CareerEnhance: A community of practice to enhance research careers and inter-sectoral mobility

The CareerEnhance project is a Coordination and Support Action (CSA) funded under the Horizon Europe WIDERA programme. The project addresses the uneven distribution of career development support across Europe, with a strategic focus on reducing R&I disparities in widening and remote regions. 

The project aims to strengthen research careers in Europe by establishing a European Community of Practice (CoP) that supports the uptake of the European Framework for Research Careers (EFRC) and ResearchComp: European Competence Framework for Researchers. The consortium is led by UiT the Arctic University of Norway, consists of 20 partners from 13 countries, and is supported by a Reference Group represented by over 30 organisations. 

CareerEnhance will co-create open-access tools, training courses, and digital resources that enhance employability, inter-sectoral mobility, and recognition of researchers across Europe. Planned activities include: Mapping barriers and opportunities for career reform; developing digital and training tools linked to EFRC and ResearchComp; piloting career enhancing tools and three transferable skills courses (Research ethics including AI, Open Science, and understanding business contexts) with early-career researchers (ECRs) in diverse contexts, including widening and remote regions; establishing a sustainable Career CoP Hub integrated with the European Research Area (ERA) Talent Platform; delivering policy briefs and recommendations to support institutional and national reforms. 

CareerEnhance seeks to create measurable impacts, including the pan-European CoP with +300 members, new training opportunities for 160 ECRs, and validated resources for adoption by higher education institutions, employers, and policymakers.

The project outcomes will contribute to resilient and stable community for cooperation and knowledge exchange across organisations and actors; modernised career policies and improved talent management in Higher Education Institutions; more skilled employees in remote areas, making regions more attractive; more targeted job announcements and diversified career opportunities for ECRs, leading to higher employer and employee satisfaction.

As a partner in the project, Simula is actively involved in:

• Mapping barriers to research career implementation.
• Developing tools for ECRs and employers to navigate competence frameworks.
• Developing courses in Open Science tailored to ECRs focusing on FAIR and CARE data management training
• Piloting career-enhancing resources, including the gamified career journey tool and the research ethics course.

Funding

This project is funded by the Horizon Europe programme under Call HORIZON-WIDERA-2025-06-ERA-01.

It is a Coordination and Support Action (CSA).

Disclaimer: Funded by the European Union. Views and opinions expressed are however those of the author(s) only and do not necessarily reflect those of the European Union. Neither the European Union nor the Granting authority can be held responsible for them.

Partners

The CareerEnhance consortium consists of 20 partners from 13 countries. 

• UiT The Arctic University of Norway (Norway), Coordinator
• EIT FOOD (Belgium)
• University of Chemistry and Technology, Prague / VSCHT (Czech Republic)
• SJOKOVIN (Faroe Islands)
• University of the Faroe Islands / UFI (Faroe Islands)
• University of Helsinki / HU (Finland)
• Tress Academic GbR (Germany)
• Innovation Hive - Kypseli Kainotomias (Greece)
• Chamber of Commerce of Larissa (Greece)
• University "G. d'Annunzio" of Chieti-Pescara / Ud'A (Italy)
• European University Foundation / EUF (Luxembourg)
• University Industry Innovation Network / UIIN (Netherlands)
• Norwegian University of Science and Technology / NTNU (Norway)
• Simula Research Laboratory AS (Norway)
• University of Porto / UPorto-FEUP (Portugal)
• Icognitus4all - IT Solutions Lda (Portugal)
• Gheorghe Asachi Technical University of Iasi / TUIASI (Romania)
• Ascendis Consulting SRL (Romania)
• University of Alcalá / UAH (Spain)
• Fundación Universidad-Empresa / FUE (Spain)