Euro tech uni a step closer

The European Institute of Technology (EIT) could be up and running by 2008, with its first research projects starting around 2010.

The €2.4bn institute is a response to the 'innovation gap' - the difficulties Europe has in translating blue sky research into commercial success.

It will bring research teams together to create the critical mass needed and co-ordinate work in emerging fields at a European level.

EU president José Manuel Barroso said in a statement: "Through its networks, the EIT will tear down the walls between research, education and business, to unlock Europe's potential for innovation."

A governing board will oversee the EIT, which will have a small team of around 60 scientists and staff. The board will set the overall priorities of the EIT and for choosing the Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs).

silicon.com Public Sector

Get the latest public sector news straight to your inbox. Sign up for the PS newsletter today!

KICs are joint ventures of partner organisations drawn from universities, research organisations and businesses which will pool their resources to achieve a common objective.

They will carry out the main activities of the EIT - the teaching, the research, the innovation - and will be dispersed across Europe and not concentrated in one location.

The target is to adopt the legal instrument establishing the EIT by the end of 2007 or early 2008. The governing board could be appointed in 2008, with the first KICs up and running by 2010. The plan is then to create six KICs by 2013.