Shaping the way Higher Education Institutions do Research and Innovation with and for Society Erasmus Project

Project Title

Shaping the way Higher Education Institutions do Research and Innovation with and for Society

Project Key Action

This project related with these key action: Cooperation for innovation and the exchange of good practices

Project Action Type

This project related with this action type : Strategic Partnerships for higher education

Project Call Year

This project’s Call Year is 2020

Project Topics

This project is related with these Project Topics: Civic engagement / responsible citizenship; Research and innovation; Regional dimension and cooperation

Project Summary

Research and Innovation (R&I) Loop sets its ambition in leveraging the new university model – “civic university”, where the regional dimension and social innovation enables and opens citizen-centric strategies. The objectives of the R&I Loop are to:
1) develop, test and mainstream a systemic and holistic approach that enhances the education, research and innovation links of HEIs;
2) build, test and scale-up of capacitation actions for HEIs’ teachers, researchers and staff to be better equipped to respond to social challenges and needs;
3) design, test and mainstream of supporting tools that allow HEIs’ to adopt a systemic holistic approach and improve their educational offer;
4) promote and enhance civic and social responsibility across relevant actors of the quadruple helix nodes.

The project proposes a systemic and holistic approach that creates bridges and links between 3 main pillars: research, education and innovation. These 3 main pillars are reflected in the twofold steps of the proposed loop:
. research and Innovation > inception and outgrowing: boosting smart spec civic universities, meaning that HEIs, their research and related structures and researchers set their priorities based on smart specialisation directives as well as on results of consultation/negotiation/participatory processes that engage relevant actors and identify the needs/interests of the regions, companies and citizens; to reach this, is necessary to foster public engagement and enhancing the outreach and impact of research activities and results at different levels, including local/regional economic growth and innovation.
. education > nurturing: embedding research into curricula, meaning that HEIs, leaders and teachers are aware and put into practice a mix of research-led/-oriented (linked to staff learning/presenting current research and developing research skills and techniques) and research-based/-tutored (linked to students learning how to do research and be a researcher as well as engaging in research discussions) practices;

The project’s results include:
. a blueprint comprising the theoretical approach of the R&I Loop model by identifying and mainstreaming existent good practices and present the holistic approach and, at the same time, it will demonstrate a set of case studies after implementing the R&I Loop toolkits that will showcase the changes occurred in partners and mainstreamed in the national seminars;
. a set of 2 toolkits that will encourage the identification, implementation, and maintenance of new strategies, structures, tools, resources or solutions to meet the twofold loop steps;
. training resources for HEIs key-professionals to support them in the mobilization of the different actors of the quadruple helix and in the operationalisation of the activities of the toolkits;
. mainstreaming events, two short-term joint staff training activity and an array of dissemination and outreach materials and actions, which will contribute for the diffusion of the project’s content, results and proposed methodology and outreach the R&I Loop ambition.

The project will invite HEIs from Europe to re-think the way they are doing research and innovation. Through R&I Loop, HEI’s can go further – rather than rethinking, they will have resources and tools that will help them reflect, assess and implement inward and outward initiatives towards inter-linked academia with businesses, public administration, and citizens. The project’s results will be implemented in 4 different partners, from which they will reap benefits. The Blueprint (O1) and Toolkits (O2, O3) will be available after the project’s funding and will be directly exploited by other European/international.

As such, the project will bring high potential long-terms inside and outside the partnership, contributing for the European and Training 2020 objectives linked to improving the quality and efficiency of education and training, promoting equity, social cohesion, and active citizenship, and enhancing creativity and innovation, including entrepreneurship, at all levels of education and training.

EU Grant (Eur)

Funding of the project from EU: 221360 Eur

Project Coordinator

UNIVERSIDADE DA BEIRA INTERIOR & Country: PT

Project Partners

• UNIVERSIDAD POLITECNICA DE MADRID
• INOVA+ – INNOVATION SERVICES, SA
• UNIVERSITA POLITECNICA DELLE MARCHE
• JOHANNES GUTENBERG-UNIVERSITAT MAINZ