EUTOPIA invests €10.2m in young researchers tackling real-world challenges
It will train 76 postdoctoral researchers over five years with the aim of creating the next generation of leaders in science and innovation in Europe, with internationally excellent collaborative research and teaching, and working side-by-side with local governments, companies and organizations.
EUTOPIA, a community of six European campuses striving to address global and regional challenges, and to develop a new form of open, inclusive, innovative higher education, is to invest €10.2 million to train early career researchers in fields such as data, health, welfare, and sustainability.
The EUTOPIA Science & Innovation Postdoctoral Fellowships Programme (EUTOPIA-SIF) has been awarded €5.6 million by the European Commission’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Framework Programme, with that amount boosted by a further €4.6 million from EUTOPIA members.
EUTOPIA-SIF will train a cohort of 76 post-doctoral researchers over five years, to be part of the future generation of science and innovation leaders in Europe, with internationally excellent collaborative research and teaching, and working hand in hand with local government, business and organisations.
The programme will see the researchers work research areas to help tackle real-world challenges like sustainable materials, water and the environment, antimicrobial resistance, cancer and reproductive health, the impact of big data and artificial intelligence, and ethical issues and inequality.
EUTOPIA-SIF will develop new projects with collaborators across the alliance: Vrije Universiteit Brussel, CY Cergy Paris Université, University of Gothenburg, University of Ljubljana, Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona and the University of Warwick. The first call for applications will be published in the Autumn of 2020.
Arnaud Lefranc, Vice-President for International Scientific Development at CY Cergy Paris Université, university that leads the programme, said: "the EUTOPIA Science and Innovation Fellowship Program will create outstanding opportunities for talented young researchers to explore new research horizons, within an integrated program, gathering the scientific communities of the EUTOPIA alliance".
The EUTOPIA alliance unites over 165,000 students and 30,000 members of staff over six countries, with 90,000 international alumni associated with its member universities. Together, the EUTOPIA universities have research centres in 760 areas of knowledge.