Professor Nektarios Tavernarakis elected President of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology

It was announced today in Brussels that the president of the Institute of Technology and Research (FORTH) and professor of the Medical School of the University of Crete, Nektarios Tavernarakis, was unanimously elected president of the European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT). From July 2022, when he will take up his new duties, he will lead the actions of the EIT. Mr. Tavernarakis has been a member of the EIT Board of Directors since 2020, following his selection by the European Commission (EU), through a highly competitive process of evaluating candidates’ scientific and administrative achievements at pan-European level.

According to FORTH, Nektarios Tavernarakis is the first and only Greek to be elected president of the EIT, having undergone a brilliant scientific and administrative course, with a substantial contribution to cutting-edge scientific research and important initiatives to promote excellence and innovation. This exceptional distinction is another recognition of the scientific quality and the high level of research conducted at FORTH and the University of Crete.

The Board of Directors is the EIT’s highest governing body and is composed of 15 members, leading academics, researchers and people from the business world, who enjoy international recognition and are distinguished for their experience in the fields of technology and innovation. Its main mission is to formulate the EIT strategy, and to select, support and evaluate the “Knowledge and Innovation Communities”. The President of the EIT chairs the Board of Directors, with the support of two other members who make up the Executive Committee of the Institute. The Members of the Executive Board, elected by the EIT Board of Directors, are also members of the Board of Directors, which oversees the implementation of the EIT strategy.

According to the FORTH announcement, the European Institute of Innovation and Technology is a unique initiative of the European Commission, aimed at boosting innovation in Europe. A key priority of the Institute is the interconnection and collaboration of businesses, academia and research institutes (Knowledge Triangle), to create an environment conducive to innovation and entrepreneurship in Europe. To this end, the EIT has created 8 Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs), each focusing on finding solutions to a specific global challenge. The “Knowledge and Innovation Communities” are related to climate change, sustainable energy, digital technologies, healthy living and active aging, raw materials, food for the future, smart, green urban transport and the European manufacturing industry. Today, 2 more KICs are being established, the first in the field of culture and arts, and the second in matters of protection of water resources, shipping and marine ecosystems.

Under the European Commission’s Horizon Europe program, the EIT manages over € 2.9 billion. The EIT brings together more than 2,900 partners and enables innovators and entrepreneurs to turn their best ideas into products, services, jobs and growth. Creates training programs that combine technical and business skills, provides personalized business creation and business acceleration services and innovation-based research programs, bringing new ideas and solutions to market. To date, the EIT has created 8 Innovation Communities, more than 200 innovation hubs across Europe, supported more than 3,800 start-ups, helped create more than 13,000 new jobs, and more than 1,400 new products and services, bringing together 3.9 billion euros in external funds.

Mr. Tavernarakis himself stated in this regard: “I feel special honor for my election as President of the EIT, which is the largest and most experienced innovation network in Europe. Joining the Board brought me into contact with a thriving ecosystem made up of people who excel in innovation, top students and collaborators working together to shape Europe’s future. Undoubtedly, innovation plays a central role in solving some of the biggest challenges we face. In this unprecedented time we are going through, I wish, in turn, to contribute to the further strengthening of innovation in Europe, expanding our ecosystem and increasing our impact, working collectively guided by the prosperity and taxation of our continent “.

Announcing the decision, the outgoing EIT President, Gioia Ghezzi, said: “I am excited that Nektarios Tavernarakis is taking over the role of the next EIT President. “Undoubtedly, his rich experience and dedication to Europe ‘s innovation ecosystem will help strengthen the EIT’ s ambition to strengthen Europe ‘s digital and green transition.”

Brief CV

Nektarios Tavernarakis is a professor of Molecular Systems Biology at the Medical School of the University of Crete. He is also the President of the Institute of Technology and Research (FORTH), and Research Director of the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology of FORTH, where he heads the Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Aging. He studied Biology at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, and holds a PhD in Molecular Genetics from the Department of Biology of the University of Crete. His research interests focus on the study of molecular mechanisms that govern the function and pathophysiology of the nervous system. His extensive administrative experience includes his tenure as president of FORTH, director of the Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, as well as director of the Postgraduate Program in Bioinformatics, of the Medical School of the University of Crete. He is also Vice-President of the Scientific Council of the European Research Council (ERC) and elected Chairman of the Board and Executive Board of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). He is a member of the European Academy of Sciences (Academia Europaea), the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), the German National Academy of Sciences (Leopoldina), the European Organization for Molecular Biology (EMBO), of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts (EASA) and Corresponding Member of the Academy of Athens.

He has been honored with major scientific awards and distinctions, including two Advanced Investigator Grant grants, and funding from the ERC Proof of Concept Grant, the European Organization’s Young Researcher Award Molecular Biology (EMBO), the Friedrich Wilhelm Bessel Research Prize of the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, Germany; the Helmholtz International Fellow Award; Academy of Athens.

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