On 23-24 February 2021, the Una Europa community met to kick off the 3-year project Una.Resin, instigating and growing pilot initiatives to build a common Una Europa eco-system of RESearch and INnovation. Lead by the University of Edinburgh, the project was selected for €2 million of funding under the EU's Horizon 2020 Programme. The project mutually enhances Una Europa’s Erasmus+ pilot project, 1Europe, which is similarly taking steps to build a university eco-system by testing Joint Innovative formats for education and mobility.
Through the 1Europe European Universities project, we are taking the first steps towards creating a single education eco-system for our students. In Una.Resin, we will take the first steps towards a common R&I eco-system for our researchers and partners. We will do this by first identifying and then breaking down both existing and potential barriers to a common R&I ecosystem. By bringing together these two projects, in synergy with a series of additional Una Europa initiatives, we will create a university of the future.
Professor James Smith, Project Coordinator and Member of the Una Europa Board of Directors, comments on the importance of the project: “Una.Resin could not be more timely. It will transcend boundaries by building connections and challenging us to find new, more collaborative ways of working. Together we can extend intellectual boundaries, shape disciplines, build new collaborative ecosystems and transform how we have an impact in our communities, cities, and across the continent. It will help Una Europa become the university of the future that bit quicker, and that is crucial.”
Groundwork for an R&I powerhouse
Barrier free collaboration will accelerate Una Europa’s vision to produce excellent research, innovation and impact at a scale and quality that each partner would be unable to do alone. Una.Resin will ease sharing of individual research infrastructure across all Una Europa universities. The project will also develop Una Europa’s vision of a common research culture rooted in excellence, well-being, integration and diversity to ensure researchers and staff develop to their full potential. In essence, Una.Resin aims to put the groundwork in place to turn Una Europa into a globally competitive, value-driven research and innovation powerhouse. Based on its pilots, Una.Resin will develop plans to transfer and scale up action. Una.Resin recommendations will contribute to relevant institutional, national or EU policies, thereby shaping the European Higher Education landscape.
Pilot action for 3 central strategies
Una.Resin will focus on the development and initial implementation of three shared strategies – R&I Strategy, Research Infrastructure & Resources Strategy, and Research Careers Strategy. These strategies will be developed in consultation with Una Europa R&I stakeholders through a series of workshops and online surveys. Once developed, they will be implemented through pilot actions such as models to accelerate cross-disciplinary and cross-sectoral collaboration, innovative formats of sharing research infrastructure and resources, and innovative formats for interlocking research activities with the broader university ecosystem such as open research or citizen science. Una.Resin marks the beginning of a long-term commitment to develop a common Una Europa research and innovation eco-system. In the first experimental phase, the emphasis will be on the five Una Europa Focus Areas: Data Science & Artificial Intelligence, European Studies, Sustainability, Cultural Heritage and One Health, before expanding to other research areas in the future.Views from the community
Una Europa will engage a multitude of stakeholders, from the Una Europa universities and beyond:
Olli Peltoniemi, Professor for Animal Reproduction and Lead of Una Europa One Health, is looking forward to the research strategy dimension of Una.Resin: “Una.Resin will provide the key ingredients to help us build a joint strategy for research collaboration in OneHealth. The pandemic has demonstrated why One Health approaches are vital, and Una.Resin is an excellent forum to test and pilot new ways of collaborating.”
Isidora Stankovic, postdoc in Cultural Heritage at Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, strongly believes in the professional and personal benefits of a common Una Europa R&I ecosystem for early-career researchers: “Not only will this environment introduce them to a plethora of different scientific approaches, enhance their career prospects, and help them develop a transnational network of (future) collaborators, but it will also make them more aware of how their work helps tackling societal challenges.”
Alessia Franchini, Research Advisor at Università di Bologna, is “personally very much looking forward to the work of Work Package 2 on developing a common strategy to share infrastructures. Through Una.Resin, we will have a structured exchange on best practice and lots of opportunity to learn from each other’s experiences.”
How to get involved
Una.Resin will be running a programme of workshops, consultations, surveys, pilots and events, actively seeking the input of Una Europa researchers as well as Una Europa partners’ experts in research management, research and innovation strategy, research partnerships, research infrastructure, open research, citizen engagement, industry and business collaboration, and researcher development. Una.Resin will also seek the input of citizens and other collaborators in the non-academic sectors. Sign up to the Una Europa newsletter and follow us on Twitter @Una_Europa, Linked In, or Instagram.
More information about the project: https://www.una-europa.eu/about/una.resin
Source: JU International Relations Office
