Centre of excellence

Centre of excellence
See also
Industrial park European social fund Cluster development Team development Krzysztof Wozniak Sources of innovation Innovative research Project support office Scrum of scrums

Centre of Excellence (COE) is a single cell or a complex organizational structure, whose primary responsibility is research and development of new technologies at the highest level. The main objective of these development projects are measurable academic results. Centre of Excellence recruits scientists with significant research accomplishments. They are designed so groups working together around common areas of importance to the economy of the country, conduct joint research projects. They cooperate with industry, and conduct training and educational activities.

COEs are commonly referred to as "laboratories without walls". Their flexible organizational structure and extensive research facilities enable:

• effective use of accumulated knowledge in a variety of institutions,
• effective control measures and
• efficient implementation of research results.

Expected results of Centre of Excellence

Results of COE activity include:

• technological innovations,
• increased promotion of scientific research,
• new technologies and products.

These activities help to improve the competitiveness of national economy in the international markets.

COEs should be organizationally independent. The core team should consist of respected scientific research organization (it may be, for example Departments of Sciences, universities or other research and development organizations).

Goals and scientific activities

Outputs of Centre of Excellence

Centres of Excellence idea does not include creation of new research organizations. It is rather a kind of "laboratory" which is actively cooperating with industry or other users of research results. The COE business plan includes projects in the sector of fundamental science and practical innovation. Group members and research facilities are tailored to specific projects. The main source of funding for CEs are usually institutions that control the country's science policy.

==Evaluation of Centre of Excellence The measure of quality of research and development of Centres of Excellence are:

• scientific publications,
• patents,
• employment opportunities offered to researchers,
• the number of its own scientific staff and visiting researchers,
• the number and value of commercial contracts,
• number of spin-off,
• participation in the European education system.

References

• Tips on building Centre of Excellence
• Paim R, Nunes V, Pinho B, Santoro F, Cappelli C, Baino FA (2009) Structuring a process management center of excellence, Proceedings of the 2009 ACM symposium on Applied Computing
• Leandro J, Macieira A, Karrer D, Caulliaraux H (2014), BPM Center of Excellence: The Case of a Brazilian Company, Handbook on Business Process Management

Author: Agnieszka Litewka