ECIU University – towards a virtual research institute
As a member of the European Consortium of Innovative Universities (ECIU), Dublin City University is jointly working towards establishing a Virtual Research Institute as part of the recently launched ‘ECIU University Research Institute for Smart European Regions (SMART-ER) project.’
The Virtual Research Institute will provide a framework for collaborative research that complements ECIU University's existing activities and responds to the Sustainable Development Goal 11: Sustainable Cities and Communities (SDG11), in line with the United Nations 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
An important aspect of the project is the development of an effective collaboration model between science and society to conduct research activities that align innovations with societal needs, values and expectations.
The project will develop a common research and innovation agenda and a plan for sharing research infrastructure with all the partner institutions. It will also act as a catalyst to develop new ECIU research initiatives and project activities particularly involving science - society cooperation that involve practical citizen science participation .
Vice-President for Research and Innovation in DCU, Prof Greg Hughes welcomed the commencement of this project commenting “The SMART-ER project reflects the commitment of all the ECIU members to develop a common research agenda which is directly aligned with the European ambition to have wider societal participation in addressing research challenges that directly impact on people’s lives.”
The Virtual Research Institute established in the SMART-ER project will work with different stakeholder groups at national and international level. This new model of research and innovation, based on a virtual collaborative environment, will enable dialogue between university based researchers in a wide range of disciplines with business sector and wider society representatives from across the participating countries.
The international team of the project consists of the following European higher education institutions: Aalborg University (Denmark), Autonomous University of Barcelona (Spain), University of Aveiro (Portugal), Dublin City University (Ireland), INSA Group (France), Hamburg University of Technology (Germany), Kaunas Technology University of Lithuania (Lithuania), Linköping University (Sweden), University of Stavanger (Norway), Tampere University of Technology (Finland), University of Trento (Italy), University of Twente (Netherlands), as well as Monterrey University of Technology (Mexico).
The SMART-ER project is implemented under the EU Research and Innovation programme Horizon 2020 part “Science with and for Society (SwafS) ECIU University received €2m for the implementation of the SMART-ER project. The project will run over a 3-year period.
More information about the project click here