Research dynamics

CoARA is a global initiative launched in 2022 to promote a fundamental shift in how research and researchers are evaluated. Instead of relying heavily on narrow quantitative metrics like impact factor or h-index, CoARA advocates for a more qualitative, transparent, and inclusive approach. It encourages peer review, values diverse research outputs (such as software, datasets, innovation, and societal impact), and aims to create fairer, more responsible systems of evaluation across the research ecosystem.

The European University of Technology (EUt+) shares many of CoARA’s core values. As a transnational alliance of nine universities, EUt+ is building a new model of a European university—one that integrates research, education, and innovation across borders. In this context, CoARA provides a key framework to help EUt+ harmonize how academic work is assessed across its institutions. This is especially important as EUt+ develops joint degrees, shared research programs, and integrated staff career paths.

One of the central ambitions of EUt+ is to recognize and support a wide range of academic contributions—not only traditional research publications but also innovation, entrepreneurship, teaching excellence, open science practices, and societal engagement. CoARA directly supports this objective by promoting evaluation systems that reward diversity in research outputs and career trajectories.

Moreover, CoARA helps EUt+ foster more inclusive and transparent environments for early-career researchers, staff mobility, and joint institutional development. By adopting shared principles for research assessment, EUt+ can better support talent development across its campuses and encourage collaboration rather than competition among its members.

Finally, as EUt+ evolves towards a federated European institution, aligning with CoARA allows it to take a leadership role in shaping the future of research and higher education in Europe. By embracing CoARA’s reform principles, EUt+ reinforces its commitment to openness, quality, and societal impact—making its transformation both structurally ambitious and strongly values-driven.

The Human Resources Strategy for Researchers (HRS4R) is a European Commission initiative designed to support research institutions in aligning their practices with the principles of the European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers. Its aim is to promote transparent recruitment, ethical research environments, and sustainable career development for researchers across Europe. Institutions that successfully implement the strategy are awarded the prestigious "HR Excellence in Research" logo, demonstrating their commitment to fostering high-quality research careers.

For EUt+, HRS4R is a critical framework that strengthens its ambition to build a unified, human-centered, and future-oriented European university. By engaging with HRS4R, EUt+ ensures that its member universities adopt shared standards of excellence in researcher recruitment, support, and working conditions. This is fundamental for attracting and retaining top research talent, fostering open science practices, and building an integrated research community aligned with European values. EUt+ plays a coordinating role by encouraging alignment among its institutions, sharing best practices, and supporting collective progress towards achieving and maintaining the "HR Excellence in Research" recognition. In doing so, EUt+ reinforces its mission to offer a truly European research and education environment, contributing actively to the European Research Area.

At EUt+, the objectives of creating commons – sharing research infrastructure or human capital – are in line with EUt+ ambition of institutional transformation, i.e Europeanisation.

We aim to develop common academic structures that facilitate deeper integration across our partner institutions. This includes the establishment of shared frameworks such as co-supervised doctoral programs (cotutelle) and other joint academic pathways, which promote collaboration and recognition of research across borders.

A key priority is the creation of shared laboratories that bring together equipment, expertise, and human resources. By pooling these assets, EUt+ enhances research capacity and efficiency, making advanced infrastructure accessible to all members of the alliance. Previous work done has identified good practices, which informed the design of a methodology for sharing infrastructure. Based on the understanding of the mutualisation, depreciation and optimisation in sharing infrastructure, the interest to put it in common has been examined in terms of cost, but also as regards triggering collaborations between researchers. Integrating EUt+ research resources and activities into a joint research and innovation strategy fosters the opportunities and excellence of EUt+ research, which exceeds, by far, those of the individual member universities. Sharing infrastructure is considered as a long-term investment, as part of a long-term research strategy and scientific policy, with the potential to contribute in reaching critical mass in research.

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Impact and dynamic ecosystem are the keywords associated with human capital management at EUt+.                                           

We are committed to supporting young researchers by developing systems that accompany them throughout their professional journey. This includes providing guidance, mentoring, and tailored opportunities that help early-career researchers grow in confidence, build their networks, and establish themselves within the academic and research community.

We also place great emphasis on building strong links between researchers and industry. By fostering these connections, EUt+ helps bridge the gap between academic research and real-world application, ensuring that scientific knowledge and innovation have tangible societal and economic impact. This collaboration benefits both researchers—who gain insights into industry needs—and companies, who access emerging talent and research expertise.

In addition, EUt+ actively promotes the development of opportunities for post-doctoral researchers, particularly through mobility programs, professional training, and supportive environments.

The EUt+ Graduate Research School (EGRS) coherently links research with education within EUt+. It prepares the next generation of researchers for collaborative success. To facilitate a teaching-research nexus, the EGRS first supports masters-by-research programmes and liaises for creating a European degree for master-by-research programmes and works towards a joint EUt+ Doctorate, together with the ERIs. Second, it promotes competencies in research, that are in line with our European values and EUt+ mission of empowering European technology, thinking human first. This approach, we believe, allows research impact and societal impact. As such, the EGRS integrates interdisciplinary training in its curriculum, preparing future researchers to work effectively in collaborative teams across disciplines. EGRS establishes joint supervision programs where graduate students, co-advised by PhD advisors from different EUt+ universities, work on collaborative research projects aligned with the EUt+ roadmap's vision. It also supports programs for graduate students to conduct research projects at different EUt+ universities or ERIs, fostering cross-pollination of ideas and early collaboration.

By interlinking and enabling close cooperation between the researchers, and offering support and coordination across the ERIs, knowledge creation is fostered. In line with the teaching-research nexus, the teaching in EUt+ is enriched with current findings from the work in the EUt+ Research Institutes. Students are actively involved in the research works by way of studies, placement opportunities and the possibility for PhD theses. Each ERI foresees the installation of a specific thematic graduate school in the topic field, offering research-oriented training and education.

The EGRS has been established per agreement between the members and, in short, provides: (1) support for doctoral student mobility, (2) cross-cutting post-graduate training support in and for the institutes, (3) development and implementation of common cotutelle arrangements enabling joint supervision, research lab placements, and common projects on master and doctoral level, (4) co-development of joint master-by-research programmes in the institutes, (5) provision of general seminars, (6) development of a joint EUt+ doctorate and degree.