The informational event “New funding for Research and Innovation in the 2021–2027 period”, organized by Thinc Thrace incubator in collaboration with Democritus University of Thrace, was completed successfully. The keynote speaker of the workshop was Mr. Athanasios Kyriazis, Secretary General for Research and Innovation at the Ministry of Development & Investments.
The event took place on Thursday, September 22, 2022, at the facilities of Thinc Thrace incubator, at the incubator's base in the Xanthi School of Engineering.
After a tour of Thinc's facilities, Mr. Kyriazis watched presentations by student teams of Democritus University of Thrace, who presented their work and vision, along with a candidate business team in the Thinc Thrace incubator program founded by Professors of the University. Mr. Kyriazis showed keen interest in the teams and stressed the importance of Thinc's contribution to the development of their work.
Welcome addresses were given by the Rector of Democritus University of Thrace, Professor Alexandros Ch. Polychronidis, and the President of the Network of Manufacturers' and Industries' Associations of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, Mr. Christos Giordamlis.
This was followed by a presentation by the Vice Rector for Research and Lifelong Learning of Democritus University of Thrace, Ms. Maria Michalopoulou, on the University's intensive activity and use of available research resources, as well as its plans for the coming period to make the University a pioneer in research.
Mr. Athanasios Kyriazis, Secretary General for Research and Innovation, spoke about the vision of developing and strengthening innovation, research and entrepreneurship in the Region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, and how it is being realized with the help of local research centers and structures as well as local government. There was also an extensive look at the new opportunities for funding research and innovation from European co-funded programs. Finally, Mr. Kyriazis dwelt on the value of funding and, as he stressed: “We secured 60 million euros from the Recovery Fund for basic research, because it has one major drawback: it is not funded by the NSRF. So it has to come either from national resources or from somewhere else, that is, the Recovery Fund”.
The presentations concluded with that of Mr. Panagiotis Koudoumakis, representative of the Special Managing Authority of the Program “Eastern Macedonia, Thrace”. Mr. Koudoumakis analyzed the priorities of the new 2021–2027 Programming Period and its funding opportunities, and spoke about projects carried out in the current period as well as the measures being planned to support and modernize research infrastructure and businesses for research, development and innovation, and their cooperation with research/academic bodies.
Taking part in the event were three (3) of the student teams active at Democritus University of Thrace and one (1) of the 25 business teams that applied to the Thinc Thrace incubator program. They had the opportunity both to connect with the research and academic community of Democritus University of Thrace and to present their ideas and goals to the Secretary General for Research and Innovation.
More specifically, the following teams took part with their representatives:
- ABCureD: Ms. Aikaterini Chatzaki, Professor of Pharmacology at the School of Medicine of Democritus University of Thrace, presented the business proposal she submitted with her team to the Thinc Thrace incubator program. ABCureD applies data-driven approaches to deliver validated solutions and generate knowledge with the help of artificial intelligence. Ms. Chatzaki stressed the importance of securing funding and support for research and entrepreneurship, as well as supporting and establishing structures such as Thinc.
- DIR: The team coordinator, Mr. Athanasios Sendros, and other team members attended and presented the team's journey from its founding to today, discussed the next steps for the coming year and their performance in international competitions.
- DRT: The team captain, Ms. Afroditi Andrianou, presented the team's new electric single-seater and spoke about its performance in the recent competition in Croatia.
- Erasmus Student Network DUTH: The president of the Erasmus Student Network of Democritus University of Thrace, Ms. Theodora Tsiotra, also attended.
Thinc Thrace incubator was represented by the Contractors, Messrs. Stavros Amoiras, co-founder and Director of Strategic Planning & Development at ena Development Consultants, and Michalis Pouspourikas, co-founder of FM-Epicheirein, as well as the support team, Mr. Christos Papachaviaris, Project Manager at Thinc, and Ms. Zoi Agathangelidou, Executive Manager at Thinc.
At the end of the event, participants had the opportunity to discuss individual questions about financing tools and funding opportunities with the speakers and the representatives of Democritus University of Thrace and the Region.
Thinc Thrace incubator has already begun evaluating applications to the program and continues its close contact with innovation and entrepreneurship bodies and organizations inside and outside the Region of Eastern Macedonia and Thrace, with the aim of supporting the business teams it will host.
ena Development Consultants, Contractor of the first university incubator in Northern Greece, would like to thank everyone who helped organize the event, the audience and the representatives of the State and University Community who honored us with their presence, and finally all the speakers for their extremely interesting presentations.
