Challenge-based research
EPICUR-Research focused on challenge-based research to address societal issues by leveraging diverse expertise across sectors. It promoted international collaboration and developed an inter- and transdisciplinary research agenda targeting key research questions, referred to as “EPIChallenges”, which were inspired by global initiatives such as the SDGs, the Green Deal, Horizon Europe Missions, and the EU Skills Agenda. The initial EPIChallenges included Sustainability (focusing on Climate Change and Energy); Mobility, Migration & Identity; and Public Health. EPICUR-Research aimed to foster new collaboration among young researchers, combining a wide range of expertise and perspectives to tackle global challenges such as climate change, pandemics, and forced migration.
Inter- and transdisciplinary research
Interdisciplinary research integrates diverse data, methodologies, tools, and theories from various disciplines, while transdisciplinary research extends beyond academia to involve non-university partners, incorporating broader knowledge sources such as indigenous or practical knowledge. For EPICUR, interdisciplinarity means collaboration among different academic fields, and transdisciplinarity involves partnership with sectors outside academia, including civil society, government, and industry. EPICUR supports and implements ideas from SHAPE-ID, an EU project aimed at enhancing cooperation between the Arts, Humanities, Social Sciences (AHSS), and STEM disciplines to improve interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary collaboration.
Focus on Early Career Researchers
EPICUR-Research focused on Early Career Researchers (ECRs) as potential future leaders in European research, emphasising their role in driving institutional change. It aimed to provide ECRs with innovative opportunities for skills development, virtual networking, and career advancement from an early stage. ECRs regularly contributed to the project activities, sharing their perspectives and discussing improvements in organisational efficiency and career development best practices. Based on governance structures established during the EPICUR-Research project, the EPICUR alliance now involves ECRs in decision-making and the conceptualisation of research-related offerings through the ECR Board, aiming to foster an academic culture that meets the needs of all career stages and addresses the challenges faced by underrepresented groups, including scholars with families, women, and those from diverse backgrounds. Additionally, EPICUR-Research aimed to enhance collaboration with external stakeholders, including civil society, government organizations, and industry, through two innovative research collaboration formats.
EPICUR-Research outputs
EPICUR-Research explored a new collaborative concept, referred to as the EPICUR Pathway to Research, which included the EPICamps, EPICradles and EPIClusters. These three experimental formats were designed to encourage collaboration among scientists in an early career stage, academics, and stakeholders from society and industry to share research results and foster innovation. The EPIClusters facilitated sharing resources across EPICUR partners and external collaborators, promoting joint research and innovation practices. The project EPICUR SHAPE-IT is currently exploring ways to adapt these formats to continue offering the Pathway to Research in the context of the EPICUR Hubs.
The EPICommunity is a social network featuring gamification to facilitate matchmaking and collaboration between Early Career Researchers. It aims to enhance the autonomy and visibility of ECRs by offering new tools for networking and skill recognition, including a database and blended mobility opportunities. As part of the European University Alliances initiative, EPICUR-Research developed EPIConnect to establish connections with peer alliances, aiming to prepare joint policy recommendations for future university models.
EPIQAssess (EPICUR Qualitative researchers’ Assessment Framework) introduces a roadmap with tools for innovative researcher assessment, urging European universities to offer engaging, secure, and sustainable environments for their human capital. The qualitative assessment criteria outlined in this framework have also been integrated into the EPICommunity platform.
Future directions within the EPICUR Alliance
EPICUR-Research’s commitment to interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary research, particularly involving ECRs, reflects EPICUR’s dedication to fostering collaboration, innovation, and inclusivity in the academic sphere. The lessons learnt and successes achieved by EPICUR-Research are shaping and inspiring further initiatives, including the EPICUR Hubs currently in development in the project EPICUR SHAPE-IT, as the alliance continues its transformative journey. The ECR Board will remain as an established advisory body in the EPICUR alliance’s governance and will continue to provide input and feedback on future research-oriented activities and developments. EPICUR remains committed to shaping a more competitive and diverse European academia, driven by the collective efforts of researchers at all career stages.
Foundations for a future EPICUR Common Research Agenda
This Common Research Agenda is created as a ‘living document’, initial scrutiny and basis on which a more substantial research agenda for the alliance in the following years can be developed. It represents a first analysis of the status quo of EPICUR partners, which can evolve and adapt in the following years to mirror changes within the European Research Ecosystem, the EPICUR Alliance and Society in general. Our EPICURResearch project is laying down the foundations of a possible future common research agenda by identifying research strengths of the EPICUR universities, defining EPIChallenges, scoping future ones, and identifying appropriate resources, incentives and research infrastructures to support the growing common research ecosystem.
EPICommunity design
The main objective of D2.5 is “to design a non-commercial, open and inclusive registry of European researchers and the necessary platform for creating a European Social Network of researchers (EPICommunity) to support academic matchmaking and collaboration […]”. This deliverable will give input to deliverable D2.6 in order to “[…] further develop the EPICommunity (technically), to be open and accessible for members of other European University alliances and beyond. Like this, EPICUR will offer services to researchers across the globe who are able and willing to collaborate in order to solve global (EPI-) challenges”. 1.3 Methodology This paragraph is briefly presenting the methodology for escribing and deciding the EPICommunity Design. More specifically three workshops have been conducted with the EPICUR-Research WP2 experts and the participation of EPICUR ECR board.
EPIGame – Researchers Gamification Framework
This deliverable is part of Task 2.1 Action plan for the establishment of EPICommunity [(M01-M12) of Work package 2 “EPICommunity as basis for strengthening human capital”’. This work package aims to enhance sustainable research careers in the context of the European Research Area and is broken down in four tasks:
Task 2.1. It elaborated EPICUR’s researchers’ framework (EPIQAssess) and will combine this with a gamification framework, namely incentives and rewards (EPIGame)
Task 2.2. It will elaborate blended mobility formats (EPIMove) for researchers and will produce policy recommendations to the EC on the needs of early career researchers in the context of blended mobility, with a view to the new instruments in the next Erasmus+ programme
Tasks 3+4. Tasks 2.3 and 2.4 will be devoted to design and implement the EPICommunity prototype by exploiting (a) EPIQAssess and (b) EPIGame (see Figure 1)
The main activities of Task 2.1 are:
Activity 2.1.1: the definition of the researcher’s assessment framework (EPIQAssess) and
Activity 2.1.2: the definition of researcher’s gamification framework (EPIGame).
EPICUR Qualitative researchers’ Assessment Framework
This deliverable comprises the core text of the EPIQAssess, including a model set of assessment criteria. EPIQAssess is a flexible and dynamic model researchers’ assessment framework, a deliverable for Task 2.1.1 (EPIQAssess) and part of EPICUR-Research Work Package 2 on ‘Strengthening Human Capital’. EPIQAssess builds upon ongoing debates and publications focusing on fostering research careers in national and European contexts, including the recent Council Conclusions Deepening the ERA: Providing Researchers with Attractive and Sustainable Careers and working conditions and making brain circulation a reality. The framework is intended to provide an actionable model for fostering attractive and sustainable research careers, which can be deployed by universities. In doing so, EPIQAssess marries together both quantitative criteria as well as qualitative assessment practices. EPIQAssess’ key characteristic is that it is a practical tool offering concrete instruments to EPICUR universities aiming at igniting transformation in how staff performance is recognised and rewarded. At a later stage, components of the EPICUR assessment framework will be integrated into an EPICUR gamification framework, which will include incentives and rewards for researchers’ achievements. EPIQAssess has been drafted in close consultation with an Expert Group, comprising researchers and senior staff of all eight EPICUR partner universities, as well as members from the Early Career Researcher Board. In addition, internal consultations within EPICUR partner universities have taken place and all feedback received has been taken into account.
EPIMove Blended Mobility Formats
The main objective of the deliverable is to provide a benchmarking exercise about the different existing mobility formats for researchers of all the members of the EPICUR Alliance, including doctoral candidates all the way to tenured professors, whether they are in-person or virtual.
Open Science personal and international courses
The main objective of the deliverable is to make the inventory of the available courses for ECR. An online access will be given to these courses, regardless their formats and sources. Sharing of knowledge and experience between partners will enable to enlarge the research vision. This will be the preliminary to collaborative working like EPIMove and EPICradles.
EPICUR Analysis report and recommandations: EPICUR value propositions to partners from other sectors to be involved in research on EPIChallenges
The main objective of this deliverable 3.1 is to generate a better understanding of the needs, interests and potentials of partners from other sectors to be involved in research on EPIChallenges as well as possible value propositions of EPICUR for them to systematically include actors from outside academia into the design and implementation of jointresearch projects. An inventory of the (existing) cooperation and actions between EPICUR’s partner universities and partners from outside academia was carried out. Based on this work analysis, the formulation of recommendations will build up the development of a common EPICUR strategy for the involvement of non-academic partners in joint research projects, referring to the task 3.2.a of the Grant agreement.
EPICUR Analysis report and recommandations: Requirements and preconditions for sharing infrastructures and conducting joint infrastructure-based research on EPIChallengeson EPIChallenges
The task of 3.1.b) outlined in the Work Package 3 (page 21 of 48) states that ALU is in charge of providing an analysis of the “requirements and preconditions for joint infrastructure-based research on EPIChallenges including respective recommendations”, leading to the deliverable 3.2. The EPIChallenges in question are “Sustainability Research”, “Mobility, Migration, Identity” and “Public Health”. The task required a common definition for Research Infrastructures which was passed via a PMT written procedures in April 2022 and is stated below. It furthermore requires a better understanding of different types of research collaboration pursued within the context of EPICUR.
EPICUR Concept Paper
This concept note defines the purpose and action plan for the establishment of a research residency prototype (EPICluster) and the residency will serve as a test run in order to determine its feasibility. EPIClusters are collaborative projects furthering international cooperation among researchers and professionals outside of academia meant to tackle scientific and societal challenges and designed to support early career researchers in putting new ideas into action. EPIClusters offer tailor-made experiences at one of the partner universities for scholars, thinkers, and experts alike from both academic and non-academia, and serve as a network for scientific exploration and ideas spanning the Alliance. EPIClusters also serve as a first collaborative experience in an early career researcher’s professional life and provide EPICUR Fellows with the opportunity to complete a European research project.
Updated versions of the existing EPICUR communication
This deliverable provides an overview of the updated communication and dissemination framework
established in the Erasmus+ project that is now implemented in the EPICUR-Research project. It includes information on the shared administrative bodies dedicated to communication, dissemination and exploitation activities. The EPICUR-Research communication strategy needs to be adapted because, while the Alliance communication in general concerns the whole academic community, EPICUR Research is more specifically aimed at early career researchers. In addition, as the organisation in each partner university and the people involved in EPICUR-Research are not the same, the tools and actions must be adapted to reach this target group and create awareness about the project and a sense of belonging.
