Call for Proposals for Early Career Research Conferences (ECC)

Opened: 28th April 2023

The Eu-SPRI member organisations are invited to submit proposals for Early Career Research Conferences (ECC) in Autumn 2023 and in 2024.

The Eu-SPRI Forum aims to support the intellectual and career development of early career SPRI researchers (doctoral candidates; Postdocs), most notably through doctoral programmes, conferences, summer schools and mobility between the partner groups.

ECC gather outstanding early career researchers with established academics for a series of exchanges about on-going and new research in research and innovation policy. Within the SPRI field ECC normally have no narrow themes, rather they are thematically open. Early career researchers can network with one another, across institutions and countries, and with established researchers, and gain critical feedback on their work, as well as experience in critiquing the work of peers.

The Eu-SPRI Forum normally supports one or two conferences per year. An ECC will normally have 25-30 participants. The maximum support for a conference amounts to 20,000 euros (for organisation and all actual incurred costs for participants once present, not their travel costs). 

This call asks for applications for ECC to be organised by 31st December 2024 at the latest.

Submission deadline: 31st May 2023

Proposals and queries should be submitted by e-mail to Eu-SPRI Forum secretariat: Debbie Cox (debbie.cox@manchester.ac.uk). The Eu-SPRI Forum Executive Committee will decide the selection of conferences by 20th June 2023.

Download the full call details here.

Call for Proposals for Early Career Research Training Schools (ECS)

SUBMISSION DEADLINE: 31st May 2023

The Eu-SPRI member organisations are invited to submit proposals for Early Career Research Training Schools (ECS).

The Eu-SPRI Forum aims to support the intellectual and career development of early career SPRI researchers (doctoral candidates; Postdocs), most notably through doctoral programmes, conferences, summer schools and mobility between the partner groups.

Our field of research and innovation policy studies is diverse and has homes in different disciplinary areas. Young Eu-SPRI researchers need dedicated events to acquire and exchange knowledge in two directions:

• Methods-based schools for acquiring new capabilities

• Topic-based schools.

ECS will be hosted by one or more Eu-SPRI member organisations and will be offered by senior scholars in the field. The Eu-SPRI Forum supports one summer and one winter school per year with some 25 students each. The maximum support for a school to 20.000 euros (for organisation and all actual incurred costs for participants once present, no travel costs).

This call asks for applications for ECS to be organised by December 2023 at the latest. Date of the event should be coordinated with the Executive Committee of Eu-SPRI.

Please note that an ECS applied for under this call complements the existing EU-SPRI series of recurrent training schools, see https://euspri-forum.eu/next-generation/ for more detail.

Proposals should be submitted by e-mail to Eu-SPRI Forum secretariat: debbie.cox@manchester.ac.uk. The Eu-SPRI Forum Executive Committee will decide the selection of training schools by mid June 2023.

For any questions please email Debbie Cox (debbie.cox@manchester.ac.uk).

Eu-SPRI Forum Early Career Researcher and PhD Circulation Award: Call Deadline 11th June 2023

Call for proposals for Doctoral Researchers and Early Career Researchers

Next deadline: 11th June 2023

The circulation of Early Career and PhD Researchers between the member organisations, is an important element of the training activities of the Eu-SPRI Forum network. It is part of the development of the European Training Platform, which the Eu-SPRI Forum aims to develop in the area of science and innovation policy studies. It addresses our objective of offering a European pathway to Early Career and PhD researchers in this field. 

Member organisations are:

  • Université Paris-Est, Institut Francilien Recherche Innovation Société (IFRIS)
  • Copenhagen Business School (CBS)
  • Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC), Spain
  • Consiglio Nazionale delle Richerche (CNR), IRCRES Research Institute on Sustainable Economic Growth, Rome
  • Politecnico di Milano
  • AIT Austrian Institute of Technology
  • CIRCLE, Lund University, Sweden
  • University of Manchester, Institute of Innovation Research
  • Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research, Karlsruhe, Germany
  • NIFU, Norway
  • University of Twente,  Institute of Innovation and Governance Studies (IGS)
  • VTT, in collaboration with Helsinki Institute of Science and Technology Studies (HIST)
  • UiO, Centre for Technology, Innovation and Culture, University of Oslo
  • SPRU, Science Policy Research Unit, University of Sussex
  • Innovation Studies, Copernicus Institute of Sustainable Development , Universiteit Utrecht
  • TNO, Netherlands Organisation of Applied Scientific Research
  • TUD, Sozialforschungsstelle Dortmund, ZWE der TU-Dortmund
  • Rathenau Institute — KNAW

This call is open to Doctoral Researchers, in member organisations, in their second year of PhD thesis or beyond and Early Career Researchers, in member organisations, who have completed their PhD within the past 36 months.

Topic Areas supported

This mobility call is restricted to research topics relating to science, technology and innovation policy including studies of science, technological innovation processes and entrepreneurship which may have relevance for policy.

Candidates can decide to apply for a short mobility call (up to one month visiting) or a regular mobility call (at least 3 months of visiting).

How to apply

  1. You must first discuss your proposed short term or regular visit with a potential supervisor at your chosen host institution. Both the ‘Home’ institute and ‘Host’ institute must be members of the Eu-SPRI Forum Network. You must confirm that they are prepared to accept you if your proposal is selected.
  1. Send the following documents to Deborah.cox@manchester.ac.uk

(This does not need to be signed by all parties at application stage)

  • A Curriculum Vitae
  • Letter / email of support from Host Supervisor
  • Letter / email of support from Home Supervisor
  • 1 other academic reference
  1. Your application will be evaluated by a committee from the Eu-SPRI Forum Training Group. You will be informed of the outcome when a decision has been made (within 1 month).

Application guidelines

  • The proposed location should be in a different “national system” so that the researcher experiences a different institutional environment. An application to move, for example, within the Netherlands would not be accepted.
  • Length of circulation visit should be at least 3 months for regular circulation and up to 1 month for short-term circulation. The three months can be split into tranches.
  • In the Letter of Intent, be as specific as possible about what you intend to do at your host institute.  Detail why you wish to visit that particular institute; how it will contribute to your research; what you hope to achieve.
  • Prepare your proposal thoroughly, look at the criteria for selection and make a good case.  The awards are competitive and you need to present yourself well.  Have a specific objective for the stay.  This could be to work on an area of theory with experts or to undertake fieldwork in a different country, for example.  Think about the potential benefits which may arise in the longer term.  Make sure you put in sufficient material to convince the reviewers.  If you apply for a short-term circulation you have to clearly explain why such a short-term visiting is sufficient to reach the research objective of the stay.
  • Ensure that the place you want to visit is a good match for you and your work and make sure that the researcher(s) you want to work with will actually be there and are willing to host you.  Making preliminary enquiries about practical arrangements is also a good idea.  However, if someone at another institution has agreed in principle to accept you, your proposal may still be subject to a request for further revision or rejected.
  • Ask someone (perhaps your supervisor) to review your proposal before you submit it.
  • Your research must be relevant to the Eu-SPRI Forum Network. For more information see the website.
  • Both the ‘PhD Home’ institute and ‘Host’ institute must be members of the Eu-SPRI Forum Network. Therefore, you may only apply to institutes that are ‘Early Career/PhD Hosts’ within Eu-SPRI Forum Network. Full members are listed on the website.

 The criteria for evaluating proposals are:

  • Quality of the candidate
  • Quality of the ECR/PhD project
  • Relevance of the project to Eu-SPRI
  • Expected benefits of stay for host institution
  • Expected benefits of stay for research career and/or PhD studies
  • Balance of student flows (only for regular circulation)

Further details

  • Eu-SPRI will award a lump sum of €2,500 per regular visit candidate (for travel expenses and accommodation) and up to €1,200 for short-term candidates.  This will be paid once the awardee is in situ at the host organisation.
  • If your application is successful, the letter of Intent must then be signed by all parties who must agree to the terms outlined in it.
  • On completion of the circulation you must provide a Circulation Report to the Eu-SPRI network which may be placed on the website. This is a mandatory requirement.
  • If you think you need any further information please email: Debbie.Cox@manchester.ac.uk or Kate.Barker@manchester.ac.uk 
 
 

Eu-SPRI Conference 2023, SPRU, University of Sussex

 Eu-SPRI 2023 Conference on ‘Research with Impact’

The 2023 Eu-SPRI Annual Conference will be hosted by the Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU) at the University of Sussex Business School in Brighton, UK. 

The main conference will take place on 14th – 16th June with a preceding Early Career Event on 13th June.

Important Dates

The deadline for abstract submissions has now passed.

Notification of decisions will be shared with authors by Monday 27th February 2023, 23:59 GMT.

Authors of accepted submissions will then be asked to upload their final full paper/poster/extended abstract, in order to be entered into the conference programme.

Deadline for final submissions is Friday 5th May 2023, 23:59 GMT.

Conference registration opens on Monday 27th February 2023.

Conference registration closes on Thursday 1st June 2023. The presenting author for each submission will need to have registered for the conference by Monday 22 May 2023, 23:59 GMT.

The conference will be held from Wednesday 14th June to Friday 16th June 2023.

Authors are invited to submit an abstract by the January deadline, which will then be peer-reviewed. If this is accepted, authors are then required to submit a full paper/poster/extended abstract by the 5th of May deadline.

For further details, please visit the conference website.

Eu-SPRI Early Career Event, University of Sussex, June 13th, 2023

Call for Participation

The Early Career Researcher (ECR) event will be held on Tuesday 13 June 2023 at the University of Sussex, the day before the Eu-SPRI 2023 Annual Conference begins. The event is hosted by the Science Policy Research Unit (SPRU) at the University of Sussex Business School and supported by the Eu-SPRI Forum. 

Objectives of the event 

This ECR Event aims to support early career scholars in developing their research profile and professional career. To do so, we have designed various sessions, such as Getting Your First Job, Getting Your Research Published and Parallel Sessions, where participants can present their work and discuss with peers, leading scholars and editors of international journals. We will provide a relaxed and supportive environment to facilitate learning opportunities, the exchange of various perspectives and networking for future collaborations.

The event will welcome PhD students, postdocs and ECRs who have completed their PhD within the past three years. The number of participants is limited to 50. This event will incorporate the 29th SPRU PhD Forum – an event which has been running since 1994 (previously known as DPhil Day). 

How to apply 

Please submit a 2-page application letter (pdf) by email to: EuSPRI23-ECR@sussex.ac.uk, organised as follows:

  1. your full name, current position & affiliation (including country of affiliation) 

  2. your research interests and activities

  3. your motivations for participating at this event 

  4. an extended abstract (500 words, excluding references) describing your research – this could be a paper under development or your thesis proposal but should be different from your Eu-SPRI Conference Paper.

When selecting participants, the Organising Committee will consider several features of the application letter including: the alignment of the motivation with the aim and scope of the event, the potential benefit to the applicant’s research, the timeliness for the development of the applicant’s career, and the quality of the extended abstract.

Please note that participation in the main conference is required to apply for this ECR event. If you have any queries related to the event, please get in touch at the above email address.

Fees

ECRs from Eu-SPRI member institutions: free of charge 

ECRs from Non-Eu-SPRI member institutions: EUR €250

The above fee includes lunches, refreshment breaks, an evening social activity and (for non-SPRU colleagues) one night’s accommodation (June 12th). 

Important Dates

  • Call for Applications opens 1st December 2022 

  • Applications close 13th February 2023 

  • Notification of acceptance & Registration opens 20th March 2023  

  • Registration closes 1st June 2023

Early Career Event | Eu-SPRI 2023 (euspri2023.com)