[Palermo, March 4, 2024] – From February 26 to March 1, 2024, Palermo, Italy, hosted another important milestone in the DIRASA project, following three local training workshops previously held in Tunisia. This training week, dedicated to European research funding programs, is part of DIRASA’s ongoing effort to build capacity among key actors in Tunisian scientific research.
Organized by CESIE ETS, the University of Pisa (UNIPI), the University of Jendouba, and UNIMED, this training targeted staff members from 13 Tunisian higher education institutions involved in DIRASA, including presidents and vice-presidents, directors and deputy directors, department heads, teacher-researchers, and administrators, as well as representatives from the Tunisian Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and the National Agency for Scientific Research Promotion. They all participated in a series of workshops led by experts from European partner organizations, continuing the skills development initiated during previous trainings.
This training was a valuable opportunity to familiarize participants with the procedures and best strategies for accessing European funding, as well as to strengthen collaboration networks in the research field among partner institutions. This is a further step toward achieving DIRASA’s objectives of equipping Tunisian institutions with the tools and expertise needed to conduct international-scale research projects.
- The training week began with a session led by Raniero Chielli, the European Project Officer at UNIMED, covering the Horizon Europe Research and Innovation program, specifically Pillar 2: Clusters, as well as the PRIMA program.
- On the second day, Mr. Chielli and Ms. Francesca Ceron from the Research and Technology Transfer Services Directorate of the University of Pisa jointly led a session focused on budget planning within Horizon Europe, discussing various budget types and eligible expenses in the program.
- The third day was dedicated to Marie Skłodowska-Curie actions, including the Postdoctoral Fellowship (MSCA PF) and Doctoral Network (MSCA DN), followed by an online presentation by Ms. Marine Le Mercier, Project Officer within the France Europe International Engineering Center (FEI) at the University of Rouen Normandy, on supporting the development of international research projects.
- On the fourth day, Ms. Annamaria Pulina from the University of Pisa’s International Cooperation, Training, and Mobility Programs Unit led a discussion on global internationalization, followed by a presentation on the ATTRAcTION+ program and the INROADd initiative at the University of Pavia by Ms. Carlotta Marchi from the Department of Political and Social Sciences.
- The fifth day featured Ms. Alessia Valenti and Ms. Jelena Mazaj from CESIE’s Higher Education and Research Unit, who introduced the topic of Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI).
Knowledge transfer was primarily achieved through practical exercises covering the different stages of developing international projects, from presentation and planning to budget creation, and finally to valorization and evaluation. Group work was conducted to stimulate an inductive approach.
Next Steps
This training marks the end of a train-the-trainers process within the DIRASA project. From here on, the Tunisian partners will be responsible for managing cascade training within their institutions, sharing the knowledge and skills acquired with all their staff. This new phase represents an important step in strengthening the capacity of the Tunisian academic community.
For any questions or additional information, feel free to contact DIRASA project leaders within the partner organizations (contact information available in the Partnership section of this site) or reach us by email at info@dirasa.eu or through our contact form at http://dirasa.eu/#contact-us.