The University of Southampton is the lead institution in a major UK partnership, including five other universities, IBM and Public Health England, bidding to become the UK co-location centre for the Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC) in Healthy Living and Active Ageing.
Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC) funding is aimed at solving some of the biggest problems facing society, such as ageing populations, whilst developing new products and services and incubating start-ups to generate jobs.
The UK co-location centre is part of a wider consortium called OneMoreLife, comprising co-location centres in France, Finland, Italy and Poland. OneMoreLife is bidding for €70m of funding each year, over the next seven years.
The role that the University of Southampton has taken in providing the lead to the UK bid has recently received the endorsement of Prime Minister David Cameron in a letter to Southampton’s Vice Chancellor Professor Don Nutbeam.
Professor Asghar Zaidi, who is leading the UK bid team, said: “This is a unique opportunity for University of Southampton to form and strengthen our partnerships in the area of active and healthy ageing. It will help us provide a lead in this most timely and critical area of research, teaching and services for innovations.”
OneMoreLife faces strong competition from other consortia around Europe. The funding announcement will be made by the EIT judging panel later this month.