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Department of Management - DISA

TECH2X - Technology for innovation and entrepreneurship excellence

EIT Higher Education Initiative - KIC Urban Mobility

Project Aim

The TECH2X project aims to boost the innovation and entrepreneurial capacity of the consortium’s HEIs to foster deep tech talent and respond to the need to transition towards the 4th generation university model.

Through practice-based collaborations and enhanced networking both within, between, and beyond our institutions, focusing on the areas of climate and mobility, we intend to create a scalable initiative for excellent science-based innovation and entrepreneurship practices in Europe.

Project Vision and objectives

The importance of creativity, innovation, and entrepreneurship is recognized by industry, academia, and policymakers alike.

The three elements appear as skills and essential elements for job seekers and business solutions, and as priorities in policy documents. They are also required for tackling key systemic social challenges, which are compelling universities to adopt roles that place them squarely at the centre of knowledge creation, economic growth, and sustainable governance.

This trend has been dubbed the “4th generation university”, following earlier primary roles as knowledge and discovery creators (1st & 2nd gen) and region-oriented economic growth catalysts (3rd gen).

In order to successfully transition from our society’s individualistic approach to science to a more collaborative and transformational mindset, we require more transversal skills that come from ‘experiential learning’ and soft skills, and somewhat less from our current strong focus on ‘propositional knowing’ (e.g. hard skills training based on high specialisation and the affirmation of knowledge boundaries).

This collaborative mindset and systems-thinking approach is an essential part of the transition to the 4th generation university, and policymakers increasingly expect that scientists, researchers, and professors collaborate across knowledge boundaries and actively engage diverse stakeholders.

Based on an analysis of the field, this project is designed to respond to the following three needs towards reaching our Vision for 2030:

  1.  adopting forward-looking methodologies to position HEIs to transition towards becoming 4th-generation universities.
  2.  Ensuring graduates and researchers have access to educational experiences that will equip them with transversal and soft skills and competencies for thriving in the job market and future professional paths.
  3. Concrete sustainable programs and initiatives for innovation and entrepreneurship that can be scaled in HEI ecosystems towards 2030 to enhance institutional capacity in deep-tech innovation and entrepreneurship.

List of participants

  • Alma Mater Studiorum Università di Bologna - Department of Management
  • Almacube srl
  • Fundación ESADE – Universitat Ramon Llull
  • Hochschule Mannheim (Mannheim University of Applied Sciences)
  • Middle East Techinical University
  • Organisation Europeenne pour la Recherche Nucleaire

Associated partners

  • Istituto di Design (Barcelona)
  • Università degli Studi di Ferrara
  • Università degli Studi di Parma
  • Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya
  • Universitat Politecnica de Valencia
  • University of Modena and Reggio Emilia

DiSA Team Leader:  Clio Dosi

DISA Team members: Matteo Vignoli, Nunzia Coco

Phase1:

  • Total contribution: 540,000 €
  • Duration: April 1st, 2025 - December 31st, 2025

Phase 2:

  • Total contribution: 799,900 €
  • Duration: Jauary 1st,  2026 - April 30th, 2027

KIC Urban Mobility is supported by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), a body of the European Union.