The COLUMBUS project is pleased to announce that the final COLUMBUS Knowledge Transfer conference will be held in Brussels on 24 January 2018. Representing the European Commission’s most substantial investment in Knowledge Transfer to date, COLUMBUS intends to capitalise on the EC’s much larger expenditure on marine and maritime research by ensuring accessibility and uptake of research Knowledge Outputs by end users, policy, industry, science and wider society.
Partners, collaborators and interested parties are invited to join to discover and celebrate the COLUMBUS Knowledge Transfer methodology and its activities. This event, titled “Making Marine and Maritime Science Count”, will highlight Knowledge Transfer case studies and lessons learned through the work performed by the COLUMBUS project. The COLUMBUS Knowledge Transfer handbook will be launched, along with recommendations for European and national funding agencies to embed Knowledge Transfer systems in current and future funding mechanisms.
External capacity training on “Creating Impact by Knowledge Transfer for Scientists” focusing on the COLUMBUS Knowledge Transfer methodology will take place on 23 January 2018. Registration for the training course will take place through the project website over the coming months. Winners of the COLUMBUS Blue Society award for impactful Knowledge Transfer will also be announced during the conference. Details on the nomination process will be announced on the COLUMBUS website shortly .
This event builds on the successful work from the two previous COLUMBUS annual conferences. Participants at the first conference in 2016, “Realising the Impact of Marine and Maritime Research through Knowledge Transfer”, looked at the increasingly important areas of defining impact from EU funded research and how to achieve it through Knowledge Transfer. In 2017 the second conference, “Achieving Impact from Marine Research”, provided a forum to collaboratively explore the barriers, challenges and possible solutions to achieving the impact potential of marine and maritime research at all stages of the funding cycle.
To register interest for the conference and the external capacity training, or for specific information on the COLUMBUS project, contact the COLUMBUS Project Manager Cliona Ní Cheallacháin (cliona@aquatt.ie).
