CHARM EU Responsible Research Funding and Support Specialist

School/Department:     CHARM-EU, Academic Services Division 

Job Category & Level:   Professional, Administrative & Support; Administrative Officer 2

The Purpose of the Role:

CHARM-EU at Trinity College wishes to appoint an administrative officer (CHARM EU Responsible Research Funding and Support Specialist, RRFSS) to pilot research support activities to further the development of the CHARM-EU Research and Innovation and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion related agenda.

The specific purpose of this employment is to support the piloting of an agreed set of activities aligned with the CHARM-EU Research and Innovation and Equality, Diversity and Inclusion related agendas. 

The role requires piloting support to a number of agenda activities and, in particular, is directly linked to those piloting activities which Trinity is contributing to and whose longer-term requirements have yet to be evaluated. 

This employment is not offered on an indefinite basis as the piloting activities associated with the role are expected to be completed within a defined period. 

Furthermore, the position is funded by a none-core university funding stream, which is anticipated to cease within a finite period in line with the current overall CHARM EU alliance funding period. 

Termination of this contract will occur upon completion of the work in which you are engaged in, or in the event of the funding stream terminating

Context: 

The European Universities Initiative is an ambitious European Union (EU) initiative aimed at establishing alliances between higher education institutions from all across Europe, for the benefit of their students, staff and society. It is a flagship initiative of the European Strategy for Universities and a vital element in driving the delivery of the European Education Area whilst also contributing to the delivery of the European Research Area. 

Established in 2019 the CHARM-EU (Challenge-driven, Accessible, Research-based, Mobile European University) European Universities alliance is an institutional level important strategic activity for College formed initially by five research-based European Universities (Trinity College Dublin, University of Barcelona (Spain), Utrecht University (The Netherlands), Eötvös Loránd University (Hungary), and University of Montpellier (France)) funded by the Erasmus+ programme as a result of a successful application submitted to the first European Universities call. The CHARM-EU alliance sought and secured additional funding in 2022 through Erasmus+ for the CHARM Eight ∞ Project, which saw the CHARM -EU Alliance expand to include Åbo Akademi University (Finland), JuliusMaximilians University Würzburg (Germany) and Hochschule Ruhr West (Germany). Subsequently, the University of Bergen (Norway) also joined the Alliance. At the EU level, while the main source of financial support for European Universities alliances comes through Erasmus+, complementary funding for a 3 year period was also secured on a competitive basis through Horizon 2020 Science with and for Society (SWAFS) to support the development of a Research and Innovation dimension through TORCH - Transforming Open Responsible Research and Innovation through CHARM-EU which is aligned with the European Research Area (ERA) policy agenda. There was a strong EDI focus in TORCH. The alliances are seen as pivotal in the ERA and in other EU policy areas such as the European Innovation Agenda. 

After 3 productive years CHARM-EU at Trinity, along with other alliance members, wishes to continue to grow its research agenda including its focus on EDI. This requires the formation of an alliance level network of research support units in the first instance whilst also feeding experience into the feasibility of a Joint Virtual Research Support Office which may be activated at a later stage. A successful R&I dimension will increase challenge-driven and transdisciplinary collaboration for social impact at a European scale, with our shared strategy focusing on addressing societal challenges and sustainability. 

The successful candidate will help develop matchmaking events with other CHARM EU partner members working to enhance opportunities for researchers to find new CHARM EU partners for research proposals, particularly the EU Framework Programme, especially in research fields that require a transdisciplinary approach with engagement from all or many member universities, with a view to building long-term research cooperation based on consistent relationships between PIs. The role will also facilitate exchanges of good practices in key areas(e.g. career assessment, open science, citizen science, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI), etc. – many of which are linked to the European Research Area strategic agenda.) including through event development which will also contribute to reinforcing Responsible Research & Innovation and positive research culture internally within all partners. 

In general, it is expected that the RRFSS will be active in opportunity identification, networking/matchmaking/best practice activities and transdisciplinary proposal development, and will provide a resource/support for researchers in Trinity College getting involved with other CHARM EU partners (and beyond) and with funding programmes to develop a CHARM-EU based research proposal. The successful candidate will also work to ensure a EDI included approach to the progression of the CHARM EU research agenda. It is intended that the experience arising from engagement in supporting the research agenda during this pilot phase would help inform the longer term requirements for Trinity and the CHARM-EU Alliance. 

The successful candidate will work with the CHARM-EU team in Trinity as well as to collaborate with members of both the Research Development Office and EDI team to become familiar with a wide range of duties, processes and procedures related to enhancing the research support environment and securing all types of research funding within a positive EDI culture. The RRFSS will also liaise with other College service providers (e.g., Contracts Office, Technology Transfer, Financial Services Division etc.) to ensure that researchers are aware of the relevant offices to be contacted and procedures to be followed in relation to interactions with research sponsors.

Trinity College has a dedicated EDI office which supports the strategic goal of the University to make equality, diversity and inclusion a cornerstone of our ethos and practice across all aspects of College life. The Office works on areas such as: EDI policies, monitoring and reporting, training, European Commission Gender Equality Plan compliance and it provides Athena Swan institutional support and oversight. The Athena Swan Charter is a framework and process that is used across the globe to support and sustain gender equality, and broader EDI themes, within higher education (HE) and research. Trinity currently holds an institutional silver Athena Swan award, 20 School Athena Swan awards and one professional unit award. In addition, Trinity secured the inaugural European Commission Sustainable Gender Equality Award in 2022. 

Trinity College Dublin has a Research Development Office in Trinity Research which has a team of professional research support individuals including interdisciplinary experts who work with Trinity researchers across all disciplines and career stages to support their efforts to fund their ideas and research. 

The post-holder will report to the Project Manager of CHARM along with the Directors of CHARM-EU in Trinity (in line with current CHARM EU posts). In order to aid collaboration with the College’s Research Development Office, a staff member with interdisciplinary expertise will provide a point of engagement/dotted line management and onboarding support into Trinity Research processes. A similar arrangement will occur with a member of the EDI team. The overall ethos is one of support for role delivery of the successful candidate within a positive learning environment. Informal enquiries about this post should be made to Doris Alexander at doris.alexander@tcd.ie The post holder will be physically based in the CHARM-EU office in Trinity but will be expected to attend some meetings and interact with colleagues in the Research Development Office/EDI office. As this role is intended to support the development of the R&I agenda of the CHARM EU alliance, international travel will be required for relevant meetings (of the order of a maximum of 1-2 days per month).