Maria at the MCAA General Assembly

"There is so much we can learn from each other. I wish I had a sign with me that said: "I am from EIT! Ask me!"

On Saturday the 24th of February we sent our Alumna Maria Kanov to the Marie Curie Alumni Association (MCAA) General Assembly as an ambassador of the broader EIT Alumni community.

Maria, who is also the co-founder of our Women@EIT Community, kindly agreed to represent us and immerse herself in a day of workshops, talks, and presentations held at the resplendent University of Vienna.

For the past few years, the MCAA and the EIT Alumni have often benefited from a close friendship. Indeed, our structures are very similar, with both bringing together highly-skilled professionals and academics from a variety of sectors into a highly engaged, decentralised, European community.

It makes sense, therefore, that we seek to strengthen this bond, and establish a means for continued collaboration between our networks. This is exactly what we plan to do in 2019.

The MCAA event focused on the theme of "Research and Innovation beyond the Information Age" and offered a range of keynotes and training sessions aimed at addressing the evolving research environment - from how to write proposals for individual fellowships and European Research Council grants, to starting an entrepreneurship venture, and transitioning from academia to industry.

According to Maria's report, the EIT was mentioned by a number of the MCAA speakers. As a community of academics and researchers, an exciting next step for many of them is to look towards the world of business and entrepreneurship.

"I am very grateful that I had the opportunity to join the MCAA General Assembly in my home city of Vienna. An impressive crowd of about 700 researchers from various scientific fields came together to discuss, network and experience what it's like to be part of this community. The energy and enthusiasm I could feel at the event reminded me a lot of the EIT network. It was also striking that there was a lot of interest in the EIT from both speakers and participants, as it is an opportunity for bridging the gap between academia and business.
I wish I had a sign with me that said: "I am from EIT! Ask me!" There is so much we can learn from each other. Let's get this collaboration started!"
Maria Kanov, EIT Digital Alumni & Women@EIT

This is something we would very warmly welcome. Bolstering the growing number of EIT Community entrepreneurs by inviting MCAA Alumni to take part in EIT Business creation and Accelerator programmes would be be a valuable addition to the ever expanding EIT Alumni Community. Of course the MCAA also offers a lot of opportunities for our own members, and we look forward to working together more this year!

We would like to thank the MCAA once again for giving us the opportunity to take part in this event, and learn from their members.
We look forward to inviting you to EIT Alumni CONNECT 2019!

[originally posted on the EIT Alumni website]