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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - LEaDing Fellows (LEaDing Fellows)

Teaser

Summary

The LEaDing Fellow Programme offers 90 two-year postdoc positions to ambitious and excellent researchers who want to perform research in a challenging, internationally esteemed and multidisciplinary environment. The aim is to help them to develop new research skills and a view on career options in academic research or in an industrial or public setting. The programme is a joint initiative of Delft University of Technology (TU Delft), the beneficiary, and the partners Leiden University (LEI), Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR), Erasmus University Medical Centre (Erasmus MC) and Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC). The partners work closely together on solutions relevant to complex, global, 21stcentrury challenges. These correlate with many themes on the European â€˜Horizon 2020â€™ research agenda.

Particularly, the Leading Fellows Programme offers opportunities for postdocs to work on interdisciplinary and intersectoral projects of their choice in multidisciplinary teams in the fields of Physical Sciences and Engineering, Humanities and Social Sciences, and Life Sciences and Health. Partners\' cooperation with non-academic organizations â€“ established industry, start-ups, government, etc.- evolved in public private-partnerships, providing ample opportunities for postdocs to explore new career opportunities. The LEaDing Fellows Programme offers training in a wide range of transferable skills that allow fellows to further boost their career opportunities in leading positions in industry or public institutions requiring an academic research background.

Work performed

The coordinator installed a LEaDing Fellows programme office which is responsible for the day-to-day management and execution of the programme. The programme office coordinates the management of the programme and takes care of the govenance of parties and bodies involved in the programme.

During the first reporting period all 3 calls have been launched. After a careful selection process 60 fellows have been selected from the 1st and 2nd call, of which 50 fellows have been appointed in the period covered by this report: 5 fellows started their activities at Erasmus Medical Center, 8 at Erasmus University Rotterdam, 11 at Leiden University, 9 at Leiden University Medical Center and 17 at Delft University of Technology. 10 candidates will start their activities after the reporting period, agreements have been made with regard to their start date. Each appointment is a result of a careful an strict evaluation and selection process in which a lot of (external) reviewers were involved. The selection process of the 3rd call is still in progress. The outcome of the 3rd call will be announced by 1st of May 2019.

The LEaDing Fellows Programme and all relevant information for applicants amongst which a comprehensive guide for applicants were published on a website: www.leadingfellows.eu. Each call was also advertised on jobboards of international journals and on a wide variety of relevant websites and networks to attract as many candidates as possible. Each fellow applied with a research proposal of their own design related to the research agenda of the potential host group.

For each batch of newly appointed fellows, a fellow meeting was organised. During these meetings fellows were informed about specific aspects of the LEaDing Fellows programme and the Marie Sklodowska-Curie programme in general. Part of these meetings were workshops on Intellectual Property and Intercultural Communication. These meetings also contribute to community building. The website contains an item \'Meet the fellows\', where information about the fellows and their projects is available. It is difficult to describe each fellows\' project and progress in general terms. However, fellows succeeded to produce journal articles and to submit draft articles, to establish new bottom-up collaborations and are involved in new grant applications. Fellows attend courses, colloquia and (international) conferences and carry out visits or internships to academic or industrial partners. This contributes to the enhancement of their career prospects.

Final results

The expectation is to attract 90 two-year postdoc positions in the LEaDing Fellows programme. Besides engagement in all aspects of research work, all fellows recruited in the programme have opportunities to develop interdisciplinary, intersectoral and soft skills. The national environment and international orientation of the partners and the connections abroad of supervisors and colleagues also open opportunities for fellows: they get acquainted, collaborate in multidisciplinary projects, and have opportunities for visits and internships to industrial partners which broadens their career perspective. The postdocs in the LEaDing Fellows programme fulfil a linking role in the creation of both regional and international networks between (non) academic institutes.
The programme partners are located in the Randstad Region in the Netherlands. This is a hotspot for economic and innovative development in which the LEaDing Fellows programme partners are deeply involved. Fellows recruited are in an excellent position to profit from these developments and are expected to have a very good employability after their fellowship position, both inside academia as well as in society.