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Report

Teaser, summary, work performed and final results

Periodic Reporting for period 1 - MULTIPLY (International Mobility and Training in Photonics Programme)

Teaser

Summary

MULTIPLY is an international Mobility and Training in Photonics Programme for Experienced Researchers. The Programme is co-ordinated by the Aston Institute of Photonic Technologies, Aston University, United Kingdom, one of the largest photonics research centres in the UK with a world-class portfolio of research and research funding.

The aims of MULTIPLY are to facilitate worldwide mobility and offer high-level interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary training for approximately 55 outstanding international researchers (90 fellow*years) commencing their professional development in the area of photonics science, technology and applications. Applicants from any part of the world will be able to participate in this Programme, freely choosing their research topics and destinations from a group of MULTIPLY Partners. Eligible researchers may apply for one of the following mobility elements: a) incoming to Europe, including Europe-to-Europe mobility; b) outgoing from Europe with re-integration.

Prominent scientific standing of the Programme is guaranteed by full backing of a consortium of 50 internationally leading academic partners. The Partners will maximise MULTIPLY Fellowsâ€™ career development opportunities and assist them in becoming future academic and industrial leaders by offering them cutting edge facilities, excellence in post-doctoral training and mentoring, fast-paced innovation activities and established industrial links, as well as a vibrant, international, and interdisciplinary environments.

Enormous experience coming from decades of successful fundamental research and industrial applications at Partners domiciled in 23 countries form the foundation of the MULTIPLY Programme: non-linear and quantum photonics, integrated and ultra-fast optics and optical engineering, laser science and applications, industrial laser manufacturing, high-speed optical communications, sensing, imaging, optoelectronics, medical applications of photonics, nano-photonics, bio-photonics, and many other areas.

Work performed

The Programme commenced in October 2016, and will run for a period of five years untill September 2021. Worldwide dissemination of the Programme and its opportunities started well before the official start of the MULTIPLY, targeting several 43 international workshops, conferences and international events. Information about MULTIPLY was also disseminated within the professional networks of the academics of the host institutions.

The Programme has organised 4 Calls (1st January 2017, 4th July 2017, 4th January 2018, and 10th July 2018) in its First Reporting Period. Application to the Programme is by way of submission of project proposals. Experienced Researchers have the full liberty of choosing a host organisation from those participating in the respective Call, based on their own scientific and professional development needs, and can submit a proposal on a topic of their choice. Submitted proposals are evaluated by an Evaluation and Selection Committee, and a world-class panel of photonics experts completely independent of the co-ordinating and participating institutions. In the present reporting period, the process from the call open to announcement of results roughly took six months, which included the period of verification of eligibility, mobility and ethics requirements.

Over the first 3 calls of MULTIPLY, 57 applications were received from 28 countries in total, of which 27 applications were recommended award of Fellowship by the Evaluation and Selection Committee, eventually leading to employment contracts for 24 Fellows from 15 countries.

From this aspect, MULTIPLY has been immensely successful in promoting high quality, mobility-driven intersectoral and interdisciplinary research over the EU region. The selected Fellows were employed with premier photonics research institutions located in 7 EU-Member states. As MULTIPLY is a training Programme, it places emphasis on the triple-I dimension of projects â€“ i.e. international, interdisciplinary and intersectoral. To date MULTIPLY Fellows have committed to secondments with 24 premier research institutes, including 11 new organisations which joined the MULTIPLY Consortium as a result of the Fellows activities, thus fulfilling the interdisciplinarity and training requirement of the Programme. The intersectoral aspect led to collaborative work with 23 non-academic/industrial partners. In all, the activities of the Fellows, predominantly those from Call 1, have resulted in a total of 10 scientific publications and 8 conference presentations so far. It is anticipated that these numbers will be bolstered by the scientific contributions of Fellows from Call 2 and Call 3, who have now entered their Fellowship implementation phase.

The MULTIPLY Programme Management team further aided the training of the Fellows by organising two workshops in collaboration with participating host institutions; a 5-day workshop - â€œComplexity in Nonlinear Photonicsâ€, September 25-29, 2017 in Como, Italy in collaboration with the University of Brescia, Italy and Novosibirsk State University, Russia, and 2-day workshop â€“ â€œPhotonics for Medical Diagnosticsâ€, September 7-8, 2018, at Aston University, Birmingham, United Kingdom, in collaboration with University of Belgrade, Serbia, and Novosibirsk State University, Russia. The workshops included talks from prominent researchers from the field, and allowed for extensive networking opportunities between participants and Fellows.

Final results

MULTIPLY is a five-year programme that will maximise the career development of the next generation of researchers in photonics and related fields, which are currently presenting new and exciting opportunities for both the European photonics research community and for European photonics industry.

By way of obligatory academic secondments and industrial placements, MULTIPLY has encouraged multi-disciplinary and intersectoral mobility, which is especially relevant for photonics as it is an enabling technology. No restrictions or prescriptive modes of mobility are recommended â€“ the Fellows are free to choose a secondment/placement plan best suited to their proposed projects and career objectives. This can have significant impact for both the Fellow and the participating organisations.

MULTIPLY also remains a unique programme where participating organisations are strongly committed to their responsibilities towards the individual fellows to progress their career development. The MULTIPLY Training and Research Framework is designed to maximise the impact of the training offered within the MULTIPLY programme to fully support the European endeavour to develop the next generation of European scientists and researchers, trained both in science and in complementary areas such as project management, media training, leadership and IPR management that are key to career progression and research leadership.

The Programme has helped partner institutions attract the best researchers from all over the world and offer them the training they aspire to. Their contributions stand to enhance not only regional and national impact, but has the potential to increase the competitiveness of the EEA overall.