Now the H2020 EOSC pilot project has taken the first steps towards creating the blueprint for an open European Science Cloud, this proposal aims to supply practical solutions for the use of the FAIR data principles throughout the research data life cycle. Emphasis is on fostering FAIR data culture and the uptake of good practices in making data FAIR. Keeping in mind that there is no ‘one size fits all’, the consortium will focus on all scientific communities for supporting, creating, further developing and implementing a common scheme to ensure data development, wide uptake of and compliance with FAIR data principles and practices by data producers as well as national and European research data providers and repositories contributing to the EOSC. Furthermore, the consortium will closely collaborate with other relevant (global) projects and initiatives already on the way e.g. GO-FAIR, Research Data Alliance (RDA), World Data System (WDS), CODATA. We will provide a platform for using and implementing the FAIR principles in the day to day work of national and European research data providers and repositories. The consortium cooperates with other projects that will be funded under the INFRAEOSC-05-2018 topic (e.g. the EOSC governance (5a) and where appropriate 5b, the projects funded in the INFRAEOSC-04-2018 topic (e.g. the ESFRI clusters SSHOC, PANOSC, ENVRI FAIR, ESCAPE and EOSCLife) and with the EOSC coordination structure developed in the existing EOSC-pilot and EOSC-hub projects. According to the research data life cycle (planning/creating, processing, analysing, preserving and reuse) the consortium partners have defined goals, activities and outputs on - making data FAIR through research workflows - ensuring long-term preservation of data - making data FAIR through data curation - improving accessibility of research data (e.g. legal barriers) - improving findability of data through creation and interconnection of metadata catalogues - curricula/education

The YEBO! project, focusing on the promotion of the internationalization of doctoral studies in South Africa, aims to address and redress the problem areas of doctoral studies. The YEBO! project is a response to the target of the South African Government's National Development Plan to have an estimate of 5,000 doctoral graduates per year by 2030 in the fields of Science and Technology. Preliminary findings indicated that capacity building is critical in supporting doctoral studies. The imperative developmental areas include supervisory support and capacity, grant capacity and proposal writing capacity, with the potential to increase access to research networks, international funding and internships. The aforementioned do not exclude capacity support to institutions in support of doctoral studies, from an international perspective, and with a focus on best practices. Three principle approches were identified in response to the capacity development needs of South African universities: - A web-based portal that encompasses research and funding networks, identification of funding opportunities, with an emphasis on training materials and videos accessible to all. - Four themed conferences, co-organized by programme and partner countries, focusing on best practices for the internationalization and promotion of doctorate studies, and fostering networking and cooperation opportunities.- Three training sessions, organized in South Africa, with a focus on supervision capacities.

Since the outbreak of the so-called “refugee crisis” in 2015, European Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) have made considerable efforts to facilitate access for newcomers, through a constellation of actions in different domains: financial support, admission procedures, recognition of qualifications, language and psychological support, to mention a few. Most of these initiatives took a bottom-up approach, as an immediate and emergency response to a crisis situation. Although they have undoubtedly contributed to building more inclusive HEIs and connecting universities with civil society actors, few of them have been underpinned by a central strategic approach and planning, paving the way for a holistic and sustainable institutional response.Much remains to be done for universities to fully embrace a 360-degree approach to the phenomenon of migration, that goes beyond immediate initiatives and builds inclusive HEIs and societies, taking responsibility for the important societal challenges facing European countries.UNI(di)VERSITY aims to develop the social responsibility of European HEIs in the field of migration, with a view to promoting the social inclusion of migrants and refugees, through:- A systematic mapping and analysis of European HEIs’ approaches to migration as part of their social responsibility and diversity approaches;- An awareness campaign to encourage a nuanced and evidence-based debate about migration and diversity amongst the academic community and the public;- The design and validation of a set of instruments to support university staff and services in their efforts to integrate issues related to migration and diversity in different areas, grounded in a 360-degree approach;- A Staff Training intervention aimed at empowering academic and administrative staff to develop sustainable strategies for integrating migration issues at all levels of institutional activities;- The release of a comprehensive Strategic Framework aimed at providing a multicriteria decision-making methodology for socially responsible universities in the era of migration.The 2-year project envisages four intellectual outputs that represent an innovative blend of different activities: 1) an analytical atlas of HEIs’ actions and strategies in the field of migration; 2) an awareness campaign entitled #uni4diversity; 3) a toolkit for university staff and services; 4) a strategic framework for socially responsible universities in the era of migration.The project intervention will increase knowledge, inspire commitment, sensitise, and empower at least five hundred European HEIs leaders, managers and staff from different structures (governance bodies, third mission office, international relations office, student services, faculty and research department leaders) in relation to migration issues, to act as agents of change in their own institutions and academic community, and throughout Europe.

Higher education governance and its autonomy is strongly enhanced by the effective and convincing accountability, transparency and financial sustainability. Discussions on the university governance and autonomy throughout HEIs in Europe are coming as a response to diverse challenges at the different country’s context. As a result, the need for gaining and enhancing public trust in higher education became manifest to develop appropriate forms of transparency and accountability of both public and private institutions. An initiative to form a consortium came as response to address these challenges through the project Strengthening university autonomy and increasing accountability and transparency of Western Balkans Universities /STAND project .The concept entails investing in the strengthening the mechanisms that ensures the long-term sustainability of university autonomy, transparency and accountability. The project foresees cooperation between HEIs in the WB region, their respective ministries and program country partners and contributes to the increasing of professional capacities of HEI staff in partnering HEIs. As structural project it will support reflecting on standards at EU partners and enhancing them at WB institutions through intensified regular academic and management exchange of good practice and sustainable networking between EU-WB partners. A mix of bottom-up and top-down approach that will be used in the project, fosters the dialogue between universities and ministries, and thus enables the consortium to contribute more effectively to the project implementation and sustainability to strengthen the autonomy of Western Balkans higher education institutions. The project aims to reach up to 50,000 persons engaged in higher education and other related activities in Kosovo, Albania and Montenegro and abroad through its dissemination activities.

The InSPIREurope project will forge a coordinated, cross-sectoral, Europe-wide alliance in support of researchers at risk. The project partners are uniquely suited to lead such cooperation as they include (i) leading organizations in supporting researchers at risk including the French and German national funding programmes and the European office of the Scholars at Risk network (ii) organizations with expertise in European and national R&I programmes (iii) leading actors in influencing EU policies on higher education, research and innovation (iv) universities in regions underrepresented in existing support networks and initiatives for researchers at risk. The project will lay the groundwork for a durable support structure in Europe for researchers at risk through the creation of the InSPIREurope Coordinating Committee, a project team that will live on, grow and diversify beyond the life of the project. Through guidance, coaching, and training, researchers at risk will stand a better chance of accessing existing EU and national funding and support; while employers across Europe will gain new insights into the integration of diverse research talent. Deploying the vast dissemination networks of the partners, the Coordinating Committee will promote the good support measures already in place at the national and European level, encourage their replication, facilitate greater coordination and peer-learning between national-level and European-level research and innovation initiatives, and provide concrete recommendations to the policy level on sustaining such support over the long-term. Through outreach, the project will encourage the development of new support initiatives in particular in Central, Southern and Eastern Europe. Through stakeholder fora and mutual learning opportunities, the project will break down barriers between the academic and non-academic sector towards the common goal of integrating the research talent of researchers at risk.