TORCH Annual Forum: How to join

01 March 2022

The first TORCH Annual Forum will be held on 2 March 2022. Under the topic “Sustainability in a (post?) pandemic world: asking the right question on the role of Universities in R&I today” the event will bring together various European Universities alliances – and its SwafS projects – to discuss about trends and challenges in R&I.

While experts’ opinions are significantly different regarding the remaining threat of COVID-19, everyone agrees that the pandemic has permanently changed the world around us from many different aspects and for many different sectors. As we work to shape our future and deal with many societal challenges, how can universities and European Universities alliances contribute to a European internal market for knowledge and maximize the impact of R&I in a (post?) pandemic world for a better, inclusive and sustainable future? This is one of the questions that we will be addressing during the first TORCH Annual Forum next 2nd March 2022 in a virtual format.

During the Forum we will address issues such as:

What are the challenges in Research assessment reform, how is the EU approaching it and what can we learn from the work of the European Universities alliances?

Sharing learning and discussion on how European University alliances can impact a sustainable future through a common R&I Agenda and the role that such a common agenda may play in achieving the European Green Deal and more broadly contributing to the implementation of the SDGs

How can Universities and alliances better work with Enterprises and with citizens

The importance of cross cutting principles such as Ethics, integrity, interdisciplinarity, gendered innovation in responsible research and the challenges in developing common implementation approaches by alliances.

The first TORCH Open Forum will foster an in-depth discussion around these perspectives. The Annual Forum will be followed by a policy brief on the development of recommendations and roadmap for the progress of a common EU Research and Innovation Agenda with clear priorities and actions.

Download the agenda

Register now here.