International Innovation

EURAXESS T.O.P.
Enhancing
network efficiency
EURAXESS is a key institution providing mobile researchers with information on a host of
matters ranging from visas to accommodation. Project Coordinator Dr Barbara Sheldon outlines
how the EURAXESS T.O.P. project aims to enhance the network’s ability to cover its vital remit
Can you begin by providing an insight into the
main aims and objectives of the EURAXESS
T.O.P. initiative and its relationship with the
EURAXESS Services Network
The project EURAXESS T.O.P. aims at
enhancing the outreach and effectiveness
of the EURAXESS network partners. The
EURAXESS network was created in 2004.
More than 500 staff members in 37 European
countries offer a free, personalised service
to mobile researchers ranging from advice
concerning visa and work permits to
assistance with finding accommodation and
childcare. Many members are confronted
with similar challenges, for example, finding
the appropriate organisational structure,
optimising their workflow management,
quality assurance of the services, the level of
recognition, etc. The network is made up of
experts with many facets. The project aims
at exploiting this potential for the benefit of
all. Participants developed standard models
and good practice examples that all network
members will be able to refer to in the future.
We are now very much near the end of the
project and can conclude that, to a large
extent, these goals have been achieved.
Between January and April 2010, you
conducted research to collect the
experiences of the partners in EURAXESS.
Have you identified any common
experiences that have provided an insight
into improving EURAXESS management
The topics and challenges are very much
the same but the solutions differ according
to the national or even local situation.
Examples that were presented include
keeping the members of the national
networks informed on new developments,
and ensuring consolidated action. The
30 INTERNATIONAL INNOVATION
formats of communication differ considerably
depending on the size and structure of the
network. The collection of experiences thus
resulted in a colourful picture of solved
problems – from collaboration with national
and local authorities to finding back up within
the hosting organisation or gaining funding
from the private sector. Of course, how to
approach and assist individual researchers is
also a question shared by everybody.
Can you describe the tools and good practice
advice that you have provided for project
teams to promote effective dissemination
Many tools for promotion had already been
prepared by the European Commission before
the project started. These included leaflets and
brochures, roll-ups, video clips, PowerPoint
presentations and advertisements. Within the
project this bundle was enriched by a model
for a press release, model letters to specific
stakeholders, and through a training video for
staff members, to name a few. Additionally, we
have collected examples of how promotional
activities like newsletters or informational
events can be successfully organised.
The EURAXESS Bi-Annual Conference took
place in March 2011. What were the main
themes of this year’s event
The Conference focused on two themes. The
EURAXESS T.O.P. team presented the project
results and highlighted their potential impact for
the network. Furthermore, strategic questions
concerning the role of EURAXESS in creating the
innovation union were discussed, for example:
how can we find new strategic partners How
can we contribute to the implementation of the
human resources strategy How can we attract
more researchers to Europe
For the first time, our partners in non-European
countries participated. Under the brand
of ‘EURAXESS links’, European researchers
who live in the U.S., Japan, China, India and
Singapore have access to a website adapted
to their specific interests which also provides
opportunities for social intercourse.
Which role does the EURAXESS
network play, on a political level, in the
implementation of the Innovation Union
The EURAXESS Services Network is an important
and unique instrument in the implementation of
the Innovation Union. While it is not a political
player itself, it can be a ‘presenter of problems’
to the political level. The value of EURAXESS at
the political level lies in the fact that it has the
ability to identify problems based on very real
experience. At the cutting-edge between very
down-to-earth, concrete everyday problemsolution
scenarios, and more abstract issues of
researchers’ mobility, it is in a unique position to
develop into an effective platform for discussions
of mobility.

EURAXESS T.O.P.
T.O.P. results
With the long-term view of developing the EURAXESS network to
become the definitive point of reference for mobile researchers, the
EURAXESS T.O.P. project is implementing a series of initiatives to
improve staff training and the accessibility of information
Workshops serve as a platform for:
sharing expert knowledge (top),
initiating transnational cooperation (middle),
and understanding European policy (bottom).
THE EURAXESS NETWORK is a key initiative
supporting the EU’s commitment to removing
barriers to free movement of knowledge within
Europe. It strengthens cross-border mobility of
researchers, students, scientists and academic
staff and provides researchers with better
career structures. The network operates a
single access point to information across all
countries and includes a network of walk-in
centres offering personalised assistance to
researchers moving to another country. Each
of the network’s member countries has one or
two Bridgehead Organisations (BHOs) which
are responsible for the national websites and for
coordinating the national networks, consisting
of regional EURAXESS Services Centres (ESCs)
and Local Contact Points (LoCPs). EURAXESS
staff members across Europe are usually highly
qualified and have demonstrated a high level
of dedication to their mission. However, many
BHOs are run with a minimum of staff, who
are often responsible for a multitude of duties.
It is important that they have access to reliable
information and can benefit from the experience
of senior staff members in other BHOs. It is to
address these issues that the EURAXESS T.O.P. –
‘Enhancing the Outreach and Effectiveness of the
EURAXESS Network Partners’ project has been
set up with the overall objective of monitoring
and improving the current levels of quality,
effectiveness and coherence of the services
afforded by the EURAXESS Services Network.
• Training of the network members according to
their specific needs
THE PORTAL CALL
The EURAXESS clientele, particularly mobile
researchers, require easy access to relevant
information about anywhere they wish to
travel to or from. Therefore, the EURAXESS
task team developed a set of 15 compulsory
criteria that all national websites are obliged
to fulfil by the end of the project. The portal
call provided the BHOs with money to enable
the realisation of this goal. 34 countries
submitted applications and after an evaluation
process, all of which were approved. Now, the
national websites have a similar structure and
design, use reliable IT tools, can cope with
the same bunch of topics and regularly keep
their contents up-to-date. All applicants were
required to commit to promotional activities
centred around the portals with particular
attention on the EURAXESS jobs portal.
Dissemination is a key element of the process,
as Project Coordinator Dr Barbara Sheldon
details: “There are still too many researchers
who are not familiar with this ‘one-stopshop’
for all topics around mobility, and the
opportunities that the jobs portal offers. These
include free job advertising for employers, and
free upload of CVs for researchers searching
for jobs”.
THREE POINTS OF FOCUS
The EURAXESS T.O.P. team unites staff members
from established BHOs in 11 European countries.
Each partner is responsible for the coordination
of at least one sub-project, which is carried out by
five to 20 task members each. The consortium has
been assisted by most of the other BHOs who did
not take a lead in a task, but instead committed
themselves to contribute their expertise as
associated partners. To fulfil the overall objective,
the project focuses on three main activities:
• The launch and follow-up of a ‘portal call’,
providing BHOs with funds for improving the
contents and structure of their national portals
and for promoting the EURAXESS Jobs section
• Developing an electronic handbook. In the
future, this will serve as a manual on how to
design and run a EURAXESS Services Centre
(ESC). The core components are a collection
of best practices and checklists for quality
management issues
ELECTRONIC HANDBOOK
The work carried out in all tasks, including
related feedback collected during the workshops,
has been compiled in an electronic handbook.
Confronted with challenges in their daily work,
staff members on all levels of the network will
be supported, either in finding solutions directly,
or in identifying people whom they can ask for
advice in their particular situation. Owing to
the electronic manual, network members can
now search for the best way to deal with many
situations and they will find colleagues with
the necessary experience. The handbook also
contains tools for quality assurance, such as
assessment forms, references to literature, and
texts that they can use for promotional purposes
or to address specific stakeholder groups.
WORKSHOPS AND TRAINING
The two workshops in the project were
based on the assumption that experienced
EURAXESS staff members are expert enough
WWW.RESEARCHMEDIA.EU 31

INTELLIGENCE
EURAXESS T.O.P.
ENHANCING THE OUTREACH AND
EFFECTIVENESS OF THE PARTNERS IN
THE EURAXESS SERVICES NETWORK
OBJECTIVES
The project is geared towards reinforcing
the quality, effectiveness and coherence
of the services afforded by the EURAXESS
Services Network. This will be achieved
by promoting transnational cooperation
along with identification, refinement and
exchange of best practice. The network assists
mobile researchers by providing information
and tailored assistance, and enhances the
attractiveness of the European Research Area.
KEY COLLABORATORS
Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
(coordinating institution), Germany • Sofia
University, NIS, Bulgaria • Archimedes
Foundation, Estonia • CPU/CLORA (Conférence
des Présidents d’Université/Club des Organismes
de Recherche Associés), France • Centre for
Research and Technology Hellas, Greece •
TeT - Hungarian Science and Technology
Foundation (Tudományos és Technológiai
Alapítvány), Hungary • Irish Universities
Association, Ireland • Research Authority, BIU
(Bar Ilan University), Israel • Research Council
of Norway, Norway • FundaciÓn Española
para la Ciencia y la TecnologÍa, Spain •
VINNOVA (The Swedish Governmental Agency
for Innovation Systems), Sweden
FUNDING
EU Seventh Framework Programme (FP7),
project number 249143
CONTACT
Regina Basse
Alexander von Humboldt Foundation
Jean-Paul-Str 12
D-53173 Bonn
Germany
T +49 228 833 415
F +49 228 833 114
E regina.basse@avh.de
at their own jobs to enable them to act as
trainers for less experienced colleagues. The
first workshop was tailored for BHOs and
focused on the rationale of the network;
it functioned both within and beyond the
network, and was deemed successful by all
participants. The second workshop – for ESCs
and LoCPs – built on this experience and trained
participants in EU human resources policy, EU
researcher mobility funding, interaction with
the private sector, and quality management
tools. Additional formats were introduced,
including a marketplace where all participants
were invited to present a project or initiative
of their choice. The methods used to create
the workshops proved highly successful. “The
concept of the workshops accounted for the
expertise of the network partners and therefore
offered opportunities for presenting and
exchanging best practice, as well as enabling
the participants to find interesting partners
for future collaboration,” Sheldon reflects. An
additional training video is due to be prepared,
which will provide an informative and
accessible introduction to all fields of activity
of EURAXESS. It will specifically address new
and relatively inexperienced staff members all
over Europe.
PHASE TWO
EURAXESS T.O.P. has been supported by
funding from the EU Seventh Framework
Programme (FP7) with the current phase set
to conclude in June 2011. The full extent of
the impact on each partner and the network
as a whole will only be visible in the future;
however, to date, the project has been very
successful in achieving its objectives, as
Sheldon testifies: “The network has been
strengthened considerably, for example, by
developing quality standards in several fields of
activity”. The last fine-tuning activities for the
websites and handbook are underway.
Consortium members have also given positive
feedback on the strong individual benefits
they have gained from being able to work with
many different partners. For example, one BHO,
motivated by the style used in another country,
changed its structure. As a result, responsibilities
became more transparent, decision procedures
more efficient and the job satisfaction of staff
members increased.
With the current enhancement project drawing
to a close, Sheldon is clear about the next phase:
“We will do our very best to continue the process
that started with our project, combining our
forces for the removal of obstacles to researcher
mobility”. With this aim in mind, a new project
team has already put forward an application for
EURAXESS T.O.P. II funding. If the Commission
takes a positive decision, the new consortium
will look at enhancing the transnational
cooperation within the network, with a view
to establishing the EURAXESS brand as the
authoritative source of information, related to
mobility, at the disposal of researchers within
and beyond Europe.
BARBARA SHELDON, PhD, is Head of the
‘Researcher Mobility and EURAXESS Germany’
division of the Alexander von Humboldt
Foundation, where she has held a number of
different positions. Before that, she worked for
the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD)
and the University of Heidelberg. She holds a
PhD from the University of Erlangen in Germany
and an MA from the University of Kansas, USA.
THE EURAXESS T.O.P. TEAM AT THE KICK-OFF MEETING IN BONN/GERMANY
Front row from left to right: Regina Basse (project manager, AvH), Julia Sieben (programme officer, AvH), Natalie
Gordon (project officer, BIU), Swetlana Dimitrova (task leader, SU-NIS), Elin Kollerud (task leader, RCN), Cristina
Gomez (work package leader, FECYT), Barbara Sheldon (coordinator).
Back row from left to right: Ruth Klausmann-Tombers (assistant to project manager, AvH), Hans Borchgrevink
(steering group, RCN), Stefanie Eckstein (portal manager, AvH), Agnes Smolenszky (task leader, TETALAP), Conor
O’Carroll (steering group, IUA), Cecilia Cabello (steering group, FECYT), Adam Molnar (project officer, TETALAP),
Magdalena Wislocka (project officer, IUA), Eva Carnestedt (task leader, VINNOVA), Kristin Kraav (task leader,
Archimedes), Ulrike Albrecht (steering group, AvH), Dimitris Sanopoulos (work package leader, CERTH), Isser Peer (task
leader, BIU), Jean-François Huon (task leader, CPU/CLORA).
32 INTERNATIONAL INNOVATION