Digital hubs support mobility and career development
The modern workplace is more fluid than ever. Relocating internationally is a common practice, particularly within the European Union. The EU-funded EURAXESS Hubs project builds on existing digital infrastructure to help young talent plan major moves with respect to career direction and residence. Despite the time constraints of a 12-month timeframe and the difficulties of communications and networking during the latter half of the pandemic, EURAXESS Hubs chalked up many achievements. According to project coordinator Ádám Molnár: “The EURAXESS network is facing changes as it is evolving to cover an ever broader service area spanning the career pathways of researchers within Europe and ultimately becoming the ERA Talent Platform. Following this course, new partners and collaborators need to be engaged to be able to deliver high-level assistance.”
Hubs improve the EURAXESS network
EURAXESS, which has a digital presence in countries around the world, includes dozens of European countries, with over 40 national portals where country-specific information is available. There are over 600 EURAXESS centres in Europe with dedicated staff to support mobility and career advancement, with an additional network of representatives worldwide in key partner countries. The project invited the contributions of these resources to create hubs that will help streamline the services available. The project team designed and launched three pilot hubs that integrate digital platforms in order to enhance cross-border collaboration. These hubs, which are competence-specific and target researchers, research organisations, and EURAXESS network members, offer information, direction, and personalised assistance. The hubs incorporate a number of partners, some of whom are new to the EURAXESS network and some more experienced, and each contributed to the project in tailored, complementary ways.
Digital toolkits for EURAXESS users
The project designed toolkits that could be deployed through the hubs in order to support clients in three specific areas: talent in academia, scientific entrepreneurship, and careers beyond academia. According to Molnár: “These topics are in high demand by mobile researchers as well as young talents throughout Europe who are interested in physical, virtual or intersectoral mobility options to enter in their career.” The toolkit for supporting academic talent focuses on gender, recruitment, and career stories. Learning and mastering novel skills that support networking and professional development are also key components. To support individuals interested in science start-ups, the related toolkit offers highly specific information related to this niche area. The toolkit to support careers beyond academia provides mentoring, matching with employers, and a LinkedIn showcase to assist networking.
Awareness informs access to digital resources
Easy access to resources is key to ensuring they will be used. The toolkits designed by EURAXESS Hubs can be adopted by any EURAXESS centre and are effective models for developing service architecture. The science entrepreneurship toolkit is available in an e-book format, increasing its accessibility. Targeted communication about EURAXESS will increase visibility of digital resources and traffic to the hubs. In order to raise interest in what the hubs have to offer, the project developed a podcast called EURAXESS Small Talks, consisting of six episodes. The series highlights topics developed in the toolkits using personal stories that are of interest to the global research community. As career mobility in science continues to impact the movement of people across borders, the need for easy access, streamlined support is critical. EURAXESS Hubs is doing much to build the information highway that will meet this growing need.
Keywords
EURAXESS Hubs, hubs, toolkit, EURAXESS network, mobility, researchers, academia, career development, science start-up