Welcome to Research & Innovation Project Design Module

In this module, we will work together on a central challenge in your doctoral journey:

• How can you turn a promising idea into a coherent, fundable research and innovation project?

Throughout this course, we will focus on the alignment between Excellence, Impact and Implementation. You will see that a strong proposal is not just a collection of good parts, but a story where the problem, objectives, methods, impact and work plan all fit together.

Within METEOR, you are not working alone. You are part of a Peer Mentoring Group (PMG), and you will co-design a Transdisciplinary Research & Innovation Proposal (TRIP). This module is designed to support that process step by step.

By the end of this module, you should feel more confident to:

• define a clear and relevant problem,
• formulate realistic and impactful objectives,
• choose appropriate methods and data,
• and organise your ideas into a coherent structure that fits typical EU-style templates.

Let’s begin by clarifying what we actually mean by “research and innovation project design” in the METEOR context.

Learning outcomes of this module

After completing the module, you will be able to:

1. Explain the core components of project design and how E–I–I alignment strengthens a proposal.
2. Identify a problem or need and translate it into a project concept.
3. Formulate objectives that are coherent, measurable, and linked to outcomes.
4. Select suitable methods and data strategies for early-stage project planning.
5. Sketch a realistic work plan consistent with common proposal templates.
6. (If applicable) contribute effectively to a group-designed TRIP within any collaborative setting.