As part of FASTER’s commitment to reinforce the research and knowledge transfer capacity of INRGREF and associated Tunisian institutions and enhance the project’s sustainability, an Excellence Hub will be launched in September to support FAS, young professionals. This free tool is being created to foster interesting partnerships and new collaborations in different fields with various stakeholders. It will serve as a repository of employment and partnership opportunities related to FAS services. The site will also work as a connection point between three main groups: FAS Agents, the private sector, and researchers.
By launching the Excellence Hub as a tool that allows for job-seeking and networking opportunities, FASTER wants to increase the visibility of users and create an extensive network of stakeholders with similar interests to allow for the crowdsourcing of knowledge and create business opportunities for entrepreneurs. Being a part of the same project, capacity building and job matching can create a reciprocal synergy. For example, the FASTER H2020 Campus users can quickly be informed and directed from the FASTER FAS Living Lab and the E-learning Platform to the job bank and networking opportunities included in the Excellence Hub, and vice versa.
Young professionals seeking new employment opportunities will be able to use the job component of the Excellence Hub and be grouped by education level and the specific field of agriculture that is of interest to them. The Hub will allow them to apply for job opportunities posted by private and public companies in agriculture, fisheries, and aquaculture, focusing on soil and water management.
When the tool is launched, it will be promoted mainly in Tunisia and internationally among the FASTER community and among different localities that share the same values and objectives of the FASTER project. A series of webinars will be launched to present the tool, so be sure to stay connected with FASTER to find out more about this exciting launch in the coming months.
About the Excellence Hubs
In the newest Horizon Europe – Work Programme 2021-2022 call for widening participation and strengthening the European Research Area, the European Commission defines the Excellence hubs as initiatives to enhance regional innovation excellence in placed-based innovation ecosystems by cross-border collaboration on a common strategy and/or alongside value-adding chains. Place-based innovation ecosystems are interconnected companies, research institutions, governmental bodies, and societal actors that mutually reinforce each other in a territorial context and raise the level of innovation excellence in their regional fabric. Projects establishing an Excellence Hub are expected to contribute to the following outcomes:
- Excellent and sustainable place-based innovation ecosystems in widening countries and beyond in relevant domains of cutting-edge science and innovation
- Long term joint Research and Innovation (R&I) strategies underpinned by concrete action plans of European relevance
- Common investment plans for R&I, including infrastructures leveraging national, regional, and European funds as well as private capital in a synergetic manner
- R&I pilot projects alongside a joint strategy and in line with regional and national strategies, notably regional innovation strategies for smart specialization (RIS3)
- New competencies and skills for researchers, entrepreneurs, and professionals in R&I intensive domain
- Strengthened linkages between science and business
- Poles of attraction for talents in catching up regions and countries
- Improved knowledge transfer and development of entrepreneurial skills.
- Uptake of innovative technologies
- New business opportunities, especially for SMEs and new employment.
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