Research and Innovation in European Universities Alliances – Cross Alliances Forum 2023

Next 30^th November and 1^st December, the Arqus Alliance will be participating in the “Science with and for Society in European Universities Alliances: Cross-Alliances Forum 2023” at the Université libre de Bruxelles in Brussels. The Forum is being co-organised by Arqus R.I. together with TORCH, 4EU+, Circle U., CIVICA Research, EPICUR-Research, Re:ERUA, EU-CONEXUS Research for Society, EUTOPIA, FIT FORTHEM and RIS4CIVIS as an on-site event with a hybrid option for keynote and plenary sessions.

The event will serve as a platform to commemorate the achievements of completed and ongoing R&I projects within the European Universities Alliances. Throughout the Forum, participants will delve into best practices and valuable insights regarding transformational modules. Topics of discussion will encompass the development of a common R&I agenda and action plan, the successful sharing of resources and infrastructures, the exploration of joint structures, the enhancement of human capital within the Alliances, and the strengthened collaboration with the non-academic sector. Moreover, there will be focused dialogues on mainstreaming Open Science practices and how the Alliances have effectively involved citizens and society in their activities.

This major event will facilitate dialogues between Alliances and external stakeholders, exploring diverse models and pathways to excellence within the European Research & Innovation (R&I) ecosystem. Key R&I themes such as research ethics and integrity, sustainability, social responsibility, and innovative knowledge applications will be central to these discussions. Namely, the following topics will be discussed:

• The results and achievements of R&I projects from European University Alliances.
• The excellence of the European R&I ecosystem.
• Key R&I topics.

The event will gather together representatives of the FOREU1 and FOREU2 Alliances, European Commission Officials and external stakeholders who will actively engage in discussions pertaining to the future course and sustainable support for Alliances in their R&I domains.

The Forum’s Agenda will feature engaging plenary sessions, a series of roundtables, workshops, and poster presentations, supplemented by keynote speeches and plenary presentations from distinguished European policy deciders and academic stakeholders.

The event will open on 30^th November at 9:00 CET with the “Keynote: The EC Strategy to Support the Development of the European Alliances R&I Dimension” by Anna Panagopoulou (RTD Director REA and Innovation) and Marc Tachelet (Director, European Research Executive Agency).

The first Plenary Session “Looking to the Future: The European Universities Alliances R&I Dimension” will be given by Manuel Aleixo (RTD Head of Unit ERA, Spreading Excellence, Research Careers) from 9:30 to 10:30 CET. The second Plenary Session will be devoted to “Assessment of the R&I impact of the European Universities Alliances – Reports by Commission and REA Experts” by Fionn O’Sullivan (TetraTech, Commission Contractor), Gareth O’Neill (Technopolis, Commission Expert) and Helena Acheson (Director. Europe, UI Global, Commission Expert) (11:00 to 11:30 CET).

On the second day, 1^st December, from 9:00 to 9:45 CET, Joerg Niehoff (Deputy Head of Unit ERA, Spreading Excellence, Research Careers) will be speaking at the Plenary Session “Boosting Excellence within the European R&I Ecosystem through the European Universities Alliances”. In the last Plenary Session, Minna Wilkki (Head of Department C, European Research Executive Agency) will lead the discussion about the main conclusions from workshops and roundtables and the reflections on the next steps (11:30 to 12:30 CET).

The keynote and plenary sessions will be available for online attendance at the CIVIS a European Civic University – YouTube channel.

On 30^th November, from 14:00 to 16:00 CET, the Arqus Alliance together with EU-CONEXUS Research for Society will co-chair the Workshop “Reforming Research Assessment”. The Arqus Coordinator, Dorothy Kelly, will moderate this Workshop and Joachim Reidl, Vice-Rector for Research at the University of Graz, will present the pilot on research assessment reform that is being carried out in the Alliance. From 16:30 to 17:30 CET, Arqus will participate in the Interactive Poster Session with a poster on mainstreaming Open Science practices. On 1^st December, from 10:00 to 11:30 CET, the Roundtable “Research Ethics & Integrity: The Role of New Technologies” will be moderated on behalf of the Arqus Alliance by Javier Valls, Full Professor of Law at the University of Granada and EC Advisor on Artificial Intelligence.

The full programme of the event can be found here.