Getting Started with European Funding for Innovation Workshop

Welcome to Getting Started with European Funding for Innovation!

Join us at St John’s Innovation Centre for an exciting FREE workshop focused on tapping into European funding opportunities for your innovative projects. Whether you’re a startup or an established company, this workshop will provide valuable insights on how to access funding to drive your ideas forward. Learn from experts in the field and network with like-minded individuals. Don’t miss this chance to kickstart your innovation journey!

European funding is a mystery to most, and many innovation-led SMEs are looking to sources of Horizon Europe funding to deliver project activity.

This workshop will focus on Innovation funding from Horizon Europe (Pillar 3) and EUREKA, gathering insights from the National Contact Points (NCPs), and the EUREKA National Programme Coordinator (NPC), and how their roles can support you with your application. There will also be an overview of how Innovate UK Business Growth can support to develop a funding and finance strategy.

Agenda

Part 1

8:30 – 9:00 Welcome networking

9:00 – 9:10 Setting the scene / EEN support / Horizon Europe Pump Prime

9:10 – 9:25 EUREKA funding for early-stage SMEs

9:25 – 9:45 EIT funding opportunities

9:45 – 11:15 EIC funding opportunities and what good looks like

11:15 – 11:25 Q&A

11:25 – 11:30 Main event close

11:30 – 12:00 Attendee networking

Part 2

11:30 – 12:30 pre-booked clinics with NCPs, EUREKA NPC, and Innovation & Growth Specialists – 20 min slots

Speakers:
Claire Griffin – UK NCP for EIC & EIE

Claire Griffin is the UK’s Horizon Europe National Contact Point (NCP) for the European Innovation Council (EIC) and the European Innovation Ecosystems (EIE) Horizon Europe is the EU’s key funding programme for research and innovation, with a budget of 95.5 Billion € from 2021 to 2027.

Claire has been a NCP for nearly a decade, and at Innovate UK also works on the Investor Partnership Programme, liaising with the Investor Community across Europe. Claire has been involved in European Funding Programmes for over twenty years; starting as a Research Fellow on Framework Programme Five (FP5) funded projects.

Claire has also been working in Technology Management for 30 years, focusing on SMEs, from all sides of the Triple Helix innovation model; university-industry-government. Professionally, Claire is an Environmental Scientist and holds several post-graduate qualifications in Technology Management.

Teresa Arumardi – UK NCP for EIT

Teresa is the UK’s Horizon Europe National Contact Point (NCP) for the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). Teresa joined Innovate UK Global Team in 2021, previously working on Official Development Assistance (ODA) in Emerging Economies and then Eureka.

Before that, Teresa worked in Global Water Intelligence, researching on international water projects and industrial sustainability efforts. Teresa holds a first-class Master of Arts (Hons) in International Relations and Social Anthropology from the University of St Andrews.

Ben Morris – EUREKA Programme Manager & NPC

Ben joined Innovate UK in 2015 as the Information and Data Compliance Manager on 12-month cover role. After that term was up, Ben covered the role as the IT Service Delivery Manager, before finding a role in Operations as the Post Award Manager.

After an internal restructuring, Ben became Head of Operational Delivery, which covered off the end-to-end process of grant delivery, which encompassed Application through to Claims. In addition to this, Ben also took on the role as Head of contingency planning for Brexit, for Innovate UK, which eventually became a full-time role. As Brexit was nearing its end, Ben moved into his current role as the Eureka Programme Manager – he has held this role since October 2019, and acts as the National Programme Coordinator (NPC) alongside 47 other countries within the network.

Hosted by:

Tom Graver

Innovation & Growth Specialist, Innovate UK Business Growth

Dan Dearing

Senior Innovation & Growth Specialist, Innovate UK Business Growth