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Eiroforum Working Group, Training and Career Development

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Virtual
Eiroforum Working Group, Training and Career Development
Zoom Meeting ID
68077583901
Host
Stefan Roiser
Passcode
56299623
Useful links
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[initial content of the meeting nodes from zoom AI, further modified by Stefan Roiser]

Quick recap

The meeting focused on discussions about a proposed EIROforum Leadership Program, including feedback from directors and considerations around program format, funding, and implementation. The group explored knowledge management and community of practice initiatives, with particular attention to training content sharing and educational platforms across organizations. Eva provided an overview of Eurofusion's educational initiatives and diversity efforts, including their successful training programs and knowledge management strategies.

Next steps

  • Stefan: Schedule a meeting with the ESS director to discuss their similar leadership program and find commonalities
  • Stefan: Create a Google Doc for brainstorming how to address leadership program comments and extend the program
  • EIROforum Leadership Programme:
    • Define selection criteria for leadership program participants, including competency levels and career stages
    • Develop EIRO specific interpretations of candidate requirements for each organization
    • Address funding questions and implementation details for the leadership program
    • Prepare revised version of leadership program addressing directors' comments before next DG meeting in early 2027
    • Go to individual EIRO directorates to get buy-in and confirmation for the revised program
  • EIROfusion training followup
    • Eva: Create an EIROforum page on the online learning platform listing all EIROforum organizations
    • All: Send Eva links to their organization's early career or training activities pages for inclusion on the platform
    • All: Identify and share soft skills training content or technical training materials that could be uploaded to Eva's platform
  • Stefan: Explore possibility of exchanging training content among organizations, particularly from CERN experiments and activities

Summary

EIROforum Leadership Proposal Implementation Discussion

Stefan reported back on his recent meeting with Eiroforum directors, noting that while half of the organization supported his proposal, there were detailed questions about implementation. The presentation generated significant questions and discussion, with some directors suggesting the program might be too lightweight while others expressed support. Eva emphasized the need to balance program intensity with feasibility, noting that a more intensive program might struggle to attract participants and secure funding. The group agreed to develop clearer selection criteria for participants, with Eva suggesting that EIROforum organizations could specify their own criteria for candidate levels and experience.

Eva suggested going to individual directors beforehand to get their input and build champions for the idea. Stefan mentioned that ESS, a new EIROforum member, could bring valuable perspectives to their distributed institutes model.

Angela raised practical considerations about management experience and strategic thinking requirements for participants. The discussion concluded with a question about funding sources for the program, which remained open for further discussion. Stefan and Andy agreed that travel costs for participants should be covered by their organizations rather than EIROforum.  Eva highlighted that EIROforum's budget comes from member organizations and requires advance approval from the General Assembly, suggesting a need to explore hybrid formats with a mix of online and in-person meetings to reduce financial burden. Angela proposed having at least one in-person meeting annually, with the rest conducted online.

It was decided to compile the comments in a Google Doc and continue discussions in the next meeting, aiming for directorate-level approval before presenting the program at the next EIRO forum meeting in early 2027.

Eurofusion Training

Eva provided an overview of Eurofusion, explaining that it is a consortium of 197 European institutes managing nuclear fusion research and development, funded by the European Commission. She highlighted key projects like ITER and the challenges of workforce development, including a multicultural environment, retiring experts, and the transition from academic research to a commercial energy industry. Eva also discussed the results of a 2023 workforce survey and Eurofusion's role in training and education, supporting approximately 800-900 PhD students annually across 100 universities.

Eva presented Eurofusion's educational initiatives, including outreach programs, financial support for students and supervisors, and an online learning platform for fusion education. She highlighted the importance of training researchers and engineers for both public and private sectors, as well as the Eurofusion grants program for post-graduate research projects. Eva also discussed the Fusion Education Learning Hub, which provides recorded university courses on a Moodle platform, and emphasized the need to make educational materials more inclusive and interactive. Finally, she touched on efforts to increase gender and geographical diversity within the organization.

Eva presented on diversity and training initiatives at their organization, noting that Switzerland has a particularly high percentage of foreign workers. She emphasized that they avoid setting minimum diversity targets, instead focusing on improving access to opportunities and training for all backgrounds. Eva detailed their knowledge management strategy, highlighting the importance of capturing tacit knowledge and building communities of practice, particularly in operations which are less well-covered than physics. She described their successful approach to community-based training and knowledge sharing, including online learning platforms, mobility schemes for technicians and engineers, and collaborative networks focused on specific topics like heating systems.

The group discussed knowledge management and community of practice initiatives, with Angela highlighting the need to build knowledge management systems and exploring how to sustain self-regulated communities of practice. Eva shared details about their successful early career network, which includes two early career panel members who recently organized a seminar with 16 presenters. The participants agreed to explore sharing training content across organizations, with Eva offering to create a page on EIROforum listing participating organizations and their training materials, while discussing authentication options through Eurofusion accounts or LinkedIn.

Eva explained the platform's focus on providing free, self-contained university lectures and training programs, emphasizing its role in offering educational resources to students from countries with limited access to courses. She clarified that the platform does not compete with universities and aims to promote higher education institutions by advertising their courses. Eva encouraged participants to contribute unique advanced courses, such as those on cryo or superconducting coils, to create a comprehensive curriculum. Stefan noted the importance of post-editing content for better quality and suggested brainstorming ideas for the leadership program.

Next Meeting

The group agreed to reconvene in a month to discuss further progress and to explore the training program of ESA presented by Tina.

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