01/12/2021
Nine universities in the Aurora network set up a collaborative project in research and innovation for greater social impact
The meeting that set the project in motion was held at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili, which coordinates two work teams.
The meeting that set the project in motion was held at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili, which coordinates two work teams.
Coinciding with the biannual Aurora meeting held at the Universitat Rovira i Virgili this November, the Aurora universities involved in the European project on research and innovation for social impact, funded by the Horizon 2020 programme, organized their first meeting.
During their stay in Tarragona, all the heads of the working groups presented the issues worked by their teams.
Strengthening of research and innovation structures
The heart of the project is made up of the new work packages, which have the common objective of strengthening the impact the Aurora universities have on one another and on society as a whole. After the first preliminary online discussions, representatives of the universities involved in the project met for the first time to discuss the first steps to implement the various tasks.
The new work packages can essentially be divided into two categories: organization and content. The content packages work on sharing infrastructure and resources throughout the Alliance, reinforcing collaboration on entrepreneurial activities, developing more joint strategies for recruiting or developing human resources, implementing open science practices and increasing engagement with society. The organizational packages focus on ensuring quality and synthesizing the results of the work in a common plan to reinforce research and innovation structures. They also attempt to ensure an exchange of activities and knowledge with the other 40 European university networks so as to converge towards the concept of a European University.
The meeting that launched this project – which is part of the Science with and for Society (SwafS) programme – was attended by more than 90 people from the nine universities. The proposal is funded with two million euros and is scheduled to last for three years. The URV is responsible for two work packages on human capital, and learning and sharing with other European universities.
