Kaunas University of Technology (KTU) who has recently joined European Consortium of Innovative Universities (ECIU) is opening new possibilities for the researchers, start-ups and students. In December the Vice-Rectors of the Consortium universities will meet in Kaunas to discuss shared interests, common goals and future cooperation initiatives.
The collaboration possibilities were discussed in ECIU Board meeting in Aveiro, Portugal, last month. The Board meeting was attended by KTU Vice-Rector for Research and Innovation Asta Pundzienė and ECIU coordinator Neringa Gerulaitienė.
“Among the activities planes is a meeting of Vice-Rectors for Research of the Consortium universities in Kaunas. It will be dedicated to discuss the issues of the universities face when applying and participating in the European research programme Horizon 2020, and to talk through the challenges shaping research and innovation policies in the European Union. We are planning to improve the possibilities of researchers’ mobility between partner universities, to develop joint PhD programmes and PhD students’ summer schools. Also, we are very much looking forward to participating in the international young business accelerator programme, which would allow our start-ups to be introduced to the EU markets”, said Pundzienė.
The full account of the Board meeting below.
ECIU Board Get Together to Set Priorities for Its 20th Anniversary
In September 2016, the Rectors and Presidents of the European Consortium of Innovative Universities (ECIU) had met. In that meeting, the rectors and presidents had expressed their full commitment to the consortium. The main aim of the ECIU Executive Board meeting in Aveiro last week, was to take the final decisions on the further steps for the 20th ECIU Anniversary.
All future actions of the Consortium will be under the umbrella of Innovation and Entrepreneurship in order to strengthen the profile of being the innovative and entrepreneurial consortium in Europe. The ECIU Board formally decided to strengthen research 
collaboration within ECIU. The terms of reference for fostering research collaboration will be discussed and finalized in a meeting of the Vice-Rectors for Research in Kaunas in December 2016.
ECIU Accelerator Programme
The ECIU Board unanimously agreed to launch an ECIU Accelerator Programme. This programme will represent the joint efforts of the on-campus entrepreneurship units at the ECIU member institutions that contribute their own expertise, networks, and capacity to provide the best experience for supporting start-ups to grow their business. The ECIU Accelerator, coordinated by the DCU Ryan Academy and monitored by the ECIU Steering Committee on Entrepreneurship, will take the top teams from each of the local institutional programmes and advance them through a series of focused accelerator workshops concluding in a final pitch-off to select the ECIU Accelerator champions.
New Members
The ECIU Board welcomed Tampere University of Technology (TUT), Finland, as a new ECIU member from 1 January 2017. Tampere is the second largest engineering science university in Finland with the leading-edge fields of research: signal processing based technologies, nanophotonics, intelligent machines and hydraulic systems. Besides, the Board decided to invite the University of Nottingham for membership to ECIU.
Workshop for the Governing Board of ECIU on UBF and THE Ranking
In the context of the Board meeting, the ECIU Board members had a workshop with Todd Davey (Munich Business School and UIIN) on the drivers, challenges and outcomes of University-Business Cooperation, a field in which the ECIU universities have a long track record. In a discussion with Nicki Horseman from THE ranking, the ECIU Board members shared their views and ideas on how innovative capacity of a university can be measured and ranked.
The Board members criticized the new innovation ranking from THE with its 10 indicators, as several of them are not suitable for ECIU universities. Therefore, the Board members will offer to THE ranking to come up with indicators on how to measure impact and present these at THE Innovation and Impact Summit in Hong Kong.
200th Alumni of the Leadership Development Programme
In Aveiro, the participants of this years’ ECIU Leadership Development Programme gave their final presentations on the strategic projects they got from the hosting universities Aalborg, Barcelona and Aveiro. Since 2003, the ECIU Leadership Development Programme has offered to more than 200 young leaders in university management an international capacity development programme. The basic idea behind the design of the programme is of a multinational group coming together to learn from their experience.
During the programme the participants not only reflect on the particular characteristics and challenges of leadership and strategic management in the university context, but they also strengthen their knowledge of important policy developments in European Higher Education. The programme is structured around strategic projects which are tailored to the specific interests of the three hosting universities. The recruitment for next years’ programme (Kaunas, Barcelona and Brussels) will start in November.
Multinational Cooperation and Networking
The ECIU was founded in 1997 as a network of universities that define themselves as innovative and entrepreneurial through applied research, technology focus, links with industry and regional actors, technology and knowledge transfer, and modern pedagogy. The next ECIU Executive Board meeting will take place in Mexico on 3-7 April 2017.
