The Project SAPIENS – Sustainability and Procurement in International, European, and National Systems – has been awarded a Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions Innovative Training Network (ITN) grant of €3.9 million by the European Research Agency (European Commission).
The SAPIENS combines 10 international Universities from eight countries, and non-academic partners in seven countries. At the heart of the project are 15 Ph.D. positions on various multidisciplinary aspects of Sustainable Public Procurement linked to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.
The 15 Ph.D. students, one of which will be based in Rome under the supervision of Prof. Gustavo Piga and Prof. Andrea Appolloni, will attend a common training programme, participate in common public engagement, dissemination and impact activities, and benefit from a number of relevant placements in public institutions, think tanks, lobbyists, and international organisations.
The project will not only offer extraordinary global research and training opportunities to 15 Early Stage Researchers, but will also contribute to increasing the overall quality and innovation of doctoral training in Europe and beyond. The aim is to produce significant research results in law, economics, business studies and social science, make them openly available, facilitate the utilisation of that knowledge by policymakers, think tanks, business, and the legal and other professions, and to train a uniquely qualified cohort with professional prospects inside but also beyond academia.
The project will run from 2021 to 2025 and will be managed from the University of Turin, University of Birmingham, University of Copenhagen, Lodz University of Technology, Corvinus University of Budapest , Tor Vergata University of Rome, Hasselt University, University of Gävle, Babes-Bolyai University in Cluj Napoca, and the University of Greenwich. Moreover, 18 partners, including the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the International Training Centre of the International Labour Organisation, George Washington University, Federation of Small Businesses, Fair Trade Advocacy Group, Stichting Fair Trade Advocacy Office, Eating City, as well as national agencies, public purchasers and lobbyists are contributing to the training programme.