Chief Scientist presented a comprehensive Strategy Roadmap & Programs rollout in a meeting with the Cyprus Universities Rectors committee

Chief Scientist Demetris Skourides has shared a comprehensive Strategy Roadmap & Programs rollout, marking a new era for Cyprus Research Innovation Foundation.

The roadmap, presented before the Cyprus Rectors' Conference, is based on a thorough analysis of the ecosystem with more than 650 engagements with research organizations, centres of excellence, startups, Innovation SMEs and well-established enterprises and aims to propel Cyprus into becoming a Regional Research, Innovation, and Technology hub by 2035.

Revolutionizing the Ecosystem

The new strategy, energized by the fresh perspectives of the new board, focuses on simplifying processes, enhancing customer experience, and embracing transparency. These objectives are not mere aspirations, but actionable goals set to improve the productivity and impact of the R&I ecosystem.

Empowering Researchers and Innovators

A significant shift towards simplification is underway, with plans to introduce a new Grants management system by 2025. This system aims to alleviate administrative burdens, allowing researchers to focus on scientific work and commercialization, without compromising accountability and integrity in how funds are used.

Achieving Excellence and International Recognition

Cyprus has maintained its 10th position in the European innovation scoreboard for the third consecutive year, a testament to the country's growing innovation posture and the work undertaken in preceding months. The public universities and institutes, such as the University of Cyprus and the Cyprus Institute, have been instrumental in securing prestigious European Research Council grants, showcasing the nation's research excellence with 18 ERC awards, and 5 advanced grants by (Dr. Christoforos Pissarides, Dr. Johannes Lelieveld, Dr. Marios Polycarpou, Dr. Philippos Patsalis, Dr. Tryantafyllos Stylianopoulos).

Fostering Collaboration and Knowledge Transfer

The government's commitment is evident in the increased competitive funding for the period 2021-2027, which rose to €177.25m, a 34% increase from 2014-2020.  Research accounts for 23% of the budget, Collaboration and knowledge transfer 27%, Innovation 21%, and Internationalization 15%. Infrastructure and skills account for 14%.  Improvements across the operation of the Research and Innovation Foundation have significantly reduced the average Time to Pay, 61 days in 2023 vs 275 in 2019, and the  average Time-to-contract from 21 months in 2019 to seven months in 2023.   Committed to improving customer experience, and refocusing funding in programs that are high impact, the Research and Innovation Foundation has created a special committee of board members tasked with conducting regular reviews.

Bridging Industry and Research

The Chief Scientist has emphasized the importance of bridging the gap between industry and research organizations.

Initiatives like the Partner Innovation Day that took place in February 2024 are focused on breaking silos and creating opportunities for research organizations, startups, and technology innovators by facilitating discussions, knowledge transfer in topics such as sponsored research, co-development of IP, and commercialization.  Mr Skourides noted that €7.8m is allocated to enhancing research excellence that leads to successes internationally through the EU Horizon Europe program and €47.2m to Collaboration & knowledge transfer in thematic areas (ICT, Green transition, Energy, Shipping, Agrifood, Health, Advanced materials, and Environment).  An additional €24.2m is earmarked to Infrastructures & skills aimed at building and supporting world class research and innovation while €38.2m are set aside for advancing Cyprus’ innovation posture. 

The Chief Scientist also facilitated the introduction of Ambassador of Japan H.E. Mr. Yoshio Yamawaki, and President of Japan Science and Technology Agency (JST) Kazuhito Hashimoto with Director of Phaethon Prof George Georgiou, and H.E. Deemah AlYahya, Secretary general of DCO to Koios Centre of Excellence, which helped create awareness and explored the potential of further collaboration. 

Mr Skourides advocates cross-industry collaboration between research organizations and industry and has been actively supporting such cooperations. During the presentation, the Chief Scientist added that the recent criteria in programs Excellence Hubs increased collaboration between private and public research orgs by 8 percentage points to 29% vs 21% in the last call in 2021 and highlighted that the 2024 post-doc call was well subscribed with 60%+ leading projects of female scientists and researchers.  Mr Skourides highlighted that the programs and interventions are expected to support more than 550 researchers.  Submissions to both calls have not been reviewed, however preliminary data indicates marked improvement supporting Cyprus’ growing posture in the EIS.

Conclusion: A Call to Action

Skourides said that in 2024, €22.1m would be allocated to research across funding calls Excellence hubs, post-doc, VisionERC, Birdge2Horizon, ERC 2nd Opportunity, excluding other funding to Research supporting the implementation of MoUs with other countries and 4.1M will follow in programs Post Doc, PhD in Industry, Proof of Concept in 2025.  Under challenging requirements that require funding across research, innovation and technology, we are ensuring that Cypriot researchers across the entire ecosystem have access to competitive funding to continue their work. The focus is on the transformative efforts and the collaborative spirit that drives the nation towards a brighter, more innovative future. Further details of budget allocations can be found on the Chief Scientist website under the news section.