The European Commission and the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU held this year’s Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) policy conference in Toledo earlier this week.
This hybrid conference, entitled “MSCA: Diverse research careers to tackle global challenges”, provided an opportunity for a diverse audience, from researchers, to research support staff to policymakers, to discuss how the MSCA funding schemes support researchers and policymakers in addressing global challenges, the impact of MSCA projects on a local, regional and national level, and the intersectoral mobility of MSCA researchers to the non-academic sector, in particular to public administration bodies.
The event was split into several sessions and workshops The recordings of the different sessions have been made available on the conference website.
Outcomes of the Workshops
As part of the conference, participants discussed the participation of MSCA fellows in public administration, the impact of MSCA on a global level and how MSCA contributes to increasing diversity and inclusiveness in four dedicated workshops.
Workshop 1: Non-academic organisations other than public administration participate relatively well in MSCA. What can we do to facilitate more public administration participation so MSCA can contribute to strengthening science for policy ecosystems?
As shown in a recent analysis, public administration only accounted for 5% of participation in H2020 MSCA schemes, while higher-education institutions participated ~70%. To increase the fellows’ mobility to the public sector, the EC included several opportunities in MSCA schemes, such as the non-academic placements in the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships and funded secondment opportunities in all four main MSCA funding schemes. However, the EC is aware that potential fellows, supervisors, and institutions might not be aware of these opportunities, especially given a lack of matchmaking tools between interested fellows and the public sector.
Lastly, Eduardo Oliver, Center for Biological Research CIB – CSIC, Spain, presented how his initiative helped bridge the gap between Spanish scientists and politicians, and the concrete steps taken to reach this goal. Anna Berti from the University of Florence described her MSCA project with the Joint Research Centre and recommended that fellows wishing to work with public institutions contact institutions of interest to host them.
The full discussion can be watched here.
How is MSCA currently contributing to addressing Global Challenges? What more can be done to strengthen the policy impacts of MSCA in this direction while safeguarding the bottom-up spirit of the programme?
Evidence shows that MSCA projects strongly contribute to societal challenges. Still, more effort is needed to match the bottom-up nature of the MSCA funding schemes with EU strategic and political policies and the EU’s approach to global innovation.
Currently, to improve the use of MSCA project results in evidence-based policymaking, and to bridge the gap between researchers and policymakers, researchers will need support, including training, to identify opportunities for using their results for policymaking.
It was noted that MSCA schemes should remain a bottom-up programme because it allows the funding research focused on the local or regional level, with project outcomes then being extended to a global level.
The full discussion can be watched here.
MSCA is a programme fostering diversity and inclusiveness in science. Is there anything more that can be done to ensure that this diversity contributes to better policies for all?
Lack of information and opportunities fostering diversity and inclusivity in organisations can lead to institutions losing talented researchers. Hence, it is vital to raise awareness of opportunities and available support related to inclusivity and diversity in both the institutions and fellows.
Then, it was recommended that institutions provide practical help when it comes to supporting researchers in integrating into new organisations and new environments. Joaquin Capablo, Campus Iberus, Spain, presented an ‘Ambassador scheme’ they piloted, in which fellows were provided support to help them integrate not only in the organisations but also in the host country and city.
The full discussion can be watched here.
European Research Area Action 4 and its links with MSCA
In this session, the speakers discussed the tools and investments used by the EC to make research careers more attractive and sustainable.
As of 2021, 2 million researchers undertook their activities in Europe, representing 1.6% of the total European labour force. While this represents an increase of 45% from 2011, statistics also show that the number of researchers working in the different EU Member States is highly variable, ranging from 0.4% to 2.0%. In addition, the data available shows an unbalanced mobility flow of researchers between the academic and non-academic sectors. Overall, at least 11 Member States are suffering from a higher outflow than the inflow of researchers (‘brain drain’).
The EC is working together with the EU Member States on a variety of actions to counteract this situation, including installing better systems to recruit and retain talent through improved working conditions, strengthening and facilitating intersectoral mobility, addressing skills mismatches, and fighting precarity in research careers.
This situation will be addressed in the European Research Area (ERA) policy, intended to create a single European market for knowledge and talent circulation. The EC and the EU Member States are pursuing 20 actions along four priority areas.
- Priority Area 1: Deepening a truly functioning internal market for knowledge
- Priority Area 2: Together for twin green and digital transition, and increasing society’s participation in the era
- Priority Area 3: Amplifying access to research and innovation excellence across the union
- Priority Area 4: Advancing concerted R&I investments and reforms
MSCA is expected to contribute to Action 4 “Strengthen research careers” under Priority Area 1. Twenty-six EU Member States have already committed to implementing the four major strands of this action:
- Setting voluntary standards. Institutions are encouraged to adhere to specific standards related to working conditions, career development and recruitment. Recommendations are outlined in the new European Framework for Research Careers which is expected to be adopted in early December.
- Supporting implementation. To support member states in implementing improved working conditions and to support a balanced mobility flow across sectors and countries, the EC will establish the ERA Talent platform as a one-stop platform for researchers. This platform will be based on the EURAXESS Platform. In addition, the EC will launch a career observatory.
- Promoting cultural change. This strand is intended to help reform the current research and the research assessments of researchers.
- Coordinating investments. The EC aims to collaborate and coordinate investments with the labour market to promote researchers’ conditions, skills training and mobility.
In this context, the EC tool ‘ResearchComp: The European Competence Framework for Researchers’, was designed to help researchers identify their competencies, their proficiency level of said competencies, and potential skills gaps. Institutions can use this tool to assess, develop or adapt their existing or future training offers to provide researchers with targeted training opportunities and attract talent.
The recording of this session can be watched here.
MSCA Science Policy Pitch Competition
As part of the conference, 15 MSCA-funded researchers pitched how their projects contribute to wider EU priorities and support evidence-based policy.
The individual pitches and the award ceremony can be watched here.
Future Outlook
Lionel Bonjean, Director General of the Walloon Ministry for Employment, Economy and Research, Belgium, announced that as part of the upcoming Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU, the next MSCA Presidency Conference will be held in Mons, Belgium, on 18 and 19 April 2024. This conference will focus on the multiplicity of research careers, and further details will be announced closer to the time.