AMAROUT · AMAROUT Europe

AMAROUT Europe

Executive Summary: The AMAROUT Europe Programme is a COFUND action developed by the network of IMDEA Institutes in Madrid, Spain, with two principal goals: contributing to the development of the European researcher labour market, and promoting Madrid as one of the top knowledge generation regions in Europe. During its four years of funding (2009-2013), the AMAROUT Europe Programme has given an opportunity to 66 fellows of diverse nationalities, selected from among 248 applicants, to join as incoming or reintegrating scientists one of eight Institutes from the IMDEA Network (Instituto Madrileño de Estudios Avanzados -- the Madrid Institute for Advanced Studies), operating in the following eight scientific areas: Software, Energy, Food, Materials, Nanoscience, Networks, and Water. The fellowship has included fair and attractive working conditions, with adequate and equitable social security provision. Besides, the fellows have been offered career development prospects. The Programme has been running a series of 11 successive open calls (with cut-off dates each three months): - Call 2009/1: 18 applicants, 15 fellowships granted - Call 2009/2: 10 applicants, 2 fellowships granted - Call 2009/3: 16 applicants, 7 fellowships granted - Call 2010/1: 35 applicants, 7 fellowships granted - Call 2010/2: 22 applicants, 12 fellowships granted - Call 2010/3: 19 applicants, 12 fellowships granted - Call 2010/4: 24 applicants, 5 fellowships granted - Call 2011/1: 32 applicants, 3 fellowships granted - Call 2011/2: 26 applicants, 8 fellowships granted - Call 2011/3: 19 applicants, 1 fellowship granted - Call 2011/4: 27 applicants, 2 fellowships granted The final call (2011/4) was closed on 1 January 2012. The distribution of applications and granted fellowships among the institutes was the following: - IMDEA Energy: 37 applications, 6 fellowships - IMDEA Food: 29 applications, 4 fellowships - IMDEA Materials: 30 applications, 14 fellowships - IMDEA Nanoscience: 33 applications, 15 fellowships - IMDEA Networks: 13 applications, 8 fellowships - IMDEA Social Sciences: 24 applications, no fellowships - IMDEA Software: 14 applications, 9 fellowships - IMDEA Water: 68 applications, 10 fellowships The calls have attracted interest from an internationally diverse spectrum of applicants, whose nationality can be summarized as follows: - Spain: 40 applicants (16.13%) - European Union (except Spain): 58 applicants (23.39%) - Europe (except EU countries): 27 applicants (10.89%) - Asia: 91 applicant (36.69%) - Latin America: 13 applicants (5.24%) - Africa: 12 applicants (4.84%) - United States: 6 applicants (2.42%) - Australia: 1 applicant (0.40%) To ensure top-level selection criteria, the selection committees have included, besides the Spanish members of the scientific boards, experts from six other EU countries (Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Portugal, and United Kingdom), as well as from other countries in Europe (Russia) and continents (Argentina, Israel, India, and United States). In terms of the gender structure, 50 out of 187 male applicants, or 26.74%, were granted the fellowships under AMAROUT Europe Programme, compared to 16 out of 61 female applicants, or 26.23%. While the Programme did not enforce any specific gender policy or quotas, and the selection was based strictly on academic merit, this additionally demonstrates the effective gender impartiality of the selection process. The AMAROUT Europe Programme has contributed to the development and dynamism of the European researcher market by awarding fellowships to high-quality researchers whose previous residence was in: - European Union (outside Spain): 32 fellows (48%) - United States: 10 fellows (15%) - Asia: 8 (12%) - Spain: 7 fellows (11%) - Europe (except EU countries): 5 (8%) - Latin America: 4 (6%) These percentages also show that the Program has been successful in promoting Madrid as an important knowledge generating region of Europe, because the great majority (89%) of fellows were coming from countries other than Spain. During the period of the Programme, the fellows have produced altogether 528 scientific publications, with the following breakdown per institute: - IMDEA Energy: 63 publications - IMDEA Food: 70 publications - IMDEA Materials: 86 publications - IMDEA Nanoscience: 112 publications - IMDEA Networks: 65 publications - IMDEA Software: 90 publications - IMDEA Water: 42 publications A rough indication of scientific output (which may vary considerably across scientific areas due to differences in publication formats, venues and cycles) is approximately 6.89 publications per fellow for the duration of the Programme. Approximately four out of each five fellows (78.79%) have successfully completed the Fellowship Programme. Of those who have, approximately one half (46.15%) have obtained permanent positions in the host institutes. Compared to the total number of fellows, the percentage of those who have obtained a permanent position was 36.36%. The central project Web site is located at: http://amarout.imdea.org/ The head office of the AMAROUT Europe Programme is located in: IMDEA Software Institute Campus Montegancedo s/n 28223 Pozuelo de Alarcon, Madrid SPAIN Telephone: +34-91-101-2202 Fax: +34-91-101-1358 Email: amarout.secretariat@imdea.org The AMAROUT Europe Programme has been succeeded by the AMAROUT II Europe Programme, which is running in the period 2012-2015.

Data: CORDIS, © European Union