National Tempus / Erasmus+
Office in Ukraine

The European joint project UNI4INNO (Boosting the Knowledge Triangle by Establishing Innovation Offices in Ukrainian Higher Education Institutions) was launched on 23rd of February 2010 at the Kiev Chamber of Commerce. The UNI4INNO is a three year project with a 637,405 € budget, funded with the support of the European Commission within the framework of the TEMPUS IV program. The University of Alicante (Spain) is the project´s coordinator, and the consortium is made up of three additional EU partners (Chalmers University of Technology from Sweden, University of Bologna from Italy, and the World University Service-Austrian Committee), 6 Ukrainian universities (Crimean University of the Humanities, Donbass State Engineering Academy, Lviv Polytechnic National University, National Aerospace University, National Metallurgical Academy of Ukraine and Odessa I.I Mechnikov National University), the Kiev Chamber of Commerce, the Ukrainian State Institute of Innovation Technologies and Content of Education and the Ministry of Education and Science of the Ukraine.

Representatives from the partner institutions were present at the kick off meeting in Kiev, which was also attended by coordinators from the Ukrainian National Tempus Office. The main objectives and expected outcomes of the project were presented, as well as the financial and administrative issues and the work plan for the first project year. Every partner in attendance shared their experiences and needs with regards to institutional innovation support structures, as well as their commitment to the project´s activities.

The UNI4INNO project objectives are to sustainably strengthen strategic, managerial and administrative capacities of 6 Ukrainian universities in identifying, managing and generating value from their intangible assets, and enhancing participation in cooperative research activities, through implementation of a series of targeted capacity building measures. In addition, the project intends to promote the Innovation culture within Ukrainian Higher Education Institutions through the establishment and implementation of innovation offices and innovation support services. The methodology applied to achieve the envisaged outputs is reinforced by the substantial expertise of the European partners in this field and the strength and combination of the Ukrainian partners, involving relevant government authorities, the business sector, and other associated institutions.

Among the upcoming activities for the first project year are a Study Visit of Ukrainian partner institutions decision makers to Alicante (Spain) planned for the first week of June, and a Strategic Workshop in Odessa (Ukraine) scheduled for late August. More information about this project can be found at www.uni4inno.eu

Contact: Roberto Escarré, María Barluenga & Nadejda Patras, University of Alicante, International Project Management Office, Tel: +34 965 90 97 18, Fax: +34 965 90 07 15, E-mail: r.escarre@ua.es, barluenga@ua.es, nadia.patras@ua.es