Strengthening the human capital managing research infrastructures, including in international context

Expected Outcome

Projects are expected to contribute to all the following expected outcomes:

• Specialised training provided to the staff managing research infrastructures of European interest, enhancing the skills of RI research infrastructure staff as regards planning future operations and engaging with their various user communities and stakeholder groups (including funding agencies, academia, industry).
• Broader understanding of the EU research infrastructures policy, the possibilities for transnational access and the basics of international research infrastructures cooperation, be it via ERIC creation and development or other governance models.
• Shared understanding of the possibilities and potential offered by EU policies and funding instruments, improving the impact of research infrastructures and enhancing European scientific capacities. The completion of the training programme should lead to recognised accreditation in ECTS points.

Scope

This topic aims at the training of staff managing research infrastructures, the adequate supply of skilled human resources, and strengthening and sustaining specific education curricula and courses with due attention to widening and candidate countries as well as to evolving research infrastructure environments.

The complexity of research infrastructures and the exploitation of their full potential require adequate skills for their managers. Research infrastructures are built and operated at the cutting edge of what is technologically feasible, involving a high associated risk that needs to be managed.

They may involve a wide consortium of partners for their funding, construction and operation, either because they are distributed research infrastructures, or because certain problems are of a scale that can only be tackled through European and international cooperation.

This renders their governance and the associated financial and legal issues a complex problem. The skills and expertise specifically needed to effectively construct, manage and use research infrastructures are therefore not widely available.

Proposals should build on existing curricula such as those developed under the RItrainplus[1] project and strengthen and continue professionalising the training offer including through sustained and recognised executive master’s in management of research infrastructures. Proposals should pay attention to the upskilling of research infrastructures managers with regard to the impact of increased digitalisation of research infrastructures, including use of AI, further internationalisation and geopolitical changes, and closer links to industry. Proposals should engage with pan-European research infrastructures such as those prioritised by ESFRI, ERICs and EIROforum, to ensure the proposed training fits the needs of complex research infrastructures.

The proposed action should include several of the following objectives:

• Support the training of staff managing research infrastructures, and exchanges of staff and best practices. The training may also be offered to students engaged with a research infrastructure or aiming at a research infrastructure career path.
• Develop specific education curricula and courses targeting pan-European research infrastructures, taking into account their diverse scientific fields and organisational models; in doing this, engagement with universities is expected.
• Offer dedicated scholarships to staff in Ukrainian research infrastructures, while promoting and disseminating training opportunities to widening and candidate countries in particular.
• Address training topics such as the socioeconomic impact of research infrastructures, scientific capabilities and capacity, engagement with academic users and industry (including understanding the needs of startups and scaleups), in-depth guidance on State Aid rules, and the long-term financial and environmental sustainability of the infrastructure’s activities.
• Address the areas of data management, exploitation and stewardship skills, FAIR principles and data protection rules.
• Pay attention to training research infrastructure staff in the different governance models for international research infrastructure collaborations, across different scientific fields, taking stock of the rapidly evolving geopolitical context.
• Address training on research security and provide an overview of how research infrastructures need to face these challenges in their operations.
• Report on the sustainability of the training activities, and engage with national agencies, ERICs, international organisations, and other relevant stakeholders.
• Demonstrate an evolution based on related past activities and the experience gained in projects such as RAMIRI (Realising and Managing International Research Infrastructures) and RItrain (Research Infrastructures Training Programme).

[1] RItrainPlus - RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURE TRAINING PLUS https://cordis.europa.eu/project/id/101008503