KENT STATE UNIVERSITY

Their core work

Kent State University is a public research university in Ohio (USA) that has contributed specialized academic expertise to European research networks by hosting Marie Skłodowska-Curie researchers. In H2020 contexts, KSU supported two entirely distinct fields: urban geography and shrinking-city revitalization policy (RE-CITY), and Palaeolithic archaeology with stone tool mechanics (EDGE). Their value to European consortia lies in providing a transatlantic secondment destination — access to US-based facilities, mentorship, and research environments that cannot be sourced from within Europe alone. Both engagements were as a third party, meaning different KSU departments independently engaged with MSCA opportunities rather than the university pursuing a unified EU strategy.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

In the first phase (2018), KSU's European engagement centered entirely on urban studies — specifically shrinking post-industrial cities, covering governance models, land greening, and sustainability planning as comparative North American cases. By 2021, a completely different department appears to have connected to European networks, focusing on Palaeolithic stone tool research and applying fracture mechanics and materials science to prehistoric artifacts — a field with no topical overlap with the earlier work. The shift is not an evolution of a single research strand but rather two separate faculties engaging independently with MSCA opportunities, a pattern typical of large decentralized universities.

KSU's two MSCA engagements likely reflect independent departmental initiatives rather than any institution-wide European strategy, so future collaboration depends entirely on identifying and reaching the specific KSU faculty member relevant to your field.

How they like to work

Kent State University has participated exclusively as a third party in both H2020 projects — it has never held formal consortium membership, a budget line, or reporting obligations. This role is characteristic of non-European host institutions for MSCA secondments or Individual Fellowships, where the primary value is providing a research environment and mentorship rather than driving deliverables. Working with KSU through this model requires identifying the specific department and principal investigator involved, as the university operates through decentralized research groups with no evidence of a central EU-liaison office coordinating these engagements.

KSU has been associated with 16 consortium partners across 9 countries through its two third-party roles, suggesting connection to moderately sized European research networks. These are largely indirect contacts inherited from the consortia that invited KSU as a host, rather than bilateral partnerships KSU itself has built and maintains.

What sets them apart

As a US-based research university, KSU offers European consortia a transatlantic secondment destination — a specific requirement for some MSCA project designs that mandate training outside Europe. Within the two fields demonstrated (urban shrinkage studies and Palaeolithic lithic technology), KSU provides access to North American comparative cases and facilities unavailable within a purely European partnership. With only two third-party engagements on record, however, this positioning is narrow and department-specific; it does not reflect a broad institutional commitment to EU research collaboration.

Highlights from their portfolio

• EDGE
  Unusually interdisciplinary project bridging Palaeolithic archaeology and modern engineering science (fracture mechanics, design theory) — KSU's involvement suggests specialized laboratory capacity in biomechanics or materials testing applied to stone artifacts, a rare combination.
• RE-CITY
  Large MSCA training network on shrinking cities with direct European policy relevance; KSU's inclusion as a US partner signals the value of North American post-industrial urban cases (e.g., Rust Belt) as comparative reference points for European researchers.