The European Commission will invest €54 million in new projects under the European Excellence Initiative, with the goal of strengthening R&I collaboration and excellence in universities from across Europe.
The European Excellence Initiative (EEI) is part of the Horizon Europe: Widening participation and spreading excellence funding sub-programme. The objectives of the action are to improve science and value creation by promoting diverse collaboration among higher education institutions, and with other actors in local ecosystems, as well as to boost Europe’s universities by establishing a strong presence in key areas such as the green transition and Horizon Europe mission areas in order to improve global competitiveness.
The latest EEI call for proposals (HORIZON-WIDERA-2023-ACCESS-03-01) closed on 12 April 2023, with 59 eligible submissions. The 12 selected projects signed the Grant Agreements in 2023, aim to start their activity within the first quarter of 2024.
| Project title | Acronym |
| Widening Innovation and Research Excellence in FilmEU | WIRE FilmEU |
| Supporting European R&I Through stakeholder collaboration and institutional reform | INITIATE |
| Empowering EDUC for Inclusive Development of the ERA | EDUC-WIDE |
| Promoting Excellence Through Innovative Eco-systems | EU-CONEXUS ENABLES |
| Bioeconomy Excellence Alliance for Stimulating Innovative and Inclusive Green Transition | BEAMING |
| Heritage Innovation in EURECA-PRO Alliance | HI-EURECA-PRO |
| Excellence Initiative for Nutrifood-based Theranostics for Healthy European Society | EINSTEIN |
| Raise Excellence in R&S&I in HEI For Widening Countries | Unite.WIDENING |
| Transforming Access to Excellence with Successful Alliances of Higher Education in Digital Agriculture | TALLHEDA |
| Alliance4Life Bridging the Research and Innovation Gap in Life Sciences | A4L_BRIDGE |
| CROSS-disciplinary Network for Research Excellence in Regenerative Economy Innovation Eco-Systems | CROSS-REIS |
| Empowering Widening Universities In EUTOPIA_HEALTH Consortium to Foster Academic Excellence in Health | EUTOPIA_HEALTH |
The projects will contribute to fostering collaborations with beneficiaries in local ecosystems, accelerating institutional reform, upskilling, creating and circulating knowledge, and implementing relevant European Research Area (ERA) Policy Agenda actions in the higher education sector, all while consolidating geographically inclusive alliances in Widening countries.
The Cyprus Institute participates in the project INITIATE which aims to empower higher education institutions to develop R&I through institution transformation.
Frederick University, participates in the project EU-CONEXUS ENABLES. The scope of the project is to create the framework of an innovative ecosystem promoting sustainable synergies between the alliance and its partners such as the fellow municipalities, other stakeholders, in order to develop long term solutions for Smart Urban Coastal Sustainability challenges, based on the Digital Twin approach.
Source: European Research Executive Agency | News (https://shorturl.at/rPY34)