April session: Building a successful career path for core facility and research infrastructure scientists

Date: Wed, April 28, 2021
Time: 4:00 – 5:00 pm (CET)

Summary

Research infrastructures and core facilities are complex organisations. Not only do they operate at the leading edge of scientific and technological feasibility, but they also need to work with a large number of different stakeholders and funding mechanisms. Operators and managers of research infrastructures must have a scientific understanding, be part of the scientific user community, and at the same time balance the scientific needs and the technical possibilities with the management skills necessary for the operation of expensive facilities and the diplomatic skills required to engage with and define agreements between a large number of actors. The critical role of identifying, training and retaining the high-level staff necessary for the successful operation and long-term sustainability of research infrastructures and core facilities has been identified by many stakeholders as a priority and
documented in many policy documents. For the first time, two different EC supported rants: ARISE and RItrainPlus, tackle the problem of career-path for these professionals in a new innovative concept to transform the access and empowerment of human resources for national and international scientific facilities in Europe. The projects will transform the skills-base to drive the professionalization, efficiency and long-term value creation of European Research Infrastructures and Core Facilities.

Video recording & slides

Organizers

Valentina Adami
Core Facilities Coordinator
HTS Facility Manager
University of Trento, taly
Chair of the working group Training of CTLS

Julia Fernandez-Rodriguez
Head of the Centre for Cellular Imaging
University of Gothenburg, Sweden
President of CTLS

Speakers & presentations

Tanja Ninković
ARISE Programme Manager
EMBL, Heidelberg, Germany

ARISE – training new generation of Research infrastucture Scientists at EMBL

Between 2021-2025, EMBL and Marie Sklodowska Curie programme will award 62 three-year
fellowships to talented technology experts who wish to advance technology development in the life
sciences and receive training to operate life science research infrastructures. ARISE: Career Accelerator
for Research Infrastructure Scientists is an impressive fellowship program and a unique, interdisciplinary
opportunity for experienced STEM professionals – in Europe or abroad. Tanja Ninković, ARISE
Programme Manager, EMBL is one of the leading architects of the ARISE fellowship program.

ARISE project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation
under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Programme

Marialuisa Lavitrano
Professor of Pathology
director of Molecular Medicine Lab
Director of the School
of Oncology at the University of Milano-Bicocca
Coordinator of the Research Infrastructure Training
Plus EC project (RItrainPlus).

RItrainPlus – A pan-european strategy towards sustainable training and harmonized career for RI and CF staff

As Research Infrastructures and Core Facilities increase in importance, questions about
how to organize, maintain, manage and finance them have become a major topic for funding and
research organisations. RItrainPlus brings together, for the first time, RI, CF and European universities, in
a new innovative concept to transform the access and empowerment of human resources for national
and international scientific facilities in Europe. The overarching goal of RItrainPlus is to design and
deliver a training programme to fulfill the competency requirements for the current and future
managers of European RI and CF

RItrainPlus project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and
Innovation Framework Programme