Abstract

Originally compiled through educational connections, not all partner universities of the ENLIGHT alliance shared close research ties. The ENLIGHT SwafS project (ENLIGHT RISE) therefore strongly focusses – amongst others – on creating joint research links and synergies through R&I capacity building.

To that intent, one of the instruments created are the so-called Focus Groups (FG).
The objective of these FGs is to i) bring together researchers from all partners universities active in a specific research domain, ii) identify potential research collaborations, and iii) explore funding opportunities for joint proposals.

Five FGs have been created, one per focus/flagship domain of the ENLIGHT alliance (Health and Well-being, Digital Revolution and Impact of digitization, Climate change, Energy and Circular Economy, Equity).
Each FG started with 3 representatives per partner university: one senior researcher, one junior researcher, and one research support staff member. Jointly, they represent within the FG their institution’s research field on the specific FG focus/flagship domain.

Different approaches were taken by each FG, however, after one year of activities all FGs are well underway, and all have defined specific research topics within the flagship domain to focus on: some have created thematic subgroups, others focus on specific (Horizon Europe) calls.
What singles out these FGs, is that the researchers are in charge and decide the way to go. RMA's facilitate by alleviating the administrative burden for researchers. We observe that not only do links and synergies emerge between universities, but we also notice the expansion of individual research networks.

Though the road to successful and sustainable joint research collaboration is still long and finding the suitable modus operandi for every FG proved a real quest, we already consider the FGs a success and a good practice. Looking back to a year of trial and error, the online meetings of the FGs have given us certain insights and enables us to draw preliminary conclusions on what works and what doesn’t work, and on good practices and no-goes.

At the EARMA conference, we will share and discuss our experiences with these FGs, shedding light on how the use of thematic focus (sub)groups can bring the research activities at EUN partner universities closer together and incentivize/stimulate joint research collaboration. Additionally, we will explore the role RMA's play in this process.