EURAXESS portal launched
The Faroese EURAXESS portal – euraxess.fo – was launched this morning at a press conference organized by the Research Council.
Annika Sølvará, director of the Research Council, welcomed the audience and gave a short presentation on the EURAXESS service. She was followed by Mr Johan Dahl, Minister of Industry, who gave a speech, and by Dagmar Joensen-Næs, EURAXESS co-ordinator, who presented the portal and described the work process so far.
EURAXESS is a key initiative in supporting the commitment of the European Union to remove the barriers to free movement of knowledge within Europe, to strengthen cross-border mobility of researchers, students, scientists and academic staff and to provide researchers with better career structures.
EURAXESS is a part of the European research cooperation FP7 which will change into Horizon 2020 on 1 January 2014. EURAXESS service centres are available in all countries participating in FP7/Horizon2020.
Two year project
The Research Council was granted 900.000 DKK from FP7 to the project to establish a Faroese EURAXESS service. The project was launched on 1 February 2013 and is planned for two years.
The first task was look into the need of the Faroese research intitutes to recruite researchers from abroad and the need by foreign researchers working in the Faroe Islands to get better information on issues such as moving to the Faroe Islands, living and working in the country. It turned out that the need is urgent, as the knowledge abroad on Faroese research is very limited and the foreign researchers that have moved to the country find it very challenging to find sufficient information on the societal structures.
Most research institutes are keen to recruit foreign researchers because they bring new inspiration, knowledge and personal network to the Faroese Research community. A central service on the portal is the Jobs section, where research institutes can announce vacant positions free of charge to an international audience and where researchers in the Faroe Islands interested in improving their skills abroad get access to all vacant positions in the Jobs section.
The new portal, in English and Faroese, offers information on a range of issues, e.g. entry conditions, moving, accommodation, work conditions, taxes, language courses, health care and social security. There is also information on the Faroe Islands, on Faroese research and fund for research projects. Similarly information is available for Faroese researchers, who want to go abroad to work some time.
Organization
EURAXESS Faroe Islands consists of a Bridgehead Organisation and two Service Centres. The Faroese Research Council is the Bridgehead Organisation and the National Service Centre of the Faroe Islands. The objective of the Bridgehead Organisation is to coordinate the EURAXESS network of the Faroe Islands. The second Service Centre is established at the University of the Faroe Islands.
EURAXESS Faroe Islands has Contacts Points in all public research institutions. The Contact Points provide assistance to researchers coming to or leaving the institution. They offer support on matters with mainly a local dimension and are often in face-to-face contact with the researchers.
Dagmar Joensen-Næs is responsible for the establishment of the Faroese EURAXESS-service.