NEWSLETTER
Dear Members,
We hope you all had a welldeserved break over the summer after the turbulence of the last few months, even if for many it likely was a (hopefully relaxing) staycation. The Board members as well have taken a break to refuel the batteries, and are back, full of energy, to support activities, events and fruitful discussions during this new academic year.
We’ll be focusing some of that energy on MCAA’s engagement in the research policy landscape, and it’s a pleasure to highlight some of the activities that the MCAA Board and Members have been involved in in this space. Hopefully this will not only give you a useful overview of the progress we are making in some key areas, but also encourage those of you who are interested to get in touch with our Policy Working Group.
IMPROVING RESEARCHER CAREERS
We fully entered the conversation on sustainable researcher careers (or rather how careers aren’t sustainable currently) mid-2019, when MCAA together with Eurodoc published its ‘Declaration on Sustainable Researcher Careers’, led by Gábor Kismihók. Since then, the Declaration has been a talking point and discussion starter at various events.
Recommendation 3 of the Declaration alludes to the need to reform recognition processes in academia, to ensure that transferable skills, usually the skills most valued by employers outside academia, are adequately recognised. MCAA contributed more extensively to the debate on improving research career assessment processes via its policy statement ‘Towards responsible research career assessment’ in collaboration with NewHoRRIzon.
Key points from both the Declaration and the Policy Statement have been the guiding principles for our Chair, Mostafa, to feed into the Science Europe Validation Workshop on Research Assessment Processes. This workshop contributed to a set of outputs that are now available on the Science Europe webpages.
I personally also referred to both statements during the 2020 Eurodoc annual conference, where I was invited on behalf of the MCAA to talk about ‘Evaluation of scientific activity’ in the context of open science. If you are looking for a good webinar to catch up on over lunch, the recordings and slides of this session are available on the Eurodoc webpages.
ADDING OURVOICE TO CALLS FOR A HIGHER EU BUDGET FOR RESEARCH AND INNOVATION
For those who have missed out on the action at the level of the European institutions, there has been enormous dismay from the scientific community related to a continuously shrinking budget for Horizon Europe, the next framework programme of which the MSCActions are part. From the budget of €120 billion proposed by the European Parliament, to the €94 billion in the proposal of the European Commission in May 2020, the final envelope for the 2021-2027 Horizon Europe programme agreed on was a mere €80.6 billion.
However, at a stage where this budget had yet to be agreed by the Members of the European Parliament (MEPs), many research organisations have called on Parliamentarians not to approve this proposal, and rather to ensure that research programmes are supported adequately in order to face the current crisis and strengthen Europe's future.
To add our voice to this call, our Policy Working Group published an MCAA statement, led by Tomislav Stojanov. Our statement draws specific attention to the importance of sufficient budget to foster the next generations of researchers and innovators, whom Europe desperately needs to achieve its research and innovation ambitions and to address the immense challenges ahead of us. You can read our full statement on the MCAA news pages.
CALLING FOR M ITIGATION OF IMPACTS OF COVID-19 LOCKDOWN MEASURES ON MSCA FELLOWS
The European Commission’s position since the start of the pandemic has been not to grant cost extensions to the researchers it funds, and this position has been received with concern by MSCA fellows as well as by the MCAA. Together, we have urged the European Commission to ensure that early-career researchers in particular should not pay the price.
MSCA fellows, some of them MCAA members, have made considerable efforts to bring this issue to the attention of the European Commission, and more recently to Members of the European Parliament. The MCAA has supported members’ efforts by capturing the breadth of issues experienced by current fellows through a survey, as well as sharing this information and working on solutions with the European Commission’s MSCA Unit. You can read more about these efforts on the MCAA news pages.
The MCAA wants to commend individual members (you know who you are) for their contributions to making the case for MSCA fellows. Your efforts, especially to bring this issue to the attention of the media and Members of the European Parliament, have given a voice to the MSCA fellows impacted by the pandemic.
MEET THE NEW MCAA POLICY WORKING GROUP CHAIR AND VICE-CHAIRS
This would not be a proper update on policy, would it fail to mention the driving members behind our policy work. Just before the summer, a new Chair was elected to lead our Policy Working Group, and is joined by two Vice-Chairs. Let me briefly introduce them to you:
- Elected as new Chair: Stéphanie Gauttier, Assistant Professor at Grenoble Ecole de Management, researching Ethics and Technology. For the MCAA, Stéphanie co-founded REFERENT and setup the 'Responsible Research Culture' task force within the Policy Working Group.
- New Vice-Chair: Tomislav Stojanov, Sociolinguist and MSCA fellow at the University of Nottingham. As Vice-Chair, Tomislav aims to explore and promote solutions for ethical issues in research, such as the discrepancy between ethical norms and practice.
- New Vice-Chair: Renaud Jolivet, Group Leader in Neurophysics at the University of Geneva, researching neural interfaces and neural energetics. For the MCAA, Renaud founded the Swiss Chapter before being elected to the Board (2018-2020).
Active topics the group is working on (and could use more help on), include open science, sustainability (in research practice) and responsible research & innovation. If you are interested in getting involved, please contact policy@mariecuriealumni.eu.
AS VISIBLE AS EVER AT EUROSCIENCE OPEN FORUM 2020
Every other year, I look forward to the science & policy event that is a must for everyone interested particularly in policy for research and researchers: EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF). I had planned to join this year’s edition in July in Trieste (followed by a cycling trip to Pula!), but it will come as no surprise that all those plans got cancelled.
Due to the pandemic, ESOF2020 was delayed to September and took place as a hybrid (physical / virtual) event. Having attended this new format, I can say that it was a very different experience compared to previous years, and that especially the networking aspect has suffered in the current circumstances. But what I can also say is that MCAA’s presence at the event was as strong and visible as ever.
MCAA representatives, many part of our Policy Working Group, moderated no less than four panel sessions, discussing collaboration between science and business; the expectation gap between researchers and employers; progress and further challenges to achieve gender diversity in research (in collaboration with our Genders, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion Working Group); and policies for sustainable career development (in follow-up of the ESOF2018 session that led to the development of our Declaration on Sustainable Career Development, mentioned already elsewhere in this update). You can read more about the sessions, and the MCAA members who contributed, on the MCAA news pages.
WHATTO LOOK OUTFOR NEXT
Marina already alluded in the previous Newsletter to the fact that MCAA is planning a Virtual Conference to replace our own annual conference that got cancelled due to the pandemic. Planning of this event is now going full-speed ahead and we are glad to announce that it will take place on 6-7 November 2020. We are energised and inspired by other virtual conferences we have attended such as ESOF2020, and we are looking forward to sharing our own virtual conference programme in the next couple of weeks. Some of the sessions without doubt will continue the discussion on the intriguing policy topics I’ve touched on in this update. So do look out for more news on keynotes, programme and registration.
That’s all from me, folks - have a great start of the academic year and stay in touch!
KAREN STROOBANTS,
ON BEHALF OF THE BOARD
‘MCAA IN THE AGE OF COVID-19’
The novel coronavirus pandemic led to a Europe-wide lockdown, quarantine and restrictions. While many plans changed, there’s still a lot in the MCAA’s pipeline. We asked MCAA Chair Mostafa Shawrav about the future plans.
It is a “very unprecedented situation.” This is how MCAA Chair Mostafa Shawrav describes the context in which he and the newly elected board kicked off at the end of March 2020.
“The global Covid-19 pandemic is having an impact on the Associationand on its members,” he says. For instance, the lockdown measures imposed impacted on projects, particularly those dependent on laboratory and field work. Activities in relation to training, mobility and networking also ground to a halt.
This is why the MCAA supported a petition by MSCA fellows calling on authorities to take responsibility for fellows’ well-being and careers, and to support them.
The next step was the launch of a survey to assess the impact of Covid-19 lockdown measures and restrictions on MSCA projects and fellows, and whether available solutions have been successful.
Nearly 400 fellows have so far taken the survey. About half (48 %) reported they were not able to continue their work on their projects during the lockdown. In the vast majority of the cases (91 % of those affected), this was due to the project requiring lab work. Also, a lack of data or necessary software was reported by 33 % of the survey respondents who needed to put their research on hold during the lockdown. Other reasons reported by the survey respondents included disruptions in childcare (13 %).
Under these unprecedented conditions, many MSCA grantees affected by the pandemic are still struggling. The difficulties were recently highlighted on a science media portal, which also noted one MEPs support for the MSCA researchers.
In July, MCSA fellow Antonia Weberling sent a letter to the European Commission describing the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on her MSCA project. She received a response from the office of the Commissioner, reassuring her that the Commission is closely monitoring the situation and remains committed to applying as much flexibility as possible, taking into account the specific circumstances of each fellow. Read the letter, which Weberling shared via Twitter, here.
ETHICS COMMITTEE CREATED
The new board has also been working on ways to ensure ethical principles are always at the core of MCAA activities. For instance, MCAA Vice Chair Valentina Ferro is focusing on the issue of avoiding conflict of interests. Also, the MCAA’s newly created Ethics Committee is already at work, drafting an internal Code of Conduct which will be put to a vote during the next General Assembly in 2021.
The future aim of the Ethics Committee will be to ensure compliance with the Code of Conduct and raise awareness of the association’s values and ethical practices in action.
“It is necessary to have an ethics committee to check the ethical compliance of members when they post on the MCAA portal or as regards any other sensitive issues,” explains Mostafa. Equally important is to guarantee that MCAA representatives work within strict irreproachable ethical principles.
ACTIVITIES IN SEPTEMBER
The board is also hammering out new guidelines and processes for all MCAA chairs to follow when organising their chapters and working groups. Participation in external events is also being actively promoted, despite mostly occurring online at the moment.
The MCAA, for instance, boasted an inspiring representation at the Euroscience Open Forum that took place in Trieste (Italy) and online from 2 to 6 September. Various sessions were presented by MCAA members. Topics included transferable skills, sustainable research careers, the expectation gap between researchers and employers, and equality, inclusion and diversity in research.
Between 22 and 24 September, the MCAA also participated in the European Commission’s annual flagship event, the European Research and Innovation Days. Several members intervened as speakers in different sessions on a variety of topics: brain circulation, skills for resilient researchers and researchers at risk. What is more, members of the MCAA Board took part in parallel sessions focusing on best practices of supervision in the MSCA.
SAVE THE DATE!
Following the cancellation of the Annual Conference in March 2020, the board has announced plans to organise a digital event on 6-7 November 2020 (the date is to be confirmed). The event will feature a more flexible format.
According to Mostafa, all researchers and any interested public are welcome to participate.
“The event will also address crucial topics, such as career development for the researchers and how to get involved in science policies and diplomacy,” adds Mostafa.
Another notable issue is the digital platform that will be used to hold this event. “We want to have a platform where our members can interact with each other and with parallel sessions. But the sessions have to be interactive, as well as live streamed,” explains Mostafa. “This is a challenge.”
A CHANGE OF STATUS
The preparation of November’s digital event has raised some questions regarding the association’s future events. For Mostafa, hybrid events combining online and physical meetings could present a solution, even in organising the future General Assembly.
Taking this direction, however, would involve a change in the legal status of the association, which is currently established under Belgian law as an international non-profit association (association internationale sans but lucrative). This means the MCAA General Assembly and Conference cannot take place digitally.
“In order to open up our activity to all the members, we would like to propose some significant changes within the association. This is the reason we are planning to change our statutes so that it is adapted to a more modernised and flexible governance structure,” explains Mostafa.
The Articles of the Association are also likely to be modified.
LINKEDIN LEARNING
Mostafa is also pleased to announce a new initiative involving LinkedIn Learning. This digital education subscription-based platform offers over 5 000 courses on a variety of topics.
Soon, MCAA will upload its own course designed specifically for the association’s diverse membership from over 140 countries. The intention is to assist MCAA members to further develop and train in their area of interest during the pandemic.
BLACK LIVES MATTER
Representing over 16 500 researchers, the MCAA works to support the careers of researchers regardless of their ethnic background or any other individual characteristic. The MCAA thrives on international and collaborative science, and acknowledges that many scientific and academic achievements that shape our world and our society would not be possible without the countless achievements of black and ethnically diverse researchers. Therefore, the MCAA published a statement on 14 August stating that Black Lives Matter in research and higher education too.
PARTNERING WITH THE OEDUVERSE PROJECT
Ever been to a training session that left you feeling disappointed or frustrated and that perhaps your time could have been better spent doing research? While universities try to provide training and support to early career researchers, our experience is that training set up for them is ‘hit and miss’ in terms of quality, type of training, and contribution to career advancement.
It was this problem that gave rise to the OEduverse project. This grassroot project was initiated by MCAA fellows and funded by Erasmus+ to develop courses on three key skills: mental well-being, open science, communication and immersive storytelling. The development of these courses is backed by ongoing research into training best practices and quality assurance to ensure that researchers gain meaningful training that will support you for years to come. Furthermore, OEduverse has already adapted to the challenges posed by Covid-19, with courses also being available live online.
The MCAA is a partner in OEduverse, supporting the dissemination of key project outcomes while also making MCAA fellows aware of training opportunities. The next opportunity to get involved will be on 11 September, when the project will run a multiplier event, hosted by the MCAA German Chapter. More details will be posted on the MCAA website and German Chapter page soon.
SCOTT HARRISON
POSTDOCTORAL RESEARCHER
AT GERMAN INSTITUTE FOR INTERNATIONAL
EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH, AND CHAIR OF
MCAA’S GERMAN CHAPTER
If you are interested in knowing more about the OEduverse project, the trainings, or getting involved in our future events, head to >https://oeduverse.eu/