Abstract

Transnational alliances launched under the European Universities Initiative (EUI) play a critical role in achieving the European Education & Research Areas. Amongst the high expectations in terms of education, alliances are invited to develop joint R&I agenda’s and common approaches towards equipping their researchers with the skills needed for an interoperable career in academia and beyond (ERA Action 13). Such aims can only be achieved with durable commitments of the partners and with proper invested resources. Support obtained through competitive Horizon calls, such as Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) can be a powerful - although complementary - tool to achieve these objectives.
This session shares experiences of two projects developed within the YUFE and EUTOPIA alliances, and which are developed and led by research managers and administrators (RMA): a MSCA COFUND YUFE4Postdocs and a MSCA doctoral network DuRaMat.
We critically explore the leading role that was played by RMA in developing the proposals and in running the projects. We consider the ups and downs of the process and the effects such projects have on grant office teams at pre- and post-award stages and the dynamics at play within the alliances.
This session is relevant for RMA working at institutes of higher erduication who want to take an active role in setting up and leading large scale projects in an alliance context. Learning outcomes include: (1) hands-on advice and an honest insight into the experiences; (2)inspiration on how to develop international, interdisciplinary and intersectoral training to junior researchers within and beyond university alliances.