The Training Activities Center (TAC)
Convenors: J. Clasen, University of Edimborough, UK, (P28), A. Fischer, the Central European University, Budapest, H (P25)

Training and doctoral schools are key elements in the integrative activities of RECWOWE and also as one part of spreading of excellence. Within a domain characterised by variation across member states, new European policies emerge, and thus potential for cross-national learning and knowledge, both of which have to be transferred to the new generations of early stage and doctoral researchers. The same also applies to practitioners and professionals working in public, private and non-profit sector organisations that are involved in the design, implementation or evaluation of programmes situated at the interface between social and employment policy. Training is therefore a critical element for the future of European scientific capacity both within public research and public policy organisations. Last but not least, training is an important durable aspect of RECWOWE that is designed to outlive the 5 years maximal funding of the network.

The training approach adopted within RECWOWE involves making use of, and opening up, existing capacities within the network as well as training expertise within participant institutions within RECWOWE (members of the European University, participants in European Erasmus and Socrates intensive programmes - e.g. on European Labour markets, ELM-, or organisers of training programmes for doctoral researchers within and across member states - e.g. Brno Masaryk University's European Graduate School for Social Science). Secondly, RECWOWE's Action 10 will be closely linked to ESPAnet (the European Social Policy Analysis network). Individual members of ESPAnet have organised a series of international doctoral (young researchers) workshops in the past few years (at Aalborg, Stirling, Bath, Paris), and further workshops are currently under preparation. This experience makes ESPAnet an ideal umbrella organisation for the successful planning and running of Action 10. Jochen Clasen is co-chair (with Wim Van Oorschot) of ESPAnet and will guarantee the close collaboration of both RECWOWE and ESPAnet.

The creation of a Training Activities Center (TAC) for RECWOWE will thus pool and capitalise on these areas of existing expertise in order to build a new integrative and lasting platform for the provision of training in the area of work and welfare within the European Research Area. It has four target groups: teachers, early stage researchers, doctoral researchers and mid-level professionals working in the field of social and employment policy. Opening up exiting training programmes to European mobility, using teacher and student exchanges, pooling teaching resources (literature, course material etc) and inviting RECWOWE participants to disseminate their knowledge at one of the activities organised by the TAC will result in a stronger integration of existing training programmes, as well as the development of new activities for the network.

Over the 5-year lifetime of RECWOWE, the TAC will oversee four main areas of training activities:
1. the participation of PhD researchers in RECWOWE and fifteen short-term scientific visits,
2. five summer schools for early stage and doctoral researchers,
3. five doctoral researchers workshops,
4. four executive short courses.

Finally, the period of 5 years the close collaboration and further integration of postgraduate training in the field within RECWOWE will be used to design and develop a European doctorate programme in the field which would bind participating network partners in a lasting network, thereby helping to sustain the integration achieved during the NoE's lifetime. The first four of these activities are detailed in the first work package of TAC (see section 9.6).