Companies do not necessarily have the facilities, financial resources or human capital to run their research projects as they would like to. The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), as part of a larger European research and innovation programme ‘Horizon 2020’, supports SMEs and other companies in collaborating with academic research organisations, have access to their equipment, and integrate some of their highly skilled researchers within the innovation projects of the company.

The Europe wide campaign to promote business-academic collaborations under the Horizon 2020 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) scheme is arriving in Cardiff onFriday 18 March, as the only UK stop on the tour in 2016. Whilst the main objective of the event is to encourage more involvement from the private sector in MSCA projects, the line-up of expert speakers from the European Commission, large industry, SMEs, public sector and academia are guaranteed to deliver an insightful programme, exploring the theme of bridging business and research, innovation and SME support more widely.

With facilitated question and answer sessions and ample networking time, delegates will be in for an informative and enjoyable afternoon. Please see attached programme for details of the venue and timings. The event is free to attend but registration is required and places are limited. Register here

Speakers include:

• Paul Harris from the European Commission, who will give an overview of the MSCA programme and information on the current trend of increasing private sector participation.
• Dr Jean Botti  from the Airbus Group will be sharing his views on successful partnerships between industry and academia and the Airbus approach to participation in the Horizon 2020 programme. (This will be one of Dr Botti’s last public appearances at Airbus, as he will be joining Philips as their new Chief Innovation and Strategy Officer on 1 April.)
• Chris Moore from Dyesol UK will present a case study of their company’s journey through EU funded projects, including a MSCA Initial Training Network, and the impact the projects have had on their business.
• An Jansen from KU Leuven, ranked by Reuters as world’s 16th most innovative university in 2015 (and 2nd in Europe), will share her institution’s approach to partnering with private sector in MSCA projects.
• Prof Julie Williams CBE, as Chief Scientific Adviser for Wales, will outline Welsh Government’s innovative approach to combining national, Horizon 2020 and European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) to build scientific capacity and support industrial research.
• Evengi Kosev from Enterprise Europe Network will deliver an SME focussed overview of current funding and support schemes, including the new ‘Innovation Associate’ pilot in the Horizon 2020 SME Instrument.
• Paul Arnold of Bevan & Buckland Accountants will give advice on how organisations can reap the maximum financial benefits from investing in research and innovation activities, whether in-house or carried out by partner organisations.
• Rhys Thomas from Cardiff University will share the institution’s ‘Innovation System’ model for working with partners from all sectors.

MSCA cover a number of different funding streams, such as fellowships, doctoral training networks and staff exchange projects. Participation is open to all innovation active organisations from any sector and are ‘bottom-up’ schemes in the sense that they cover all disciplines and domains of research and innovation – from fundamental research to market take-up and innovation services – with no pre-defined  call topics. For more information, click here.

MSCA Bridging Business and Research 18.3.2016 Programme