Summary of the CIGUS Network’s activity in 2022

Over the course of 2022, the CIGUS Network introduced a series of initiatives designed to boost the performance of Galicia’s university research centres and promote the Network’s activity. Below is a summary of the key actions carried out during the year:

• Definition of the CIGUS Network communication strategy, aimed at boosting national and international awareness and positioning of the CIGUS Network.
• Diagnosis to determine the situation of research data management in the Network’s centres and the universities included in the Galician University System (SUG). The process also included the drawing up of a proposition for the creation and execution of a joint strategy in this sense, aimed at improving the management systems and optimising the reuse of research data generated by CIGUS centres and the universities they belong to.
• Diagnosis and assessment of the transfer potential of the CIGUS centres, focused on detecting strengths and weaknesses and designing benchmark KPIs in order to define objectives in this area.
• Definition of a CIGUS Network benchmark and framework in terms of equality, including the drawing up of a series of indicators and recommendations in order to provide CIGUS centres with a common action framework and drive their leadership in this area.
• Development of a new optimised external appraisal procedure, which the centres must undergo in order to guarantee their scientific excellence and obtain or renew CIGUS certification.

In addition to these action lines, the Network has organised training activities targeting researchers and their support staff in CIGUS centres. Examples of these action include “How to create a data management plan”, aimed at CIGUS centre researchers, and “How to support the creation of data management plans at a research centre”, designed for staff providing support for researchers at the centres. In addition, a joint MSCA COFUND proposal was presented, aimed at attracting post-doc researchers and a tutoring and advisory service was set up to solve problems or tackle new challenges facing the centres.