IOF strategic cofinancing: InterACT: Fostering International, Interdisciplinary, and Intersectoral Research Partnerships for Mutual and Societal Impact

In a world characterized by geopolitical conflicts and pressing global challenges (e.g. pandemic preparedness), scientific collaborations need to overcome borders and practices. To successfully address complex issues, the path forward lies in interdisciplinary, intersectoral, and international partnerships that transcend the boundaries of specialized (academic) knowledge. Importantly, insights and findings from scientific research need to effectively reach stakeholders (including policy-makers) in order to create tangible societal impact. Achieving these goals is difficult because: 1) despite the urgent need for more interdisciplinarity in research, postdoctoral researchers frequently work in isolation; 2) science-policy collaborations are hindered by non-overlapping objectives and timeframes, even though evidence-based policy-making is a key resource for governments. Within this context, our programme InterACT will deliver 14 postdoctoral researchers equipped with the necessary expertise and skills to carry out high-quality projects that bridge disciplinary gaps, involve stakeholders from different sectors in co-creation mechanisms, and set up international collaborations. InterACT will last for 5 years and involve 2 calls for 3-year projects, 2 secondments per project, and final panels where fellows will present the policy briefs based on their findings to a jury of stakeholders. The 3 specific programme objectives are: 1) To foster excellent postdoctoral research that involves non-academic stakeholders in the research cycle; 2) To stimulate a EU-wide collaborative research environment; 3) To strengthen ties between different disciplines, paving the way for innovation and creative ideas. InterACT also has a cross-cutting objective, which is to foster the future employability of postdoctoral researchers through training activities on transversal skills. The expected impact of the programme will be measured and observable at researcher, organization, and EU level.