With the main goal to address gender equality in Research & Innovation the proposing GENERA (Gender Equality Network in the European Research Area) consortium has been formed to apply a bottom-up approach to enhance gender equality in the field of physics research as a benchmark for other sciences. Physics is a research field with a low representation of female researchers and a masculine image, so this field as such being represented by different actors will be the basis for GENERA analysis and interventions. GENERA comprises a starting set of organisations active in the field of physics, which are committed to the implementation of the project and to the achievement of its milestones. The consortium proposing the project will be extended to involve other interested major physics research organisations in European countries as associate partners. The GENERA consortium requests funding to support research organisations in implementing gender equality plans and proposes the following coordination and support actions with a focus on physics research and a keen eye on cultural differences throughout Europe by the following steps: 1. Assess the status of gender issues in the partner organisations. 2. Identify gaps in existing Gender Equality Plans (GEPs) and determine specific needs or actions to enhance gender equality and women careers in physics. 3. Monitor and evaluate the existing activities of the involved organisations (partners and associates). 4. Formulate customized GEPs for all implementing organizations and create a roadmap for their implementation in physics with the potential of application in other research fields. 5. Support involved organisations in implementing customized GEPs. 6. Create a network of RPOs, HEIs and RFOs to promote gender equality in physics. 7. Set up a long-term monitoring system allowing RPOs and RFOs monitoring the impact of their GEPs in physics with the potential of application in other research fields.

ACT will enable better access, sharing, and improvement of gender equality knowledge by advancing Communities of Practice (CoP) as agents for implementing gender equality actions among RPOs and RFOs in ERA, including integration of the gender dimension into research content and process. Considerable advances have been made in the EU in the last decade in these areas, but the resulting experiences and practices are scattered widely, which prevents systematic and systemic action. ACT will improve this situation by starting up a network of 7 Communities of Practice and developing a Practice Toolkit, as well as creating an EU-wide change monitoring and benchmarking system, and an on-line Hub for knowledge and experience sharing. The design of these outputs will take into consideration inter- and intra-institutional diversity, as well as differences in national contexts. The Consortium includes 19 organisations (experienced and novice), and includes 50 experts, to ensure that results are sustainable and produce the desired impact. The expected impacts include: 1) ensuring that researchers, their organisations, and the projects they are involved in are better equipped to stop gender bias affecting quality of science knowledge making; 2) improving understanding of gender issues in science, and how to address them, including in science curriculum, and researcher training; 3) enhancing standards for assessment of institutional excellence through incorporation of gender equality as a criterion of success; and 4) more systematic and systemic adoption of best tools and practices for GEP implementation.