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R&D Capacities

You have entered the official website of a project for "Creating R&D Capacities and Instruments for boosting Higher Education-Economy Cooperation" funded by the European Commission (Tempus program). The aim of the ongoing project is to contribute to the creation of R&D capacities and instruments at South-Eastern European universities, in order to support these universities in fulfilling their central role within their national innovation systems and within society according to European standards.

Around the world, it is widely acknowledged that knowledge is one of the main drivers of social and economic development. Universities take a central role in the future competitiveness of any country by (1) increasing a region’s level of knowledge, (2) producing a highly-qualified workforce and (3) developing technological innovations

In order to encourage development and collaboration across European universities within these areas, the European Union (EU) defined two complementing essential strategies, the “Bologna Process” and the “Lisbon Strategy” which are intended as a blueprint for all European universities’ activities.

Successful integration into the European Research Area, as well as the European Higher Education Area, is of utmost political and economic importance for both the Western Balkan (WB) region and the EU. The WB countries underwent massive institutional changes in the 1990s, which directly affected the research sector. Currently, one of the main barriers to a coherent R&D system relates to the linking of R&D institutes, universities and the private sector. WB universities rely principally on individual initiatives, lacking a consistent institutional approach. Furthermore, most of the universities in the WB neither have their own university R&D strategy nor R&D support services/offices.

The project Creating R&D Capacities and Instruments for boosting HE-Economy Cooperation aims at addressing these specific shortages in the field of R&D at the most influential universities in four countries.

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