New Thematic Networks Formed in ScanBalt Campus

Midterm Progress for the ScanBalt Project: Campus

The Interreg III B project Scanbalt Campus, aiming to create a critical mass in research and education and to be a model for transnational and transsectorial co-operation, has been running for nine months. During this period the project has generated frames for 8 new thematic knowledge networks, where three of these have been recommended to act cooperatively due to the mutuality of certain activities.

The networks span over the biotech sector from e.g. regenerative medicine, to intellectual property and entrepreneuship.

Within the networks, universities, companies and other strategic bodies in the society will co-operate to offer education and research platforms to strengthen the Biotech and Life-science sector in Scandinavian and Baltic countries and to make it competitive on a world-wide level. During a planned working conference to be held in Berlin late spring 2006, programmes for shared curricula integrating the Bologna process, will be worked out by leading European universities in the area. Short after, courses and educational programmes will be launched at the campus website. Further education for companies are also planned in order to meet the requirement of specialized manpower for industry in Biotech sector.

Furthemore, two key activities add to the core of the thematic networks:

New ScanBalt Liason office in Rostock
Hans Metelman, minister of research, education and culture in Mecklenburg Vorpommern has generously offered to finance a ScanBalt Liason office in Rostock for 2 years with the possibility of prolongation if positively evaluated. The office shall help with the administration of the projects and networks of ScanBalt that are hosted in Rostock and Mecklenburg Vorpommern.

ScanBalt Campus Academy initiated
Leena Peeltonen Palotie, professor at University of Helsinki and Kaare Norum, professor and former rector of Oslo University was asked during 2005 by ScanBalt ExCo and Campus board to initiate the ScanBalt Academy. The academy will supervise and contribute to the activities in the campus project and act as ambassadors for ScanBalt.  To ensure the good mix between excellencies of academic and industrial competence a core group with representative from universities and business life should be identified. In order to ensure the geographical spread of the academia it was also required to have a minimum of 2 persons from each of the ScanBalt countries represented in the core group. At the last Scanbalt Exco meeting in Hamburg, January 30 2006, Kaare Norum announced that the members of the core group are identified and will shortly be invited to join the academy.

Read more about ScanBalt Campus here.

Project part-financed by the European Union
(European Regional Development Fund) within the
BSR INTERREG III B Neighbourhood Programme.