NEED –Program : NMP.2012.1.4-5 an Improving education in nanotechnologies Preliminary Info. See: http://www.edscuola.it/archivio/lre/NEED_PRELIMINARY_1.pdf
The NEED problem arising :
Since Nanotechnology is going to play an extremely important role in the socio-economic change to knowledge society of both the advanced and emerging industrial countries for the foreseeable and sustainable future. So that , it is becoming a "NEED" to realize an advancement in Nano-Education to enhance skills to get properly educated, qualified and trained workpower that can cater to the needs of the industry and the society at large so as to draw maximum possible benefits from this emerging filed of multidisciplinary nano-scale materials applications to the industry. In spite of the above need today the educational system is almost separated from practical experience – from industry. The needs of industry are out of priorities of educational organizations. As result, universities graduate specialists with basically theoretical knowledge, who have no idea how to implement the obtained skills on practice and have no idea about the real needs of potential employers. At the end, industry spends sources for practical education of new employees, what slows down the development of nanotechnology industrial sector.
The problem solving take into account contribution from both the natural sciences and engineering (NSE) and the social sciences and humanities (SSH) .
The NEED goals (in general)
In relation to Scientific and/or technical quality, relevant to the topics addressed by the call
The project is targeted to fulfill the gaps between the main players in nanoscience:
industry, universities and research centers. The main goals of the project include next chapters:
implementing "nano-education formats" to enhance the structural change in research organisations and to support actions by means of innovative cross-thematic themes linking Science and Society for improving teacher training or inquiry based teaching methods on a large scale in Europe.
stimulating the development of "multidisciplinary nano-education courses" , to provide knowledge-based options for addressing some important aspects of growing up knowedge economy, pursuing a broad concept of innovation thorough an open innovation method.
encouraging through the "Nano Future Platform" and other Webs and Blogs Newsletter and other ITC Tools, an European reflection and debate in order to address in an integrated nano-education conents regarding global environmental issues, under the heading of "Transformative and Responsible Innovation", ensuring environmental protection, sustainable growth and European competitiveness.
development of pilot teaching materials, lab activities and assessment tools as
independent subjects or modules;- development of a platform for disseminating, testing and fine tuning of the
strategies and the 'open courseware'.
The NEED innovation solution. Concept and objectives
The project will stimulate stronger collaboration between industry and academia. New network will be created, what promotes formation of new partnerships, consortiums and bi-laterial collaboration and participation in EU and international projects.
New actual topics for BS, MS, PhD and Post Doc projects will be realized within this collaboration. Practical experience will be given to university representatives and novel actual courses of lectures and practical laboratory seminars will be prepared. Needs of the industry will be reflected in university theoretical and practical courses to prepare professionally oriented graduates as potential employees n nanotechnology field.
The above will be realized through fulfilling the following tasks .
mapping and critical assessment of best practices across the EU to identify
enhanced integrated strategies for education in nanotechnologies".development of pilot teaching materials, lab activities and assessment tools as
independent subjects or modules;- development of a platform for disseminating, testing and fine tuning of the
strategies and the 'open courseware'.– To have available training courses and material needed to exploit the infrastructure for innovation in the fields of Nano-Education management of industry
Create the necessary conditions to start the development training material needed to setup and exploit the infrastructure for inovation in the fields of Nano Education innovation
The NEED project objectives:
Define the emerging needs with regard of training to setup and exploit the infrastructure for innovation in the fields of Nano-Education which impact all industrial sectors.
a) Identify the educational needs of nanotechnology and provide a platform of examples and best practice;
b) Encourage the definition and implementation of innovative multidisciplinary courses for nanotechnology;
c) Promote the integration of complementary skills into research- training e.g. entrepreneurship;
d) Implement education-programs for the optimal industrial exploitation of nano-technologies;
e) Integrating societal aspects into nanotechnology education;
f) put in educational programs high level of attention to public health, safety, environmental and consumer protection that requires;
e') identification of safety concerns (both real and perceived) and action at the earliest stage;
e'') toxicological and eco-toxicological data and evaluation of human/environmental exposure;
e''') risk assessment procedures for any issue of nano-Education.
NEED ACTIVITIES will be organized to:
In general :
Establish interdisciplinary forums that accelerate progress in nano Education in relation to the advancements in nanoscience, engineering and technology, and facilitate its transition to the knowledge management in industry .
1.1) Convene selected groups of joung scientists and engineers ( male and in particular female doctoral post doctoral graduates ) who have not collaborated traditionally in question regarding education and training for industrial entrepreneurs
1.2) Develop public workshops or symposia to explore educational gender opportunities in developing nano-education at graduate levels
1.3) Invite industrial players in nanotech to participate in interdisciplinary job fairs and interview prospective for joung scientists and engineers for nano-related development of European knowledge society
In Particular :
2.1 partners need to co-organize web survey regarding the required level of nanotechnology education from industry and present situation with nanotechnology education in school/Uni/research centers(PhD programs etc)/industry across the Europe. The analysis will be basis for the next call activities must to be in line with the need of commussion to formulate novel strategy on nano-Edu as one of the expected results.
2.2) Specific workshop will be co-organized by NEED Program to support women's scientific careers, and to address gender factors in the research process and in succesful nanotecnology organization, with a view to improving quality of industrial management.
What partners need to do in the project:
State-of-the-art and gap Analysis of emerging needs
- analyze the educational and research facilities of all partners;
- identify the gaps between industrial needs and the existing training portfolio.
-determine the overlaps and gaps between industry and academia;
-on the basis of analysis to prepare the list of areas to fulfill.
What partners need to do now:
-Prepare partner list;
-Partner profile 1 page maximum. (It would be better if coordinator will send a form to each partner);
-To search industrial partners who we need to involve (it should be technopolisis or big research/or industry);
- To Search of a European School System Partner ( European SchoolNet, EUN association would be a very valuable partner)
-To distribute roles within partners;
-To have a project partners meeting or in presence in Florence or via Skype.
Partners roles at OCT/06/2011
1)- Coodinator : Prof Albert Duschl ( Dep. Biology Univ. Salzburg (Austria) <albert.duschl@sbg.ac.at>
- Promoter responsible of Communication ( Dr. Paolo Manzelli –EGOCREANET-c/o Dep Chemistry University of Florence (Italy) (www.edscuola.it/lre.html) <egocreanet2011@gmail.com)
3) –Nanofutures EITP (=European Technology Integrating and Innovation Platform)
, in collaboration with : Zadrozny Thomas t.zadrozny@mail.be, Costas Kiparissides <cypress@cperi.certh.gr>,Andrea E. Reinhardt <reinhardt@microtec-d.com >
Supervisor of the proposal : Malsch TechnoValuation, Utrecht, The Netherlands, www.malsch.demon.nl: <Ineke Malsch postbus@malsch.demon.nl>
Potential partners or stakeholders giving their preliminary interest to collaborate :
1) -Dr. Nadine Witkowski, <witkowski@insp.jussieu.fr>
2)-Emmanuelle Zein , ezein@localeurope.net ,Valencia-Spain
3) -Dederichs, Peter H. p.h.dederichs@fz-juelich.de
4)- andras paszternakTINC <editor@nanopaprika.eu>, The International NanoScience Community ; mail@nanopaprika.eu
5)- Christoph Meili, christoph.meili@innovationsgesellschaft.ch, Swiss Nano-Cube platform; www.innovationsgesellschaft.ch
6)- Dermott Reilly dermott.reilly@nanolandglobal.com (London – UK)
7)- Boris S b_snopok@yahoo.com (Lithuania) Kaunas University of Technology (RCMN-KTU, http://nano.ktu.lt) and : Valentinas Snitka, <vsnitka@gmail.com>,member of EU Nanosafety cluster ( http://www.nanosafetycluster.eu/
8)-Locher Annette, <locher@fsrm.ch > Neuchâtel -CH , www.fsrm.
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Concepts improving nanoeducation for a proposal towards
call NMP.2012.1.4.-5
Improving education in nanotechnologies to match the skill needs of EU industry and society
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Fostering excellent education programmes for working in the area of nano-technologies in Europe is urgent due the rapidly increasing demand for experts in the field. Major employers include research centers both for developing new products and for ensuring their safety, industries which are increasingly using nano-entities as compounds of their products, regulatory agencies, politics and media.
Due to the interdisciplinary nature of the field, advanced education is a significant challenge.
Numerous graduate and post-graduate programmes have been set up in Europe, which train students in nanotechnology or related disciplines. A number of challenges can be identified in this area:
There is no comprehensive overview on the demand for specific skills of nano-technology experts in the job market, which makes it difficult both for educators and for students to meet the needs of employers and to optimize employment prospects.
There is no unified platform which presents the various offers in a complete and comprehensive way. Interested students find it hard to compare the different options and choice of courses may rely more on accident then on rational decision.
The specific contents of the different training offers can be quite variable. Programmes usually derive from existing ones (in materials sciences, physics, chemistry, biotechnology etc.) which means that courses will emphasize some fields more than others.
The demands on input from widely different fields can not always be met by a single institution.
Thus either the quality of some aspects in training suffers or cooperations allow to cover all areas.
How well the latter strategy works and which schemes are most suitable is not obvious.
Nano-safety is investigated mostly by biologists and toxicologists, nano-medicine by physicians and biologists, environmental impact by environmental scientists. These issues are important for nano-technology at large, considering societal responsibilities, working place safety and liability issues, and need to be included in general nano-technology education.
Skill requirements of EU industry, regulatory agencies, political bodies, educational institutions, media and other potential employees will need to be evaluated in parallel with an assessment of the existing training situation. Employee representatives will be integrated in the consortium and will be critical for describing the needs of the market concerning job skills.
An important aspect is that stakeholders will not only have to describe their own requirements, but that they are also asked to identify areas where young scientists reaching the job market have developed significant skills which are not in demand. The workload which can be put into a training programme is limited, so in order to match the needs of employers it will be necessary to some extent to re-distribute training areas, rather than simply adding items on the to list of required skills.
We propose that the future of education in nano-technology requires two key developments:
Transparency regarding the offers on the market, and modularization of training.
Improving transparency can be achieved in a straightforward way by collecting all publicly available documentation of training offers in nano-technology for graduates and postgraduates in Europe, by liaising with contact persons in the institutions making these offers, and by documenting the education and training landscape via print products and web based tools.
It is important to define what exactly should be documented and how this will go beyond a collection of relevant links which is already available on some websites.
A major problem is to define training modules contained in nano-technology education programmes. Comparing various existing programmes will allow to define existing modules and rank them as essential, important, optional or marginal. A good training programme should have a full set of essential and important modules, and a specific profile can be gained by offering modules which are not relevant to everybody in this field, but can be highly important for people with a specific interest. Several aspects derive from the definition of a module system:
It is obvious that there will not be one “best” programme. People who want to specialize in product management have very different needs from those who want to go into the basic sciences or from those which are attracted by science-meets-public activities. A clear definition of modules will allow students to make an informed choice according to their own interests.
A programme which lacks module contents that are included in most other programmes may be considered as weak. However, it will be easy to define where elements are lacking so appropriate steps can be taken.
Defining modules will facilitate cooperation between different institutions. This can take the shape of joint study or PhD programmes, or it may simply be a process of routinely accepting ECTS credits obtained in a recognized institution as a part of a students’ progress. Modules can also be defined and performed outside of universities. It is clear that students aiming for industry jobs will be eager to make experiences there as early as possible.
The module framework emphasizes the full range of requirements and chances within the field of nano-technology. The low percentage of female students in this field is a serious problem and a waste of talents. Putting nano-technology in a societal context will make it more accessible for both genders, in particular for females.
Topics like biological safety or risk communication are crucial for safe and societally accepted development of nano-products. These are aspects of nano-technology where the field needs to interact with the public in a proactive way. They are highly suitable as “hands-on” training modules.
A lot of the work to set up training in specific aspects has already been accomplished by the institutions which offer programmes in nano-technology, but the different aspects have been developed to a different extent and with somewhat different contents. An analysis of the existing training landscape will allow to define modules which reflect training needs and match the needs of employers (industry, academia, regulatory agencies, legal and IP consultants, media etc.). An identification of best practices leads to a comprehensive and helpful comparison of existing offers, to the definition of key modules important in such programmes, to the definition of optional modules which give each programme its own identity and profile, and to improved cooperation between educational institutions and to increased mobility of students, who will find it easier to choose courses which match their interest. In addition, the comprehensive description of training contents will make it possible to ensure that the key needs of employers are met by the training pathways.
Work to do by the consortium:
- Identify stakeholder representatives beyond the consortium and assemble a prioritized list of training needs
- Compile list of existing courses, identify and contact persons in charge for each institution
- Draft an education map defining contents based on modules
-European meeting of all contact persons (stakeholders and educators) to improve the module map
-Identify modules suitable for developing pilot materials
-Development of pilot teaching material by universities and by ongoing EU projects (therefore including contributions by students), coordinated by the project
- Set up assessment tools, e.g. standardized web-based tests for specific modules
-Dissemination platforms: Website, print material, open meetings
-Refinement of modules and of dissemination platforms: Evaluation by education experts, Human----- Computer Interaction experts, user feedback
Major Deliverables:
A European training and education map of the field, as on open resource for all stakeholders
A European map of skills needed in the working place, defined by sector, discipline and type of position
A set of pilot teaching materials, including course descriptions, sets of experiments, communication tools etc.
A report on existing strategies for ensuring inter-disciplinarity and trans-disciplinarity in nanotechnology education, with an analysis of strength/weakness and of suitability for different employment purposes
Recommendations on fostering trans-sectorality by involving industry and regulators in education, based on best practice examples
Recommendations on fostering attractivity of nanotechnology studies for female students, based on best practice examples
Conclusions on Societal implications of nanoscience and nano-technology.
Albert Duschl, Salzburg, August 2011
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IMPORTANT NOTE : All EC actions need your company having registered (PIC),validated and LEAR
Recomandation in line with FP7 definition of SUPPORTING ACTIVITIES:
“Support actions" aimed at contributing to the implementation of the Framework
Programmes and the preparation of future EU research and technological development policy, or the development of synergies with other policies, or to stimulate, encourage and
facilitate the participation of SMEs and civil society organisations and their networks, small research teams and newly developed or remote research centres in the activities of the thematic areas of the Cooperation programme.
In short FP7 support action in general need to reply to:
1) - Can our proposal help EC in the implementation of the specific FP*?
2) - Can our proposal help in the preparation of future research etc?
3) - Can our proposal to help industry as the source of innovation?
4) - Can our proposal help in the FP* outreach activities?
NOTES FOR REMEMBERING THE CALL – REQUEST -.
Call Fiche NMP.2012.1.4-5 Supporting action.
Improving education in nanotechnologies to match the skill needs of EU industry and society
SSH Relevant Scientific Field: Education, Finance, Gender Sciences, Sociology
The multidisciplinary and multi-sectoral character of nanotechnologies requires developing novel forms of integration in the education systems, in order to prepare flexible and adaptable scientific and engineering pools of talent, while at the same time enhancing the necessary in-depth scientific background.
This requires new frameworks of cooperation between schools, universities, research institutes and industry, as well as convergence of educational departments in nanotechnologies, biotechnologies, ICT, cognitive and other sciences, such as physics and chemistry (for example quantum mechanics and physical chemistry are fundamental to nanotechnology). Connection should also be made to social and business sciences. Special attention is required to encourage females to study nanotechnologies. The emphasis should be on graduate and post-graduate university level.Funding Scheme: Coordination and Support Action
NMP.2012.1.4-5 : Confidential call request:
Improving education in nanotechnologies to match the skill needs of EU industry and society
Technical content/scope: Conventional educational and academic disciplines often constrain the introduction of interdisciplinary courses and trans-disciplinary approaches that are necessary to nanotechnology. Overcoming such limitations is mandatory in order to educate highly skilled nano-scale scientists and engineers, whose scarcity is pinpointed by industry as a major obstacle to innovation. The multidisciplinary and multi-sectoral character of nanotechnologies requires developing novel forms of integration in the education systems, in order to prepare flexible and adaptable scientific and engineering pools of talent, while at the same time enhancing the necessary in-depth scientific background. This requires new frameworks of cooperation between schools, universities, research institutes and industry, as well as convergence of educational departments in nanotechnologies, biotechnologies, ICT, cognitive and other sciences, such as physics and chemistry (for example quantum mechanics and physical chemistry are fundamental to nanotechnology). Connection should also be made to social and business sciences. Special attention is required to encourage females to study nanotechnologies. The emphasis should be on graduate and post-graduate university level.
This Support action should provide:
mapping and critical assessment of best practices across the EU to identify enhanced integrated strategies for education in nanotechnologies;
- development of pilot teaching materials, lab activities and assessment tools as independent subjects or modules;
- development of a platform for disseminating, testing and fine tuning of the strategies and the 'open courseware'.
Funding Scheme: Coordination and Support Actions (supporting actions). No more than one supporting action will be funded.Expected impact: (i) Promote the integration of nanotechnologies into the educational systems by favouring its responsible convergence with other sciences and stimulating the onfield cooperation of industry with educational and research bodies to respond to skill needs of industry and society. (ii) Contribute to making nanotechnology studies more attractive, thus increasing the numbers of students, especially female students.
Project Description part B .
SUMMARY OF Project description and MANDATORY PAGE LIMITS
(conforming to font and margin sizes mentioned above).
Maximum number of pages(1)
Introduction (contains elements that need to be identical to those encoded in part A)
The cover page including the list of participants and the table of contents (2-3 pages)
! THE PAGES ABOVE DO NOT COUNT TOWARD THE PAGE LIMITS SPECIFIED !
1. Scientific and/or technical quality, relevant to the topics addressed by the call
20 pages for whole section
1.1 Concept and objectives No specific limit
1.2 Quality and effectiveness of the support mechanism, and associated work plan
2 pages(*) for section 1.2 ("Overallstrategy" & “risks and associated contingency plans”)
2. Implementation Depending on the size of the consortium
2.1 Management structure and procedures 5 pages
2.2 Individual participants 1 page per participant
2.3 Consortium as a whole No specific limit
2.4 Resources to be committed 2 pages
3. Impact
3.1 Expected impacts listed in the work programme
3.2 Spreading excellence, exploiting results, disseminating knowledge
10 pages for whole section
4. Ethics Issues No limit
(1) These limits are strongly recommended. Keep your proposal concise and precise!
* This limit does not include the Gantt chart under 1.2 ii), the tables 1.2a- e, and the Pert diagram under 1.2 iv).
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