On 11 February 2026, the widerAdvance Facility organised the Mutual Learning Event “Unlocking Funding Potential: Leveraging Funding for Knowledge Valorisation” at the Czech Institute of Informatics, Robotics and Cybernetics (CIIRC), Czech Technical University in Prague. The event brought together policymakers, researchers, research managers, project coordinators, and innovation stakeholders to exchange practical insights on how knowledge valorisation and funding synergies can strengthen the long-term impact of research, particularly in Widening countries.
© Václav Bacovský | www.krasnesvetlo.cz
Katarzyna Walczyk-Matuszyk, widerAdvance Facility Coordinator at IPPT PAN, and Ian Gauci Borda from Xjenza Malta opened the event by introducing the services of the widerAdvance Facility and its role in supporting organisations through tailored coaching, training, and capacity building. They emphasised that knowledge valorisation should be embedded throughout the project lifecycle and that strengthening organisational and RMA capacities is essential to increase the maturity and exploitation potential of Key Exploitable Results (KERs).
© Václav Bacovský | www.krasnesvetlo.cz
Building on this perspective, Federica Roffi, Deputy Head of Unit at REA “Widening Participation and Spreading Excellence”, highlighted in her keynote the strategic importance of synergies across EU programmes. She stressed that combining funding instruments is a powerful way to increase impact and ensure continuity beyond a single project, while effective knowledge valorisation attracts additional public and private investment and strengthens Europe’s competitiveness.
The widerAdvance Facility team then presented the widerAdvance approach and tools to reinforcing regional and organisational valorisation systems, illustrating how successful outcomes rely on coordinated capacities across organisations, ecosystems, and policies, with the presentation of the Funding Matrix and the Self-assessment tool.
Concrete examples from practice brought these ideas to life, as Dušan Galusek (FunGlass), Viera Pechancová (Tomas Bata University), Fabio Figurella (DAN Europe Foundation) and Tomáš Mozga (MOLIPEC) shared their success stories in leveraging and combining funding opportunities, providing practical insights and inspiration for participants. The discussion then shifted to policy instruments supporting synergies, with contributions from Alžběta Plachá of the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic, Omar Cutajar from Xjenza Malta, and Piotr Świerczyński of the National Centre for Research and Development.
© Václav Bacovský | www.krasnesvetlo.cz
The event concluded with an interactive session where participants shared their experiences and reflected on opportunities and challenges in leveraging funding synergies and knowledge valorisation.
The widerAdvance Facility will continue to support organisations from Widening countries through training, coaching, and capacity building activities.
More information on upcoming opportunities is available at www.widerAdvance.eu
