Short-term mobility programme in Japan for EU Industry Cluster Managers (also called “EUClusters2Japan”; up to a 6-week stay in Japan until 31 March 2024; offered to selected EU clusters involved in Industry, trade, research and innovation sectors).

Open from 29 June 2023 until 30 August 2023

Organised by the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation together with the Regional & Cluster Cooperation Helpdesk (CEEJA & IRJC) in cooperation with The European Cluster Collaboration Platform (ECCP). Contact: ejrc [at] eu-japan.eu   https://www.ejrc-helpdesk.eu/  

Context

The EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation intends to offer a short-term mobility programme in Japan for EU Industry Cluster Managers with the goal to support international cooperation between industry clusters in the EU and their counterparts in Japan and to promote the internationalization of EU Cluster-hosted SMEs and EU-Japan business, as well as foster future technology and innovation partnerships.  

Target audience

Project Officers / Managers / Staff in charge of Cluster internationalization working in EU Industry clusters are eligible and invited to apply by filling in pages 2 and 3 of this call and e-mailing their reply by e-mail to ejrc [at] eu-japan.eu no later than by 30 August 2023; up to 10 EU Industry Cluster Managers will be selected, with up to 1 person from each cluster. Candidates are required to include a long list of the target Japanese partner clusters/organisations they intend to meet in Japan. Each mission is expected to last for a period of up to 6 weeks, with a grant awarded to selected and eligible candidates up to 700 EUR per week.   Eligible EU Cluster Applicants should (i) have a valid registration to the ECCP (ii)  should provide a link of their ECCP profile in the application form, and (iii) be based in the EU Member States or the participating countries in the COSME strand of the Single Market Programme: https://ec.europa.eu/info/funding-tenders/opportunities/docs/2021-2027/…;

Objectives

In line with the European Commission’s priority actions for supporting the internationalization of EU industry clusters in the context of Japan: •    To promote and support partnering with Japanese Clusters and counterpart organizations; •    To raise awareness about the excellence of EU industry/innovation clusters with the aim to help bring their innovative start-ups and SMEs to the Japanese market; •    To explore Cluster collaboration with Japanese counterpart organizations in the areas of industry, trade and research and innovation. •    To contribute to the implementation of (i) the EU-Japan Green Alliance, (ii) the EU-Japan Digital Partnership, (iii) the EU-Japan EPA, and the EU-Japan Business cooperation in third markets.

Outline

-    29 June 2023: Call for expressions of interest is open for applications -    30 August 2023: Closing of the call – Eligibility check and selection on the basis of (i) quality of the cooperation strategy drafted in the application, (ii) motivation and approach to search for Japanese cooperation leads, (iii) quality of the quest for matching and (iv) overall quality of the application, match with the offered service and expected potential for future EU-Japan Cluster cooperation.

Apply here