The EU-funded ERA Shuttle project is a joint effort to boost research and innovation (R&I) within the European Research Area (ERA), especially in Poland, Croatia, and Malta. The project brings together top research universities from these countries – the Universities of Gdańsk, Malta, and Split, which have less developed R&I systems – and strong non-academic institutions and industries from other countries. Through this collaboration, the ERA SHUTTLE project fosters cross-sector collaboration, research development, and capacity building for researchers, research managers, and technology transfer officers.
Between September 22-26, the 2025 edition of the ERA Shuttle Summer School was hosted by the University of Gdańsk’s International Centre for Cancer Vaccine Science. This week-long training programme sought to empower researchers through a series of lectures and hands-on sessions that combined strong academic insights with practical exercises, and even included a spotlight focus on personal wellness within the context of the stress-filled life of any researcher or research manager.
Participants explored a wide range of topics such as soft skills development, AI productivity tools (and their ethical application), research funding strategies, technology transfer, and innovation & entrepreneurship. All sessions worked towards empowering career advancement in research and innovation across diverse scientific and interdisciplinary fields, and bridging the gap between academia and industry.
The first day focused on “Career Development and Scientific Leadership”, with colleagues from Schiller Mertens and Braingain looking into utilising AI tools for career planning, decision making, hiring and retaining talent, and PhD transition.
The second day, “Research Productivity and Digitalisation”, opened with a novel presentation by Angie Mifsud, a University of Malta employee, and Ela Kurtcu from Steinbeis. Ms Mifsud, who has just completed her secondment though the ERA Shuttle framework at Steinbeis, has joined forces with Ms Kurtcu to set up a joint initiative focusing on how to empower academics for sustainable futures, connecting personal, professional and planetary wellbeing. Their initiative serves as living proof of the type of innovation that the ERA Shuttle cross-collaboration and secondment opportunities are bringing forward. The day continued with a thought-provoking session on the responsible, ethical and compliant use of AI by Steinbeis, and concluded with a session on distributed research infrastructure.
AcrossLimits’s Head of EU Projects, Rebecca Zammit, led the full programme of the third day, leading the group through a series of logical, step-by-step workshops that broke down the EU proposal writing process into bite-sized pieces. The aim was to ensure that attendees understood the techniques and thought process behind each element of proposal writing, from concept development, consortium development, writing project objectives and KPIs, developing an Impact and Dissemination strategy, and determining the project Work Plan.
The fourth day focused on the fundamentals of Knowledge and Technology Transfer, knowledge valorisation and open science, and reducing barriers between technology and knowledge transfer staff and industry, with sessions on the topic lead by colleagues from ASTP, University of Malta, and CERIC.
The Summer School concluded its final day by spotlighting Entrepreneurship, Commercialisation and Project Building. Sessions by Schiller Mertens, CERIC, AcrossLimits and ASTP looked at various related aspects, from building projects with AI tools, pitching to investors and research funders, bridging the gap between scientific research and non-academic stakeholders, and the fundamentals of innovation, entrepreneurship, and entrepreneurial spin-off skills.
The Summer School served as an opportunity to engage in meaningful conversations and learning opportunities for over 40 researchers, research managers, and technology transfer officers, highlighting the R&I potential available to us thanks to European collaboration. We now look forward to the future edition of the Summer School, whilst continuing to encourage staff members of the Universities of Malta, Gdańsk and Split to apply to carry out their own secondment – a short-term work experience placement of three to six months at an industry partner to focus on their personal and professional development.