37th AUN-BOT Meeting: EURAXESS Supports Researchers Worldwide

By Chanya Chinsukserm, AUN Programme Officer

On 28 September 2022, Dr. Jenny Elmaco, the representative from EURAXESS, introduced considerable calls and opportunities for researchers from three distinct programmes and platforms (EURAXESS, Horizon Europe, and European Research Council) during the open session at the 37th AUN-BOT Meeting. This article will familiarise you with these three platforms and share some distinguished excerpts from Dr. Jenny Elmaco’s presentation in order to forward such outstanding resources for researchers in ASEAN.

EURAXESS
EURAXESS is a platform for researchers, innovators, entrepreneurs, universities, and businesses to interact and collaborate with each other. EURAXESS covers mobility-related topics for researchers alongside entrepreneurs, and allows universities and businesses to find the right talent, projects and funding. Oftentimes, common questions for researchers may be in the form of:

• Who offers research opportunities in my field?
• What type of funding is available?
• How can I, as an international researcher, move to Europe?

EURAXESS was established to help solve these inquiries, as it is now a network spread across more than 600 organisations in 43 European countries. EURAXESS also consists of over 1500 people, embedded in many different types of orgnisations, all dedicated to improving the lives of researchers, with a special focus on international mobility and career development issues.

One of the many fascinating features is a search function to find opportunities for jobs and funding for researchers. Thousands of scholarships, research jobs, fellowships, and funding offers in the European Research Area and global partner countries are to be discovered in an effort to support the research communities in conducting research and fostering innovation in their field. One can also submit a hosting proposal on this site. The next feature is a search function for networking and collaboration. Through the EURAXESS database, researchers can find research partners and build their own networks among thousands of individuals, research organisations, and businesses across Europe and the world. Moreover, EURAXESS offers a platform for the EURAXESS ASEAN community. This gives researchers in ASEAN the capability to link with those in Europe for free information and events on research funding, research careers, development training, alumni networking events, and collaboration opportunities.

Horizon Europe
Furthermore, Horizon Europe was also mentioned during this session. Horizon Europe is the EU’s key funding programme for research and innovation, with a budget of €95.5 billion. It tackles climate change, helps achieve the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals, and boosts the EU’s competitiveness and growth. The programme facilitates international collaboration and strengthens the impact of research and innovation in developing, supporting and implementing EU policies while tackling global challenges. It supports the creation and better dispersion of excellent knowledge and technologies. Horizon Europe also incorporates research and innovation missions to increase the effectiveness of funding by pursuing clearly defined targets.

Horizon Europe Pillar 1 offers opportunities for individual researchers of any nationality. Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) reinforce and extend the excellence of the EU’s science base. Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions of 2021 - 2027 includes:

• MSCA Doctoral Networks;
• MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships; and
• MSCA Staff Exchange.

Several calls and events from the aforementioned are available for submission and evaluation at MSCA website.

Horizon Europe Pillar 2 offers opportunities for research institutions. The programme is implemented in annual work plans with thousands of calls for proposals in each of the thematic focus areas. Horizon Europe Pillar 2 Calls are open for participation by research entities from anywhere in the world. Proposals are published on the their website.

European Research Council (ERC)
A number of calls and opportunities, especially in frontier science, are accessible on the European Research Council website. ERC comes with the mission to raise the level of dynamism and creativity of the whole European research system by supporting the emergence of research leaders in Europe capable of opening new avenues in their disciplines of training and inspiring others. ERC also aims to improve the career prospects of early stage researchers in Europe so as to reduce brain drain and promote institutional change. It provides a benchmark for all of Europe’s national research authorities and individual institutions, and encourages further efforts, reforms, and investments. Some concrete achievements of ERC are namely:

• Over 9,000 top researcher funded since the ERC’s creation in 2007
• Over 100,000 articles from ERC projects published in prestigious scientific journals
• Over 60,000 researchers and other professionals employed in ERC research teams
• Over 770 research institutions hosting ERC grantees - universities, public, or private research centres in the EU or associated countries with around € 13 billion.

For researchers who find these mechanisms intriguing, please find the contact information for EURAXESS in ASEAN here: 

• Dr. Susanne Rentzow-Vasu [email protected] 
• Dr. Jenny Elmaco [email protected] / [email protected]

More details of the aforesaid platforms, along with a variety of calls and opportunities for worldwide researchers, are fully provided in the above embedded links. This will surely contribute to the success and prosperity of the future of researchers' careers.