ENGRes2014 · EU2014 Conference on the Empowerment of the Next Generation of Researchers - “Promoting talents, spreading excellence”

EU2014 Conference on the Empowerment of the Next Generation of Researchers - “Promoting talents, spreading excellence”

The aim of the project was to raise awareness of challenges associated with the training of the next generation of researchers and allow the sharing of best practices in the area of research career development that ensure excellent and innovative research training as well as attractive career and knowledge-exchange opportunities through cross-border and cross-sector mobility of researchers, to better prepare the next generation of researchers for current and future societal challenges. Organising an international conference under the Italian EU Presidency 2014 on the concept of “Empowerment” of the next generation of researchers, where relevant issues such as training, recruitment and career development have been addressed, have fulfilled this purpose. The project, comprised by one partner the Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (MIUR), the sole beneficiary, and an associated Third Party, the Autonomous Province of Trento (PAT), started on 1 august 2014. The conference, bearing the title EU2014 Conference on the Empowerment of the Next Generation of Researchers “Promoting talents, spreading excellence” (ENGRes2014), took place in the city of Trento on 18-19 November 2014, organized by the MIUR in collaboration with the PAT and other local Public Bodies, in particular the University of Trento. The Conference and associated programmed activities have been included among relevant events of the semester Agenda, in line with the main priorities of the Italian Presidency. In particular, a focused discussion on the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, with specific attention to the relationship between academy and industries, training and career paths, mobility and employability, was considered extremely timely in this period of economical crisis. Around 250 participants, including 20 speakers and moderators, from the European Commission or representing other policy makers at European, national and regional level, Marie Curie fellows, alumni, universities and other research organisations as well as business leaders gathered to address issues like how a truly open European labour market for researchers can become reality, how talent can be nurtured to grow into excellence, how train and retrain the scientific workforce in dialogue with industry, how it is possible to unlock the full potential of new researchers and achieve the economic and societal goals of Europe 2020. Approximately one hundred (peak of connections on the opening day) virtual participants joined the conference from remote by connecting to the dedicated video-streaming channel. The conference hosted the Award Ceremony for the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Prizes for 2014. Past and present Marie Curie Fellows have been invited to apply. The prizewinners - decided by an eminent jury - have been awarded in three different categories: Promising Research Talent, Communicating Science, and Nurturing Research Talents. The conference has been structured over 1 day and a half and organized as plenary sessions: Welcome and Introductory session, Keynote Addresses, four Workshops, a Panel discussion and a Closing Session aimed at summing up the key discussions with a view to provide a concrete contribution to the on going implementation of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Strategy. Keynote speeches aimed at updating the participants to the achievements of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions and to current status of the ERA and EHEA, as well as with the follow up of the initiative of the European Parliament for a “Maastricht for research”. Then, four plenary sessions addressed the following topics: - Training and supporting researchers in a changing world; - Multi-sectoral career paths: promoting and assessing the Professional Development; - Attractive working and social security conditions in Europe for ANY talented researcher; - A win-win collaboration between academia and beyond; The conference programme has been optimised to incorporate, at the end of the first day, the Award Ceremony for the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Prize for 2014. Finalists of MSCA Prizes have been invited to contribute to a Poster session on Tuesday 18 November presenting their research activities as MSCA fellows. Particular attention has been devoted to the speakers’ selection, chosen among high level representatives of most relevant Policy Groups, Institutions and Organisations in Higher Education or Research and Private Sector at European level, including European Commission and its Policy Groups. Speakers have been invited to contribute to the specific topic of their session, keeping in mind that the overall theme of the conference was to discuss and reflect on how programmes for researcher training, recruitment and career development empower the next generation of researchers to be successful, with particular attention to the role of policy-makers, funders and businesses contributing to research training. All areas covered in the project context helped towards an effective acquirement of awareness by all stakeholders about the development of a new generation of empowered researchers circulating in Europe, appropriately skilled to favour the creation of a merit-based single labour market of knowledge-research and innovation. The intensive discussions and diffusion of best practices at the Trento Conference generated a diverse impact on different categories of stakeholders: - academic stakeholders and also doctoral candidates increased the awareness of the need of evolution in doctoral training in order to better respond to demands of society and economy - policy shapers recognised the importance of appropriate reforms and new regulations in different European countries to facilitate the implementation of structured doctoral programmes, of cross-border and cross-sector mobility, and of a legal recognition of multi-sectoral career paths - entrepreneurs and industrial managers reinforced the awareness of the great benefit of the partnership in research with universities, or other research institutions, to develop active collaboration of talented researchers for an efficient transfer of knowledge in support of industrial innovation.

Текст от CORDIS, на английски · Данни: CORDIS, © Европейски съюз