The Sustainable Careers for Researcher Empowerment (SECURE) project will develop coordination and support measures to create, trial, implement, and mainstream a common Research Career Framework (RCF) that offers a suite of options to support organisations in the recruitment, employment, training, development, progression, and mobility of researchers with the aim of improving research careers and reducing career precarity. The RCF will recognise the research profession across sectors, provide a career development and progression structure for research careers, recognise both research and transferable skills and competences, facilitate intersectoral collaboration and mobility, and offer solutions to the precariousness of research careers in academia. SECURE will test aspects of the RCF and TTL models in trials in four RPOs, one RFO, and one recruitment agency . The trial organisations will first conduct a scoping exercise to map the RCF onto their existing policies and activities for research careers before developing integration plans on how the RCF could be adopted into their existing policies and activities. Due to the short duration of the project and window for trials, it is expected that only some aspects of the RCF and TTL models will be tested. The trial organisations will thus develop actions plans, selecting relevant aspects from the integration plans, to test and implement during the trials. SECURE will mainstream the RCF and TTL models through a series of policy briefs and a summit that explain key aspects of the RCF and TTL models to relevant organisations employing researchers. The RCF and TTL models will be further promoted through key partner organisations in the project targeting researchers, RPOs, and companies. The RCF and TTL models will lastly be promoted in the EURAXESS network including the many EURAXESS service centres, the newly established EURAXESS hubs, and through the ERA Talent Platform being developed.

The Open and Universal Science (OPUS) project will develop coordination and support measures to reform the assessment of research and researchers at Research Performing Organisations (RPOs) and Research Funding Organisations (RFOs) towards a system that incentivises and rewards researchers to practise Open Science. We understand the term ‘Open Science’ to refer to practices providing open access to research outputs, early and open sharing of research, participation in open peer-review, measures to ensure reproducibility of results, involving all stakeholders in cocreation. We henceforth in this proposal employ this interpretation of Open Science with a specific focus on reforming the research(er) assessment system to incentivise and reward researchers to take up these practices. OPUS employs a three-tiered approach to ensure representation and consensus building of key stakeholder groups in the Open Science ecosystem: (1) our large project consortium consists of researcher organisations, RPOs, RFOs, industry organisations, and experts in project management, public relations, and Open Science (2) a series of stakeholder engagement sessions will be held with the broader community to gather input and validate key project deliverables (3) an Advisory Board of key representatives will ensure expert oversight and links to the community. • Objective 1: Conduct a comprehensive state-of-the-art on existing literature and initiatives for Open Science • Objective 2: Develop a comprehensive set of interventions to implement Open Science at RPOs and RFOs • Objective 3: Develop realistic indicators and metrics to monitor and drive Open Science at RPOs and RFOs • Objective 4: Test the interventions and indicators and metrics via action plans in pilots at RPOs and RFOs • Objective 5: Utilise a stakeholder-driven feed-back loop to develop, monitor, refine, and validate actions • Objective 6: Synthesise outcomes into policy briefs and a revised OS-CAM2 for research(er) assessment

Education quality progress in Ukrainian HEIs is limited by lack of a strong academic integrity culture, which is required for sustainable positive change. Growing such a culture is a complex time consuming task, however we believe it can be effectively approached with appropriate processes and instruments. Academic integrity is based on openness and transparency principles, i.e. acting visibly, understandably and predictably promoting participation and accountability. At the same time Open Science, an international movement aimed at supporting better quality science, is based on the same values and is offering a variety of approaches and mechanisms able to grow change. That is why we trust that adopting and promoting Open Science practices and transparency will lead to academic integrity improvement and, in turn, rise of education quality in the target HEIs. The OS roadmap is diverse. However, introducing Open Peer Review (OPR) has the biggest potential in Ukraine as it brings transparency to the already familiar practice of academic evaluation and provides hands-on learning opportunities for early career researchers (ECRs), helping to build new skills under collective mentorship of international experts. Hence, we plan to develop and implement an online OPR platform for academic conferences (as they provide additional face-to-face promotion opportunities, journals don’t) and build an international virtual community of peer reviewers and researchers on the base of it. Combined with general and subject-specific OS subjects to be introduced in the partner HEIs for Master students and PhD candidates as well as open online course for everyone, our OPR service is intended to give our target universities (and Ukrainian HE system in general) a much needed impetus for change towards openness and integrity. Hence, we consider open practices as a QA process and its technological backbone (the OPR platform and virtual community of experts-reviewers) as a QA mechanism.

The SECURE2 project aims to pilot and implement recommendations from the European Framework for Research Careers (RCF) to improve research career progression and mobility within research-performing organizations (RPOs) and research-funding organizations (RFOs). This project builds on the previous SECURE project and expands its scope to a four-year duration, allowing a more extensive and impactful implementation of RCF recommendations. SECURE2 will provide a 2+-year trail within the 4-year project, to effectively implement the more difficult and time-intensive actions and recommendations. The overarching Aim of SECURE2 is to: • Build upon the completed ERA50 project SECURE, using SECURE expert partners and the pilot RPOs and RFOs experience in implementing Action Plans (APs) for institutional change. • Use and adapt best practice tools from the SECURE project, in particular, the ‘RCF Actions selection’ tool as the basis of guiding the pilots to select their interventions. • Foster the development of ecosystems for research positions by promoting collaboration between researchers, research managers, and administrators, facilitating active participation from all stakeholders, and ensuring that the co-design, implementation, and evaluation of the RCF are rooted in the practical needs of both academic and non-academic sectors. SECURE2 employs a three-tiered approach to ensure representation and consensus building of key stakeholder groups in the research and innovation ecosystem: (1) large consortium ensuring expert partners (2) open consultations with the stakeholder community to co-design and validate key project outcomes (3) advisory board of key representatives to ensure independent expert oversight and connection to policymakers.