KInIT’s Growth: Strategic Support for Research and Horizon Europe Funding

KInIT is not a state research institute; it is funded by private companies. The client aimed to achieve economic sustainability, particularly by expanding funding sources, including through international research and development grants such as Horizon Europe.

Therefore, the main challenge for Civittа was to attract appropriate funding for the client’s projects, specifically to:

• Increase the availability of talent in Slovakia, providing young people with reasons to stay in the country and build careers with strong international connections.
• Create an environment that promotes impactful, responsible research, attracting and nurturing leading researchers in their fields, and developing expertise that can be transferred to the private sector or used for community development.
• Apply intelligent technologies in business through research activities closely linked to academia.

Civitta has been working with the client on Horizon Europe grant opportunities and application preparation since the organization was founded in 2020. In total, the Civitta team has prepared two successful grant applications for Horizon Europe Twinning and Teaming competitions. In addition, KInIT has successfully participated in several international consortia under different Horizon Europe competitions.

• Successful Twinning Project: DisAI (Improving Scientific Excellence and Creativity in Combating Disinformation Using Artificial Intelligence and Language Technologies)
  DisAI was one of the first international projects KInIT submitted in 2021 as a coordinator for the Horizon Europe Twinning competition. The project aims to enhance KInIT’s scientific excellence in reliable artificial intelligence, multimodal natural language processing, and multilingual language technologies by collaborating with leading institutions in the field: the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence (DFKI), the Hellas Research and Technology Center (Greece), and the University of Copenhagen (Denmark). The project received a grant of EUR 1.5 million and includes networking and mobility activities, know-how transfer to facilitate cooperation between industry and academia, and advanced training for research managers and administrative staff. Civitta coordinated the proposal preparation process and turned it into a successful project. Since this was the first project in which KInIT acted as coordinator, Civitta also provided training to the KInIT team in project financial reporting and management.
• Successful Teaming Project: IforAI (Low Resource Artificial Intelligence)
  IforAI, aims to establish KInIT as a leading research institution in Low Resource Artificial Intelligence (LRAI) in Slovakia and Europe. The IforAI consortium was carefully designed to bring together leading European AI research institutes with diverse organizational models, budget structures, and unique national expertise: the ADAPT Centre (Trinity College, Ireland), DFKI (Germany), and the Hellas Research and Technology Center (Greece). IforAI’s impact is based on three pillars: talent and personal development, pursuit of research excellence in LRAI, innovation and technology transfer through developed outreach programs.Civitta coordinated the two-stage proposal preparation process and successfully turned it into a winning application.

The projects received a total grant of EUR 10.9 million.

“The deep discussions moderated by Civitta during the Twinning and Teaming proposal preparation phase helped us to refine the strategic goals and focus of KInIT.”

Maria Bielikova, Director General

• Beyond funding: Twinning and Teaming proposals were not just successful grant applications—they served as a strategic tool for shaping KInIT’s vision and long-term goals. The structured discussions and guidance provided by Civitta during the proposal preparation phase helped KInIT define its priorities in research, talent development, and international collaboration.
  
• Strategic direction in early years: for a young institute, these proposals played a pivotal role in setting the foundation for its strategy. They clarified the organization’s focus areas, identified high-impact research opportunities, and established benchmarks for excellence in AI research.
  
• Capacity building: the process of preparing and managing these projects strengthened KInIT’s internal capabilities, including project management, financial reporting, and collaboration with international partners. This ensured that KInIT could lead complex international research projects with confidence.
  
• Talent attraction and retention: by aligning funding opportunities with strategic goals, KInIT was able to attract top-tier researchers and young talent to Slovakia, fostering a sustainable pipeline of expertise and enabling the institute to grow from 28 to 90 employees.
• International recognition and networks: the projects positioned KInIT as a recognized player in European AI research, expanding its network to 30 countries and increasing visibility in top-tier scientific forums and collaborations.
• Catalyst for innovation: beyond the immediate funding, the Twinning and Teaming projects acted as a catalyst for knowledge exchange, responsible innovation, and applied research, creating pathways for technology transfer to industry and societal impact.