Partner
Universities

Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
(VU Amsterdam)

At VU Amsterdam, research support is a key element of knowledge transfer, and ensuring maximum societal impact. As part of its 2020-2025 strategic plan, VU Amsterdam is allocating substantial resources to the four profile themes (Human health and life sciences, Governance for society, Science for sustainability, Connected world), including the support thereof. VU Amsterdam also leads the development of the Aurora SDG research dashboard.

  • Research support expertise and infrastructure

    VU Amsterdam has a central grants desk composed of six grant advisors, who are part of the larger team of VU Innovation Exchange Amsterdam – Grants Office (VU IXA-GO). The team serves researchers from all domains of science across the eight faculties of VU Amsterdam. We are predominantly focused on the national personal grants from the Dutch Research Council (NWO), ERC, and MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships, as well as collaborative grants from NWO, MSCA Doctoral Networks, and Horizon Europe Pillar 2. However, we are also able to support EIC and Eurostars applications, and some rare & exotic calls when necessary. Together with our compliance officer & LEAR, we provide administrative support to US calls from NIH and DoD.

    IXA-GO periodically organises webinars, information sessions, and training sessions for junior & mid-level researchers applying for personal grants. Several team members, but especially Pim de Boer (senior strategic policy advisor of VU Amsterdam and Aurora Universities Network), participate in nation-wide meetings via EU-liaison and NL-liaison groups and international networks, such as UniLiON, where latest developments in the national and international funding landscape are discussed.

    In addition to grant advisors, IXA-GO has six business developers working closely with researchers from Faculty of Science, Faculty of Behavioral and Movement Sciences, and Faculty of Social Sciences, and Faculty of Humanities on their valorisation activities. Director of IXA-GO, two communication officers, and an office manager complete the IXA-GO team.

    Finally, IXA-GO’s tasks are complemented by the legal team, who make sure VU Amsterdam’s policies are followed and researchers’ interests are protected in contracts, and the project control team, who make sure researchers construct accurate budgets and handle the financial reporting.

  • Research support tools

    Overton: Overton is the world’s largest collection of policy documents, parliamentary transcripts, government guidance and think tank research. There are over 7.5M documents indexed in Overton, and hundreds of new documents are added each day. The connections between these documents, scholarly research, and the news media is mapped to give insights into evidence and influences that are shaping the world. VU Amsterdam has licensed Overton to help researchers demonstrate their policy impact, or identify potential areas of policy impact.

    ResearchConnect: ResearchConnect is a specialist research funding database specifically designed for the research community. It provides an up to date database covering multiple research disciplines and funders from across the globe. This tools allows researchers and RMAs to rapidly identify funding opportunities through precise step-by-step searches and advanced search capabilities and receive updates through automatic email alerts.

    PURE: VU Amsterdam uses PURE as Research Information Management System. This serves the researchers a simple and user-friendly way to keep track of research output. VU Research Portal displays this information openly for everyone to browse through the researcher profiles and view their research outputs.

    SOPHIA: SOPHIA is an intellectual property management software IXA-GO uses to keep track of licensing agreements and patents.

  • Points of contact for partnership purposes

    Sedef Iskit s.iskit@vu.nl

    Sandy Broere-Lee s.broere-lee@vu.nl

Aurora RI contacts

Sedef Iskit

s.iskit@vu.nl
Grant advisor, VU IXA-GO             

University of Innsbruck
(UIBK)

UIBK strategy includes seven focus areas for research: Cultural Encounters – Cultural Conflicts, Digital Science Centre (DiSC), EPoS Economy, Politics & Society, Molecular Biosciences (CMBI), Mountain Regions, Physics, Scientific Computing. In addition, there are two research platforms: Center for Gender Studies Innsbruck (CGI) and Advanced Materials. The UIBK Development Plan focuses on research support in particular in the context of expanding research services for continued success.

  • Research support expertise and infrastructure

    UIBK has a central research support office (project.service.office) composed of grant advisors, legal experts, post award services, internal funding and mentoring as well as a TTO (technology transfer office). The team serves researchers from all domains of science across the sixteen faculties of UIBK.

    The grant advise services are diverse, ranging from internal, regional, national grants like FWF (Austrian Science Fund) or FFG (Austrian Research Promotion Agency) to Horizon Europe and Erasmus+ KA2 programs. Every issue regarding third party funding for research projects, no matter the funding agency (e.g. USA), is handled by the project.service.office.

    The TTO of the project.service.office is responsible for securing and exploiting intellectual property and therefore is the first step towards knowledge and technology transfer. The team also closely works together with various other university internal service units such as business developers and the university holding.

    The post-award team is handling financial accounting and reporting, especially for the Horizon Europe program but also for nationally funded grants.

    A sub-team is in charge for designing an carrying out internal funding as well as setting up and implementing a mentoring program across the university.

    Finally, project.service.office tasks are complemented by the legal team, who check and generate legal documents of all sorts like NDA, MTA, CA and so forth. They also serve as first level support regarding any legal issue in relation to third party funded projects.

    The team is regularly holding information and training events for university staff (mostly researcher) and students regarding all topics listed above. The head of project.service.office as well as several team members participate in national as well as international meetings regarding the national and international funding landscape’s new developments.

  • Research support tools

    oVIS:online: VIS:online is UIBK’s self-programmed, tailor-made IT system for project management, accounting, time recording, as well as IP management and CRIS (current research information system), amongst others.

  • Points of contact for partnership purposes

    David Lederbauer (david.lederbauer@uibk.ac.at)

    Dejan Lukovic (dejan.lukovic@uibk.ac.at)           

Aurora RI contacts

David Lederbauer

Project Service Office
david.lederbauer@uibk.ac.at

Dejan Lukovic

Project Manager Office of the Vice Rector for Research
dejan.lukovic@uibk.ac.at

Palacký University Olomouc
(UPOL)

UPOL is strategically centred around five priorities: 1. Highly digitized university, 2. Scientifically open university, 3. Administratively friendly university, 4. Healthy, socially responsible and sustainable university, 5. University in a global academic network. A major objective of the strategy is the further professionalisation and centralisation of research management and support services, moving from a decentralised model.

  • Research support expertise and infrastructure

    UPOL´s central support to the research office is the Project Service of the Palacký University Olomouc.  The Project Service is an information and advisory centre providing comprehensive services for project applicants – especially consultation and assistance services for those interested in submitting grants and searching for grant options. The main activities include consultation of project plans, search for grant options, processing and submission of project applications, administrative and financial management, education, tutoring, organization of seminars and courses, widespread dissemination of information – website and bulletin, and targeted dissemination of information.

    The Project service holds the position of LEAR, provides advertising in Partner search, distribution of expertise requests and offers to relevant departments, communicates within the ERC expert group in the Czech Republic, prepares documents and advice on submitting applications, trains university staff in topics related to framework program projects invites important guests. Project managers are continuously trained at national and international events, seminars, and workshops.

    In addition, each faculty disposes of its research officers who are centrally brought together under the proHorizon group which meets monthly and serves as a platform for sharing best practices, knowledge transfer, and trainings.

    On the faculty/institute level, the fully-fledged research support offices on Horizon Europe funding are the Grant Office at the Faculty of Arts and the Grant Office at the Czech Advanced Technology and Research Institute (CATRIN). The Grant Office of the Faculty of Arts is composed of five grant advisors providing complex pre- and post-award support to all national and international grant schemes. They offer MSCA and ERC trainings and workshops, round tables with successful grant holders or evaluators, and individual customized consultations. They advise on impact-oriented research, career development, research strategy, open science and data management, and ethics research integrity.

    CATRIN Grant Office is focused on pre-award support for the institute’s researchers. It is composed of three grant advisors who provide this support to all national and international grant schemes. Strengthening participation in competitive consortium grants in Pillar II and Pillar III (especially EIC Pathfinder and EIC Transition) is of special attention. Researchers are supported in applying for ERC and MSCA individual grants. They offer trainings and workshops for MSCA-PF and Czech Scientific Foundation grants as well as individual customized consultations. They advise researchers on open science, data management, proposal intelligence, impact strategy, and procedures for high-quality implementation.

    UPOL researchers are especially encouraged to apply for Coordination and Support Actions within the Widening scheme, where research is only one of the strategic components of the project. Through these actions, UPOL aims to strengthen its networks, carry out structural changes, and build research and managerial capacities.

  • Research support tools

    Google Workspace: The primary tool for document sharing, project agenda management, and documentation archive.

    Easy grant: Project management system for managing processes in project teams. Its purpose is significant streamlining of formal project management, archiving of documentation, and overview of submitted and implemented projects.

    PURE: To be implemented. We have started collecting good and bad practices, as well as tips for customization, from open sources, other research institutions, and namely from our Aurora partners.

  • Points of contact for partnership purposes

    Marie Jadrníčková – marie.jadrnickova@upol.cz

Aurora RI contacts

Marie Jadrníčková

Research officer and Aurora RI coordinator, Rectorate
marie.jadrnickova@upol.cz

Ondřej Němčák

Project Manager, Project Service
ondrej.nemcak@upol.cz

Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II
(UNINA)

UNINA aims to promote the quality and growth of Research at the University, through interventions aimed at achieving a dynamic circle of knowledge. In doing so, they will increase of the number of funded research projects, strengthening of interdisciplinary and curiosity-driven projects. UNINA strategically uses its internal research funds to support research proposals positively evaluated in competitive calls that did not receive funding, proposals from research staff that is not currently supported by any external fund, and young researchers in the form of start-up funds. 

  • Research support expertise and infrastructure

    UNINA has a dedicated office for Research Projects that is responsible for supporting research funding and project management. In particular, the office has the International Research Projects Unit that supports the project management concerning the international funding schemes.  The activities carried out by the International Research Projects Unit are:

    • support the participation in initiatives to present calls for research projects funded by the EU and other international organizations;
    • support for the design and reporting activities of international, transnational, bilateral research projects;
    • support for the submission of funding requests and the construction of project networks for faculty members;
    • support the design of International research agreements concerning administrative and financial aspects;
    • Management of a register of potential and current international research projects listed by research theme, contact information, contact source in order to promote institutional growth and international competitiveness at Federico II;
    • support for project approval by academic bodies, support for departments in resolving administrative and accounting management issues related to projects and reporting, systematic analysis of administrative and accounting management issues highlighted by departments;
    • collaboration with the university’s research delegate to resolve administrative management and reporting issues related to projects;
    • periodic publication on the UNINA website of news, events and tools/responses to common support questions related to administrative management and reporting of funding;
    • organization of training courses on International fundings in collaboration with the Horizon National Contact Point in Italy.

  • Research support tools

    U-Web InTime: U-Web InTime is an electronic tool for recording the hours worked by personnel engaged in national and European research projects for the purpose of reporting their costs. It collects the effort of all human resources participating in projects that are registered in the university’s project database. The effort is recorded in hours and minutes for each project (or Work Package) for each day.

    Research Professional: Research Professional is a platform that allows users to conduct customized research of available funding opportunities according to specific criteria such as discipline, type of funding, funding body, and project submission deadline. It provides detailed information on a wide range of national and international funding programs. In addition to the “Funding” section, Research Professional also offers the possibility to consult the “News”, “Conferences” and “Awards” sections to obtain important information about news in the scientific research sector, find calls for papers for conferences and/or special academic journals, and find information on previous grant winners and their partnerships.

  • Points of contact for partnership purposes

    Maria La Sala & Monica Zuccarini
    ricercainternazionale@unina.it

Aurora RI contacts

Silvia Renna
Head Research Office
silvia.renna@unina.it

Maria La Sala
Head International Research Projects Unit
maria.lasala@unina.it 

Monica Zuccarini
International Research Projects Unit
monica.zuccarini@unina.it

Universitat Rovira I Virgili
(URV)

URV’s research and innovation strategic plan is structured around five working areas: 1. The value and social impact of research 2. The people involved in research and innovation 3. The organization of research and innovation 4. Resources and infrastructures 5. Quality, evaluation and recognition.

  • Research support expertise and infrastructure

    URV provides a full project lifecycle support for its researchers, from finding funding opportunities to exploiting results.

    URV has set up a specific unit that supports international proposals in the pre-award stage (USPIR, International pre-award support unit). USPIR proactively supports the URV community in obtaining international competitive funds for research and offers individualized professional support throughout the pre-award life cycle of each project. This includes suitable funding identification and consortium building, proposal preparation and coordination, and administrative support in proposal submission.

    Complementary to USPIR, Unit for the Promotion of Research, Innovation and Territorial Development identifies and promotes funding opportunities at the regional and national level and manages the ethical aspects of research.

    In addition, the Research Support Office (OSR) assists the research personnel of the URV specially with the applications of individual grants for researchers at national and regional level. It also analyses and provides support with the evaluation of the lines of research and research groups of the University. Their services include submission and financial management of individual research grants.

    Finally, Decentralised Administrative Management Unit (UGAD) operates with a large team providing a whole range of services that cover all the post-award stages of a project or RDI research grant: budget definition, execution of research projects, justification (and audit if necessary), and closure.

  • Research support tools

    UNIVERSITAS XXI Project Management (UXXI-INV): Integrated software with academic management, human resources management and economic management software, UXXI-INV gathers all information relevant to projects from the other modules. It has a specific view both for grant managers and researchers

    IRIS: Research curriculum manager

    SINIA: SINIA is a business intelligence tool that captures data from Training, R&I&i, Economics, Human Resources, stores them in a single repository, processes, exploits and communicates them, is used for strategic management.

    SciVal:

    EinaDMP: Adapted from the DMPTool of the Digital Curation Center (DCC).

    Self-developed tools: A Pre-doctoral grant application manager allows candidates and reviewers to manage grant Applications for pre-doctoral candidates. Application for the matchmaking of calls and researchers is used for matchmaking keywords of European calls and URV researchers.

  • Points of contact for partnership purposes

    International Pre-Award Support Unit (USPIR) 
    uspir@urv.cat

Aurora RI contacts

Lorena Tomás Laudo
Director of Research and Innovation
lorena.tomas@urv.cat

Maitane Najarro Garcia
Project Manager
maitane.najarro@urv.cat

University of Duisburg-Essen
(UDE)

The University of Duisburg-Essen (UDE) stands for scientific excellence. Its broad spectrum of subjects ranges from humanities, social sciences and education to economics, engineering, natural sciences, and medicine. The UDE has long recognized the capacities of interdisciplinary research collaborations for complex research undertakings. Interdisciplinary research at the UDE is structured into five strategic research areas: “Biomedical Sciences”, “Nanoscience”, “Water Research”, “Joint Centre Urban Systems” and “Transformation of Contemporary Societies”.

To learn more about UDE’s strategic research areas, visit the following website:
https://www.uni-due.de/en/research/profile.php.

  • Research support expertise and infrastructure

    Research support and research management are key elements of UDE’s research strategy. UDE also puts a heavy emphasis on diversity and talent promotion in its strategy. Professional research management is one of the six guiding principles. Support is provided to scientists through all career phases which ensures promotion based on merit, starting at the level of PhD students.

    UDE has two central research support units that deal with national and international funding: the Science Support Center (SSC) and the Department of Research and Third Party Funding. Both research support units are working together very closely on all project stages, especially at the proposal level.

    The Science Support Center (SSC) is the central unit for research and innovation promotion at the UDE. The SSC works at the interface between science and administration, with its departments Research Funding, Graduate Center Plus (early career researchers’ promotion) and Research Transfer. The Research Funding department at the SSC assists in strategic planning and implementation of research activities. It consults on national grants (federal and state funds as well as funds by the German Research Foundation, DFG), on EU and international grants and foundation funding opportunities.

    The EU office at the SSC supports researchers in finding suitable EU funding programmes for their project idea, predominantly within the European research framework programme Horizon Europe. It periodically organises webinars, information sessions, and training sessions for researchers applying for personal (ERC, MSCA fellowships) and collaborative grants. Besides advising on funding opportunities, it accompanies UDE researchers through the application process and proposal design until submission of their proposal.

    The Department of Research and Third Party Funding, a division of the Department of Economics and Finances is part of the Administration of the UDE and responsible for all legal and financial matters of research projects. It supports the application process, the contract negotiations, the legal and financial implementation, the grant administration, and management of third-party funded projects from national and international public and private sectors. The department ensures that all legal and financial matters of a project are in line with the law and the funding terms and also that UDE’s internal policies are followed, and researchers’ interests are protected. It ensures proper financial implementation and reporting.

  • Research support tools

    FIT information service: The information service “Research, International Affairs, Transfer” (FIT) is a regular newsletter and a database of current funding information, managed by the Research and Postgraduate Support Office at the University of Kassel with a large network of participating universities and research institutions contributing and benefiting.

    Electronic Research Funding Information System (ELFI): ELFI is an information brokerage system which supports its users in keeping up-to-date information on funding opportunities referring to the original data source. As a customer-oriented service, ELFI provides information for students, scientists, research managers and administrators.

  • Points of contact for partnership purposes

    EU-Office at the Science Support Center
    eu-ssc@uni-due.de

Aurora RI contacts

EU-Office at the Science Support Center
eu-ssc@uni-due.de

Andreas Hoene

Aurora RI Coordinator UDE
andreas.hoene@uni-due.de

Albert Hölzle

Aurora RI Coordinator UDE
albert.hoelzle@uni-due.de

University of Iceland
(UI)

At UI, a specific work programme for excellent science includes mostly action points for research support. These include improved pre and post award services through centralisation of project and proposal management support, improving support for the exploitation of research, improving processes for recruiting research staff including requirements for international experience, increased awareness, training and support for research integrity and ethics, improving collaboration across faculties and schools, increasing cooperation and access to research infrastructure through mapping of available resources and improving funding for infrastructure.

  • Research support expertise and infrastructure

    Grants office of the University of Iceland is part of the Division of Science and Innovation and provides support to external research funding throughout the project life cycle. Research support at University of Iceland consists of five grant advisors/project managers at the Grants office, IP lawyer and a part time advisor on open access as well as five research directors located at each School of the University. The Grants office focuses mainly on international grants from Horizon Europe and other European framework programmes, including Erasmus+ KA2, ERC and MSCA and provides support to US federal and private funding. The office also provides support towards national grants by providing guidelines and harmonizing processes for applications.

    Research support is also provided at each of the Schools of the Universities. Research directors assist with scouting for funding opportunities and assist with proposal writing and preparation. They also provide support for national grants and take an active role in forming the School’s research strategy.

  • Research support tools

    PURE: University of Iceland uses PURE as Research Information Management System within consortium of universities and research institutes in Iceland (IRIS – Icelandic Research Information System). The system is being implemented at the national level as well as within University of Iceland. IRIS displays information about researchers and research in Iceland as a whole.

  • Points of contact for partnership purposes

    Svandís Helga Halldórsdóttir – svandish@hi.is

    Sólveig Nielsen – solveign@hi.is

    grantsoffice@hi.is

Aurora RI contacts

Svandís Helga Halldórsdóttir

svandish@hi.is
Office Director 

Sólveig Nielsen

solveign@hi.is
Project Manager

Copenhagen Business School
(CBS)

Starting from the idea of transforming society with business, our mission is to address societal challenges and to create a meaningful impact with three core pillars: Green transition, leadership, and digitization. Our strategy is centered on strengthening research and setting up the essential structures to tackle the big questions society faces.

On one hand, we are committed to enhancing our research by attracting, developing, and retaining a diverse group of highly talented staff and leading scholars from around the world. On the other hand, we give priority to exploring the big questions while designing incentives and support systems for collaborative and transformative projects that transcend disciplinary boundaries. We have also entered a new phase dedicated to reinforcing our current partnerships and cultivating new ones on both national and international fronts. These collaborations span across diverse academic disciplines, the business sector, authorities, and civil society.

  • Research support expertise and infrastructure

    CBS provides comprehensive research support services from pre-award to post-award. The Research Support Office (RSO) is located under the Dean of Research and serves as the starting point for external funding activities. RSO provides proactive, reactive, and on-demand pre-award support, including communication with funders, university leadership, policy makers, researchers, department heads, and funding coordinators. RSO manages the entire pre-award process encompassing registration, organizing informational meetings, conducting reviews, developing budgets, and facilitating dialogues with applicants, supervisors, and partners. Contract negotiations are also conducted at RSO as part of the award process. RSO has a dedicated team of 12 full-time consultants who work closely with department-appointed Funding Coordinators to inform researchers and department management about funding opportunities.

    There is also a special unit within RSO focusing on EU funds and supporting applications for the EU programmes. CBS actively participates in shaping the Horizon Europe work programmes at both institutional level and through RSO’s close contact with National Contact Points (NCPs). RSO collaborates with Greater Copenhagen EU Office (GCPHEU) to engage with other universities and regional bodies while informing the constituents and influencing current policies and programmes. The Head of RSO plays an active role in Horizon Europe’s Research and Innovation strategic reference group. Additionally, several CBS researchers contribute to special interest groups. These initiatives align with CBS’ overall strategy and the CBS Strategic Framework Contract with the Minister for Higher Education and Science, which also emphasizes addressing big societal issues.

    Once an award is granted, the Project Support Unit at the finance department initiates the project in the financial system and takes responsibility for the financial post-award support. In addition, individual department administration supports further post-award activities.

  • Research support tools

    CogLab: CogLab serves as both a laboratory for conducting experimental studies on cognitive processes and a center for research mentoring. International businesses often face communication challenges with their consumers from different languages and cultures. At CogLab, researchers can tackle these concerns by conducting experiments on users and consumers with various stimuli such as using words, texts, pictures, films, and multimodal objects like food packages. By employing indirect behavioral measures such as accuracy scores, rating scales, reaction times, and eye movements, researchers can gain insights into cognitive processes, reactions, and emotions that are otherwise hard to investigate. The physical facilities of CogLab include computer workstations, laptops with experimental software, rooms equipped with eye trackers, an AV room for naturalistic recordings, and an anechoic cell for high-quality sound recordings. Besides providing equipment and support, CogLab assists researchers with research design and guidance on statistical analysis. CogLab hosted the recent Scandinavian Workshop on Applied Eye Tracking (SWAET).

    SEISMIC Database: Social Entrepreneurship and Innovation Scales to Measure Impact Competences (SEISMIC) research utilizes a survey to assess whether students possess the necessary skills and mindset to tackle societal challenges through social entrepreneurship and innovation. The survey is conducted prior to and after each semester to collect data on students’ competences at the start of their studies (knowledge income) and the competences they develop throughout their academic journey (knowledge outcome). SEISMIC database enables researchers to gain deeper insights into the effectiveness of educational interventions, identify trends and patterns in students’ skill development, and evaluate the impact of different teaching methods on fostering social entrepreneurship and innovation. Researchers can explore and identify successful strategies employed by certain programs or universities and uncover areas that require improvement or further attention. SEISMIC database provides researchers with resources for conducting in-depth analysis, comparative studies, and longitudinal research. SEISMIC research aims to contribute to a better understanding of the effectiveness of educational approaches and provide insights for continuous improvement in fostering the necessary skills and mindset for social entrepreneurship and innovation.

  • Points of contact for partnership purposes

    Lise Vinkel
    Research advisor, Dean’s office, CBS
    lvc.research@cbs.dk

Aurora RI contacts

Lise Vinkel

Research advisor, Dean’s office, CBS
lvc.research@cbs.dk