Gérard de Nazelle is the newly appointed director of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). Mr de Nazelle, previously Global Manager Innovation and Research at Shell, will now take charge of the EIT, making sure its organisational structures are fully operational by the end of 2009 and functioning smoothly for the upcoming four years.

The EIT, originally conceived by José Manuel Barroso, and officially established in 2008 (see ACA Newsletter – Education Europe, June 2008) is linked to the Lisbon agenda’s growth and jobs strategy. The idea is to strengthen the ‘knowledge triangle’ of research, education and market innovation, by attracting and funding partnerships of excellence, formed between representatives of universities, businesses and research communities –the so called Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs, see In this light Mr de Nazelle’s new responsibilities involve the day-to-day running of the EIT headquarters in Budapest and the setting up of the first KICs, on the progress of which he will report regularly to the EIT governing board.