This week, some members of our team are presenting the SPARK-e project at the European Innovation Council (EIC) summit, one of the most significant events of the year for the European science and innovation ecosystem.
Over the next few days, thousands of researchers, policy-makers, investors, and industry leaders are gathering in Brussels to discuss the latest breakthroughs in technology and innovation.
Discover the full program for the EIC summit here
As our coordinator, Claudia Gómez Aguirre from CIIAE, explains: “for a project like SPARK-e, which is still in its early stages, the EIC Summit is the perfect showcase: i can’t imagine a better way to raise awareness of our project and present our ideas to such diverse yet important audiences.”
Alongside the traditional keynotes and open talks, the EIC has organised a wealth of activities, as well as an exhibition area where different projects funded by this organisation have the opportunity to share the highlights of their hard work.
According to Alba Helena Pérez Jimeno, project manager at SPARK-e: “the early stages of a project are undoubtedly the most complex from an organisational perspective, so gaining first-hand insights from others is an opportunity we simply cannot afford to miss.”
This top-tier event features well-known figures from science policy, including Ekaterina Zaharieva, European Commissioner for Startups, Research and Innovation; Maria Leptin, President of the ERC Scientific Council; and Momchil Sabev, Director of the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA).
However, the summit also attracts numerous investors and industrial companies keen on forging closer collaborations with the academic world. For a project like SPARK-e, the EIC summit is a key event to raise awareness about our ambitious goals from the very beginning.
“Bringing together the cutting edge of the scientific world and promising companies willing to invest in and support Europe’s future: that is the challenge, and the EIC manages to rise to it every year thanks to this summit,” adds José María Ávila, a representative of our industrial partner Ductolux. And, as Fernando Gomollón-Bel, the SPARK-e communication coordinator, points out: “the EIC summit is a fantastic showcase of projects, but most importantly innovative ideas in the European landscape. It’s the best place to connect with collaborators and present our results directly to policymakers and investors, to help the ultimate goal of EIC-funded research: the transition from lab to market.”
About the EIC and SPARK-e
The European Innovation Council (EIC) has been established under the EU Horizon Europe programme. It has a budget of €10.1 billion to support game-changing innovations throughout the lifecycle from early-stage research to proof of concept, technology transfer, and the financing and scale-up of start-ups and SMEs.
SPARK-e is a project funded by the EIC under the Pathfinder Challenge 4: Nanoelectronics for energy-efficient smart edge devices. Our team is part of a portfolio that is completed alongside our sister projects: 2DFERROPLEX, SpikeHERO, COOLBRAIN, CERBERUS, and 2D-ADDICT.