Unite.H2020
Towards a shared R&I strategy for Unite!

The H2020 call "Science with and for society" allowed the alliances to address the 2030 vision on the future of universities towards a European Research Area. Unite! will develop, in synergy with its educational dimension, an integrated, shared and long-term research and innovation (R&I) strategy. Therefore, the overall aim of the project will be to produce tangible results towards the institutional transformation of our Universities and the identification of good practices for the modernisation of R&I.
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Objective

WP1 will be dedicated to the coordination and management of the project.

Tasks

    1.1 Project coordination and management
    1.2 Quality management, risk assessment
    1.3 Data Management

Deliverables

Coordinator

Politecnico di Torino

Objective

WP2 will develop a joint R&I agenda for Unite!, enabling tangible progress of the partner universities and the alliance as a whole, in line with Horizon Europe 2021-2027, the European Commission’s priorities, such as the European Green Deal and the SDGs in the UN agenda 2030, as well as seamlessly integrated with the education agenda which is being developed in the complementary Erasmus+ project, from which Unite! was born.

Tasks

    2.1 Identification of research & innovation challenges and convergences of the partners universities in line with the mission statement of the Unite! European University Alliance
    2.2 Setting up of the R&I Unite! Agenda and joint action plans to create EU-level critical mass
    2.3 Implementation of action plans and the R&I agenda

Related publications

Coordinator

Politecnico di Torino

Objective

This task will list all significant RIs within the Alliance, including short description, main topic, documents related to access conditions, operational processes, operating costs, existence of sites managing remote access or facilitating links between RIs. A thematic classification will be proposed in order to allow further collaborating groups in Task 3.2. Such catalogue has already been carried out by the Nordic5Tech alliance and we will benefit from their experience.

Tasks

    3.1 Listing all main technological and data Research Infrastructures among the Alliance, and identifying the potential synergies
    3.2 Sharing good practices in operating these infrastructures, and defining the policy for opening them within the Alliance. Disseminating these infrastructures within the Alliance and developing a joint consensus on industrial access
    3.3 Illustrating and enriching the sharing guideline with two pilot projects

Related publications

Coordinator

Grenoble INP graduate schools of engineering and management, University Grenoble Alpes

Objective

WP4 aims at creating a community of Technology Transfer Offices to improve co-working of academia with companies and institutions in the diverse Unite! ecosystems. Academia will cooperate assessing the needs of structural changes regarding digital transformation and the involvement in the SDGs goals and building a roadmap to co-work them.

Tasks

    4.1 Building value proposition of Unite! to reinforce business-academia cooperation
    4.2 Strengthening and promoting innovation at the large scale of Unite!
    4.3 Identifying the implementation gaps in the value proposition of academia and business, prioritizing the topics of digital transformation and SDG.
    4.4 Implementation phase and definition of the strategy for the continuous improvement and the scaling up

Related publications

Coordinator

Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech (UPC)

Objective

WP5 will (I) collect and analyse the best practices and existing policies for HRS4R in research and academia; policies and measures to eliminate brain drain and to strengthen knowledge circulation; barriers to equal inclusion and effective strategies to attract, assess and reward researchers; (II) design, develop and propose methodologies and tools to promote equality and balanced work life in Academia; a framework (starting from the EU HRS4R tool) to motivate, inspire, and exchange talented human resources; joint actions to transparent procedures on attract-recruit-assess highly talented researchers and to valorise diversification, knowledge circulation and vitalisation of career paths across Unite!, in synergy with their education dimension.

Tasks

    5.1 Collect and analyse the best practices and existing policies on HR strategies in place in the 7 institutions 3 of which have already received the HR excellence in research award of the European Commission.
    5.2 Define the set of competences and skills needed to reinforce and up-skill research and research support staff.
    5.3 Enable equal management of excellence, enriching quality and equality in the research career and to assure that equality is a talent enabler.
    5.4 Propose common orientations for the design and future implementation of evaluation tools and joint policies to assess researchers and to quantify the "academic merit".
    5.5 Develop a joint strategy to harmonize research HR development and management.

Related publications

Coordinator

ULisboa

Objective

WP6 will provide new high impact understanding about best practices of open science and innovation of research teams at Unite! universities. The specific objectives of WP6 are: (6.1) to identify and mainstream best practices of open science and innovation of Unite! research teams; (6.2) to understand, identify, and demonstrate enablers and inhibitors of open science and innovation, and outline foundations for a new open science and innovation governance model and policy in Unite!; (6.3) to explore how this model and policy contribute to the solving of gran societal challenges, and can be scalable-up at the European level.

Tasks

    6.1 Bootcamp in Helsinki: What is Open in Open Science? A mutual learning exercise to understand how digital technologies and platforms are challenging existing science and innovation cultures, mindsets, policies, and norms across universities in Unite!
    6.2 A comparative case study of 70 research teams’ best practices, enablers and inhibitors of open science and innovation across science disciplines in universities.
    6.3 A cocreation workshop to develop a white paper for promoting a Recommendation in the EU.

Related publications

Coordinator

Aalto University

Objective

WP7 will (I) make the Unite! R&I environment accessible and inclusive by enhancing the awareness and involvement of citizens and societal organizations on how the SDGs and related R&I initiatives affect and improve their lives, and (II) define a strategy to involve societal organizations in the R&I activities carried out by Unite!. WP8 will (I) select other European University Alliances or groups of Alliances that are complementary to our Alliance, based on the potential for interactions in the areas of R&I and education, at the local, regional, and national level as well as European level, and (II) exchange ideas, best practices, and identify barriers with selected Alliances, in order to understand how we can facilitate a technical and content-related collaboration in R&I activities, and collaborate on a more integrated approach on scientific and technical education.

Tasks

    7.1 Identification of a joint Unite! strategy and common approach for outreach to the citizens, civil society and public/cities authorities.
    7.2 Definition of the SDGs relevant for citizens and societal organizations.
    7.3 Development and implementation of a Unite!H2020 tools for activities aimed at citizens outreach.
    7.4 Facilitate the active involvement of societal organizations/bodies.

Related publications

Coordinator

KTH Royal Institute of Technology

Objective

The outputs of this WP will contribute on how to share good practices and tackle common barriers, as part of the overall European University Initiative monitoring framework (in line with the European Commission's aims). For this, the Unite! Alliance is convinced that next to the identification of potential partner Alliances, matchmaking workshops, pilot collaborations and pilot structures with those Alliances can directly contribute to this overall goal.

Tasks

    8.1 Definition of selection criteria and analysis of existing European Universities Alliances.
    8.2 Selection of other European University Alliances or groups of Alliances that are complementary to our Alliance, based on the potential for interactions in the areas of research and innovation and education, at the local, regional, and national level as well as European level.
    8.3 To exchange ideas, best practices, and to identify barriers with selected Alliances, in order to understand how we can facilitate a technical and content-related collaboration in research and innovation activities, and collaborate on a more integrated approach on scientific and technical education.
    8.4 Development of a White Paper on joint structures across European Universities.The White Paper will also include general recommendations on how to develop the full collaborative potential of European University Alliances, including guidance for processes and practices.

Related publications

Coordinator

Technical University of Darmstadt

Objective

WP9 will create a coherent and meaningful narrative and tailored messages that explain the extension, depth and impact of the Unite! R&I activities and character that can be shared through communication and dissemination to our various stakeholders. Furthermore, dissemination and exploitation will have a close overlap, since the main objective of Unite!H2020 is to develop a shared, integrated, long-term R&I strategy for the Unite! European University Alliance. Dissemination activities will first stimulate the of Unite! guidelines circulation and guarantee their availability, second, in the long term dissemination will lead to the adoption of these guidelines by the Unite! Universities and target groups. This represents Unite! exploitation potential to generate a structural and sustainable change in society in line with the addressed SDGs.

Tasks

    9.1Definition of the principles and values of the communication strategy by means of an interactive team work among partners.
    9.2 Implementing the communication strategy.
    9.3 Mapping stakeholders to define a specific communication and dissemination strategies.
    9.4 Designing the dissemination strategy.
    9.5 Implementing the dissemination strategy.

Deliverables

Coordinator

Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya - BarcelonaTech (UPC)