TORCH D11.1 - Annual Open Forum 2 Report

Abstract

The second TORCH Open Forum, under the title ‘Sharing Common R&I Policies and Strategies: Strengthening Collaboration Towards a Transformational Approach’, was held on March 8, 2023, hosted by Trinity College Dublin.

The meeting was addressed to multiple relevant collectives: university Rectors and Vice Rectors, academic and technical staff, as well as any actors engaged in R&I activities and universities’ collaboration. It was also relevant for policymakers, as the European Commission’s perspective was included. More than 120 participants attended the different sessions (online and/or in person), in which 61 chairs, speakers and rapporteurs took part representing several European and national organizations as wells as 15 European University Alliances.

The event encouraged reflection on the Alliance’s shared common R&I policies and strategies, discussed pioneering initiatives of universities regarding transdisciplinary and challenge driven research, and provided the possibility to share results and achievements related to five key R&I areas:

1. Working towards reforming research assessment.

2. Fostering equality, diversity and inclusivity.

3. Championing Open Science.

4. Promoting inter/transdisciplinary research driven by societal challenges.

5. Intensifying R&I Cooperation Between Universities.

The Plenary Session on the ‘ERA’s Policy Agenda 2022-2024 and R&I Cooperation Between European Universities’ brought together a diverse panel of speakers who discussed the role of the Alliances as innovative living labs within the ERA’s framework. Representatives of different entities shared their views on the Policy Agenda, such as the Coimbra Group, the European University Association, and Science Europe. Links and intersections between the different actions included in the Agenda were highlighted and the (potential) activities of Alliances were also discussed.

The Panel Session on ‘The European perspective on the reform of research assessment’ presented the latest approaches and progress on the revision of the evaluation systems for research institutions, researchers, and funding agencies. All the participants agreed on the need to reform research assessment, such process being a priority for the new European Research Area. The roadmap established by the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA) was discussed, including the European Commission’s (DG RTD) perspective.

The TORCH Cluster Sessions (‘Progress on joint R&I strategies in European University Alliances’) served the purpose of exchanging experiences and practices among several Alliances:

· Cluster 1: ‘New approaches for diverse academic careers’. Six Alliances (CHARM-EU, ARQUS, FORTHEM, YUFE, CIVIS, and EPICUR) shared their progress and plans to promote Open Science and Equality, Diversity and Inclusivity, as well as presented some specific actions and strategies on reforming research assessment.

· Cluster 2: ‘Intensifying R&I cooperation between universities’. Eight examples of initiatives to build collaborative frameworks for joint and shared R&I-related activities were shared by FORTHEM, EELISA, SEA-EU, UNIC, ECIU, CIVIS, and CHARM-EU.

· Cluster 3: ‘Promoting inter/transdisciplinary research driven by societal challenges’. Good practices and strategies on exploring joint transdisciplinary, challenge-driven research were discussed by representatives of CHARM-EU, EC2U, FilmEU, Circle U, CIVICA, Una Europa, and FORTHEM.

The Panel Session ‘University with and for Society: promoting Citizen Science within Open Science’ brought together representatives of different universities to discuss their institutional plans and support systems to foster Citizen Science.

This report constitutes TORCH’s deliverable D11.1, and contains the Forum Agenda, followed by a debriefing of the meeting sessions, as well as the main outcomes and conclusions. All presentations used during the meeting are collected in Annex II.