ESF – European Science Foundation

Project Officer – CoARA

ESF – European Science Foundation

Strasbourg, France

ESF is a non-profit organisation dedicated to the support of excellent science through partnerships and support to scientific programmes. We operate in the EU and wider European environment and collaborate with major scientific stakeholders.

We invite applications for an experienced and dynamic Project Officer to contribute to the management of the CoARA Boost project, including its Information System and support the work of the CoARA Programme Manager.

ESF has been appointed to host the secretariat of the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA – https://coara.eu/). We are therefore inviting applications for a Project Officer to support the CoARA Programme Manager.

CoARA is a global Coalition of signatories of the Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment (https://coara.eu/agreement/the-agreement-full-text/). This agreement sets a shared direction for changes in assessment practices for research, researchers and research-performing organisations, with the overarching goal of maximising the quality and impact of research.

CoARA is composed of more than 700 universities, research organisations, agencies involved in research assessment and other relevant organisations. These institutions commit to working together for systemic reform on the basis of common principles within an agreed timeframe, facilitating exchanges of information and mutual learning between all those willing to improve research assessment practices.

The CoARA Boost project has a duration of 36 months and has been funded by the European Commission as part of its Horizon Europe framework. The overarching objective of the CoARA Boost project is to contribute to enabling a systemic reform of assessment of research, researchers and research organisations that recognises the diverse outputs, practices and activities that maximise the quality and impact of research. CoARA Boost will: I) strengthen CoARA’s operational capacity, ii) catalyse knowledge development, policy evolution and institutional change in research assessment, iii) facilitate collection and exchange of good practices, iv) widen the Coalition’s membership in Europe and beyond.

The mission of the position is to assist the CoARA Programme Manager in the successful coordination of the CoARA Boost project and, when applicable, representing ESF to improve its visibility on the European research landscape.

The position will involve:

• Assisting the CoARA Programme Manager and taking care of the day-to-day running and administration of the CoARA Boost project;
• Implementing the CoARA cascade funding programme;
• Organising and managing meetings, including travel arrangements;
• Working closely with the CoARA communications officer to ensure that developments are communicated to early involve our community;
• Supporting the development of the CoARA Information System and its usage;
• Carrying out day-to-day project tasks (drafting of letters and memoranda, dissemination of information, reporting etc.).

The Project Officer should demonstrate the following competencies:

Specific competencies:

• PhD or Master’s degree with a further 1-2 years experience in EU funded project management;
• Basic knowledge of European and national research structures and institutions and European and international science policy;
• High standard of spoken and written English, with a working knowledge of another European language being an advantage;
• Ability to draft, under supervision, concise and clear scientific documents;
• Experience in the management of CRM (Customer relationship Management) softwares;
• Experience in the use of IT tools and content management systems such as WordPress;
• Mastery of Excel;
• Demonstrated experience in the implementation of EU projects, including event planning and general workflow;
• Excellent oral and written communications skills;
• Excellent organisation skills, conscientious and resourceful;
• Experience in research assessment, metascience (research on research) and research policy is an asset;
• Data analysis knowledge would be a plus.

Inter-personal competencies:

• Good organisational skills and capacity to deliver on allocated tasks and respond in a timely manner to deadlines;
• Action-orientated and responsible;
• Creative, willing to take initiative and continuously improvement-minded;
• Transparency in working and a team-orientated work ethic;
• Ability to represent ESF in the scientific community if applicable;
• Positive and constructive attitude.

Employment conditions:

This position empowers an emerging junior scientist with top-class learning in a very pleasant and dynamic environment.

• The position is expected to be full-time (100% FTE) and will start as soon as possible;
• The contract is offered for an initial duration of 18 months, and can be possibly extended or transformed into a permanent contract;
• The person selected for the position will be working from Strasbourg head office. The position may involve travel.

Please send your application (cover letter + CV in English) by 5 November 2024 to jobs@esf.org quoting the following reference PO CoARA 2024. Interviews will be held in Strasbourg in November 2024.

The ESF will not discriminate, nor allow its staff to discriminate, against any member of staff or applicant for employment or ex-employee on the basis of gender, sexual orientation, age, ethnic, national, cultural or social origin, skin colour, physical appearance, religion or believes, marital or parental status, mental or physical disability, political opinion, social or economic situation, or health status.