The work of the TOPIV project has been subdivided into work packages and tasks. This structure makes it easier to achieve objectives and subdivide the work among all the different universities, government agencies and scientific councils that execute the work of the TOP IV project. TOP VI consists of 9 work packages and 38 tasks. Each work package and task has its own leader – a person or organisation who is responsible for the fulfilment of this task. For each task the beneficiaries are also identified. Some task work with euraxess members, some with WP leaders en task managers and some with researchers directly. Most tasks are open for Euraxess members to join and collaborate.
The work packages and tasks generally have the same themes as previous TOP projects and build on work done in past project cycles.
Below is a short description of every Work Package (WP) and its tasks.
Work Package 1 (WP 1) Project Management
This is a work package that operates on internal matters. The tasks and activities in this work package help to make Euraxess run smoothly and to ensure the work is being done on time. It also has a quality assurance element, to ensure the work done under TOP IV has high quality standards and adheres to European code of conduct and ethical standards.
Read more about all 3 tasks
Tasks 1.1 Project Management and Coordination
This task is like the management team of TOP IV comprising of a manager (the Coordinator) and all Work Package leaders. They are tasked with the day-to day management of the project. The Coordinator is responsible for the legal, contractual and financial management of the project in line with the Grant Agreement and the Consortium Agreement. In this task, the Coordinator will work closely with the European Commission and all the WP leaders to ensure that the work is performed according to the project plan. The Coordinator will monitor the overall progress of the project, its implementation, and the timely achievement of deliverables.
Tasks 1.2 Project Supervision
At the beginning of the TOP IV project an advisory board is set up consisting of European experts with a deep knowledge of the EURAXESS network, researcher career development issues, youth and entrepreneurship, refugee’s services and researchers-academia interaction. EU policy tools facilitating researcher mobility will be set up at the beginning of the project. Members of the Advisory Board give their feedback and comments on the results of the project, as appropriate. The Advisory Board will be invited to attend management meetings and events when relevant. The advisory board will advicse and comment on the overall scientific plans, its directions and progress. They will also identify emerging needs, make recommendations on matter related to TOP IV and interact with important interested external parties.
Task 1.3: Quality Assurance
The quality of Euraxess project is upheld by a system of peer review (Euraxess Work Package leaders assess their own and each other’s work). The management team will also do quality checks based on criteria that are determined at the beginning of the Top IV project . The quality assurance team will also be invited to trainings and workshops and there will be a system of online assessment after each EURAXESS TOP IV activity. The team will make recommendations for improvements based on the information they gather.
Work Package (WP) 2 Euraxess Career Development
In this work package, Euraxess members make tools that will help other Euraxess centres provide better career services. WP 2 will focus on supporting EURAXESS members on how to develop a strategy for their Career Development (CD) services, including development of a support buddy system. It will equip both the EURAXESS network and individual researchers with useful on-line tools helping and advising researchers in planning their individual career in different sectors. Finally, this WP will raise awareness among the EURAXESS and external community, including policy makers, on the importance of career development and available tools.
Read more about all 4 tasks
Task 2.1 Supporting the development of Career Development (CD) strategies
The main aim of task 2.1 is to encourage and support EURAXESS members to carry out a training needs analysis (TNA) of their researchers. This will facilitate the EURAXESS staff to develop a strategy for improving their Career Development (CD) services. The steps of the process are, as follows:
1) A process will be designed that will allow all EURAXESS centres to evaluate the CD services they offer. The process will highlight training requirements or gaps in the current available resources to individual institutions.
2) Euraxess National Offices (ENOs) will ensure this process is carried out within their networks. This will be achieved through two webinars, one for ENOs and one for wider network members (min 60 participants).
3) A report will be made on how Euraxess centres can collaborate to fill each other’s gaps, including through peer to peer learning, the buddy system and the development of further learning materials.
Task 2.2 Materials/ Tools Development
Under this task, Euraxess centres will develop and update materials and tools to address cross-network needs. It will include a consultation with stakeholders (in webinar format), presenting findings of the cross-network Training Needs Analysis (TNA) and identifying needs that may have been missed. As the findings from Tasks 2.1 and 2.3 will provide a bottom-up perspective, special emphasis will be given to the perspective of subject matter experts and policy recommendations (2.4). Examples of these materials are: e-learning modules for network practitioners; enhanced training materials; materials designed to support Human Resources (HR) departments; further development of policy recommendations (in particular the perspective of industry); or lists of recommended/certified trainers.
Task 2.3: Community of Practice
This task is to set up and lead a ‘buddy system’ for the EURAXESS network. The results from task 2.1 will be taken into account when setting up and developing the system. It will serve as a peer-to-peer learning scheme, enabling EURAXESS members to discuss and get feedback on common issues, problems, dilemmas from others facing similar questions. In this way, a Career Development (CD) community of practice will be created. After initial set-up and guidance the system can run by itself. Towards the end of the 2nd year, a 2-day workshop for around 20 participants will be organised for “buddies” to reflect on the value of the community, identify common issues and problems discussed and prepare recommendations for EURAXESS in sustaining communities of practice.
Task 2.4: Awareness Raising
This Task improves and strengthens the interaction between the EURAXESS network, individual researchers in both academic and non-academic sectors and policy makers to ensure a general take-up of new Career Development (CD) services. Online promotional materials for different target groups will be developed and distributed. The dissemination of information will be in line with the communication strategy in WP6 and coordination between WP2 and WP6. One workshop will be arranged that will focus on dissemination of CD policy recommendations among high level stakeholders and multipliers
Work Package (WP) 3 Social Integration Initiatives
The main aim of this WP will be to improve understanding among EURAXESS network member about the key role of the social integration of foreign researchers in European organizations. The team of this WP will focus on various topics such as Dual Career Services, the social life of the researchers and their families; managing diversity at EURAXESS organizations and the integration of refugee researchers (Science4Refugees initiative services). It will build on the results of former EURAXESS projects and on studies/evaluations of how to support the international researchers and their families better..
Read more about all 4 tasks
Task 3.1: Dual Career Services for the partners of mobile researchers
This Task is focused on the development and dissemination of Dual Career (DC) services, or in other words services that encourage employment of the partners that travel along with mobile researchers. The already established Dual Career (DC) Expert Group , joined by extra less experienced EURAXESS members, will develop and improve existing DC services and share experiences with other EURAXESS members. Via (brainstorming) meetings DC activities are tested, developed, and adjusted. As a result local trainings will be developed and a Dual Career guidebook will be published in collaboration with task 8.2 the content shop. The DC expert group will provide recommendations to WP5 on how DC can be included in EURAXESS’ capacity building activities.
Task 3.2: The EURAXESS Family Network: Career and life fit for the Integrated Researcher
This Task will further develop a social twinning initiative and in doing so establish a EURAXESS Family Network. With the help of this network and the respective tool, international research families will meet other families who also experienced being new in a foreign country. The team will analyse the existing social and professional integration activities in the two partner countries. It will organise family events (social twinning) and host a focus group with international researchers and based on the results will prepare a Family Networking tool.
Task 3.3: Managing Diversity (focus on gender & multicultural issues)
This Task aims to successfully integrate diversity management in the EURAXESS network and its services. Firstly, existing studies and papers will be analysed. In a first meeting, experts in the field of diversity management will meet and make recommendations to the EURAXESS network. In order to grasp a holistic picture, two focus groups will be conducted with stakeholders from universities and industry facing the challenges of diversity.
Task 3.4 Refugee initiatives
This Task will focus on Refugee researchers who are looking for access to the European labour market. It will identify the existing good practices of refugee initiatives and services through a survey among EURAXESS members. The results will be discussed and the services will be analysed in 1 workshop per beneficiary country. The task team will design a practical “pilot training” for the work with refugee researchers. Topics that can be included in the training are for example recognition of academic qualification, information on local and European research systems, scientific and grant writing, skill improvement and entrepreneurship. The model will be used for national trainings through the Network Call.
Work Package (WP) 4: Engagement with Industry
This WP aims to support the EURAXESS community to have the necessary know-how and tools to develop new services oriented to a better connection between academia and industry. Specifically, the objectives of this work package will be:
• To develop the necessary know-how and expertise on how EURAXESS centres can offer mentoring programmes for researchers with an interest in industry. An “academia-industry mentoring toolkit” will be made and offered to EURAXESS Centres
• To develop a manual and relevant information on scientific entrepreneurship for EURAXESS centres.
• To have non-academic sectors as regular EURAXESS services clients, particularly by having EURAXESS Jobs portal widely used by industry to post their scientific positions.
Read more about all 3 tasks
Task 4.1: Industry- academy mentoring pilot and exploitation of results
This task will lead to EURAXESS centers having the necessary support and information to develop mentoring programmes for researchers with an interest in industry. In order to achieve this, this task will design, implement and monitor a mentoring programme that will run in 5 countries (Spain, Denmark, Israel, Italy, and Bulgaria). Selected researchers (mentees) will be matched with experts from industry (mentors). For 3 month there will be mentoring around three specific themes: Professional expectations, competency gaps and CV design. Both mentors and mentees (between 50-100 participants) will be surveyed in order to monitor the success of the pilot. Furthermore this task team will develop an “academia-industry mentoring toolkit” for EURAXESS centers which will include the rationale, best practices and guidance material around offering mentoring programmes.
Task 4.2: Including scientific entrepreneurship advice into the EURAXESS services portfolio
Entrepreneurship is identified in the EU as “one of 8 key competences necessary for a knowledge-based society” . Considering that the researcher community plays a key role within a knowledge-based economy, EURAXESS centres should include information on opportunities and awareness about entrepreneurship for researchers. This Task aims at broadening and enhancing EURAXESS expertise on scientific entrepreneurship to support researchers in considering it as an alternative to traditional science career path in academia or industry.
The Task will develop an Easy-to-use- Manual on Scientific Entrepreneurship outlining common definitions on the main technical terms, and it will include relevant information on accelerators, incubators, investment funds, and other entrepreneurship opportunities, available at European level for researchers. Additional information for developing the manual will be collected through a workshop with researchers having intersectoral mobility experience. This will be achieved by using the EURAXESS national networks for addressing alumni organizations to identify key people in the private sector, as well as among decision makers. In this sense, the collaboration with the Marie Curie Alumni Association (MCAA) is expected to be strategic.
Task 4.3: Promotion of EURAXESS services supporting intersectoral mobile researcher careers
Although intersectoral mobility has always been a target of the initiative, non-academic researcher employers have traditionally been underrepresented within EURAXESS’ clients. The development of the industry mentoring programme and the manual for scientific entrepreneurship will be used as the triggers to launch a large-scale event aimed at around 200 participants- both researchers and non-academic research employers where both of these novel EURAXESS services will be presented. In addition, such an event focused on intersectoral research careers should also be useful for further visibility of the more traditional EURAXESS services relevant for the business sector (e.g. the EURAXESS Jobs portal).
Work Package (WP) 5 Capacity Building of the EURAXESS Network
The objective of this WP is to further intensify the services provided by the EURAXESS network and to expand the recently developed new services with an emphasis on services for the non-mobile researchers on gender and diversity aspects. The WP 5 team will organise a series of dedicated, tailor-made and focused activities for the capacity building of the EURAXESS staff.
Read more about all 5 tasks
Task 5.1 Training Needs Analysis and national training plans
This Task aims at exploring the training needs of the EURAXESS Network. The purpose of this activity will be to prepare a detailed national plan for satisfying the training needs of each EURAXESS member country. Based on this national plan the task team will prepare 40 national training plans with recommendations to the Euraxess National Offices (ENOs) for the most suitable training opportunities and the respective resources within the project.
Task 5.2: Preparation of pilot programs and courses for the capacity building activities
The aim of this Task is to develop a pilot program for network-wide training session and two basic courses on topics that belong to some of the most important issues in researcher’s career “Maintaining Research Integrity” and “Open Science and Intellectual Property Rights ( IPR)” . These key topics will dealt with in a Train-the-Trainer course primarily for staff of EURAXESS Services Centres.
Task 5.3: Network-wide training of Euraxess Centres for capacity building
Staff of EURAXESS centers that are interested in extending their service offering will be offered a Train-the-Trainer program for providing services and advice on the career development of researchers. The program will be 1 network-wide, 1 day, training session for up to 150 participants, devoted to such new Career Development Services. The core program will, depending on the demand, include parallel sessions on: a newcomer session, network e-tools session, intercultural integration, gender and diversity issues, etc. The trainees will acquire skills to deliver or organize training sessions for researchers at their own organizations on these topics and will be asked to provide at least 1 course by the end of the project
Task 5.4 Regional training for network members
This task aims at creation and delivery of 6 regional (one-day training sessions) for up to 24 participants each, more than 140 in total. There will be both traditional EURAXESS topics on serving mobile researchers, but also on new services, e.g. support to industries and/or career development of researchers. The task team will also identify and invite trainers who will need to adjust the materials for further training use through the network e-Platform . The training topics will be focused on the priorities for supporting the European economies like cooperation with and support to industries. It will include topics about cooperation with industry and researcher career development, using the EURAXESS e-Platform. The Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) principles and the gender aspect in career development outside academia will also be addressed. The trainees will acquire skills to work with industry, advise researchers on these topics, organize events in their organization for connecting researchers and industry, increase the number of job offers on the portal and the number of start-ups and spin-offs. The Task team will prepare training for regions with high demand and interest according to the survey of the training needs and will allocate the seats according to the size and needs of the national networks.
The proposed regions are (TBD THE COUNTRY FOR EACH):
Region 1: Austria, Czech Republic, Germany, Slovakia, Switzerland – 2 participants per country. Region 2: Belgium, Luxemburg, Netherlands, UK, Ireland, France – 2 participants per country.
Region 3: Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Hungary – 2 participants per country
Region 4: Spain, Portugal, Italy, Malta, Cyprus, Israel – 2 participants per country.
Region 5: Slovenia, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia, B&H, Albania, Greece, Turkey, FYROMacedonia, Bulgaria, Romania – 2 participants per country
Task 5.5: Increasing the national networks capacity through Study Visits Programme and Book-a-Trainer Scheme
Sharing the expertise and knowledge accumulated and developed by the EURAXESS Network is crucial for its further strengthening and growth. The aim of the task is to enable exchange and dissemination this knowledge through two cross-border peer-to-peer activities: Study Visits Programme (SVP) and Book-a-Trainer Scheme (BTS). Study Visits Programme (SVP), will offer the network members a possibility to participate in individual and group study visits, both for max 2 days, with max 2 participants per a network. The individual study visits will enable the exchange on the topics and challenges specific to the particular network member. The group study visits will focus on the key development areas and the training needs identified in other tasks of Work Package 5. At least ten group study visits will be organised throughout the duration of the project.
New Book a Trainer Scheme (BTS) will facilitate the invitation of an experienced network member or a trainer from the network pool of trainers to the national networks. Participation in both SVP and the BTS will be obligatory for the national networks involved in the Network Call.
Work Package 6 (WP 6) Network support and a comprehensive communication and cooperation strategy for EURAXESS
The Network Call aims to increase the funding base to enhance the level of services provided by the entire national network. These services will include promotion and capacity building activities. An overall communication strategy for the EURAXESS network on several levels will be designed and implemented. It consists of three parts that can be discriminated but not separated: communication, promotion and cooperation. The main goal is to strengthen the visibility, the internal cohesion and effectiveness of the EURAXESS network by communicating better, by promoting the activities and the services of the network to stakeholders in a more structural way.
Objectives:
- To define the content for and implement a Network Call intended to support the EURAXESS network in implementing national level coordination activities;
- To launch, execute and evaluate the Network Call;
- To design, create support for and implement a comprehensive communication and cooperation strategy;
- To enhance the attractiveness and raise the visibility and the impact of the EURAXESS network in the European Research Area.
Read more about all 4 tasks
Task 6.1: Design, implementation and evaluation of the Network Call
This task will design, implement, coordinate and evaluate the Network Call, based on the experience of the task leader and beneficiaries in previous, similar activities. The content of the call will be provided by other Work Packages (WPs). The framework of the Network Call has already been developed in the proposal preparation phase, ensuring that national networks will be ready to submit their own tailor made work plan. The submission would be followed by quick streamlined evaluation and approval before the networks can start implementing their work plan. Each beneficiary or linked third party (a EURAXESS National Office (ENO) per EURAXESS country) will be able to submit one application for funding activities aligned with the project priorities. Details of the eligibility of actions will be included in the Network Call Guidelines and Application Form. The task will also devote efforts to evaluate the impact of the actions done with Network Call funding Two assessment activities are foreseen as an output of this activity: the mid-term assessment just, and the final assessment.
Task 6.2: A coherent communication plan for EURAXESS
A comprehensive communication philosophy will be developed for the dissemination of information and expertise both to the network of EURAXESS itself and the stakeholders outside EURAXESS. It will be the basis for a communication plan that will be designed, implemented, tested and evaluated. It will be an improved follow-up of the EURAXESS Promotion Action Plan (PAP) from TOPII project. The plan will not only focus on outer stakeholders about EURAXESS but also to improve the communication within the EURAXESS network, especially about the outcomes of TOPIV project. Partners will be trained in virtual workshops in communicating their work and deliverables along the lines of a digital handbook. The plan will be implemented also by a virtual training within WP8. The effect of the implementation will be evaluated. The communication plan should be made available to the network as part of the planning of the Network Call activities, in which communication on a national level is an important element.
Task 6.3: Outreach through promotion of EURAXESS
A promotion plan will be developed with the aim to increase the visibility of the EURAXESS network, to inform target groups about the existence and the usefulness of the network, and support members to promote EURAXESS. Target groups are researchers and their spouses, policy makers/authorities, higher education/research institutions, employers, policy makers. Promotion seeks to promote the unique selling points of EURAXESS, to get other networks interested in any form of contact, preferably leading to cooperation. Task 6.4 will build on the results of this Task. It will strengthen the branding of EURAXESS. A survey will be conducted among the participating countries to get feedback from the institutions and companies. An initial assessment of the reputation of EURAXESS is needed to formulate goals to be achieved, which will be evaluated by the end of the project.
Task 6.4: Outreach to stakeholders through strategic cooperation
This task will empower EURAXESS to have a more structured dialogue and cooperation with the target groups, mainly outside the EURAXESS network. These partnerships will increase mutual awareness of each other’s aims and work, thus fostering complementarity of approaches and increasing the quality as well as multiply visibility. Regional cross border cooperation might be a natural way to cooperate. A model with instruments for cooperation will be developed. Each cooperation should be laid down in a signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). On top of the four networks selected within the EURAXESS TOPIII project another four co-operations will start under TOPIV. By the end of the project lessons learned will be made available in a concise digital handbook for strategic cooperation.
Work Package 7 (WP 7) – EURAXESS Open to the World
The objectives of WP7 are: To reach a wider range of stakeholders from every sector (e.g. researchers in diaspora, large research associations) and to promote the EURAXESS portal and EURAXESS services close to centres of excellence, relevant initiatives and infrastructures in the ERA. To provide more, and fit-to-the-individual researcher, information on European institutions and expertise, and to better serve the communication worldwide. To contribute to a better alignment of communication between EURAXESS centres and EURAXESS Worldwide. The WP will use as a basis the results of previous projects.
Read more about all 4 tasks
Task 7.1: Database of centres of excellence, relevant initiatives and infrastructures in the European Research Area (ERA)
The aim of the task is to set-up an online database of centres of excellence, relevant initiatives and infrastructures, all over the ERA in order to attract third country researchers and European researchers staying abroad back to Europe. In the EURAXESS portal, institutions provide information on their profile and programmes, however, researchers outside Europe need to know which institutions better suit their perspectives and for that they need to know in what domains the institutions are more relevant. When implemented, the online database will enable the researchers to have a clear overview of the expertise of each centre as well as of the working environment in Europe.
Task 7.2: Mentoring Programme to promote a better integration of third country researchers
For a better integration of third country researchers in the ERA, Task 7.2 will establish a Mentoring Programme for Third Country Researchers in the ERA and for EU Researchers in countries with EURAXESS Worldwide representatives. Awareness raising will be set and third country researchers in the ERA, and EU researchers in Third Countries will be encouraged to participate in “Adopt a researcher” initiative and to register their availability to provide mentoring. Task 7.2 team will prepare the Mentoring Programme advertising and will support the match making between mentors, will monitor the programme and will analyse the results.
Task 7.3: Improving the communication between the EURAXESS network and EURAXESS Worldwide
This task will establish a pilot experience of twinning between EURAXESS Worldwide and EURAXESS Service Centres in Europe, for a more effective communication flow between Euraxess National Offices (ENOs) and EURAXESS Service Centres and Worldwide Regional representatives (build on the Action plan for improved communication between EURAXESS Worldwide and EURAXESS services network, developed during EURAXESS conference in Crete in 2015) in order to promote EURAXESS Service Centres in third countries. A physical meeting will take place at the EURAXESS Biannual Conference 2019. Teleconference meetings will be organized every 6 months between the Worldwide Representatives in order to allow Task 7.3 team to analyse the implementation of the joint task and the twinning actions.
Task 7.4: Improving the collaboration with Scientific Diasporas
This task will promote and enrich the database on diaspora groups and will continue the cooperation with the scientific diasporas and EURAXESS Worldwide Regional representatives. Promoting EURAXESS to Diaspora Networks provides a fruitful and strong cooperation among researchers around the world and the European research community. This will be based on the outputs of the TOP III project (Task: 4.1 Global perspectives: encouraging the brain circulation between the ERA and EURAXESS Links countries). Within task 7.4, two global joint events for Scientific Diaspora networks will be organized with 200 to 250 participants. The first event will take place in China and the second event in Brazil. Participation at these common events will provide a platform to promote the EURAXESS initiative: information about EURAXESS for researchers, academia and non-academic sectors and raising awareness for the EURAXESS Portal.
Work Package 8 (WP 8) – Open EURAXESS portals
The main objectives of WP 8 are to establish more diverse online information and services in the domains of researchers’ mobility, career development and industry collaboration. It will also provide a technical platform for integrating the EURAXESS portals with existing useful and relevant data and tools from the three domains above. The aim is to reduce the actual workload of the service centres, by enabling easier access to actual information and common user experience across national portals.
Read more about all 6 tasks
Task 8.1: National Portal Administrators’ forum
Task 8.1 aims to streamline the activities of the Portal Administrators (PA) towards better national portals content quality and audience reach. The task team will organize two trainings for EURAXESS Portal Administrators with a focus on digital marketing and online promotion. The trainings will combine expertise of external consultants with peer-to-peer approach and online training tools (EURAXESS e-training platform will be used to multiply the effects of the on-site training). This task aims to implement a process which will facilitate measurable and continuous improvement and promotion of the national portals. The team will also develop a framework for the portal related activities in the Network Call, which will include optional and mandatory activities in national portals improvement and promotion. The task will establish a helpdesk to provide help and assistance related to content structuring, development and integration, per individual request. Knowledge exchange will be facilitated through the moderation of the common interest groups . The key members of the common interest groups will be invited to share their results in the Portal Administrators trainings and meetings.
Task 8.2: Content shop
The Content shop task aims at increasing the developed content effectiveness through its readability, usefulness and audience reach. All public deliverables of the TOPIV project, developed for researchers or Research & Development organizations as main target groups, will be redesigned for the web, integrated and published on EU portal. Each of the relevant deliverables will be transposed to so-called content kit – a collection of linked pages, built by the extensive use of portal components, so to achieve the best possible content effectiveness . A special content kit will be developed for all policies behind EURAXESS community work, including scientific visa directive, Human Resources Strategy for Researchers (HRS4R), Open, Transparent and Merit-based Recruitment (OTM-R), RESAVER and others. For selected trainings the team will transform training materials to a form of the self-paced online courses (in collaboration with the training organizers) and implement those to existing e-training platform, developed by EURAXESS TOPIII project.
Task 8.3: EURAXESS data
The objective of this task is to represent existing content, provided by the information & assistance sections of the national portals, in a structured way. In order to achieve that objective, formal dictionaries and data structures / common data architecture for the domains of researchers’ mobility, career development and industry engagement will be developed in a collaborative manner, populated with data and published and integrated with Wikidata/Dbpedia, to achieve maximum impact and visibility. The team will identify fine-grained data structures and formal definitions behind the most important content of the national portals. The structures and definitions aim at answering “what makes one information about the specified topic – complete” or “which information is necessary to have in order to complete the steps, related to employment or long-term visit”. This activity will result in a so-called EURAXESS meta-data framework and it will be verified by analysing existing national portals content and by members of the Working Group Network Management. Also, the team will collect feedback on framework usability and suggest improvement. Finally, the framework will be populated with actual data. Task 8.3 will offer data widgets for publishing on the respective national portal pages, with the detailed instructions related to their integration.
Task 8.4: EURAXESS virtual assistant
Task team 8.4 will develop EURAXESS Virtual Assistant – a smart-phone application and associated software, which will facilitate personalized, easy and straightforward access to information and data provided at the EURAXESS portal or by the ESC staff. The EURAXESS Virtual Assistant will enable personalized presentation of the available jobs and a chatbot for answering the natural language questions and sign-posting based on data collected and structured by task Team 8.3. The chatbot (an automated device that will talk to the end-user) will be capable to directly provide an answer to a given question or to engage the user into conversation in which additional information and context of the initial question is revealed. In case of incapability to answer, chatbot will suggest contacting of the most relevant EURAXESS service centre or signpost to the most relevant external data source or service. It will maintain internal database of questions and answers and so-called EURAXESS statistics database.
Task 8.5: National portals quality assurance
The objective of this task is to implement a structured set of exercises which will assess the quality of the national portals, in contexts of audience reach and retention and identify the guidelines for their improvement through Network Call. Key performance indicators to consider will be: content accessibility, portal engagement, potential traffic sources and social interactions, organic searches and similar. The quality assessment will be twofold. First, portal testing focus group with researchers will be established with the main goal to assess the content quality. Second, a massive online survey will be developed and implemented aiming at discovering the needs and requirements of the researchers and R&D organizations, which can be taken into account in further portal upgrades and revisions. The outcomes of the task will be the guidelines for national portals improvement and strategic portal development document – a list of features, tools and methodologies, to be implemented in a long-term.
Task 8.6 Online promotional tools
The task aims to increase the visibility of the EURAXESS portal using online tools, content kits (task 8.2) , user testimonials, different data, research policies and other outcomes of the EURAXESS community work. A minimum of 20 infographics and short promotional videos will be designed based on the defined marketing messages. A EURAXESS Blog will be developed, hosted externally from the portal, and interconnected with it by using links. It is foreseen as the platform for posting personal, engaging and informative testimonials about the assistance and information, provided by the EURAXESS community to researchers and R&D organizations. Finally, the task will develop (in line with TOPIV communication strategy) two special newsletters with the information about the online tools and content published on EU portal (and EURAXESS blog) and send to the researchers and organizations, registered on the portal.
Work Package 9 (WP 9) – Future of the EURAXESS Network
Objectives:
- To facilitate the further evolution of the EURAXESS network by investigating how the EURAXESS services should further be developed and what steps need to be taken to implement services diversification (Task 9.1);
- To ensure that this process will be inclusive and contribute to a balanced growth of the network (Task 9.2) and result in increased quality (Task 9.3).
- To ensure that the further evolution of the network will contribute to strengthening of the long-term impact of the existing policies (Task 9.4) and respond to the new policy developments and emerging challenges (Task 9.5).
Read more about all 5 tasks
Task 9.1: Prioritising, developing and implementing of advanced services in the era of Open Science and Innovation
The TOP IV project will take the concept Paper on the Future Services (developed within TOPIII project) further through involving a wider EURAXESS community in the discussion about the proposed concepts and encouraging the translation of these concepts into the creation of specific action plans on European, national and institutional level. An online consultation among researchers and other stakeholders will be carried out. Participative session will be organised during the next biannual EURAXESS conference in 2019 to examine the network members’ capacity in implementing these services. The network wide action plan will be prepared and network members will be encouraged and assisted to adapt it for the national and institutional level.
Task 9.2: Towards a common EURAXESS service identity by enhanced institutional cooperation, networking and mentoring
This task will look at how the diverse EURAXESS centres can find common grounds to build a stronger common identity by connecting centres that are new to EURAXESS or have a less services with advanced centres. The task activities will build upon the experience from Inter-institutional Mentoring Programme being pilot tested within the TOP III project. The task will further develop and pilot test the tools and approaches that will help the process. A database of knowledge sharers will be created. The process of the integration of the newcomers (both individual and institutional) into the EURAXESS network will be analysed through the interviews with newcomers and dedicated session at the Euraxess National Office (ENO) meeting and the ways to make it more effective will be proposed. Group mentoring approach, based on the moderated online consultations, will be tested. The knowledge sharers database will also be used for the identification of trainers for the training sessions and/or study visits hosts.
Task 9.3: Development of an online and offline tool for quality assessment
Built on the experience and outcomes of the EURAXESS TOPIII Task 8.4: “Quality Assessment for All”, this task will increase the quality of EURAXESS services through quality assessment procedures, including but not limited the self-assessment methods and user satisfaction surveys. To measure the quality of EURAXESS services, both the online and offline tool will be developed and tested. To be comprehensive and easy-to-use, the quality assessment tool should integrate qualitative and quantitative approaches. It should enable network members to evaluate their everyday work, help them clarify and articulate the strengths and the bottlenecks of the services provided. The tool will be developed in close cooperation with the European Commission and the Romanian partners (UEFISCDI) responsible for the technical development and implementation of the tool. Five service centres from across Europe will be recruited to test a created tool(s) and provide feedback for improvement. Training session for the network will be conducted to introduce the new tool(s). The task team will encourage the use of the tool within the network and assist the members in integrating quality assessment to their everyday work.
Task 9.4: Promotion and implementation of the Charter and Code (C&C) in light of the new Human Resource Strategy 4 Researchers (HRS4R) procedure
This task will explore how the EURAXESS network members can assist and facilitate the process of endorsing and implementing the Charter & Code (C&C) principles. The task will be based on the experience and expertise of holders of ‘HR Excellence in Research’ logo. Attention will be given to institutions which accepted the C&C principles. A networking and experience-sharing platform for the EURAXESS network members who are involved in the promotion of the C&C will be set up. Task leaders will consult with the European Commission (EC) representatives. Regular webinars and one onsite workshop will gather EC experts/assessors, research institutions staff and EURAXESS staff in order to provide support to institutions in the process. A practical guide for EURAXESS network members on C&C promotion and implementation will be prepared.
Task 9.5: EURAXESS after 2020
This Task will assess the results from TOPIV and look at future trends in the researchers’ community to set up a strategy and a vision for EURAXESS towards 2030. It will design and discuss new models for the future management and development of the EURAXESS network aiming to strengthen the EURAXESS identity, its basic and advanced services, and build a vision of EURAXESS beyond 2020. The Task will propose the future services of the EURAXESS network based on the identification of current needs of mobile and non-mobile researchers. It will provide a strategic foundation for the range of services to be offered by EURAXESS by the end of TOPIV and in the medium term (3-5 years) and beyond. The task will work together with the European Commission (EC) and related stakeholders to be able to take into account the policy expectations and the changing European, national and international contexts. The alignment of EURAXESS services with the strategic objectives of the EC for research and innovation will be assessed and role of EURAXESS in the next framework programme will be addressed. The task will also contribute to building scenarios for the sustainability of funding for EURAXESS in the longer term. The outcomes of all consultations will be summarised in the strategy document providing the input for a discussion about the vision for EURAXESS towards 2030.
Work Package 10 (WP10) – Ethics requirements
This work package sets out the ‘ethics requirements’ that the project must comply with. There are requirements for the participation of humans, such as fair selection. On data, so that all activities comply with protection of personal date legislation. There are also safety criteria that stipulate risk mitigation and minimisation obligations.
Read more about all 5 requirements
Requirement No. 1 – The informed consent procedures that will be implemented for the participation of humans.
The procedures and criteria that will be used to identify/recruit research participants must be submitted as a deliverable. – Details on incidental findings policy must be submitted as a deliverable. – Copies of opinions/ approvals by ethics committees and/or competent authorities for the research with humans if relevant (or a declaration confirming no opinion or authorization is needed to this end) kept on file.
Requirement No. 2 – The applicant must check if a declaration on compliance and/or authorisation is required under national law for collecting and processing personal data as described in the proposal.
If yes, the declaration on compliance and/or authorisation must be kept on file. – If no declaration on compliance or authorisation is required under the applicable national law, a statement from the designated Data Protection Officer that all personal data collection and processing will be carried out according to EU and national legislation must be kept on file. – The participants must clarify whether sensitive data are collected. In case such data are collected the following must be provided: Justification for collecting and/or processing of sensitive personal data must be provided. – An explicit confirmation that the data used are publicly available must be included in the deliverable.
Requirement No. 3 – Detailed information on the procedures for data collection, storage, protection, retention, and destruction, and confirmation that they comply with national and EU legislation must be submitted as a deliverable.
In case personal data are transferred from/to a non-EU country or international organisation, confirmation that this complies with national and EU legislation, together with the necessary authorisations, must be kept on file and submitted upon request. – Detailed information on the informed consent procedures in regard to the collection, storage, and protection of personal data must be submitted as a deliverable. – In case of further processing of previously collected personal data an explicit confirmation of the legal basis allowing for processing of these data must be submitted as a deliverable.
Requirement No. 4 – Detailed information on the measures to minimise the risks to research participants and staff involved in this project must be submitted as a deliverable.
Requirement No. 5 – Templates of the informed consent forms and information sheets (in language and terms intelligible to the participants) must be kept on file.