NUCLEUS develops, supports and implements inclusive and sustainable approaches to Responsible Research and Innovation within the governance and culture of research organisations in Europe. A major goal of the transdisciplinary project will be to stimulate research and innovation which continuously reflects and responds to societal needs. In order to achieve a multifaceted and cross-cultural New Understanding of Communication, Learning and Engagement in Universities and Scientific Institutions, 26 renowned institutions from 15 countries, among them leading representatives of 14 universities, will collaboratively identify, develop, implement and support inclusive and sustainable approaches to RRI. For a mutual learning and exchange process, the project will reach out beyond the European Research Area by including renowned scientific institutions in China, Russia and South Africa. Within a 4-year timeframe NUCLEUS will systematically uncover and analyse structural and cultural obstacles to RRI in scientific institutions. The partners will collaboratively develop innovative approaches to overcome these barriers. The project is expected to lead to an applicable ‘RRI DNA’, providing practical guidelines for higher education institutions and funding agencies across Europe and beyond. This ‘DNA’ will form the basis for the ‘NUCLEUS Living Network’, an alliance to ensure sustainability of the approach beyond the project timeline. By offering new academic insights and practical recommendations derived from 30 ‘RRI test beds’, NUCLEUS will contribute to the debate on science policies both on a national and European level, including the future design of HORIZON 2020 and the European Research Area (ERA).

iAtlantic will take an interdisciplinary scientific approach to unifying stakeholder efforts to better inform sustainable management and enhance human and observational capacity throughout the Atlantic. The integration of ecosystem data with major circulation pathways connecting the North and South linked with climatic data and forecasts provides a systematic approach to jointly assess and tackle policy challenges. Ocean physics and ecosystem connectivity will enable high-resolution oceanographic hindcasts and forecasts of future circulation together with ground-truthing genomic data. Advances in eDNA genomics, machine learning and autonomous underwater robotics will be combined with existing data to provide a step-changes in predictive habitat mapping approaches to expand species and biodiversity observations from local to basin-scales. Ecological timeseries, including innovative palaeoceanographic and genomic reconstructions, will provide an unprecedented view of the impacts of climate change on Atlantic ecosystems. Assessment of the impact of multiple stressors will identify key drivers of ecosystem change and tipping points. New data will come from 12 carefully selected regions in the deep sea and open ocean that are of international conservation significance and of interest to Blue Economy and Blue Growth sectors. Innovative and efficient data handling and data publishing approaches will establish a better integrated Atlantic Ocean observation data community. Capacity and cooperation between science, industry and policymakers bordering the Atlantic will be boosted by joint multi-disciplinary research cruises, enhanced S Atlantic monitoring arrays, scientific training events, iAtlantic Fellowships and industry focussed workshops. Results will be used to stimulate dialogue with stakeholders and critically assess current ocean governance frameworks generating increased capacity for Marine Spatial Planning and enabling Blue Growth scenarios to be rapidly evaluated.

Europe has led the field of neutron science for several decades thanks to an active network of neutron sources. The landscape is currently experiencing dramatic changes as several facilities have reached the end of their life cycle. To help uphold Europe's position in the global research environment and further strengthen the network of facilities for research using neutrons, fifteen European countries are jointly building the world's most powerful neutron source in Sweden. The European Spallation Source ERIC (ESS) in Lund is now 43% complete. Its unique capabilities will greatly exceed those of today's leading neutron sources, enabling new opportunities for researchers in many fields, including material and life sciences, engineering, energy, the environment, cultural heritage and fundamental physics. Following the prioritisation of ESS by ESFRI and the Competitiveness Council, eighteen partner organisations successfully delivered the Horizon 2020 project BrightnESS, from 2015 to 2018. BrightnESS-2 will build on the legacy of BrightnESS, but shifts the focus from risk mitigation to long-term sustainability of ESS and its community. This both supports, and depends upon, the long-term sustainability of a vibrant neutron scattering community and a network of complementary facilities in Europe. With a timeline of 42 months, and 16 partners from Europe and South Africa, BrightnESS-2 will ensure that i) neutron facilities in Europe provide access and services in a strategic and coordinated manner to user communities from Europe and beyond, ii) in-kind contributions to ESS are managed as part of the R&D collaborative work, iii) ESS boosts the innovation potential of the facility and fosters strategic partnerships with industry, iv) ESS reinforces its position as a truly global research infrastructure, v) ESS delivers positive socio-economic impact. The proposal has been endorsed through Letters of Support by 13 institutes and neutron sources from around the world.

The overall project aim is to bring RRI into the linked up global world to promote mutual learning and collaboration in RRI. This will be achieved by the formation of the global RRING community network and by the development and mobilisation of a global Open Access RRI knowledge base. RRING will align RRI to the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as a global common denominator. The RRING project acknowledges that each region of the world is advancing its own agenda on RRI. Therefore, RRING will not be producing a Global RRI framework or strategy that is meant to be enforced in a top-down manner. Rather, increased coherence and convergence will be achieved via a bottom-up approach, learning from best practices in RRI globally and from linkages, via the new RRING community, to develop the RRI linked-up world. Six Objectives of RRING Objective 1: Promote a linked up global world of RRI by creating the global RRING community network, thereby enabling mutual learning, collaboration, mobilisation of RRI concepts. Objective 2: Mobilise, promote and disseminate a global open access knowledge base of RRI based on the State of the Art (SoA) and comparative analysis across the key geographies, all stakeholders and sectors. It will cover key platforms, spaces and players, role and influence of stakeholders, drivers and policies for R&I, regulation in public,private sectors and nation states and international organizations. Objective 3: Align RRI to the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to provide a global common denominator for advancement of RRI, and address Grand Challenges globally. Objective 4: Determine the competitive advantages of RRI and also understand how and where RRI is perceived as a barrier and/ or disadvantage. Objective 5: Create high level RRI strategy recommendations for the seven geographic zones, trial RRI best practice learning in 2 EU case studies Objective 6: Promote inclusive engagement of civil society and researchers