The research is part of a £1 million pound project coordinated by the University of Porto promoting innovation and entrepreneurship across the continent.
The funding has been provided by the European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT) through the Innovation Capacity Building for Higher Education initiative. Other partners in the project include the Universities of Santiago de Compostela in Spain, Valhalia of Targoviste in Romania, Padubice in the Czech Republic, and Tallinn University of Applied Sciences in Estonia, along with the Science & Technology Park of the University of Porto and a business partner INNOVA in Portugal.
The University of Sheffield team will collaborate to lead on the design of a curriculum to educate scientists and engineers about the commercial and related processes that take new discoveries to the market for societal benefit.
Additionally, the success of the AMRC, which celebrates its 20th anniversary in 2021, will be used as a model for other parts of Europe, demonstrating how the innovation economy can be grown around a significant manufacturing industry cluster.
Professor Paul Hatton, Director of Research at the School of Clinical Dentistry, said: “This is a very exciting project, building on the substantial experiences of the Dental School and the AMRC in knowledge exchange and delivering innovation for societal benefit via our extensive network of industrial collaborators. We look forward to sharing this experience to benefit the regions involved in this new partnership, as well as learning about how other universities stimulate local entrepreneurship and economic growth.”
Anthony Stevenson, Head of Innovation at the University of Sheffield AMRC, said: “We are delighted to share the successful AMRC model for innovation as a driver of regional growth and inward investment. This initiative was started in South Yorkshire, but has now been shown to be reproducible in other parts of the UK with AMRC Cymru and AMRC North West with demonstrable benefits including the creation of high-value jobs in manufacturing.”
Paul and Anthony will be joined in the project by Professor Cheryl Miller from the School of Clinical Dentistry, working alongside Dr Clara Frias and Dr Samuel Furtado from the AMRC.
About the EIT’S HEI Initiative
The EIT’s HEI Initiative is a key objective for the EIT as part of its new strategy, the EIT Strategic Innovation Agenda 2021−2027. The initiative aims to support higher education institutions with expertise and coaching, access to the EIT innovation ecosystem, and funding, enabling them to develop innovation action plans complementing the needs of individual higher education institutions. As part of its Pilot Phase, the initiative has provided funding to 23 projects, with the next call for proposals expected towards the end of 2021.
About the EIT
The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) strengthens Europe’s ability to innovate by powering solutions to pressing global challenges and by nurturing entrepreneurial talent to create sustainable growth and skilled jobs in Europe. The EIT is an EU body and an integral part of Horizon Europe, the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. The Institute supports dynamic pan-European partnerships, EIT Knowledge and Innovation Communities, among leading companies, research laboratories, and universities.