Researchers trained in advanced materials characterisation and capable of exploiting the facilities available at research infrastructures (RIs) are needed to bridge the knowledge gap between Europe’s world-leading RIs and industry. These select individuals should be highly-skilled entrepreneurs and communicators in addition to being innovative researchers. The InnovaXN Doctoral Programme aimed to create such uniquely-skilled ambassadors to industry by recruiting and training 40 early-stage researchers (ESRs) to carry out research on projects defined and realised in close collaboration with industry. The programme linked the ESRF and ILL RIs with industry through 40 research projects. The subjects of these projects were within industry sectors such as advanced materials, pharmaceuticals and biotechnologies, catalysis and chemistry, metallurgy, aerospace and automotive, agriculture and food, consumer products. Industry stands to benefit from use of the advanced analytical techniques of the RIs. InnovaXN was a five-year programme. Research projects were harvested through an open ideation and codesign procedure with industry. Two recruitment calls were spaced twelve months apart. The duration of each ESR training period was typically 36 months, with registration of the ESRs at Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA), a partner of the project, and other collaborating European universities.
InnovaXN was open to students from a wide range of disciplines including chemistry, life sciences (biochemistry, medicine), materials science, engineering, environmental science and physics. The programme is important for society because it creates young researchers who are experts in a variety of areas of research, with knowledge of the capabilities of the RIs, and who can link between industry, academia and the RIs. Their research demonstrates the use of the RIs analytical techniques to solve industrial challenges. In the long-term, the knowledge gained by the ESRs should increase collaboration between industry, academia and the RIs, providing a boost to European industry. The ESRs have been active in presenting their research at conferences and other events, and often sought pubic visibility of their research through outreach, either at in-person or virtual events, including sharing through social media. Their research has already been published in 38 peer-reviewed scientific journals and more publications will follow as half of the students are currently writing their theses.
The overall objectives of the InnovaXN programme were to recruit the best candidates from a worldwide student base, to host them at the ESRF and ILL and train them in industry relevant areas of research.
