TORCH D8.4 - Post-piloting of Strategy/Policies & Common Recommendations Framework

Abstract

In this document, we put forward our finalised set of five TORCH strategies/policies. For the sake of clarity, we have adopted the term strategic priority areas (SPAs) to refer to these strategies/policies. Together, they suggest the basis for the common research & innovation (R&I) agenda for the CHARM-EU alliance, as developed through the TORCH project.

1. TORCH SPA1: Working towards reforming research assessment. All of our partner institutions have agreed to follow the CoARA commitments including recognising diverse contributions to research and adopting appropriate modes of evaluations.

2. TORCH SPA2: Fostering equality, diversity and inclusivity. The purpose of this strategic priority area is to outline the principles and proposed actions to promote and champion intersectional gender equality within CHARM-EU, including its R&I dimension as established and further shaped by TORCH.

3. TORCH SPA3: Championing Open Science. Our goal is mainstreaming the principles and promote the practices of Open Science linked with all research-related activities including training, rewards and recognition, and involvement of citizens.

4. TORCH SPA4: Promoting inter/transdisciplinary research driven by societal challenges. The main purpose of this policy is to concretely contribute to the objective of the TORCH project: to have a transdisciplinary and intercultural R&I common agenda for CHARM-EU.

5. TORCH SPA5: Intensifying R&I cooperation between universities. The purpose of this TORCH strategic priority area is to articulate the CHARM-EU Alliance partners commitment and pathway to a structured and collaborative approach that provides a framework for joint and shared R&I-related activities.

After this set of five was initially identified as pre-piloting strategies and policies (Deliverable 8.2), they have now been reviewed through the lens of WP9 Action Plans and Pilots and presented here in their final version.

The set of five strategic priority areas we present in this deliverable are agreed targets and ambitions. They are necessary for the CHARM-EU Alliance to fully realise its intention to become a full university of the future, with excellent and competitive research as well as research-informed education addressing global challenges. Even as our institutions are unanimous on the need for our continued collaboration in the research dimension, we are faced with major barriers regarding resources. Without a clear road map for competitive external funding geared towards European University Alliances, comparable to the Science with and for Society scheme of Horizon 2020 which engendered TORCH and other similar projects across the landscape of EUA research, we will be limited in terms of long term impact the results of our project can affect. While the member institutions of the Alliance enact such gradual change, at the same time we will proactively investigate future opportunities for external funding.

This revision is also accompanied by a set of common recommendations, which have arisen as a result of the work conducted in WP9 as well as discussions that took place in the third annual forum held in Budapest on 24-25 October 2023. These recommendations relate to gaps and opportunities in the interconnected RRI (Responsible Research & Innovation) this project has identified and developed throughout all of our work packages, as highlighted by the pilots and action plans. Our recommendations are as follows, summarised:

1. Fully adopt a long term view. Recognise and openly acknowledge that cultural change and growth will take time.

2. Train, support, incentivise and reward diverse Open Science activities.

3. Facilitate capacity building for researchers.

4. Offer research development as well as research support.

5. Empower, champion and include RMA (Research Management & Administration) colleagues.

6. Treat the Alliance as a vehicle for creating broader connections across the European HE landscape.

7. Champion the alliances’ important roles in research.

8. Institute an equality, diversity and inclusivity framework of monitoring changes on alliance level.

9. Commit to working towards reforming research assessment.

10. Employ known local hubs of interconnected RRI in the process of promoting and growing reforms.

11.Create and maintain a shared research agenda to increase inter/transdisciplinary research and to tackle barriers.

12. Continue targeted activities focused on raising awareness on CHARM-EU and its priorities on the widest possible range of university stakeholders.

13. Tackle ways of integrating Open Science in Research Assessment policies and Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity strategies together with inter/transdisciplinary research.

The purpose of the CHARM R&I agenda is to articulate the CHARM-EU Alliance partners’ commitment and pathway to a structured and collaborative approach that provides a framework for joint and shared R&I-related activities. The strategic priority areas apply to the governance and management of the CHARM-EU R&I-related activities, to be undertaken by the TORCH current partners (UB, TCD, UU, ELTE, UM). CHARM-EU new partners (ÅA, JMU, HRW) are invited to take part in forthcoming stages of the Alliance R&I common agenda development. They are aligned with the CHARM-EU institutional cooperation achieved so far via the ERASMUS+ and H2020 projects, as well as the CHARM-EU governance and management model for the Alliance (to be implemented during 2023-2027). The core principles of academic freedom and institutional autonomy of each Alliance partner with regards to their organizational models and administrative regulations, R&I policies and strategy plans, as well as management of human resources, offices and infrastructures, will be promoted and protected.

Besides institutional and alliance level, we also wish to extend our learnings externally. Our intention is to share our R&I agenda, particularly the recommendations that have arisen in its development, with other European Universities and ideally with the whole European research, development and innovation ecosystem. The full transformative agenda of CHARM-EU will pursue policy recommendations as one of the main outcomes of the alliance activities, both from the education and the research dimensions in a joint perspective. Our analysis of the transformational modules and their levels of current and potential interconnectivity has given us common ground to construct a common set of recommendations for the alliance and other universities to develop a best practice connected RRI framework which facilitates both research and researcher excellence. Together with the five strategic priority areas, this set of recommendations will be used to identify and pursue goals that will drive CHARM-EU future developments. In order to ensure that our recommendations and future guidelines remain directly relevant to other alliances and institutions, we intend to pay close attention to international ERA-level discussions on related topics and align CHARM-EU policies with them.