FIT-4-NMP Exhibition booth at EuroNanoForum 2023
During 11 – 13 June 2023, the FIT-4-NMP project was showcased at the EuroNanoForum 2023 Exhibition, in Lund, Sweden. EuroNanoForum 2023 is an international conference on nanotechnology and advanced materials organized every second year, with the European Commission support and participation. The 2023 theme of the conference was “Nanotechnology and advanced materials for a sustainable Europe”.
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Success Story: FIT-4-NMP Facilitates Collaboration for Polish Talented Newcomer Working in Composites Recycling Field
NOMA RESINS SP. Z O. O., a research and development-focused Polish company specializing in resins and raw materials for composites manufacturing, has achieved significant results in its journey towards international collaboration. With a strong expertise in polymer chemistry and expanding business opportunities in the composites market, NOMA had not previously participated in any EU-funded projects. However, in 2021, the company seized the opportunity to receive support from the FIT-4-NMP team through its talented newcomers' identification and engagement campaign.
FIT-4-NMP funds technology transfer officers to participate in ASTP annual conference
FIT-4-NMP funded seven technology transfer officers (TTOs) to participate in the recent annual conference of the Association of European Science and Technology-Transfer Professionals (ASTP). The TTOs came from Czechia, Latvia, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Turkey and Ukraine.
FIT-4-NMP Special Session at USCSP Conference, Uzhhorod, Ukraine
Special Session “Additional opportunities for participation in Horizon Europe projects. Project FIT-4-NMP” took place in the frame of the IX Ukrainian Scientific Conference on Semiconductor Physics on 22th May 2023. The hybrid event gathered in Western Ukraine 52 participants, 28 of whom were present on-site and 24 online.
4th Strategic seminar in Slovakia
On 16th May 2023 the FIT-4-NMP partner Institute of Materials and Machine Mechanics, Slovak Academy of Sciences, held a national strategic seminar aimed to support the cooperation between academy, universities and industry. The main goal was the exchange of the latest knowledge in order to improve the ability to join Horizon Europe programs and cooperation in materials engineering, characterization techniques, sustainable environmental solutions, engineering and special operations.
Networking event in Latvia: “Future trends in Entrepreneurship 2023”
The event “Future trends in entrepreneurship 2023” was organized by the local government in Preilu city, Latvia, with the support of FIT-4-NMP project. Info and networking day was held on 3rd of May 2023 and gathered almost 90 participants, representing regional SMEs, municipalities and stakeholders.
Innovation Workshop in INESC ID in Lisbon
FIT-4-NMP 5th Innovation Workshop took place on 30-31 January 2023 on the premises of INESC-ID in Lisbon. 22 European experts from 17 organizations from 5 countries took part in the workshop, including 8 Newcomers. The Workshop was devoted to Batt4EU Partnership Calls for Battery management systems and hybrid electric energy storage solutions.
Innovation Workshop in INESC-TEC in Porto
The Innovation Workshop focused on Manufacturing-as-a-Service & Industry 5.0 was held by FIT-4-NMP on 26-27.01.2023 in Porto. The Workshop was organized by the Top Innovator INESC-TEC and gathered 5 European experts from 4 countries, including 6 Newcomers in NMP.
3rd Interactive Technology Transfer Workshop
On 8th and 9th of December, 2022 the FIT-4-NMP project held the 3rd Tech Transfer Interactive Workshop in Prague, Czech Republic, which was delivered by ASTP.
31 experts in tech transfer from different underrepresented regions participated in this training to learn about collaborations between academia and industry an network within the project community.
Calendar of Horizon Europe 2023 Infodays and Brokerage Events
New Horizon Europ calls are approaching fast. To give prospective applicants the opportunity to get information and ask questions about the main funding instruments and processes of the calls, the European Commission organizes a series of Information days.
Additionally, the Brokerage Events are planned by relevant NCPs, with the objective to gather all the relevant stakeholders intending to apply for funding, and support the development of consortia and project ideas.
BATTERY INNOVATION WORKSHOP in VTT
Innovation Workshop held by VTT on 09-10 November 2022 in Finland aimed at the identification and discussion of possible synergies in preparing joint project proposals for Batt4EU Partnership calls. 25 European experts from Finland, Poland, the Czech Republic, Ukraine, and Portugal took part in the workshop.
“Engaging in Horizon Europe projects: What’s first?"
Organised by Luxinnovation under the Fit4NMP project, the event was held on the 8th of November at the Chambre de Commerce of Luxembourg. Its main objective was to provide a detailed tour guide on the necessary sequential steps to take from newcomer organisations wanting to get engaged on Horizon Europe projects. Over 20 potential newcomer Luxembourgish organisations took part in the event.
Functional Materials 2022 (hybrid conference)
FIT-4-NMP project partners Institute of Materials and Machine Mechanics, Slovak Academy of Sciences (IMSAS) held a successful hybrid event in the project area. The Functional Materials 2022 hybrid conference gathered 45 participants from different countries, including 3 FIT-4-NMP talented newcomers.
FIT-4-NMP Networking and Brokerage Event in Romania at CAS 2022 Conference
On October 13, 2022, “FIT-4-NMP Networking and Brokerage event” was held in the frame of the International Semiconductor Conference (CAS), in Poiana Brasov, Romania. The event was organized by the FIT-4-NMP partner National Institute for R&D in Microtechnologies (IMT), Bucharest. The local event was attended by 35 participants, including newcomer organizations from Moldova, Romania, Serbia.
High-Performance and Sustainable Composites Innovation Workshop
Innovation Workshop held on 13-14 October 2022 in Technische Universität Dresden aimed at co-creating concrete opportunities for collaborative research projects on High-Performance and Sustainable Composites. 24 European experts from 6 countries took part in the workshop, including including 11 Newcomers and four representatives of the process and manufacturing industry
Region training in Albania on Horizon Europe proposal writing
FIT-4-NMP held a Horizon Europe training workshop in Tirana, Albania, on 6th October.
Held within the frame of the 22nd edition of the Trends in Nanotechnology International Conference (TNT2022), the training workshop attracted thirty-two participants from the University of Tirana, Agricultural University of Tirana, University of Prishtina and Academy of Sciences of Albania
Horizon Europe proposal writing training workshops in Armenia
During 20-21 September, the two training workshops were held by FIT-4-NMP coordinator Giles Brandon in Armenia, covering the coordination and support actions (CSA) funded under the Horizon Europe Widening programme and research and innovation actions (RIA) and innovation actions (IA) funded under Horizon Europe Pillar 2 (Clusters 4 and 5).
Horizon Europe Workshop in UA09 Region
On July, 1st, 2022 the FIT-4-NMP project together with the New Economy of Frankivsk (NEF) project held a regional workshop in FIT-4-NMP prioritized Ukrainian region UA09 (Ivano-Frankivska oblast).
The workshop was attended by near 20 persons and was focused on the overview of Horizon Europe opportunities and FIT-4-NMP support services.
2nd Tech transfer training
On 14th and 15th of June, 2022 the FIT-4-NMP project held the 2nd Tech Transfer Interactive Workshop in Riga, Latvia, which was delivered by ASTP.
34 experts in tech transfer from different underrepresented regions participated in this training to learn about collaborations between academia and industry an network within the project community.
Training on M-ERA.NET 2022 call
On the 10th of May 2022, the FIT-4-NMP team organised online training focused on the M-ERA.NET network opportunities and specifically on the open 2022 call.
The FIT-4-NMP experts presented the call details and shared their experience in preparing successful M-ERA.Net proposals.
The training gathered 96 participants from different European countries.
Regional Workshop in Ukraine
On the 5th of May 2022 the FIT-4-NMP held an online workshop focused on the overview of Horizon Europe possibilities open for Ukrainian researchers. The event was co-organized by the Project Office of Lviv Polytechnic National University.
During the online workshop, which was attended by 180 participants, the experts spoke about Horizon Europe programme opportunities and the schedule of the upcoming calls.
EIC Accelerator Training
On the 4th of April 2022 the FIT-4-NMP held online training dedicated to preparing a successful proposal for the EIC Accelerator calls.
The Horizon Europe EIC Accelerator supports individual Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), in particular Startups and spinout companies to develop and scale up game-changing innovations. In some cases, small mid-caps (up to 500 employees) are supported.
During the online workshop, which was attended by 132 participants from 20 countries, the experts spoke about EIC Accelerator Features, application process. The evaluator's perspective and winner's take were also presented.
EU support to Ukrainian researchers
The European Commission supports the Ukrainian research community affected by the ongoing Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.
First, the Ukrainian entities are eligible for EU funding under Horizon Europe even without association in force. The agreement’s entry into force is on hold due to the war, however, the EC's commitment toward Ukraine to bring the research communities closer together grows bigger and stronger every day.
Second, on 22 March, the European Commission has launched a dedicated portal ERA4Ukraine (under the Euraxess network) as a one-stop-shop for information on support to researchers of Ukraine by the EU, its Member States and Associated Countries.
On the dedicated page, the FIT-4-NMP project collected different sources of help
to Ukrainian researchers offered in European countries.
FIT-4-NMP Policy Workshop
On 31 March 2021 the Innovation Policy Workshop "Increasing the participation of newcomers in NMP projects: challenges, best practices and policy measures" was held online.
The FIT-4-NMP partners demonstrated the findings of the project analytical activities on this topic. The representative of the DG RTD of the European Commission presented EU approaches facilitating the participation of newcomers in Horizon Europe. The experts from Slovakia and Catalonia shared their good practices for enhancing such involvement.
The workshop gathered near 100 participants from different European countries.
FIT-4-NMP publishes report
on how to increase the participation of talented
newcomers in Horizon Europe NMP projects
The report looks at good practices and experiences in the implementation of policy measures to support participation in the Horizon 2020 (H2020) programme and summarises the main areas of action that should be addressed at European, national, regional and institutional level in removing existing barriers to participation in the Horizon Europe (HE) programme.
FIT-4-NMP offers free support for the Horizon Europe Hop-On Facility
FIT-4-NMP is offering free service to projects funded under the Pillar 2 or EIC pathfinder schemes to get engaged in the recently opened Hop-On Facility. This facility enables one additional participant from a Widening country to join the funded project, which does not already have a participant from a Widening country. FIT-4-NMP offers support to the consortium in finding such a participant and assistance with administrative procedures of the application.
FIT-4-NMP training on Horizon Europe TWINNING call
On 09 November 2021, Mrs Aurelija Povilaikė, Widening NCP for Lithuania and Mr Giles Brandon, FIT-4-NMP Coordinator held a special online training session focused on the HORIZON-WIDERA-2021-ACCESS-03-01 “TWINNING” call for the FIT-4-NMP talented newcomers.
FIT-4-NMP published a Report on challenges limiting the participation of talented newcomers in NMP projects
The report describes the results of the FIT-4-NMP survey, which was conducted among talented newcomers and national research and innovation policy experts, in order to understand the reasons for the low participation of newcomers in NMP projects in Horizon 2020.
The survey was completed by 128 respondents from 26 countries (EU-13: 84 respondents; EU-15: 13 respondents; Associated Countries: 31 respondents). 93 of the survey respondents were R&D actors and the remaining 35 were policy-makers.
The survey questionnaire enabled to investigate three main issues relating to low participation: relevance to newcomers, barriers to participation, and ways to increase participation in Horizon Europe. The key findings of the questionnaire results analysis are presented in the Report.
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FIT-4-NMP Networking Session @ SMMT-2021
With a focus on Ukraine, Moldova, Georgia and Armenia, the FIT-4-NMP held an online networking session in the frame of the International Conference “Advanced Material Science. Materials and Technologies” (SMMT-2021), organised as a hybrid event by the G. V. Kurdyumov Institute for Metal Physics of the National Academy of Science of Ukraine.
FIT-4-NMP Networking Session @ CAS2021
FIT-4-NMP held an online networking session during the 44th International Semiconductor Conference (CAS 2021), one of the oldest conferences in Europe that cover professional interests from semiconductor devices physics and technology, including semiconductor materials and microelectronics, to micro- nanotechnologies.
FIT-4-NMP published a Report on Europe’s leading research and innovation organisations in NMP
The report presents the results of the work aimed to increase the participation of the talented newcomers in NMP research in Horizon Europe, by helping them to connect with Europe’s leading NMP research and innovation organizations, or so-called NMP top innovators. This work includes: categorizing NMP domains and NMP subdomains, locating Europe’s top innovators and creating an interactive map, which can be used by talented newcomers to learn about and contact more easily top innovators whom they would like to collaborate with in NMP research for Horizon Europe.
FIT-4-NMP published a Report on underrepresented regions and talented newcomers
The report presents the results of the analysis of regional participation in H2020 NMP research based on H2020 data,
describes the development and realisation of methodology to prepare a priority list of regions underrepresented in H2020 NMP research and the procedure of identification and engagement of talented newcomers from prioritised underrepresented regions.
Project Kick-off meeting
FIT-4-NMP kick-off meeting was held in ZOOM format on January, 19th.