ExpectedOutcome:
Projects are expected to contribute to the following outcomes:
Skills are of utmost importance for researchers, they allow them to perform high quality research, and to make the overall European R&I system competitive and challenges-proof. However, it is crucial that researchers are equipped not only with research-specific skills, but also with transversal skills that allow them to be interoperable between academia and the other sectors, including industry and business, and to be capable to establish entrepreneurial activities to turn innovative ideas into business and lead to social, environmental and economic profitability.
Being equipped with a wide spectrum of skills is of high benefit for researchers, who can have access to an enlarged number of opportunities for career development compared to the limited ones available in academia, but also for the labour market, which is in constant need for highly skilled talents such as researchers.
To support inter-sectoral mobility and a broad recognition of the research profession in academia and beyond, and in line with the Skills Agenda, the Commission has developed a set of skills and occupations relevant for researchers which contributed to the update of the European Skills, Competences and Occupations (ESCO) classification. It has also finalised a European Competence Framework for Researchers (ResearchComp)[1], which contains the competences that researchers should have for a successful and interoperable career in academia and beyond, including via entrepreneurship creation and through effective communication of science to the public, to engage an increasing number of young people in research careers. ResearchComp is divided into 7 competence areas, and for each competence it provides four progression levels, each of them with a number of foreseen learning outcomes.
Projects are expected to support research performing organisations in adapting and reinforcing formal and targeted training for researchers based on:
Projects are also expected to contribute to the certification and recognition of targeted training opportunities to up-skill and re-skill, provided under the form of micro-credentials.
Activities may include roadmap development, networking, sector-specific training development, seed funding for training providers in academia and beyond (non-exhaustive list of activities that projects may consider).
[1] ResearchComp has been developed in line with the new ERA Communication and the Skills Agenda to strengthen researchers skills for successful careers in academia and beyond. The conceptual model of the framework includes 38 skills, divided in 7 competence areas (Cognitive abilities, Doing research, Managing research, Managing research tools, Making an impact, Working with others, Self-management). Each stakeholder will be able to use the framework according to its own needs. The final version of ResearchComp, to be rolled out by the end of 2022, will also include learning outcomes for each of the relevant skills. More information can be found in the policy brief “Knowledge ecosystems in the new ERA: Using a competence-based approach for career development in academia and beyond” https://op.europa.eu/en/publication-detail/-/publication/8d536780-3025-11ed-975d-01aa75ed71a1/language-en