Europe’s next tech leaders: Bridging the skills gap

Europe is facing a pressing need to fill its talent gap in emerging technologies. Turning bright minds into innovators and entrepreneurs requires more than technology expertise. The necessary skill set lies in real-life experiences, exchanging with peers and technology experts, and the ambition to turn a concept into a game-changer business. Addressing this challenge requires innovative educational programs that broaden the learning experience, complementing traditional STEM curricula.

Since 2017, the ATTRACT Academy has exemplified this approach when training the future generation of tech innovators in collaboration with universities and industry. Embedded within world-class research infrastructures, the ATTRACT project has developed a unique training model where students from universities across Europe collaborate with technology grantees, universities, labs and companies and engage in deep tech projects under the guidance of educators. The experience aims at fostering the development of sustainable and valuable technologies for both commercial and societal applications. This approach leverages a partnership between research infrastructures, leading research universities and business schools. It provides a crucial training ground for Europe's next wave of technological talents and a novel point of convergence between education, research, entrepreneurship and, down the line, Europe’s competitiveness.

In practice, what are the benefits of expanding the role of research infrastructures to training fields in collaboration with academic institutions and industry? At the policy level, what needs to happen to accelerate the cross-fertilisation of Europe’s excellence in higher education and research and its formidable pool of bright tech-oriented minds? Looking towards the next EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (FP10), how to make sure the EU fully capitalise on integrated approaches, across disciplines, institutions and policies?

On September 24, Science|Business, in partnership with ATTRACT, will convene a select group of senior figures and experts from European institutions, academia, research infrastructures, and industry across the R&I spectrum to address these important questions.