EDUC-WIDE is funded under the HORIZON.4.1 - Widening participation and spreading excellence (Coordination and Support Actions) - Grant agreement: 101136533

In EDUC-WIDE, the Alliance will contribute to the implementation of European Research Area (ERA) policies through 4 main objectives:

1. To ensure that the principles of Open Science become an integral part of the activities and research infrastructures of EDUC Universities.

2. Introduce responsible research evaluation as a standard practice in EDUC and engage with policymakers and other stakeholders to create institutional environments conducive to the evaluation of research not based solely on quantitative parameters.

3. Prepare EDUC researchers for different career paths outside academia by fostering interdisciplinary, intersectoral and international mobility. Promote the development and implementation of plans for gender equality in the Widening Countries.

4. Initiate and expand R&I collaboration of EDUC universities and their ecosystems to help address key societal challenges: the green and digital transitions, EU missions and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

To achieve these objectives, expert groups will be set up on the topics of open science, research evaluation, career diversity and research infrastructures. The expert groups will work to create an Open Science strategies, to support knowledge transfer and staff exchange, and to foster the training and introduction of advanced research and innovation practices across the EDUC Alliance.

Finally, the Alliance, through the collaboration with territorial ecosystems and global partners, will develop tools to support/finance research and innovation with two types of projects with a bottom-up approach: (1) Seed Projects, small-scale projects that pave the way for long-term collaboration on research and innovation and 2) Calls for access to research and innovation infrastructures within the Alliance, for a sharing of their use.