Focus will be put on assessing and analysing the status quo of open innovation and current situation of collaboration between universities and companies and communication channels in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Armenia. Based on the results and report produced, decision will be made on the research fields for each partner country partner. In the second month a Kick-off seminar in Skopje will take place with all consortium partners to start up the project. The partners will build the Project team and reconfirm the division of roles and responsibilities. During the Kick-off seminar good practices from all Program countries partners on academia-industry alliances in research and education will be presented. Also, the project approach and further development of the concept of Development work packages will be discussed. The partners will be promoting the results and project activities at two national events in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Armenia.
The first activity in WP2 will be establishing and embeding the Cooperative R&D Units in the Universities’ structure. Coordination and communication measures will be developed in order to provide proper functioning of the Units. Programme partners will give input for capacity building and knowledge transfer at partner countries universities and companies. They, jointly will develop the Cooperative R&D strategies, structures, tools and procedures, elaborate business plans by detailed SWOT analysis, market analysis and elaborate marketing and HR management plan and develop the portfolio of activities of each Centre. During this WP recruiting and training staff from universities and companies will happen. Three workshops and study visits will be organised in Vaasa, Bochum and Skopje. Another important activity during this WP will be defining the necessary equipment, based on the decision made on the research fileds. Tendering procedure will be completed by M18. Promotional activities will continue, specially emphasising the capacities and opportunities offered by the new Cooperative R&D Units and their potential to relevant stakeholders.
In this WP first activity will be designing and developing the interactive web based platform by M7. Two national events in Mostar and Yerevan will be organised to promote the platform. It is expected that at least 200 people will create profile on the platform, and use it services to network, study and create. Main focus on all partners will be creating the collaborative and open innovation partnership for R&D&I by establishing alliances between academia and industry supported by the platform. Innovation and Knowledge Management plan will be also developed. Survey will be conducted to analyse the competencies gap that students and alumni have. The results of the survey will be used to develop new training courses and innovative activities, in collaboration between professors and Cooperative R&D Unit. Promotional event will be organised to share the results and invite participants. All new developed training courses and innovative services by the professors and professions will be implemented using the web based platform. To support the collaboration, categorisation of research equipment will be made, and the inventory promoted through the platform.Several promotional events will be organised to disseminate the project results, communicate with the relevant stakeholders and ensure the successful imlementation of the project activities.It is expected at least 50 training course and at least 35 innovative services to be developed and implemented. Also, it is expected at least 1500 students and alumni to be trained, and at least 250 students and alumni to use the services.
This WP is focused on fostering research and innovation by collaboration between universities and companies. During this WP pilot projects will be developed and implemented. Besides determining the research topics for each pilot project, partners will explore opportunities for cross-regional research projects. The pilot phase will be promoted on an international event (E5) in Yerevan (M17) with Launching the Cooperative R&D Units’ operations through Pilot projects.The goal of this WP is to engage professors, professionals from industry and MSc and PhD students, working together on joint research pilot projects. It is expected at least 8 joint research projects to be completed, and at least 48 people involved. Also, at least 12 new research proposals will be initiated for third party funds. This will be followed with preparing and publishing scientific articles (in co-authorship by professors and professionals from industry). The partners will develop measures for raising awareness of the importance of MSc and PhD and their impact and added value in the non-academic sector and promote the work of the Cooperative R&D Units on national meetings, workshops and events.The trial phase will be reviewed using specially created framework of effectiveness. The conclusions will be used to refine the portfolio of services that Cooperative R&D Units are offering.At the end of this WP partners will prepare call for next round of joint research projects and announce the Call for participation through the Cooperative R&D Units to relevant stakeholders at the final conference in Yerevan.
First activity of this WP will be establishing the Project Quality Assurance Board (PQAB) at the Kick-of seminar. PQAB will developing procedures and forms for quality control, preparing the annual reports on the progress activities by PaCUs supported by representatives of faculty quality assurance body. Two Monitoring visits are planned – MV1 in Yerevan (M19) and MV2 in Sarajevo and Mostar (M20). During the visit partners will review the qulity control of the implementation process at each Cooperative R&D Unit. This will be followed up with preparation of an annual joint internal monitoring reports and proposals for corrective measures if necessary and carrying out the mid-term and final external evaluation.
Activities in this WP will start on the first day of the project and will last until than end, ensuring the sustainability of the project as well. In this workpackage the consortium will make a dissemination plan and project website and will develop a dissemination strategy with plan of disseminating activities. They will do promotional activities and brand management, which will help to ensure the sustainability of the project outcomes. Communication activities will encompass contacting all relevant stakeholders, potential users, promoters and investors. Channel and tools for dissemination and exploitation activities include: project web portal, associations and networks, social media, professional magazines, internet portals, TV media and published materials (publications, newsletter, handbook, leaflets, booklet). Dissemination activities (promotional events, workshops, round—tables, etc.) will be organized throughout the whole project. There will be in total 9 dissemination events (6 national and 3 international). It is expected at least 560 people to participate on these events. Six events were described in the previous packages. Open call will be announced for new university-academia partnerships, joint research projects and new initiatives for research and education proposals, based on the list of potential funds and programs. Also, the date will be set for the Second international conference on academia-industry collaborations in Sarajevo in 2022.
This WP will assure optimal project implementation, including: development and constant optimisation of project management plan, processes and partner coordination. To reach the set project objectives and results close cooperation among all project partners and flow of information and responsible behavior and management will be established and maintained. To ensure proper and timely execution on each project activity, special focus will be set on administration of the project and project results. Also, very important part of this WP is financial management and reporting to the EACEA. The Work progress and achievements during the project will be in compliance with Erasmus+ rule on social and ethical issues. Six project meeting are planned during the project – PM1 in Vaasa (M7), PM2 in Bochum (M12), PM3 in Yerevan (M17), PM4 in Sarajevo (M23), PM5 in Graz (M29), and PM6 in Yerevan (M35). To rationalize cost, project meetings are planned to happen jointly with other activities (events, workshop, study visits).