NEWS FROM THE CHAPTERS 

  A NEW BOARD FOR THE AUSTRIAN CHAPTER 

 

 

You have been elected as the new Chair of the Austrian Chapter, congratulations! Could you say a few words about yourself?

Thanks. It is a privilege and honour to serve the Austrian chapter and give back something to the Marie Curie Association. My name is Mohammad Rezaei. I am originally Iranian, born in Tehran in 1984. I am a full-time explorer. I love exploring. I love to go out into the unknown and discover the unknown. Finding problems that need to be solved. I did my undergraduate studies in chemical engineering and obtained a master's degree in process engineering. After my master’s, I was accepted for an Innovative Training Network (ITN) programme called 'MULTIMOD', jointly hosted in Austria and Greece. I obtained my Ph.D. in chemical process engineering from Johannes Kepler University (JKU) in Linz and currently, I am working as a postdoctoral fellow there.

The Chapter elections took place in Graz on 21 April. How did they go?

It was a simple election. Since I had been working with the Austrian Chapter Board for two years as the Vice-Chair, I was completely familiar with the tasks, challenges, and opportunities one can expect from the role. The Chapter members simply placed their trust in these experiences and voted for me. Besides my election, Jana Kemnitz was elected as the Chapter vice-Chair, and Simona Zajkoska and Zlatan Ajanovic were selected for the public relations and secretary roles.

 

How many members does the Chapter have and what is your target?

The Austrian chapter currently has 65 members and of course, we would love to have as many as possible.

 

What are the Chapter’s current objectives?

The current objectives are to make the members active in the Chapter and also serve the members by providing as much training as possible. In this regard, I have proposed a plan to cover the expenses of some online hard and soft skill courses offered by some of the world's best universities through Coursera or edx. We plan to discuss this matter within the Board in more detail and will then seek approval from the association.

           

Do you already have plans for events?

We will be organising social events in the major Austrian cities where the members are resident: Vienna, Linz, Graz, and Salzburg. People can get together locally and simply socialise and share their experiences and ideas. More importantly, we are honoured that the next General Assembly will be held in in Austria, in Vienna. A special task force has already started working on this and we hold a monthly meeting to discuss preparations. All of us are so excited about this event and we hope to meet you all next year in Vienna!

What would you say to people who are considering joining the Austrian Chapter?

I definitely encourage all current and past Marie Curie Fellows to join the chapter. This will provide a win-win situation for both members and the Chapter. Simply reach out to me out if you have any questions regarding the chapter: mohammad.rezaei@jku.at, austria.chapter@ mariecuriealumni.eu

  NEWS FROM THE CHAPTERS 

  A NEW CHAPTER UP AND RUNNING FOR        CROATIA 

 

 

The kick-off event took place on 6 April at the Ruder Boskovic Institute in Zagreb – congratulations! How did the launch go?

The kick-off meeting was very successful. There were more than 30 attendees – members of the Croatian Chapter. A lot of our members are also new members of the MCAA. So, it was important to start the kick-off with a presentation of the MCAA, to present how it works, as well as its achievements, and finally the benefits of MCAA membership. Also, we took this opportunity to establish a collaboration with the national agency for mobility and EU programmes, which includes EURAXESS Croatia. The latter had been a great help in connecting the newly established Chapter  with Croatian researchers, MSCA Alumni in Croatia and abroad, and with the National Science Foundation and Ministry of Science and Education.

We also presented the activities planned for the upcoming months, and discussed how to tackle the most important issues in research and for researchers within the national context.

 

How many members do you currently count and what is your target?

The Croatian Chapter currently has 57 members, but this number could be greater, since there are 122 potential members within the MCAA. So, we urge Croatian MCAA members who have not yet joined the Chapter to do so, and to help us build the Chapter. We would like to extend the invitation in particular to those members who are currently in Croatia, and those who are planning to return to Croatia, to help us build the community of MSCA Fellows, and to establish national and regional networks.

I would like to highlight that our current membership is gender-balanced, and most of the members are young researchers.

What are the Chapter’s current objectives?

The current objective is to introduce MSCA values and prospects to the Croatian research community; universities, research centres and the private sector, thus encouraging communication and collaboration with local and regional networks. This will be achieved through different activities and events, such as workshops and seminars. We would also like to promote the MSC Actions within the Croatian research community and to do so, we will support and facilitate connections between MSCA Fellows and prospective MSCA applicants one of Chapter’s strongest advantages is its geographical location, which lends itself to networking and collaboration between MCAA members from neighbouring countries. This makes Croatia a bellwether in this part of the Europe. We have already reached out to MSCA national contact points in Serbia, Slovenia and Bosnia and Hercegovina, inviting them to participate in our events.

Do you already have plans for events?

We have planned two major events for this spring; at the end of May, we will hold, in collaboration with the Agency for mobility and EU programmes, the workshop ‘Responsible research: research integrity and Open Science in MSCA projects’ in Zagreb. The workshop will have prominent speakers, experienced and young researchers, from the University of Split, University of Rijeka and Ruder Boskovic Institute, who will focus on practices in the national context.

We are also organising a session called ‘What has Horizon2020 brought to young researchers?’ for the conference ‘Young researchers in a highly skilled landscape’, organised by the Croatian Ministry of Science and Education. The focus of the conference is young researchers. The objective of the conference is to engage researchers, particularly young researchers in

Croatia, in discussions  on the next framework programme for research, and Croatia’s involvement therein. This is very important, as Croatian participation in Horizon 2020 is low. This will be an excellent opportunity to establish direct communication with the Ministry of Science and Education. 

Our members have also been present at various science communication events, such as the Festival of Science in Zagreb and Open Days at the Ruder Boskovic Institute.

What would you say to people who are considering joining the Croatian Chapter?

First, the Croatian Chapter will promote our members, and will raise awareness of Croatia’s excellent researchers among the local scientific community. With collaboration with the Agency for mobility and EU programmes, EURAXESS and local universities and research institutes established, the Croatian Chapter will provide members abroad with an opportunity to stay in contact with Croatian researchers; this could foster future collaboration.

NEWS FROM THE CHAPTERS 

THE DANISH CHAPTER: A POTENTIAL TO TAP 

 

 

MEMBERS

As of today, the Chapter has 74 members. According to the MCAA database there are about 212 people who are somehow linked to Denmark. However, it is difficult to judge how many of these people are really working or living in Denmark (or plan to come back). We have also found out that many people do not know about the MCAA. We have set ourselves the target of having at least 100 members.

OBJECTIVES 

One of the current objectives is to reach all Marie Curie alumni located in Denmark who do not know yet about the MCAA. By contacting the universities’ research services we were able to reach some researchers, but we know that there are many more who remain unaware of the MCAA.

A second objective is to develop activities that are of interest for the members. In this vain, we will soon send out a survey to members. Finally we are seeking external sponsoring for our activities. We are in contact with some institutions and research services that are supporting us with information on funding options, but we are hoping to get some industrial partners and the embassies of our countries of origin involved.

MEETING ON MOBILITY: 5 MAY

The event went very well and led to a number of interesting discussions among participants on international mobility and the challenges that we  face when we are ‘mobile’.

The day included a brief presentation of the chapter board members and past activities, as well as thoughtprovoking presentations:

• Ruth Anderson (board member) presented her remarkable research on the importance of marine bacteria in the Öresunds Sea;

• Luca Tateo (board member) presented a very interesting view on how international mobility in science is not new, but goes back to the Middle Ages, when students and researchers crossed borders in a quest for knowledge;

• Paula Fernanez introduced the Community of Spanish Scientists in Denmark, as well as a number of their amazing activities, which are open to all researchers;

• Martin Nielsen, recent recipient of the prestigious Villum Young Investigator fellowship, presented his experiences of applying for research funding, and provided very useful tips on applying for advanced research grants.

WHAT'S IN THE PIPELINE?

Right now we are discussing some options for activities, but we will also consider whatever our members tell us via the survey. There are plans to participate Researchers’ Night here in Denmark, as well as in ‘book a researcher’-type events . We are considering a workshop on supervision for members, but nothing has been finalised yet.

COME AND JOIN THE CHAPTER!

I would recommend people to join for a number of reasons:

• Get to know other fellows – even they they are from different fields and countries, they are sharing your experiences of being a researcher, international mobility, etc. This can also be a good opportunity to network for future jobs And collaborations.

• Stay up to date with the latest news on our activities, and how to participate in them. You may also contribute your ideas on what you would like to have, or what you are missing;

• Get in touch with people in relevant institutions (Ministry of Education, etc.) for information on funding or other support.