As part of the EU-funded EUTOPIA HEALTH project, the EU Research & Innovation Support team of VUB TechTransfer travelled to Romania, Slovenia, and Portugal to deliver workshops aiming at strengthening EU R&I capacity in health and spearheading academic excellence.
Introducing EUTOPIA HEALTH
EUTOPIA HEALTH is a 5-year project that aims at facilitating institutional transformations and to spearhead academic excellence and innovation in health-related domains. The project targets specifically the three “Widening” countries of Romania, Slovenia, Portugal (defined as countries that have traditionally lagged behind in European Research & Innovation programmes), and aims at strengthening their profiles by overcoming funding and publication disparities. As such, EUTOPIA HEALTH will facilitate changes in the academic landscape within the European health research area. The activities planned in EUTOPIA HEALTH are multifaceted, and include, among others: webinars on EU funding and technology transfer; mobility programs; transdisciplinary training activities; and mentorship.
The project has started on 1 January 2024 and has received funding (4,999,960 euros) from the European Commission as part of its WIDERA programme (Widening Participation and Spreading Excellence, HORIZON-WIDERA-2023-ACCESS-03). Projects under this programme strengthen the Widening countries’ potential for successful participation in transnational research and innovation processes. They also promote networking and access to excellence.
The four specific objectives of EUTOPIA HEALTH are:
- Empowering institutional transformation by strengthening Research & Innovation management capacity of EUTOPIA members from Widening countries;
- Reinforcing the role of higher education institutions in innovation ecosystems and strengthening collaboration between science and society;
- Increasing connectedness for excellence in Health research;
- Mainstreaming best practices and tools for Open and Inclusive Science.
The EUTOPIA HEALTH consortium is coordinated by Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca (Romania) and includes the following partner universities: Vrije Universiteit Brussels (Belgium), Ca'Foscari University of Venice (Italy), CY Cergy Paris Université (France), University of Gothenburg (Sweden), University of Ljubljana (Slovenia), NOVA University Lisbon (Portugal), Pompeu Fabra University-Barcelona (Spain), and the University of Warwick (United Kingdom) as associated partner.
VUB in EUTOPIA HEALTH
The European Research & Innovation Support (ERIS) team of TechTransfer at VUB, coordinated by Dr Philippe Westbroek, is involved in Work Package 3 of EUTOPIA HEALTH. The ERIS team will especially lead the two tasks: (i) Task 3.4: Development and implementation of a series of webinars concerning EU funding, technology transfer and value creation; and (ii) Task 3.5: Setting up and organizing Proposal Development Workshops.
As part of Task 3.5, between March and April 2024, the ERIS team has travelled to Cluj (Romania), Ljubljana (Slovenia), and Lisbon (Portugal) to deliver 3-day Proposal Development Workshops to researchers and researchers managers at the universities of the three cities. These Proposal Development Workshops gave an in-depth knowledge of how a collaborative Horizon Europe proposal is structured, along with some tips and tricks for maximising the chances of funding success. The content of the workshops included both presentations and hands-on exercises, and was divided into 10 modules, namely: (1) overview of Horizon Europe funding opportunities; (2) overview of Horizon Europe funding opportunities in the health domain; (3) building a consortium; (4) managing a consortium; (5) writing the Excellence section; (6) writing the Impact section; (7) writing the Implementation section; (8) completing the administrative forms; (9) preparing the budget; and (10) interpreting an Evaluation Summary Report. The workshops were well attended and well received, and the researchers fully engaged with the exercises.
Now that the ERIS team is back in Belgium, the second part of the programme will start: five researchers from each of the three universities (Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, University of Ljubljana, and NOVA University Lisbon) have been selected to take part in a 3-year dedicated and intensive support programme provided by the VUB TechTransfer ERIS team. This intensive support programme aims at the submission of 15 collaborative Horizon Europe proposals.
The support offered will include:
- identification of EU calls that match the researchers’ profiles;
- development of the initial concept for attracting consortium partners;
- bi-weekly online meetings; and
- regular co-writing of the proposal with the assistance of the VUB ERIS team.
Additionally, in 2016, the ERIS team will start a 2nd cycle of workshops & intensive support with a new cohort of researchers at Babeș-Bolyai University in Cluj-Napoca, University of Ljubljana, and NOVA University Lisbon.
Expected impact
The workshops and the intensive support programme that the ERIS team is coordinating under EUTOPIA HEALTH will be key for strengthening EU funding expertise and the success rates of the three Widening countries, leading to an advancement of their medical research and innovation opportunities, while also providing a boost for the career of many researchers. These activities will also act as a blueprint for future EU-wide knowledge-exchange and capacity-building projects.
Interested in joining a consortium to apply for a EU health call? Get in touch with the VUB TechTransfer ERIS team and we will see how you can collaborate with these excellent researchers from Ljubljana, Cluj, and Lisbon!
