2023 Network Awards – International Engagement
Judges’ comments
The panel recommends the OpenInnoTrain project because it demonstrates innovation and excellence in connecting Australian and European researchers, with commercialisation and impact at the core. The project has demonstrated positive impacts for higher degree research, early career researchers, and professional staff with opportunities to work in multidisciplinary teams. There are also wider benefits for industry and academic collaborations with the sharing of actionable knowledge through seminars and masterclasses.The initiative
OpenInnoTrain is a research project funded by the European Commission’s H2020 program. It focusses primarily on investigating the theory and practical implementation of research translation.
OpenInnoTrain leverages extensive academic and industry expertise, fosters collaboration, and aims to bridge the gaps between research and societal impact to address real-world challenges in four contemporary sectors: FinTech (financial technology), Industry 4.0 (advanced manufacturing and automation), CleanTech (clean and sustainable technology), and FoodTech (technology in the food industry).
The project is rooted firmly in the broader concept of Open Innovation, which encourages collaboration between academic institutions and industry partners. It also draws from the practices of university-industry cooperation and civic university research.
This initiative involves establishing and maintaining of a global network; a consortium of 13 academic institutions and nine industry partners across Europe and Australia. Together, they contribute significant research and innovation resources, equivalent to 540 person-months.
A distinctive feature is OpenInnoTrain’s strategic approach to fostering collaboration between diverse teams of academic researchers and industry innovators. Unlike traditional methods where research outputs are considered after a project’s completion, OpenInnoTrain emphasises ensuring research outcomes are adopted, put to use, exploited, or commercialised from the beginning of the Research and Development and Innovation (R&D&I) process.
It addresses the persistent knowledge transfer and commercialisation gaps, which are particularly pronounced in Australia and Europe. Reducing these gaps is essential for promoting innovation and ensuring the long-term sustainability of research efforts.
OpenInnoTrain has also enhanced understanding of the mechanisms in translating research into practical applications through training materials, including toolkits and canvasses accessible to researchers and industry professionals. These resources are made available through educational programs like summer schools and masterclasses.
Outcomes, impact and relationships
As the first European-funded project academically led and coordinated by an Australia-based Professor, OpenInnoTrain received the maximum funding allocated under this highly competitive scheme.
So far, approx. 100 individuals across the consortium have benefited from working across diverse teams, creating social bonds and serendipitous encounters with wider ecosystems through 380 secondments.
Seconded staff (47% female) range from PhD candidates, early-career researchers (47%), mid-career academics (24%), to professors (22%), and professional staff involved in R&I (7%).
RMIT and RMIT EU staff have benefited from 70 person-months of outgoing secondments, with RMIT having hosted 24 incoming secondees from leading institutions across Europe.
These staff exchanges have built framework conditions for international, institutional-level, structural collaborations such as Collaborative Research Training Agreements (CRTAs) with great potential for scale-up.
Institutional support has created Project Coordinator roles at RMIT and RMIT EU. RMIT’s value proposition stems from having built foundations and capacity to expand its global R&I operations, further raised its visibility as a desirable, and trustworthy partner, enhanced its R&I ecosystem by expanding its international perspective, and co-authored high-quality papers between researchers (inter- and cross-discipline) who otherwise may not have met.
OpenInnoTrain has forged relationships, lifted capability in leading wide-scale EU-funded projects, been a catalyst for other international cooperation (e.g. RMIT REDI Doctoral Network, 40 PhD candidates, which I have involvement as a thought leader and expert supervisor).
OpenInnoTrain has been instrumental in developing internal and international project team capacity and capability, paving the way to developing larger-scale international partnership collaborations across sectors and disciplines.