Early Career Event
Data : 9th June 2026, Valencia
Imagining Futures: How can Studies of Policies for Research & Innovation contribute to grand challenges?
Researchers in Eu-SPRI explore how research and innovation policies can address major societal challenges such as health, energy, security, and environmental sustainability. Human activity has pushed the Earth beyond critical planetary limits, making science, technology, and innovation central both to the problem and to potential solutions.
Addressing these challenges requires new ways of thinking and acting. Futuring approaches encourage long-term visions that go beyond short-term crisis management, opening pathways toward more just and sustainable futures.
Early career researchers play a key role in this transformation but face significant challenges: pressure to publish, tensions between novelty and rigor, ethical dilemmas in applied research, career uncertainty, and the responsible use of new tools such as generative AI.
This event provides a space for early career researchers in Studies of Policies for Research & Innovation to reflect on these issues, exchange experiences with peers, and learn from senior scholars. Participants will critically examine key theoretical approaches and discuss research practices and career paths within the SPRI field.
PLANNING OF THE DAY
The morning session focuses on theoretical discussions and the afternoon session on research practices and careers. Experts’ presentations introduce creative discussions with and between participants, who design a Creative Reflection and Imagination Wall, on which participants contribute with drawings, keywords, and personal reflections. At the end of the event, the wall is presented as a collective artifact.
Programme
