Notable achievements include:
-Implementing secondments for 143 individuals across the Consortium (45% female), including PhD candidates, Early-Stage Researchers (43%), Experienced Researchers (44%), and Professional R&I Staff (13%).
-Establishing 5 co-tutelle agreements between Consortium academic partners, representing scalable, structural mechanisms to sustain the network.
-Delivering annual Summer Schools (2021-2024), equipping researchers and innovators with actionable knowledge—tactics, techniques, and tools—to build research agendas and advance research translation for societal impact.
-Deepening the understanding of research translation mechanisms, codifying them in training materials (toolkits and canvasses) refined through the Summer Schools, now openly available via the OpenInnoTrain website under a Creative Commons licence.
-Developing and delivering masterclasses, involving academics and industry participants, focusing on targeting knowledge transfer across contexts (e.g. the interplay between AgTech and FoodTech, and how Cleantech can be used to rejuvenate mature industries such as the wine industry – workshop at the University of Siena and Salcheto in June 2019; The role of new technologies in linking firms, consumers, and territories, at the University of Siena in September 2022; Ideation and Venture Creation, at the University of Vaasa in August 2023 or the Impact through Research in Graz, Vaasa, and Cambridge in June 2024);
-Adopting a train-the-trainer approach, empowering members to replicate these trainings institutionally. For example, the Masterclass on Research Impact (2024) emerged as a shorter version of the Summer School. Additionally, the International Society for Professional Innovation Management (ISPIM) uses these training materials in its Research Impact Mentoring Program.
-Involving ESRs and postdocs in delivering trainings and Summer School Mentor roles, enhancing their skills in stakeholder interaction.
-Implementing STREMS (Students-Researchers-Managers) activities where OpenInnoTrain acted as a knowledge broker, connecting industry stakeholders (seekers) with students and researchers (solvers) to address challenges in FinTech, Industry 4.0 CleanTech, and FoodTech. An example is the October 2023 STREM hosted by INESC TEC in Porto.
-Enabling 143 individuals to engage in international and intersectoral secondments, allowing them to work in globally diverse teams, form social bonds with local hosts, and experience serendipitous encounters within wider ecosystems.
