Research Funding
EIT Manufacturing and opportunities for Ruhr University members
Ruhr University Bochum is a member of EIT Manufacturing since 2020. This allows researchers to establish international networks, increase their international presence, participate in recurring calls for proposals and stimulate innovation and change in the manufacturing industry across Europe.
The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) is an independent European Union body established in 2008 to promote innovation across Europe. The EIT connects leading companies with education and research institutions to form dynamic cross-border partnerships. These are called Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) and are each dedicated to finding solutions to a specific global challenge. All KICs pursue the common goal of strengthening Europe’s competitiveness in different fields.
EIT Manufacturing
EIT Manufacturing is one of the nine Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) of the EIT. It is an autonomous collaborative partnership of higher education institutions, research organizations, companies and other actors in the innovation process that come together to form a strategic network. The KIC is based on joint medium-term to long-term innovation planning to achieve the EIT’s and the European Union’s strategic objectives in the field of manufacturing.
EIT Manufacturing currently brings together more than 130 partners from industry (large companies, SMEs, start-ups) and research (universities and research institutes) to address the challenges of the manufacturing industry and create new opportunities to strengthen players in the field of manufacturing through innovation and education activities and by supporting start-ups and SMEs.
Structure and committees
Broadly speaking, the EIT Manufacturing KIC is governed by the EIT as the parent entity under the Framework Partnership Agreement (FPA). The EIT approves the Business Plan and the Strategic Agenda of the associated KICs.
EIT Manufacturing is organized in a hierarchical structure with the Partner Assembly at the top. The Assembly approves all strategic decisions proposed by the Supervisory Board Board). These include, for example, the amount of membership fees, the business plan (the association’s business strategy, including the estimated budget, with an annual or multi-year overview of investments and returns based on key performance indicators) and the KIC strategic agenda (a strategic document defining the objectives of EIT Manufacturing in the areas of education, research, innovation and business creation for a period of seven years and a roadmap for the implementation of these objectives).
The structure of EIT Manufacturing includes the following bodies:
The General Assembly is the association’s governing body. It takes place at least once a year. Every member who has paid their membership fee by the time the General Assembly is held is entitled to vote.
The Board of Directors is composed of a minimum of three (3) and a maximum of eleven (11) members appointed by the General Assembly.
The Management Team consists of a Chief Executive Officer (CEO), a Chief Operating Officer (COO) and the CLC Directors, who are responsible for the implementation of the EIT Manufacturing objectives in the six strategically assigned regions. The management team is responsible for implementing the strategy of the association, executing the business plan and managing the KICs.
Locations
EIT Manufacturing is headquartered in Paris-Saclay and has five Co-Location Centres (CLCs) across Europe. A new CLC is to be established in Athens in 2022. Germany is attached to CLC Central, based in Darmstadt. The CLC’s mission is to strengthen the member organisations in the region by providing advice, networking and information functions, and by supporting them with their applications.
Funding lines
EIT Manufacturing periodically issues calls for proposals (usually once a year; starting in 2023, calls will be issued twice a year) that address specific challenges of the manufacturing industry. Since 2022, all members will have an opportunity to submit input via the Agora platform regarding the focus of the upcoming calls.
Projects that bring innovative technologies, services or products to the market and result in the foundation of a viable company within the space of 1 to 2 years. The focus is on breakthrough innovations that have reached a sufficient level of maturity and need an additional push for a company to emerge from them. The projects are expected to bring a new product, process or service to market, achieving a minimum of TRL = 7 -9, IRL = 4-5 and SRL = 4.
This refers to educational measures to train and retrain employees in the manufacturing sector as well as members of the EIT and measures to increase social interest and commitment to the manufacturing sector in Europe. It includes the following areas:
- Empower: Delivering EIT-labelled Master’s and PhD programmes and vocational training to build a high-quality learning experience for students and professionals;
- Connect & Transform: Creating infrastructures and learning experiences for individuals and organizations that stimulate networking within the innovation community of the manufacturing sector. This includes skills development, training and retraining activities, e.g. through short-term online training for workers and support for teaching and learning factories;
- Engage: Involving students, young people and society to ensure attractiveness and engage with the manufacturing industry.
The development and implementation of programmes that address the needs of start-ups and scale-ups (CREATE and ACCELERATE) and SMEs (TRANSFORM):
- Create: This funding line addresses the needs of early-stage businesses and supports young entrepreneurs in the creation of start-ups (less than 2 years old, low commercial revenues);
- Accelerate: The aim of this funding line is to strengthen and scale up promising European manufacturing technology companies;
- Transform: The aim of this funding line is to transform existing companies in Europe by switching to new technologies and business models. The programme is aimed at established companies in the manufacturing industry.
This aims at widening participation in KIC activities and strengthening the impact of EIT manufacturing in countries with low levels of innovation.
Regular calls are issued once a year and have a two-stage application process.
HEI Initiative
The Higher Education Institutes (HEI) Initiative of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) aims at strengthening Europe’s competitiveness by promoting innovation and entrepreneurial know-how at higher education institutions. The call is issued once a year and promotes international university alliances. Examples of funded projects are listed here.
