6i-DIRS

New skills for new challenges A stimulating research environment helps students develop the skills they will need in their future careers, whether in academia or industry. We spoke to Osane Uriarte, Noémi Kalocsay, Oleksandr Husiev and Juan Sebastian Angarita about the 6i- DIRS COFUND project, an initiative that aims to help PhD students develop the skills they will need to meet tomorrow’s challenges.

A stimulating and supportive academic environment helps students develop the skills they will rely on in their future careers, whether that’s in academia or industry, as researchers explore new ideas and form relationships with their peers. Following on from the success of the initial DIRS COFUND project, the 6i-DIRS project was established at the University of Deusto in Bilbao in 2019, offering three-year fellowships to successful applicants. “6i-DIRS is a co-fund programme for the whole university,” says Osane Uriarte, research advisor at the University’s International Research Project Office (IRPO).

The programme offers 19 PhD fellowships to Early Stage Researchers (ESRs) of any nationality across a variety of disciplines, with a focus on research that is International, Inter-disciplinary and Inter-sectoral, as well as Inclusive, Innovative and Impactful (the 6i’s in the project title). “Deusto’s five international inter-disciplinary research platforms participate in the project,” continues Uriarte.

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6i-DIRS project The students are pursuing research into a wide range of topics, from jazz festivals and art fairs to machine learning and energy systems, which fit within one of these five research platforms. This structure gives researchers the opportunity to share their ideas with students in related areas. “For example one

their research idea, and describe how they are going to translate it into a project. We also consider factors like international exposure and their background, and we want people with specific profiles that would complement our research teams,” she explains.

A PhD involves intense study and the topic can be quite narrowly focused, yet it can

In 6i-DIRS the focus is on the fellows’ skills, their employability, and their training. Through involvement in different projects, the fellows gain transversal skills and

them gain new skills. “In 6i-DIRS the focus is on the fellows’ skills, their employability, and their training. Through involvement in different projects, the fellows gain transversal skills and a deeper cultural awareness about how to work with partners in other areas of the world,” says Uriarte. “We want our fellows not only to be experts in their own area of research, but also to learn about topics like project management and communication skills.”

The researchers are based largely at the University of Deusto during their fellowship, but they are also encouraged to spend some time away from the institution to broaden their experience. This international dimension is an important element of the 6i-DIRS programme, giving researchers a wider perspective. “One of the researchers is going to Milan for example. Another researcher will spend some time in Ghana, while one of our students is working in Slovenia,” says Uriarte.

The project is supported by over 60 partner institutions, and while not all can host fellows, researchers still have the opportunity to spend time abroad. “Some of the fellows study at another university, while some collaborate with other industrial partners,” outlines Noemi Kalocsay, project manager at the IRPO. This gives fellows the opportunity to engage not just with their peers, but also professionals in industry, who can help them take steps towards a career in the commercial sector. While some of the fellows are keen to go into academia after gaining their PhD, others view it more as a stepping stone towards a career in industry.

“Some of the fellows are clear that they want to get a PhD to prove to themselves that they can do it, they want to gain insights and build a network. Others have been clear that they don’t want to stay in academia,” says Uriarte.

If the fellows do choose to go into industry, the skills they have gained during their fellowship will help them develop products and ideas that benefit wider society. “The social impact of the university is not just about teaching, but also helping students develop skills that can be used outside the university,” continues Uriarte.

Social impact The aim here is to conduct research that has a positive social impact. One of the researchers in 6i-DIRS is working on a device designed to help women who have problems with pelvic floor dysfunction for example, while another is working at a school in Ghana, reflecting the overall ethos of the programme. “We are trying to have an impact on society, via our PhD students,” explains Uriarte. This represents a shift from the common view of a PhD thesis as a document that a student labours over for a few years, defends before a panel, then subsequently gathers dust in a library. “We want the fellows to produce work that is not just of academic interest, but also hold wider relevance,” continues Uriarte. “Rather than writing an extended thesis, fellows can develop their thesis by getting three articles published, which is a bit more practical than the traditional approach.”

This research is often conducted in collaboration with institutions outside the university, which brings it closer to practical issues and concerns. This approach is set to continue until the conclusion of 6i-DIRS, and Uriarte hopes the programme will have a lasting legacy at the University of Deusto, leading to cultural change at the institution.“We are trying to incorporate these ideas from the COFUND into the doctorate programmes here. The university benefits from the presence of PhD students, with their energy, their work ethic, and their openness to new ideas,” she stresses.

By building on the success of the COFUND, Uriarte and her colleagues hope to attract more PhD students to the University in future. “We want prospective students to see us as an attractive option when considering their PhD options,” she says.

a deeper cultural awareness.

of the researchers is working on a thesis about art fairs, which is part of the Cultural and Creative industries platform,” outlines Uriarte. The students have to meet rigorous academic standards, while Uriarte says other factors are also considered in awarding the fellowships. “The applicants have to present

also be beneficial for students to be exposed to projects and ideas from outside their own specific area of research. The 6i-DIRSs researchers do not labour away in isolation but have the opportunity to collaborate with peers working on other areas of research; the interdisciplinary nature of the programme helps

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A growing attractive collaborative ecosystem for boosting impact driven research careers

Project Objectives

6i-DIRS aims to attract outstanding Early Stage Researchers to the International Research School of the University of Deusto.

Building upon the previous COFUND project, DIRS, 6i-DIRS is creating an international, interdisciplinary, intersectoral, innovative, impactful and inclusive research and training environment where research areas and teams merge and interact, providing junior scholars with unique opportunities that will support and broaden their future career prospects.

Project Funding

6i-DIRS project receives funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Skolodwska-Curie grant agreement Nº847624.

Co-financing partners:

• Blanquerna- URL Foundation • GEINTRA Electronic Engineering Applied to Intelligent Spaces and Transport Research Group of the University of Alcalá • Instituto de Selección Escolar de Vizcaya Foundation • Tubos Reunidos Group • UNIBASQ- Basque University System Quality Assurance Agency • Urban Planning Institute of the Republic of Slovenia

Contact Details

Noémi Kalocsay International Research Project Office (IRPO) Universidad de Deusto / Deustuko Unibertsitatea Avda. Universidades 24. 48007 Bilbao T: +34 94 413 93 96 (ext. 3188) E: n.kalocsay@deusto.es W: https://www.deusto.es/cs/Satellite/deusto/ en/phd-1/dirscofund/about-dirscofund/6idirs Osane Uriarte

Noémi Kalocsay

Osane Uriarte is general coordinator of the 6i-DIRS project and managed the previous COFUND project, DIRS. She is research advisor at Deusto International Research Project Office (IRPO) since its inception in 2011. Her main area of activity is the support in attracting international talent and the internationalisation of research in the areas of Sustainable and Creative Cities and Communities.

Noémi Kalocsay is the co-coordinator of the 6i-DIRS project. She joined IRPO in 2021 and she supports the internationalisation of Deusto’s research through the coordination and management of projects under Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe.

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Essential Research Experience

6i-DIRS

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he DIRS COFUND project was established in 2016 and 6i-DIRS project followed in 2019, and many researchers have completed their PhDs at the University of Deusto over the years since. We spoke to two researchers who participated in DIRS and 6i-DIRS respectively, Juan Sebastian Angarita Zapata and Oleksandr Husiev, about their time on the programme and how it helped them develop and apply their skills.

Many researchers have completed their PhDs at the University of Deusto, and many more research projects are in the pipeline, under the DIRS and the 6i-DIRS programmes. We spoke to two researchers, Juan Sebastian Angarita Zapata and Oleksandr Husiev, fellows of the DIRS and 6i-DIRS projects respectively, about their time on the programme and how it helped and helps them develop and apply their skills.

EU Researcher: What was the topic of your PhD?

Juan Sebastian: My PhD was in the area of machine learning and its use in supervised traffic forecasting. This research was interdisciplinary in nature, between transportation systems and machine learning The context is that intelligent transport systems nowadays are full of digital data, yet many transportation stakeholders don’t have a background in machine learning EUR: How did you address this issue?

JS: During the thesis I developed machine learning methods for use in transportation. These methods are designed to help transportation managers identify the best model for the input data they have, without the need for any specialist machine learning knowledge.

EUR: What kind of support did you have during your PhD studies?

JS: I want to highlight the quality of the supervision in 6i-DIRS project, not only here at the University of Deusto, but also the host institutions. During the programme I had access to a second supervisor based in the

UK, which was quite complementary.

The group here at Deusto is focused on transportation-related projects, so it was a very good environment for me to learn about transportation and how I could apply my computational knowledge to develop effective tools that met practical needs.

EUR: Why did you apply to the 6i- DIRSirs programme?

Oleksandr

Husiev: Previously I conducted research related to smart cities and communities, and I was looking to get involved in a project on questions around the energy transition and data-driven analysis of social issues.

EUR: Is this research quite interdisciplinary in nature?

OH: Yes, which is one reason why the 6iDIRS programme is very exciting for me. I have the opportunity to collaborate in the open European framework with projects on the energy transition.

EUR: Is the energy transition not just about developing new sources of energy?

Does it also raise social questions?

OH: The role of society in the energy transition is now seen as being more and more important. Energy is not something we just consume any more, but nowadays we can actively participate in the market, and play a role in generating energy for the local community. This project gives me the opportunity to go deeper into the social and technical aspects of the energy transition.

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6i-DIRS Project Cofunders

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