European grants EISMEA for researchers and entrepreneurs
Researchers and companies working on innovative applications of artificial intelligence can apply for grants from the European agency EISMEA. One of the evaluators of the applications is an expert from the Silesian University of Technology – Professor Jerzy Respondek.
In March 2022, Professor Respondek was appointed an expert of the European agency EISMEA, and in April he started working on the business evaluation of applications in his research area.
Professor Respondek, who is a researcher from the Department of Applied Informatics at the Faculty of Automatic Control, Electronics and Informatics of the Silesian University of Technology explained that the "European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency" (EISMEA), which has been operating for a year now, generally speaking, plays a similar role to the national NCBiR (the National Centre for Research and Development), but on a European scale. It brings together all the activities of the European Innovation Council (EIC) and programmes related to small and medium-sized enterprises in a single agency.
These European grants can also be applied for by Polish companies that are part of scientific consortia dealing with the application of artificial intelligence in various areas of the economy. - These can be small companies with up to 250 employees, which are not subsidiaries of a large company or so-called "small mid-caps" with up to 499 employees, added Prof. Respondek.
- The purpose of these grants is to conduct industrial research and development work based on technologies for which research has already been conducted at the level of basic sciences; also to implement a product on the market. The priority areas are digital technologies, health technologies and the so-called green technologies - he pointed out.
Professor Respondek added that the programmes consist of two not mutually exclusive components, a grant for conducting research up to EUR 2.5 million and/or investment in an already developed and refined product to help its implementation. In this case, up to EUR 15 million can be invested by the agency.
For more information about the agency and the grants go to https://eismea.ec.europa.eu/about-eismea_en
