019) have performed and validated 120 hours of personalised training suited to their project and their career goals (this is a mandatory requirement for thesis submission from the doctoral schools).
4 out 5 PhDs students of the 1st wave have already defended their PhDs and obtained their diplomas both in ECL and RMIT.
5 out of ten of our ESRs have achieved their international mobility in Australia with their long stay in RMIT supervised on-sites by their RMIT supervisors. Some of our ESRs received mentorship from industrial global players (Thales, ST microelectronics, LETI). Our graduated ESRs are sought-after and they have been recruited by prestigious universities to pursue their academic careers.
ECLAUSion has recruited 10 cotutel PhDs students working across interdisciplinary topics at the forefront of science related to nanotechnologies and its applications making already a significant scientific impact.
ECLAUSion is centered around a double hat (European/Australian), world-class doctoral program (with compulsory modules on transferable skills, vocational training, research training modules, mentoring program…) while offering our ESRs a cutting edge research environment. The impact of such program on our ESR career development is evidenced by the successful career path followed by our graduated ESRs with positions obtained in prestigious universities to pursue their academic careers.
The arrival of 10 international MSCA doctoral students in ECL in cotutelle with RMIT, working on subjects covering cutting-edge technologies ranging from materials, computational architecture and bio-sensors to integrated photonic devices, has had a considerable impact on the life of the laboratory, in addition to consolidating and/or creating new scientific themes locally and internationally.
Last but not least, ECLAUSion is having a considerable impact on the “education by research” landscape between France and Australia. Following the success of ECLAUSion, a number of Australian universities (RMIT of course, but also USyd, Macquarie, Swinburne) and French universities (Ecole centrale de Lyon, AMU University Grenoble Alpes ect…) expressed their interest in starting a reflection on new forms of Franco-Australian collective action with a view to amplifying our research and engineering partnerships. These discussions led to a large-scale initiative (kick-started by ECLAUSion coordinators in co-construction with RMIT Europe), the AUFRANDE project. AUFRANDE was submitted in February 2022 to the Marie-Curie Cofund call. AUFRANDE aimed at cotutelles for training through research, but with a change of scale in terms of the number of students (~60 targeted) and the number of institutions (more than 20 French and Australian universities are involved). We obtained funding from the European Community. The project, coordinated by RMIT Europe has just officially started (October 2023), with over sixty students co-tutel between France and Australia.
ECLAUSion is centered around a double hat (European/Australian), world-class doctoral program (with compulsory modules on transferable skills, vocational training, research training modules, mentoring program…) while offering our ESRs a cutting edge research environment. The impact of such program on our ESR career development is evidenced by the successful career path followed by our graduated ESRs with positions obtained in prestigious universities to pursue their academic careers.
The arrival of 10 international MSCA doctoral students in ECL in cotutelle with RMIT, working on subjects covering cutting-edge technologies ranging from materials, computational architecture and bio-sensors to integrated photonic devices, has had a considerable impact on the life of the laboratory, in addition to consolidating and/or creating new scientific themes locally and internationally.
Last but not least, ECLAUSion is having a considerable impact on the “education by research” landscape between France and Australia. Following the success of ECLAUSion, a number of Australian universities (RMIT of course, but also USyd, Macquarie, Swinburne) and French universities (Ecole centrale de Lyon, AMU University Grenoble Alpes ect…) expressed their interest in starting a reflection on new forms of Franco-Australian collective action with a view to amplifying our research and engineering partnerships. These discussions led to a large-scale initiative (kick-started by ECLAUSion coordinators in co-construction with RMIT Europe), the AUFRANDE project. AUFRANDE was submitted in February 2022 to the Marie-Curie Cofund call. AUFRANDE aimed at cotutelles for training through research, but with a change of scale in terms of the number of students (~60 targeted) and the number of institutions (more than 20 French and Australian universities are involved). We obtained funding from the European Community. The project, coordinated by RMIT Europe has just officially started (October 2023), with over sixty students co-tutel between France and Australia.