SME-to-LEAD Free Quality Trainings
The SME population is historically difficult to engage in European Commission Framework Programmes for R&D and many that do participate fail to gain the full potential benefit as they are only passively involved. The SMEtoLEAD initiative funded by European Commission, offers to train SMES to be successful coordinators of research projects. Twenty-four training sessions are planned over two years throughout Europe, hosted by eleven National Contact Point partners and delivered by FP experienced research organisations, Project Technical Advisers (PTA) and an Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) expert from a German legal firm.
Various training sessions have been held to date, amongst others: in Brussels, Belgium, in Lisbon, Portugal, in Aalborg, Denmark, Lefkosia, Cyprus and in Riga, Latvia. Over 180 participants attended the sessions, the majority of which were SMEs. The feedback so far is very positive and statistics analysed to date from the feedback of the first events give a first-class average of 90% of attendees marking the training as good or excellent! Sergio Pinto from Frontwave - Engenharia e Consultadoria, S.A. participants at the Lisbon training, said: “The trainers are brilliant. I emphasise their professionalism, enthusiasm and knowledge. They make a heavy matter such as this one look easy”.
As part of a continuous desire for a high quality service delivery to our target audience, the SMEtoLEAD consortium has secured the endorsement of well-known pan-European organisations active in innovation and FP related areas including INSME and Eurexcel. The S2L training programme has also been awarded the ISO9001 quality certification by the international registered body, RINA.
Training information is continuously updated on our internet website http://www.smetolead.org(opens in new window) and future sessions include dates in Budapest, Hungary, on 12, 13 and 14 September 2007 and in Riga, Latvia and Copenhagen, Denmark in October. Contact info@smetolead.org for more details.