Pillar Ii: Strengthening Ecosystems For Open, Ethical, And Sustainable Era

This topic aims to promote the adoption of ERA policies and practices, contributing to sustainable ecosystems established around ERA priorities through enhanced cooperation, coordination and alignment. The topic helps to create new or enhance existing ecosystems through activities such as networking and cooperative action, knowledge exchange and dissemination, tools, training, and policy advice.

Applicants should select and clearly identify one area being addressed, choosing from the three areas outlined below. Each area is designed to contribute toward the implementation of an ERA policy: Area 1 – ERA Action “A coordinated framework responding to emerging challenges for ethics and integrity in R&I”; Area 2 – ERA Structural Policy “Enabling open science via sharing and re-use of data, including through EOSC"; Area 3 – “Green transition”, as set out in the Pact for R&I in Europe. Proposals should develop the activities outlined for the selected area as well as propose additional activities that contribute to achieving the expected outcomes.

Project activities should reach large communities of stakeholders, engaging also those beyond academia, ensuring a wide geographical coverage, inclusivity, broad participation, and accessibility over the course of the project. Proposals should describe the target group in terms of its scope and size. In order to achieve the expected outcomes, international cooperation is welcomed. The involvement of entities from non-associated third countries in the consortium must be clearly explained and justified.

In project activities, particular attention should be paid to promoting inclusive gender equality and addressing gender-specific challenges. Where relevant, proposals should consider the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity^[1] and the TRUST Code^[2].

Applicants must demonstrate in their proposal a viable plan for achieving self-sustainability after the end of the grant agreement, with a clear description of a minimum set of activities that will be maintained by the consortium with own or other resources.

Expected project duration is up to 3 years without prejudice to a longer duration if justified.

Area 1: Equitable, sustainable, and ethical research

Expected outcome: Proposals under Area 1 will deliver on the impact “A research ethics and integrity ecosystem continuously enhanced with robust methodologies and knowledge that encourage benefit sharing and prevent ethics dumping”, contributing to the ERA Action “A coordinated framework responding to emerging challenges for ethics and integrity in R&I”. Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

• A reinforced research ethics and integrity ecosystem that supports sustainable and equitable research partnerships across lower- and high-income settings, based on the values of the TRUST Code;
• Enhanced expertise in benefit sharing and practical and effective methods to prevent ‘ethics dumping’;
• Creation of an international community of practice to promote “ethics-by-design" in support of researchers, research participants, local communities, local/national ethics and research integrity bodies, and other key stakeholders.

Scope: Area 1 promotes research ethics and integrity principles in an increasingly digitalised world to prevent breaches and address barriers to implementing ethical guidelines in the EU and beyond. The objectives are twofold: first, to reinforce an ecosystem that supports a long-lasting approach to benefit sharing, also accounting for the growing prevalence of AI; and second, to address imbalances in research, especially in high-risk or highly contingent settings, by incorporating due diligence and beneficence for research participants and local communities.

Proposals should build on the results of relevant past or ongoing projects at European and/or national level^[3]. Structured cooperation with the Embassy of Good Science should be included. Cooperation with university or research networks to enrich ethics-related curricula is desirable ^[4]. Project activities should target researchers, local/national research integrity and ethics committees, European networks of (early career) researchers and educators in research ethics, research management and integrity offices, ethics officers in research performing organisations, as well as policymakers. To achieve the expected outcomes, proposals should include the activities outlined below and propose any additional, complementary activities:

• Develop toolkits to facilitate partnerships that guarantee the premise of ‘do no harm’ as well as fair and just practice from conception to the implementation of actions;
• Develop training programmes, including a quality assurance system, for researchers and for ethics experts and committees to promote the coherence of the ethics review process;
• Increase awareness and disseminate knowledge of ethical values and norms for responsible R&I, including at the local level.

Area 2: Global cooperation for the uptake of open science practices

Expected outcome: Proposals under Area 2 will deliver on the impact: “A more open, equitable and inclusive research and innovation ecosystem”, contributing to the ERA Structural Policy “Enabling open science via sharing and re-use of data, including through the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC)". Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

• Strengthened international collaboration for aligning policies and strategies that enable open access, and the secure and trusted sharing and re-use of digital research objects and tools in line with the FAIR principles;
• New standards, recommendations, and methodologies necessary for applying the FAIR principles and supporting the EOSC ecosystem in alignment with global best practices;
• Improved interoperability of digital research objects, tools, and services across various thematic, discipline-specific, and national data and digital research infrastructures worldwide.

Scope: Area 2 supports efforts to ensure that open science practices and skills are rewarded and taught, becoming the ‘new normal’. The main goal is to foster a global ecosystem that promotes cooperation and alignment on open science practices. It will facilitate the development of standards, tools, and services that empower researchers to find, access, re-use, and combine research findings, especially through EOSC.

Proposals should build on activities by related projects^[5] and activities in the context of the EOSC Partnership aimed at fostering the international dimension of EOSC. The project activities should target actors such as research organisations and their associations, research community-driven associations, research infrastructures, service providers, and higher education institutions. To achieve the expected outcomes, proposals should address the activities outlined below and propose any additional, complementary activities:

• Implement initiatives to facilitate cooperation and connections between developments within the European context and international initiatives that promote the reusability of digital research outputs;
• Engage with international stakeholders to contribute to the development and adoption of globally recognised data practices and standards;
• Provide support for defining and developing EOSC policies and technical specifications by aligning with global, community-driven initiatives and scientific best practices;
• Promote knowledge sharing, capacity building, and skills acquisition, enabling researchers and organisations to actively contribute to open science and the development of Global Open Research Commons.

Area 3: Environmentally sustainable science

Expected outcome: Projects under Area 3 will deliver on the impact “Increased uptake, effectiveness and impact of environmentally sustainable research”, contributing to the green transition. Project results are expected to contribute to all of the following expected outcomes:

• Effective knowledge sharing and support for researchers and R&I organisations in implementing environmentally sustainable practices and policies;
• Enhanced culture and awareness of environmental sustainability within the scientific community;
• Increased integration of environmental sustainability considerations in European and national research funding programmes and other initiatives.

Scope: Area 3 contributes toward reducing environmental footprint of research. The aim is to set up a network dedicated to driving the transformation of research practices and research organisations toward environmental sustainability, considering various measures, such as energy-efficient, low-waste laboratories, and sustainable data storage and computing facilities. Special attention should be given to energy-intensive digital technologies like AI.

Proposals should build on existing approaches and methodologies and collaborate with relevant projects, networks and initiatives^[6]. Project activities should target actors such as higher education institutions, research performing and funding organisations, industry, policymakers, and grassroots initiatives. To achieve the expected outcomes, proposals should address the activities outlined below and propose any additional, complementary activities:

• Map existing approaches for assessing and reducing environmental footprint and develop sustainability guidelines, considering various disciplines and research contexts;
• Offer evidence-based recommendations to integrate sustainability into research funding and evaluation, with attention to different institutional frameworks and engagement at all institutional levels;
• Promote awareness and adoption of sustainability policies and practices through knowledge exchange, collaboration, and trainings that leverage existing resources and expertise.

[1] european-code-of-conduct-for-research-integrity_horizon_en.pdf.

[2] The TRUST Code A Global Code of Conduct for Equitable Research Partnerships, https://www.globalcodeofconduct.org/.

[3] Including projects funded under H2020_SwafS-27-2017, H2020_SwafS-03-2018, H2020_SwafS-29-2020, HORIZON-WIDERA-2021-ERA-01-90, HORIZON-WIDERA-2021-ERA-01-91, HORIZON-WIDERA-2022-ERA-01-91, HORIZON_HORIZON-WIDERA-2023-ERA-01-12, HORIZON_HORIZON-WIDERA-2024-ERA-01-12; See also Cordis Results Pack: Ethics and integrity: Building bridges for trust and excellence in research and innovation.

[4] For example, EUA, YERUN, LERU, CESAER, EARMA, ALF.

[5] Projects funded under HORIZON-INFRA-2022-EOSC-01-04 and HORIZON-WIDERA-2021-ERA-01-41.

[6] See for example, Green Labs, MSCA Green Charter, Sustainable European Laboratories, Science Europe Working Group on Greening Research, Heidelberg Agreement; ALLEA (2022), “Towards Climate Sustainability of the Academic System in Europe and beyond”; Nature (2024), “Spotlight on Green Labs”; EC (2024) "Greening research: Decarbonisation and beyond".