EUTOPIA-Science and Innovation Fellowships

Project Information

EUTOPIA-SIF

Grant agreement ID: 945380

DOI

10.3030/945380

EC signature date 25 May 2020

Start date 1 May 2021

End date 30 November 2026

Funded under

• EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions

Total cost

€ 11 181 120,00

EU contribution

€ 5 590 560,00

Coordinated by

CY CERGY PARIS UNIVERSITE
France

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - EUTOPIA-SIF (EUTOPIA-Science and Innovation Fellowships)

Reporting period: 2021-05-01 to 2023-04-30

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

The EUTOPIA Science and Innovation Fellowship (EUTOPIA-SIF) programme is an ambitious initiative led by CY Cergy Paris Université and aimed at promoting the research potential and career perspective of outstanding, innovative young researchers. The programme recognises that future research leaders will work across traditional disciplinary boundaries to create new connections and innovative new research that will have influence beyond academia. EUTOPIA-SIF develops an environment to foster this ambition, by supporting career development, offering transversal skills training and promoting international exchange and cross-sectoral mobility.

The EUTOPIA-SIF programme is open to all disciplines. It promotes excellence in research, innovation, entrepreneurship and impact in order to address major societal challenges through five Key Research Areas: Materials Engineering; Data & Intelligence; Health; Sustainability; Welfare & Inclusion.

EUTOPIA-SIF is a flagship action of the EUTOPIA Alliance It represents an integrated and concerted effort gathering six universities – CY Cergy Paris U., U. Pompeu Fabra, Vrije U. Brussel, Goeteborgs U., U. Ljubljana and U. Warwick-- who have joined forces to provide fellows with an innovation-driven world-class research eco-system. Fellows are hosted by one of the EUTOPIA partner universities and are offered extensive mobility opportunities within EUTOPIA and beyond.

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 project started in May 2021 and will finish in 2026. Three main tasks have been carried out since the beginning of the project:

Dissemination Activities -- As soon as the programme started, we started communicating and disseminating about the programme and its upcoming calls. Materials created includea website, a visual and logo, various guides, brochures and leafltets. Information was disseminated through LinkedIn, press releases, EURAXESS, external mailing lists, universities' networks, career platforms, websites and social media of EUTOPIA Alliance universities. Q&A and info sessions for potential applicants and their supervisors were also organized.

Calls for applications – EUTOPIA SIF has opened three calls for applications in the Fall of 2020, 2021 and 2022. A fourth and last call will open in the Fall of 2023. The first three calls received a total of 602 applications. After eligibility check, 462 applications were send for International Peer Review involving more than 1,000 international experts. In every call 50 to 60 applications were invited for an interview. 36 fellows enrolled in the programme following the first two calls and a new cohort of 26 fellows will join the programme in September 2023.

Training activities -- EUTOPIA-SIF has developed a complete training programme combining disciplinary and transversal skills training and articulating program-wide activities and local training options offered by each of the partners of the programme. The EUTOPIA-SIF core training sessions focus on the acquisition of non-disciplinary competences. They aim at giving the fellows the opportunity to develop skills and enhance their career opportunity to become a future leader in academia and beyond. Each year, fellows participate in 10 monthly training sessions, addressing all key transversal skills module identified in the EUTOPIA SIF project and covering the following core domains: Research project management and compliance; Collaboration in research; Research funding; Scientific output; Communication and engagement; Personal and professional development.

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)

EUTOPIA-SIF Fellows are an interdisciplinary grouping and as such, there is no unifying research theme. The main aim of the programme is to form a group of innovative and highly skilled research leaders who will drive innovation in the European economy and society by working across disciplines and sectors. Within their individual projects, fellows have been making significant advances within their fields. The research produced has informed other researchers, teaching and has also reached out into industry, public policy and advocacy groups and to the public.

The fellows have all undertake extensive personal development and training activities. These include participation in a monthly group training session which develops skills related to a research career as well as transferable skills, in bi-monthly interdisciplinary seminars and other scientific exchange activities.
Fellows have used this training and the opportunity to undertake a significant piece of independent research to advance their careers and secure positions and funding which establish them as future research leaders. Each fellow is jointly supervised by two researchers from different universities of the EUTOPIA Alliance and the EUTOPIA-SIF programme has acted as a strong catalyst of research cooperations with the EUTOPIA European University Alliance.

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