2.
Training and Transfer of Knowledge (ToK)
The network as a whole
undertakes to provide a minimum of 432 person-months of Early Stage and
Experienced Researchers whose appointment will be financed by the contract.
Quantitative progress on this, with reference to the table contained in Part C
and in conformance with relevant contractual provisions, will be regularly
monitored at the consortium level.
i) General
Training and ToK
We plan to train a new
generation of operator algebraists in Europe, excelling in a broad front of
applications, and with connections to other thriving branches of mathematics
and theoretical physics. The Network Training will be achieved by a combination
of measures:
á
appointment of young researchers
á
focussed semesters
á
mini-workshops
á
annual meetings
á
network visits
In the first place we
will appoint Early-Stage Researchers at the nodes. These young researchers will
be working on specific projects (training-through-research) under the direct
supervision of our senior researchers. We will exploit both the local
possibilities and the collective multi-discipliniarity of the network as a
whole to provide structured training courses through network wide training
activities which we will call network workshops. These network workshops
organised by senior network members will be backed up by annual meetings of the
whole network. External experts will be invited when they can significantly add
expertise missing in Europe.
Young researchers will
be able to actively participate in these meetings. Furthermore young
researchers and senior members will be engaged in other short visits between
nodes, outside the organised workshops and annual meetings, to further
collaborations and training. We will also encourage young researchers to attend
conferences or short visits to other scientists in the field. We also support
such short visits to scientists which are not directly part of the network, if
we think that it may stimulate the research of the young researchers. This
combination of measures will ensure that the research training will benefit
more than the immediate group of young researcher appointments.
A typical Early-Stage
Researcher will be funded at a single node, with positive encouragement given
to secondment or shared appointees between nodes. This will facilitate
interaction and the implementation of joint projects throughout the network,
participating in the daily work at an institute. The ESRs will hold seminars,
both on a local level and at other nodes of the network, where they will
explain their ideas and their work, this way developing also their
communication skills. The supervisors, in liaison, with scientific officials,
will be responsible for organising invitations and secondments to other
universities, ensuring that young researchers have ample opportunities to
interact with members of the other teams. Typically, a young researcher will be
exposed to a critical reading of recent publications of a team, and introduced
to new research projects.
To establish and
strengthen collaboration between the teams, as well as between the network and
the wider scientific community we will organise scientific annual network
meetings. These gatherings will also serve to assist longer term planning.
External experts will be invited for specialist input into the joint-training
programme - the network workshops and annual network meetings, using also
additional resources or research grants such as Oberwolfach or programmes at
ESI, Vienna. Young researchers will visit other nodes for a few days up to a
few weeks, the duration and costs of which should be limited to less than those
forseen for the secondment in compliance with the contract rules, to discuss
specific questions in their work. In addition they will have the opportunity to
communicate their results and discuss open problems at our regular workshops.
We also encourage and promote young researchers to present their results at
international conferences, as well to assist in the organisation of local
meetings.
In the schedule below we
describe the Focussed Semesters (FS) each of which will run at minimum one
mini-workshop. The second semester of each year will be reserved for the annual
meeting which will also be combined as a training event. In the case of the
second year, the annual meeting will immediately be followed by the Mid-Term
Review.
Training and Transfer of Knowledge Schedule
|
Month
|
Event
|
Milestones
|
Responsible
|
Participating
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
6
|
FS 1 : Ergodic Theory & Operator
Algebras
|
MB.1, MB,2
|
Partner 10
|
Partners
1,3,4,5,6,9,10,11
|
|
12
|
FS 2 :
Fuzzy Physics
|
MJ.1, MJ.2
|
Partner 2
|
Partners
1,3,4,7,8
|
|
12
|
Annual Meeting
|
M1
|
Partner 2
|
Partners
1,2,3,4,7,8
|
|
18
|
FS 3 :
AQFT
|
MI.1, MI.2
|
Partner 5
|
Partners
1,2,5,7,8,9,10
|
|
24
|
FS4 :
K-theory, Number theory and NCG
|
MD.1, MD.2, MD.3, ME.1, MF.1, MG.4, MH.1
|
Partner 8
|
Partners
3,4,6,7,9,10,11
|
|
24
|
Annual Meeting
|
M2
|
Partner 3
|
Partners
4,6,7,8,9,10,11
|
|
24
|
Mid Term Meeting
|
M2
|
Partner 3
|
All Partners
|
|
30
|
FS 5 :
C*-classification, Free Probability and
Random Matrices
|
MA.1, MA.2, MA.2, MA.3,
MA.4, MC.1,
MC.2, MC.3
|
Partner 4
|
Partners
1,2,3,4,6,7,8,9,11
|
|
36
|
FS 6 :
NCG, String Theory
&
Twisted
K-theory
|
MK.1, MD.3,
ML.1
|
Partner 1
|
Partners
2,3,5,7,8,9,10,11
|
|
36
|
Annual Meeting
|
M3
|
Partner 1
|
Partners
2,3,5,7,8,10,11
|
|
42
|
FS 7 :
Quantum Groups
|
MG.1, MG.2,
MG.3, MG.4
|
Partner 7
|
Partners
3,4,5,6,9,11
|
|
48
|
FS 8 : Analysis of Quantum Systems
|
ML.1, MC.2,
|
Partner 9
|
Partners
1,2,3,5,7,8,10,11
|
|
48
|
Final Meeting
|
M4
|
Partner 11
|
All Partners
|
The Mid-Term review
meeting will form part of the Second Annual meeting and is not regarded as a
separate event or milestone.
ii)
Training at local and network level
The network will arrange
a number of activities bringing together the experienced senior researcher and
the early-stage younger researcher. They will be geographically spread and
focussed on topics arising from our network project. The network will organise
network-workshops (mini-workshops) with one lead speaker (or occasionally two),
selected among skilled communicators from the leaders in the field, who will
give a series of talks over 4-5 days targeted at young researchers; these days
will be held at regular intervals over the grant period and included in 8
focussed special semesters located at different nodes; 2 such semesters in each
of the 4 years of the project will be organised, as detailed in the Training
and ToK schedule of Section 2.i.
Early-Stage Researchers,
under the guidance of Experienced Researchers will take notes of the lead
speakers talks, turn these into written lecture notes and combine the whole
series into one publication. These events of course will be open to interested
participants from outside the network, which will maximise the training aspect
of our network.
We will open up our
local training programmes to other network teams to maximise added value -
particularly those related to developing research skills, teaching skills,
communication skills, IT skills, and career management. These skills are equally
significant for the training and career development of recruited researchers
who will pursue a career outside academia; the Career Development Plans will place particular emphasis
on this.
To assist with the
training of Early-Stage Researchers, and with the transfer of knowledge and
effective interaction between participants in the joint training project we
will employ a limited number of Experienced Researchers. They will assist in
the mentoring of Early-Stage Researchers, in passing on expertise and knowledge
in the multi disciplinary aspects of the projects where individual nodes cannot
provide expertise, and in exchanging knowledge with members of other network
teams through undertaking visits and secondments and participating in the
network workshops.
iii)
Multidisciplinary Knowledge
Our training programme
will give the young researchers an opportunity to get acquainted with different
research environments and different perspectives for any given problem.
Coordinated activities, taking advantage of the wide spectrum of expertise in
the network will be used to give the young researchers in our field an advanced
and broader training.
Early-Stage-Young-Researchers
will not only make short visits to other teams but may be seconded for up to
30% of the total period of recruitment in order to develop an individual's
programme when additional expertise from a second node is felt to be desirable
for that individual. Such secondments will be arranged by the mentor in
co-operation with the relevant Scientific Officials.
It is planned that such
secondments and visits will bring the young researchers to the
Partner responsible for
organising the Focussed Semester in order to fully benefit from the events
organised during the semester. These Semesters will be well advertised in
advance and also open to researchers not directly funded by the Consortium.
Each mini-workshop will reflect the multidisciplinary aspect of the network and
seek to give the young researchers a very broad training.
iv)
Integration of Young Researchers
On appointment, a mentor
will inform the young researchers of their contractual rights and obligations
and possibilities to contribute to networking, training, events and
conferences.
The young researchers
will learn to be able to justify their own research to funding bodies,
understand the processes for funding and evaluation of research, apply
effective project management through the setting of research goals,
intermediate milestones and prioritisation of activities, acquire the ability
to critically analyse and evaluate their own findings and those of others, to
summarise documents, report and reflect on progress, as part of acquiring
complementary skills. To help coordinate these aims, each young researcher will
develop their own Career Development Plan, under the guidance of the
supervisor, to take ownership for and manage their own career progression, to
set realistic and achievable career goals, and identify and develop ways to
improve employability. This Career Plan will be intimately connected to the
training opportunities provided by the network, enhancing local opportunities.
The networking of
individual researchers will strengthen the bonds between teams and in
particular give young researchers the opportunity to be exposed to the latest
developments made in our field and be exposed to the multi-disciplinarity of
the network. The consortium brings together groups with different backgrounds
in mathematics and physics but with programmes and problems that are related in
order to translate and address their respective conjectures and problems. The
teams themselves will benefit from cross-fertilisation coming from long-term
participation of young researchers with quite different scientific and cultural
backgrounds. We will interact with other RTN's in similar or complementary
fields for the exchange of best practice and transfer of knowledge.
v) Added
value compared to previous RTN (QNSG HPRTN-CT-2002-00280)
New partners are:
á
ESI, Vienna – allows a systematic involvement
in the research programmes of an international research institute. Moreover ESI
brings in expertise in ergodic theory missing in previous networks.
á
K.U.Leuven – brings in the research group in
the Theoretical Physics department providing expertise in quantum information
theory, quantum dynamics and quantum spin systems. This is an area new to the
network in the interaction between mathematics and physics.
- IMAR, Bucharest – allows the
network to expand westward and have serious involvement not only with
young Romanian scientists but also the possibility of involving more
closely those in Hungary and Poland more systematically.
This together, with the
established nodes involving theoretical physicists to a greater degree, form an
effective interdisciplinary consortium and interdisciplinary
research training network.
3.
Management
i)
Organisational Structure
The scientific
organisation of the network is managed and co-ordinated by a Scientific
Committee consisting of senior scientists:
The Scientific Committee
is responsible for the resource allocation to the teams, as well as the
selection and location of the post-doctoral fellows, conferences and summer
schools. The Scientific Committee will have overall responsibility for overall
programme management, finance monitoring, resource utilization, quality
assurance and reporting to the Commission.
The Scientific
Coordinator is responsible for chairing the Scientific Committee, and for
ensuring that the policy of the Scientific Committee is implemented. In this aspect,
he is assisted by two Deputy Coordinators forming the Executive Committee who
all serve on the Scientific Committee.
The practical
organisation of workshops, conferences and summer-schools is managed by local
committees. The Scientific Committee is balanced both geographically and with
respect to the various subjects covered by the network.
ii)
Co-ordination and decision making process
The demarcation of
responsibilities, delegation or distribution of tasks, rules for decision
making, fair participation of teams following the principles of governance are
to ensure that excellence is supported wherever it exists in order:
á
To establish strong research clusters consisting of
individuals and groups based in different nodes
á
To promote excellence in training and research and teaching
by focusing activities and fostering collaboration
á
To be instrumental in building up strengths in areas
currently under-represented or even missing in Europe.
á
To set the framework and assure the funding for a sustainable
network which will serve as a European centre for maintaining and enhancing
excellence in noncommutative geometry.
á
To enhance the interaction between mathematicians and
physicists
á
To support long-term, critical mass at the interfaces
between the noncommutative geometry and physics.
á
To promote high risk, high return projects and collaborative
research.
á
To encourage research networking that will promote dialogue
between mathematicians, physicsts and the wider research community.
The governance must balance the needs of
an efficient day to day management of operations with accountability to all its
members and stakeholders. EU-NCG works in practice to deliver training in
noncommutative geometry more efficiently and effectively across the Community,
sharing knowledge and skills, ensuring equitable access to programmes, and
helping graduates achieve a broader skills base that better meets their career
needs.
The Scientific
Committee, and the accountability of the Coordinator, and Executive Committee
to the Scientific Committee will ensure that the management structure is
democratic but decision-making is effective and equitable. In order to address
stakeholder issues - the Scientific Committee will ensure that stakeholders
have a say in all major decisions via regular reports, meetings etc.
Further to the role of
the coordinator defined in the core contract and in accompanying Annexes II and
III, the coordinator will provide a link between contractors and the
Commission; carry out the financial management of the project funds keeping
overall, management-level project accounts and ensure the signature of the
contract by all contractors.
In addition, the
participants will carry out and monitor work; name the person in control, and
advise of changes; provision of required information; participation in relevant
meetings; avoid and advise of incompatible commitments; adhere to fundamental
ethical principles; and promote equal opportunities.
The Executive Management
Committee is responsible for the day to day business. In this way, the
Co-ordinator plus deputies share responsibilities and burden. The Executive
Committee steers training activities; is responsible for the repartition of
funds, which must also be flexible and deals with modifications/progress. Moreover
the Scientific Committee will ensure early and effective definition of
dissemination plan e.g. websites, publications including the lecture notes
produced by the young researchers as well as overseeing an annual independent
evaluation of the training programme. The Scientific Committee delegates via
task and group leaders and node coordinators the organisation of the network
events, including the focussed semesters and mini-workshops. The task leader is
responsible for the scientific side and the node coordinator for the logistical
aspects - although often these roles coincide.
To each pre-doc and
post-doc appointee is assigned a local senior scientist, who acts as an advisor
and mentor and facilitates the inclusion of the appointee in the local team.
The mentor in co-ordination with scientific officials is responsible for
arranging training visits to other nodes and attendance at workshop meetings
and workshops, and also provides information about the network contract
(including rights and obligations, opportunities etc.). The mentor in
co-ordination with local teams will give assistance with living requirements of
researchers. We will ensure trainees themselves are represented at Scientific
Committee Meetings and in the planning stages of events.
iii)
Communication Method
Effective Networking is
managed by a combination of measures and strategies involving group leaders,
node coordinators and mentors working together. The group or task leaders are
responsible for the scientific organisation of the focussed semesters and
mini-workshops - in coordination with the node leaders who are responsible for
the logistical organisation. The Scientific Committee is responsible for the
overall programme, the scientific balance and geographical spread. The web pages
of the network will include bulletin boards with recent results, preprints and
upcoming events, with links to all our nodes and information on our scientific
activities and relations to those of other groups or networks. In order to have
an effective means of communicating events, and advertising positions, all
important information for the running of the project and an emailing list will
be advertised on our web page. We will interact with other RTN's in similar or
complementary fields for the exchange of best practice and transfer of
knowledge.
iv) Task
Delegation Policy
Task managers appointed
by the Scientific Committee, will delegate to the Participants according to
local expertise and capacity to perform the work packages according to the
principles of governance described in ii).
vi)
Vacancies Strategy
The Network will recruit
the strongest qualified candidates, and promote excellence wherever it is
found. The recruitment strategy will involve Commission sites (http://cordis.europa.eu/mc-opportunities),
academic networks and their sites, the EU-NCG electronic mailing list.
The application
procedure will be transparent, with clearly stated deadlines and conditions. It
will be overseen by the Scientific Committee.
vi) Equal
Opportunities Measures
We will apply the Equal
Opportunity Policies in our member institutions. In practice this means:
Recruitment
and Selection and Admission
á
recruitment advertising will encourage applications from all
sectors of the community reflecting our Universities and Commission's
commitment to equality and diversity;
á
recruitment advertising will appear in publications
appropriate to the audience capable of producing the best candidates;
á
job descriptions, person specifications and recruitment
advertisements will be written on the basis of the essential and justifiable
requirements of the position;
á
shortlisting, appointment and rejection decisions will be
transparent and justifiable and will be supported by written comments;
á
all information contained in prospectuses, websites and
other material used in the recruitment of researchers should promote equality
of opportunity and make reference to this policy;
á
all staff involved in the recruitment, selection and admission
of researchers will have an awareness of equality and diversity.
Assessment, Grading
and Promotion (e.g. from Early Stage to Experienced Researcher)
á
there will be clear, consistent and transparent criteria for
student assessments and all assessments will take place on an equal
opportunities basis;
á
all grading and promotions criteria and procedures will be
free from prejudice and must be applied equitably and consistently;
Personal
Development
á
all researchers will have equal access to induction, personal
and career development opportunities and facilities.
Performance
Management
á
probation and appraisal procedures will be clear and
transparent and will be applied fairly across all researchers
Career
Planning and Participation
á
all researchers will have access to career planning support
and will be encouraged to participate fully in the academic, cultural and
social life of the Universities.
Gender
issue
á
Special measures will be taken to attract female candidates.
The network will keep track of all female doctoral students, postdoctoral
researchers and senior researchers in the participating themes. The network
will ensure that these women researchers are visible within the network, that
they know each other and that they are invited to give talks both at network
meetings and at other teams of the network.
vii) Monitoring and Reporting Procedures
The project is under the
overall monitoring of the Executive Committee. The project manager will
coordinate the submission of the Annual Reports and Mid-Term Report in
preparation for the Mid-Term Meeting, and the Final Report
viii)
Dissemination of Results Policy
Results are disseminated
by a number of methods, for the network, subject groups, nodes and by
individuals. As a Network, we will publicise and discuss our results in the
workshops, on our network web page. The network workshops will also have
lecture notes, produced by the young researchers as part of their training,
under the direction of the lecturers and subject group leaders. These notes
will also be available on our web pages, and so enhance the training aspect by
reaching the general scientific community beyond our own members and workshop
participants. The dissemination of the results by individuals is achieved
partially by distribution of preprints, by presentations at meetings and
conferences, but also by the preprint servers. To further enhance the training
aspect, review articles disseminate results beyond the experts to the general
scientific community.
ix)
Financial Management and Control
The management budget will be used to
contribute towards the salary of a full time project manager for the management
of the project, as well for contributing to any costs related to the auditing
and audit certificates for each partner. The financial situation for the
partners will be reviewed annually and if needed, readjustments will be decided
in communication and agreement with the Commission services. The (CO) together
with the Executive Committee will ensure that proper financial management and
control is kept. The partners will obtain Audit Certificates every 24 months
and submit them to the European Commission along with the annual reporting
deliverables
4.
Indicators of Progress and Success
4.1
Quantitative Indicators of progress and success to be used to monitor the
project
4.1.1
Research Activities
In reporting on progress
with the implementation of its research plan the network will provide
information and data on the following:
¥ organisation of or
participation in and presentations to external specialist workshops and
conferences (number; dates, places, title of event)
¥
specialist exchange among network teams (number, nature, when, where, who)
¥
individual and joint publications, directly related to the work undertaken
within the contract (number, references)
¥
patents or patent applications directly related to the contract (number,
references)
¥
development of new scientific and/or industrial collaborations (number,
references)
¥
scientific awards and prizes obtained from the work directly related to the
contract (number, details)
¥
interest expressed in the networksÕ dedicated Website (number of hits; number
of participants to the scientific forum, if any)
¥
visit of Senior Researchers from inside and/or outside the network (number, name,
place and time of visit)
¥
contacts with relevant users groups whether academic or industrial/commercial
(number, name)
4.1.2
Training / Transfer of Knowledge (ToK) Activities
In reporting on progress
with the implementation of its training and ToK Plan the network will provide
information and data on the following:
¥ the rate of
recruitment of ESR and ER for each participant and for the network as a whole
(ratio person-months filled/offered)
¥
the nature and justification for adjustments, if any, to the original overall
number of person-months of ESR and ER as well as to the breakdown of this
overall number among the participants (see table contained in Part C)
¥
the time and duration of each individual appointment.
¥
the number, names and level of involvement of senior researchers directly
associated with the tutoring/supervision of the recruited ESR or ER, at each
participant
¥
the number of ESR that are expected to present their PhD thesis and when
¥
the number and place of the short visits and secondments, placement in company
premises undertaken by each individual ESR or ER either within or outside of
the network
¥
number of visits of the ESR and ER to their home scientific community
¥
attendance at network meetings by the ESR and ER (number, names, place, date)
¥
participation in and presentations to workshops and conferences by ESR and ER
(number, names, place, date)
¥
organisation of training events (e.g. schools, training workshop/seminar,
hands-on training session on specialised instrument/techniques) at individual
participant sites (number, attendees' names, place, date)
¥
organisation of network-wide training events (number, attendees' names, place,
date)
¥
participation in training events organised outside the network (number,
attendees' names, place, date)
¥
number of internet tutorial and computer based training courses developed/used
¥
number, place, purpose of any meeting (e.g. workshop) organised by the ESR or
ER themselves
4.2
Qualitative Indicators of progress and success to be used to monitor the
project
4.2.1
Research Activities
In reporting on progress
with the implementation of its research plan the network will provide
information and data on the following:
¥ general progress with
research activities programmed at individual, participant team and network level
¥
highlights on more particularly innovative developments (novel concepts,
approaches, methods and / or products)
¥ citation index for
individual and joint publications directly related to the work undertaken
within the contract
¥
expected scientific / technological breakthroughs
¥
overall progress and possible problems encountered with individual work
packages and/or network-wide research activities
¥
nature and justification for adjustments, if any, to the original research work
plan and/or timetable
¥
progress on cross interaction among disciplines represented within the network
¥
progress on cross interaction between academic and industrial partners
¥
progress regarding interaction with industrial/commercial/economic interests
outside the network
¥
access to / use of state-of-the-art infrastructure and facilities
¥
highlights on wider societal and/or ethical components of the project, such as
public outreach activities
¥
highlights on the scientific community recognition of the network research
contribution (awards, invitation to conferences, É)
4.2.2 Training / Transfer of Knowledge
Activities
In
reporting on progress with the implementation of its training plan and ToK the
network will provide information and data on the following:
¥ general progress with
training and ToK activities programmed at individual, participant team and
network level (type of guidance, supervision, coaching or mentoring in place to
support ESR and ER)
¥
highlights on the development of more particularly innovative approaches to
training and ToK (e.g. specific training packages of network-wide relevance)
¥
highlights on the exploitation of the "complementarities" between
network participants with respect to training and ToK
¥
nature and justification for adjustments, if any, to the original training /
ToK plan and/or timetable (e.g. opportunities for new collaborations regarding
training activities)
¥
career development plans as elaborated by the ESR and ER involved in the
project
¥
career development opportunities/prospects for ESR and ER involved in the
project
¥
achievements regarding the acquisition of complementary skills such as
communication, language skills, computer skills, project management, ethics,
team building, etc.
¥
achievements regarding the training/ToK on specialised
instruments/equipment's
¥
level of satisfaction of the trainees (e.g. as expressed in response to
questionnaires)
4.2.3 Management
In reporting
on progress with its management the network will provide information and data
on the following:
¥ effectiveness of the
"internal" communication and decision making between the
co-ordinator, team leaders, supervisors, down to the ESR and ER, including
feedback processes
¥
effectiveness of the communication between the network and the Commission
Services (frequency, efficiency, timely feedback), particularly regarding the
conformance with contractual provisions and the implementation of contingency
plans where needed
¥
effectiveness of network communication with industrial and other stakeholders
(anticipation of outcomes and possible end-users interests, contact
preparation, follow-up and contractual agreement where appropriate)
¥
network self-assessment through benchmarking activities (exchange of best
practices among participants and/or development of ad hoc performance
indicators regarding cost management, staff selection, measurement of
research/training/ToK outputs, young researchersÕ involvement, etc.)
¥
overall quality and efficiency of the "external" communication
strategy of the network (Cordis; personal, team and network web sites updates;
newsletters; etc.)
¥
effectiveness of the recruitment strategy of the network in terms of equal
opportunities (including gender balance) and open competition at international
level
¥
development of any specific planning and management tool(s) and databases
¥
management of intellectual property and commercialisation of network research
output
