The University of Warwick, in collaboration with Monash University through its European research foundation MUERF in Italy and CY Cergy Paris Université, has secured funding through the prestigious Horizon Europe Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) programme for a project that will help train the next generation of interdisciplinary research leaders.
Warwick, CY Cergy and Monash are all members of the EUTOPIA alliance, which recently secured renewed Erasmus+ funding to continue its work of developing a new model for integrated higher education institutions through transnational cooperation. This latest MSCA grant success further demonstrates EUTOPIA's commitment to supporting outstanding early-career researchers.
The €9.4m project, titled Shaping Higher Education and Innovation for Future Talents (EUTOPIA SHIFT), received a perfect score of 100/100 from evaluators. SHIFT builds on the success of the EUTOPIA Science and Innovation Fellowships (SIF) project (co-funded by the European Union under Grant Agreement 945380) and will be coordinated by CY Cergy Paris Université. At Warwick, SHIFT will be led by the Institute of Advanced Study (IAS).
Fellows will design their own research projects within one of four interdisciplinary Key Research Areas, working closely with academic mentors and benefitting from a bespoke training programme. The Key Research Areas are:
- Adaptive and Inclusive Approaches to Health and Wellbeing;
- Holistic Approaches to Climate Change: Science, Society, and Humanities;
- Resilient Economies and Democracies in the Digital Era;
- Sustainable Mobilities and Territories.
Professor Alison Cooley, Director of the Institute of Advanced Study (IAS) at Warwick, said:
"EUTOPIA SHIFT perfectly aligns with the IAS' mission of championing interdisciplinary and international research and supporting early-career researchers in building independent research careers. Our SIF fellows have produced high-quality research that has had a positive impact on the world, and our SHIFT fellows will certainly do the same. I'm looking forward to welcoming the first cohort to Warwick."
Professor Michael Scott, Pro Vice Chancellor (International) said,
"The success of EUTOPIA SHIFT is a major achievement for Warwick and our partners - reflecting the collective strength of our world-leading research environments and partnerships. Through this programme, we will attract outstanding postdoctoral researchers and connect them with a unique network of universities and external partners from the public, private and third sectors.
The inclusion of Monash University as an implementing partner is especially significant, creating new pathways for researcher mobility, joint projects and knowledge exchange between Europe, the UK and Australasia. We look forward to building on this success with Monash through Australia's forthcoming association to Horizon Europe, through Monash's status as a EUTOPIA Global Partner, and through our own long-standing Monash Warwick Alliance.
We are proud to be playing a leading role in this ambitious initiative and look forward to working with our colleagues to support the next generation of globally connected research leaders."
EUTOPIA SHIFT will recruit 30 postdoctoral researchers through two calls, for 36-month fellowships across the partnership. Warwick and Cy Cergy Paris Université will each host 12 fellows, while a further 6 will be based at Monash University's European Research Foundation ETS (MUERF) in Italy, supported by colleagues at Monash University in Australia.
