EIT Infrabooster Practitioner Call for Applications #2

Description

How the programme will be delivered? EIT InfraBooster Practitioner will be held in English, and training participants will prepare individual and team assignments in English. EIT InfraBooster Practitioner comprises self-study on e-learning platform, online training and mentoring sessions (including: Introductory session, Team session, Mentoring sessions with InfraBooster team at University of Warsaw, Mentoring sessions with EIT KICs, Internal pitching session) spread across three months (April-July 2025) and (July-October 2025) and delivered by educators and mentors from the University of Warsaw and EIT Knowledge and Innovation Communities. EIT InfraBooster Practitioner training helps participants specify, prepare, promote, present, negotiate and initiate infrastructure-based collaboration with private companies. Participants are expected to work on individual and team assignments aligned with training timelines and deadlines, with regular progress tracking and feedback from educators. EIT InfraBooster Practitioner ends with each team presenting their innovative infrastructure-based service, available to companies and promoted in European markets. No funding is available for the teams which only participated in EIT InfraBooster Practitioner self-study or mentoring activities or internal pitching session. Selected teams will be invited to attend the EIT InfraBooster Finals in-person event. The time and place of the final will be decided and communicated to the teams in advance. The invited teams, eligible for participation in EIT InfraBooster WB+ Finals, will be offered financial support for their travelling. The most successful participants will also be able to progress to the third module of EIT InfraBooster Expert at advanced level and receive further training and mentoring support. Participants do not pay tuition and receive a professional training certificate of an educational programme accredited with EIT Label upon programme completion (contingent upon regular attendance of the training sessions and submission of assignments). When and where will EIT InfraBooster Practitioner be held? EIT InfraBooster Practitioner will be delivered online using digital tools. Training online sessions and the pitching session in 2025 are listed below: • Introductory session: 10th July (Thursday) • Self-study Part 1: 10th July – 4th September • Team session: 11th September (Thursday) • Self-study part 2: 11th September – 9th October • Mentoring sessions with InfraBooster team at University of Warsaw: 22nd – 26th September (Monday – Friday) • Mentoring sessions with EIT-KICs: 20th – 24th October (Monday – Friday) • Internal pitching session 30th October (Thursday) • EIT InfraBooster WB+ Finals: November/December (tbd) The exact dates of the mentoring sessions are scheduled based on the availability of the teams and mentors. Each team is entitled to one 60-minute mentoring session during each mentoring week. You can find any updates and more information about EIT InfraBooster Practitioner at: https://eit-ris.eu/infrabooster https:/www.eitfood.eu/projects/infrabooster/infrabooster-practitioner If you have any questions concerning the programme, please feel free to contact us at infrabooster@wz.uw.edu.pl

Beneficiary & submission

EIT InfraBooster Practitioner call opens on the 26th of May and closes on the 26th of June 2025. Changes to submission deadline are possible, but will be communicated in advance on the website: https://www.eitfood.eu/projects/infrabooster/infrabooster-practitioner To apply for the EIT InfraBooster Practitioner programme, you need to follow these steps: 1. Download the APPLICATION FORM in MS Word format. 2. Complete all sections of the application form accurately (including pages signed by each team member). 3. Obtain the support of top management (signed letter of support, based on the template provided). 4. Submit the complete application form (including pages signed by each team member and the letter of support) as PDF file by corresponding person/representative of the team to: infrabooster@wz.uw.edu.pl with the email title: APPLICATION. Applicant teams must describe only one research infrastructure in one application. The same institution can submit more than one application (no upper limit), but each application should list a different team of applicants. EIT InfraBooster organisers also reserve the right to accept only a limited number of applicant teams on a rolling basis (first come, first served). The exact number will be decided proportionally to the total number of received applications. The evaluation of applications submitted by the Participants’ teams and selection to EIT InfraBooster Practitioner is based on the following criteria (1) Team diversity: Team application includes members with diverse background, including both researchers and support personnel (such as technology transfer, marketing specialists, financial or research officers), (2) Exploitation potential: Team members within the application have demonstrated the commercial relevance of their publicly funded research infrastructure for R&D efforts of private sector industrial companies, (3) Motivation: The application have convincingly demonstrated the expectations from InfraBooster Practitioner training and the motivation to attend the training with a special focus on the increase in the commercial uses of research infrastructure. Summary assessment - criteria (1)-(3) will be evaluated on a 0-2 scale: 0 – below expectations; 1 – satisfactory; 2 – excellent; Eligible applications can receive max. 6 points and the highest ranked applications will be selected. The evaluation criteria are in line with the standard HE award criteria: (a) Excellence, (b) Impact, (c) Quality and efficiency of the implementation. The results of the selection process are confirmed by e-mail notification within 14 days after the submission deadline. Funding terms: (applicable only to participants of EIT InfraBooster Practitioner WB+ cohort coming from Western Balkans, neighbouring countries, EU Outermost Regions) Evaluation criteria and selection process 1. Please note that there is no funding available for the teams which only participated in EIT InfraBooster Practitioner self-study or mentoring activities or internal pitching session. The funding will be offered only to the selected teams taking part in InfraBooster Practitioner WB+ and participating in specific events. 1.1. Up to 18 best teams participating in EIT InfraBooster Practitioner WB+ will be selected and invited to the EIT InfraBooster Finals. The teams will be offered a financial support of up to 800€ subgrant. Subgrants will be given to allow attending the offline Finals and to support service development. 1.2. Up to 18 teams participating in EIT InfraBooster Practitioner will be selected and invited to attend the EIT Jumpstarter Finals. The teams will receive up to 600€ subgrant. Subgrants will be given to allow attending the offline event and networking with startups during EIT Jumpstarter Grand Finals and to support service development and validation. 2. The funding will be offered based on the demonstrated progress in designing the innovative services using research infrastructures. After self-study and initial mentoring activities teams should submit assignments providing details about designed innovation services. These assignments will be evaluated by the EIT KICs’ evaluation committee. After self-study and initial Mentoring sessions with InfraBooster team and before Mentoring sessions with EIT KICs, Participant’s teams should submit revised version of ‘Team assignment – input into a mentoring’ describing key elements of the proposed infrastructure-based service. This deliverable submitted during the training will be the evidence of competencies and knowledge gained by the trainee during their participation in the EIT InfraBooster programme. Once the positive assessment of this assignment is confirmed by EIT Food after the EIT KICs’ representatives’ evaluation, the Participant’s team will be invited to the EIT InfraBooster Finals and/or EIT StartupBooster during EIT Jumpstarter Final. 3. The basic eligibility criteria for funding are to sign the consent form or the financial support agreement (all participating team members) and to submit the required deliverable, including the team assignment with a developed service description. 4. Teams will be supported with subgrants to cover the travel and accommodation costs related to their participation in the respective events, therefore attendance of the team representative in the event is mandatory to receive the subgrant. 5. The exact amount of subgrant will be determined based on each KIC’s practice and internal regulations (either based a cost report submitted by the teams and reviewed by the KICs or based on participants agreement/ consent determining exact amount of financial support and criteria for receiving it). 6. Financing is based on teams, no matter how many members will represent the team during the respective event. If there is more than one member representing the team during respective event, team members are sharing their costs and will be reimbursed or paid with a lump sum (depending on the internal processes of the EIT KIC paying the grant) using eligibility criteria and reporting documents. 7. Additional information and guidance will be provided during the programme on how to get and use this support. APPEALS PROCEDURE Applicants to EIT InfraBooster may appeal the process for the selection. Applicants should send their appeals in writing to adam.strzelecki@eitfood.eu, no later than 7 days after being notified about the results. The only grounds for appeal are: process errors, technical problems beyond the control of applicants (e.g. the technical failure of the electronic submission system), Human/technical errors made by EIT KICs staff. Scores awarded in the process of evaluation, regardless of the phase of the programme, do not constitute the grounds for an appeal.

Further information

What is EIT InfraBooster? EIT InfraBooster is a modular training programme for representatives of scientific organisations that own research infrastructures. It offers capacity building and support in designing infrastructure-based services that could be offered for companies. EIT InfraBooster will bring you closer to the industry, increasing the collaboration, international exposure and innovativeness of your institution. It will help you establish new source of revenues. During the project you will find out how to leverage the existing assets: commercially- relevant research infrastructures, skills and knowledge of research teams. EIT InfraBooster received funding from the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union, under the Horizon Europe, the EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, which makes it free of charge for the selected participants. EIT InfraBooster Practitioner is the second level of EIT InfraBooster educational modules. It will help you better understand the competitive edge of your research infrastructures, design innovative infrastructure- based services, identify potential industrial partners and start your industrial outreach. EIT InfraBooster Practitioner will help participants prepare marketing collateral that highlights differentiators and benefits important for their target clients, understand the needs of specific industries/companies, identify potential clients and initiate service sales processes. EIT InfraBooster Practitioner training is delivered by the team from Faculty of Management, University of Warsaw as part of EIT Community Strategic Regional Innovations Cluster (Cross KIC SRI 2023-2025) and EIT Food RIS Public Sector Representatives Activity Line (PSRAL). Who are we looking for? – eligible applicants The EIT InfraBooster Practitioner is dedicated to professionals employed or contracted by a university or a research institute that owns publicly funded research infrastructures, who are interested in providing innovative services to companies, including startups and SMEs or building cross-border collaboration with key industry players to leverage their research infrastructures. Eligible applicant teams need to meet the following criteria: Apply as a team of 3 or 4 members, including at least one member who, at the time of application submission, has already graduated from the EIT InfraBooster Foundation in 2023, 2024, or 2025. All remaining members of the team must be enrolled in the Foundation by the time of submitting the application. (Please note that priority will be given to teams with diverse backgrounds, including researchers and support personnel such as technology transfer specialists, marketing specialists, financial or administrative officers, and technicians.); Reside and work in one of the following countries targeted by EIT Community SRI Cluster dedicated activities for Western Balkans economies: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Kosovo), neighbouring countries: Greece, Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary, Croatia, Slovenia, Ukraine, Moldova, Türkiye and EU Outermost Regions: Guadeloupe, French Guiana, Réunion, Martinique, Mayotte and Saint Martin (France), the Azores and Madeira (Portugal) and the Canary Islands (Spain) – to be eligible to take part in EIT InfraBooster Practitioner WB+. Reside and work in one of the regions covered by EIT Regional Innovation Scheme: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Cyprus, Estonia, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Serbia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain, Türkiye, Ukraine – to be eligible to take part in EIT InfraBooster Practitioner RIS. Be employed at a higher education institute or public research institute which owns commercially relevant research infrastructures and get confirmation by top management of the institute. Good command of English is required from all participants (including the ability to engage in team discussions, prepare documents and present in English). Notes: Members of shortlisted team applications who have not yet graduated from the EIT InfraBooster Foundation will be obliged to complete the training as a precondition for their team's acceptance into the EIT InfraBooster Practitioner training. All team members must graduate from the EIT InfraBooster Foundation before the introductory session (see timeline below). EIT InfraBooster Practitioner only invites applicant teams who have obtained the support of top management (dean/rector/director) confirming that: the institution owns research infrastructure described in the application; the management supports the application and has the intention to use the research infrastructure for collaboration with industrial companies; team members will be able to attend all training modules on dates specified in the call; team members will be involved in the future sales and delivery of services based on the research infrastructure.