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Policies for Smart Specialisation

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - POLISS (Policies for Smart Specialisation)

Berichtszeitraum: 2019-12-01 bis 2021-11-30

POLISS is an Innovative Training Network funded by the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (H2020-MSCA-ITN) bringing together 7 European Universities and 14 Partners with the aim of contributing to the improvement of the EU’s Smart Specialisation Policy and it’s Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation (RIS3). An important feature of POLISS is the strong participation of the non-academic sector. The objective of the POLISS Network is to contribute to a more effective design, implementation and evaluation of RIS3 actions in EU regions, through:
1. training a new generation of experts in regional development and innovation policy, explicitly linking research with policy practices related to RIS3 actions;
2. providing new systematic evidence and methodological tools for designing, implementing and assessing RIS3 actions in EU regions.

Within POLISS, 14 Early Stage Researchers are employed. The training programme has been designed to exploit synergies and complementarities in the host institutions’ infrastructure. The focus of the programme is the individual research project, embedded within a collective community orchestrated around:
- two secondments (one academic and one non-academic);
- the possibility of taking courses in other network universities;
- five network-wide training sessions (Summer and Winter Schools);
- the collective attendance at external conferences;
- A strong internal communication network.
Within POLISS, 14 Early Stage Researchers from multidisciplinary backgrounds are employed; all ESRs started between September and December 2020.

In its first year (Dec 2019/20) POLISS focused on recruiting its 14 Early Stage Researchers (ESRs), setting-up the management and infrastructure of the project, strengthening and building the POLISS community and starting-up the training of our ESRs.
In its second year (Dec 2020/21) POLISS focused on providing our 14 ESRs with skills and knowledge through a joint training programme, consisting of 6 compulsory courses offered by the 7 participating universities, a two week POLISS Summer School, and the start of the first secondments with both academic and non-academic partners. In addition, we launched our scientific activities. In the first year of our ESRs employment (2020/21) all ESRs started-up their research and presented their ideas and progress to the POLISS network during the Summer School in Utrecht (Sep 2021). The presentations were followed by fruitful discussions between ESRs and Academic staff of the different beneficiaries, after which the feedback was incorporated into final drafts of the Research Proposals. In December 2021 POLISS research resulted in the publication of the article "A Critical Review of Open Innovation in SMEs: Implementation, Success Factors and Challenges"; more scientific papers are in progress which we hope to submit for publication in 2022.

An important feature of POLISS is the strong participation of the non-academic sector. In the first half of the programme we contributed to our training objectives by ensuring that policy makers and practitioners in Smart Spececialisation (policy/governance, entrepreneurs and science) were actively contributing to our POLISS training activities:
1. during the Summer School external experts on Smart Specialisation from the different fields of policy/governance, entrepreneurs and science organized and/or participated in workshops discussing with our student the best practices and challenges faced within their different fields;
2. through our non-academic secondments in 2021, some of our ESRs had the opportunity to work with experts from different fields and learn from their experiences (e.g. local governance in the Netherlands and Norway and Kontakt in Hungary, Electrical Equipment Manufacturing);
3. through the diversity of courses offered to our students at different faculties around Europe giving our ESRs the opportunity to bring to enhance their competences in their fields of specialization and to complement their abilities with skills and knowledge from other relevant fields;
4. and through the exchange and cooperation of our ESRs who come from different scientific backgrounds (e.g. economics, political science)
In the third (Dec 2021/22) and fourth (Dec 2022/23) year of the project we aim to further benefit from our network wide cooperation, through
- joint training schools and conferences in amongst others Milan, Pécs, Stavanger and Valencia;
- the continuation of our academic and non-academic Secondments
- network wide exchange and cooperation between ESRs and POLISS members
We have several scientific papers in progress which we hope to submit for publication in 2022 and 2023.
POLISS