FIT4RRI - Project details (FIT4RRI)

Fostering Improved Training Tools for Responsible Research and Innovation

fit4rri.eu

FIT4RRI (Fostering Improved Training Tools for Responsible Research and Innovation) is a 3-year, EU-funded project, carried out by 13 partners across 9 countries. The project aims at activating institutional changes to embed Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) and Open Science (OS) practices permanently in European Research Funding and Performing Organizations.
RRI and OS principles are fundamental when approaching societal challenges of the 21st century. The principles are understood as strategic framework and set of practical instruments to better align research processes and outcomes with values, needs and expectations of the European research area and the society at large.

In practice RRI has six key components:

  • Public and societal engagement (aiming to broadly engage society in research and innovation activities);
  • Open access (aiming to increase access to scientific results);
  • Gender equality (aiming to ensure gender equality, in both research process and research contents);
  • Ethics (aiming at embedding the ethical dimension in research and innovation);
  • Science education (aiming at enhancing formal and informal science education inside research institutions and in the society);
  • Governance (aiming to develop governance models for RRI capable to integrate the other five keys).
    Two more key components have been added recently:
  • Social justice/Inclusion (aiming at avoiding unfair exclusion of particular groups from either participation in research and/or access to benefits arising from research);
  • Sustainability (aiming at bridging the current knowledge gap enabling the research programmes and RRI initiatives contribute to sustainable growth according to EU 2020 strategy).

Open Science describes a trend towards sharing and openness in research. This means diffusing knowledge by using digital technologies and collaborative tools, and free access to scientific results. Göttingen State and University Library is mainly responsible for identifying and developing Open Science training material. A close collaboration with the project FOSTER Plus is essential, as all training materials with regards to RRI will be integrated to the FOSTER portal.

Objectives
The aim of permanent institutional changes towards Responsible Research and Innovation as well as Open Science will be activated by:

  • Enhancing competences and skills related to RRI and OS through an improvement of RRI and OS training offer currently available;
  • Adopting more advanced governance settings (including organisational practices, tools, arrangements, and culture) capable to create an environment enabling RRI and OS.

Main Activities
The objectives will be pursued through three main activity strands:

  • Analytical stand: understand which trends, barriers, drivers, interests and values influence the adoption of RRI and OS;
  • Testing strand: observe RRI and OS in action through co-creation experiments and figure out possible solutions in terms of training approaches and governance settings;
  • Proactive strand: promote changes (developing training tools and easy-accessible evidence-based guidelines on governance settings).

Lead/Coordination

Affiliates

Project board at the SUB Göttingen

Project staff at the SUB Göttingen

SUB Göttingen departments / units involved in the project

Former project staff of the SUB Göttingen

Helene Brinken