The Aurora Alliance has been awarded a 2 million EUR grant from the Horizon 2020 – Science with and for Society (SwafS) – programme to strengthen and empower research support and innovation within the alliance. This upcoming project will be managed by our Aurora Alliance partners at the University of Iceland, who were also in charge of the project application in November 2020.
This grant aims to help the universities in the Aurora Alliance to set up and implement a joint strategy for increasing support for research and innovation. Palacký University will work towards this aim together with our eight partner universities in the Aurora Alliance. The strategy will, for example, enable the sharing of research infrastructure, strengthen Open Science policies in line with EU frameworks and provide new training and support mechanisms for researchers. The objective of the Aurora research and innovation collaboration is to enhance the societal impact of research activities and support the achievement of the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
In line with the overall objective, the Aurora Alliance – Research and Innovation for Societal Impact (Aurora RI) project will develop and achieve seven specific objectives that provide the necessary stepping stones for the Aurora Alliance structural and sustainable change. The seven objectives are:
- Objective 1: Development of an Aurora support plan for research and innovation
- Objective 2: Develop best practices for pooling research infrastructures, expertise, data and resources
- Objective 3: Strengthen cooperation on entrepreneurial activity and creating an Aurora innovation ecosystem
- Objective 4: Develop the capacities and capabilities of Aurora researchers and support staff
- Objective 5: Sharing best practices on Open Science
- Objective 6: Embedding Citizens and societal engagement further into our research activities
- Objective 7: Maximise impact through collaboration with other European Universities
The upcoming Aurora RI project will be presented to UP stakeholders on Friday March 12th at 09:00.
A live stream of this event will be available here.
This future SwafS project will provide Palacký University Olomouc with an excellent opportunity to further develop collaborations in the field of research and innovation. The implementation of a joint research and innovation strategy will grant our UP researchers access to equipment, technology, expertise and support available at other Aurora institutions, as well opportunities to collaborate with international partners to tackle some of society’s most pressing issues, such as climate change, sustainability, health and wellbeing, and further ensure strong foundations for democracy and equality.
This project will also allow UP to continue and accelerate its effort in the field of Open Science, making the output of our research available to as many people as possible. Sharing the output of our research both with the local and international community will stimulate research development and innovation as well as education, benefitting society. Furthermore, it will deepen and strengthen the connection of Palacký University Olomouc with its community, establishing UP and other Aurora universities as integral centres of knowledge within their local and global communities.
More in-depth information and updates on the upcoming SwafS-project will be uploaded to the UP Aurora website as the project develops. For more information on how the SwafS-project ties in Aurora, please look here.
For questions, feel free to contact the UP SwafS coordinator, Andrea Nogova.
