eap-plus.eu – STI International Cooperation Network for Eastern Partnership Countries - PLUS

My name is Corina Gribincea, I am 30 years old and I live in Chisinau, the capital of the Republic of Moldova. My research interests include industrial management, tourism, energy and finance.

Could you explain your background (studies, professional background)? 

I have graduated from the Trade Cooperative University Moldova in 2010 (Specialization: Trade and commodity goods). From 2010-2012 I did a Master's study at the Moldova State University (Specialization: Strategies and Policies of marketing in tourism). After that I completed my PhD studies at the University of the Academy of Sciences Moldova (Specialization: Economy and Management). Currently I already have more than 7 years of work experience in the field of Science & Innovation at the National Institute for Economic Research in Moldova.

What is your current professional situation?

As mentioned, I work as Senior Scientific Researcher at the National Institute for Economic Research, which is a public institution. In addition I work part time at the European University of Moldova and the Free International University of Moldova. My research field is focused on interdisciplinary research combining three topics: economy, ecology and energy.

What were you able to achieve/which event were you able to attend) thanks to the EaP PLUS grant?

Moldova is facing a dramatic lack of financial resources concerning the support of researchers. This is to the detriment of many aspects in professional development, such as international visibility, publications in highly-ranked journals, individual mobility etc. Thanks to financial support through the EaP Plus grant I was able to attend the BE “Unlimited Opportunities in a Circular Economy” that took place in Oslo, Norway. I had an opportunity to interact and discuss with Norwegian and international companies, researchers and stakeholders concerning the unlimited opportunities in a circular economy. The conference and B2B matchmaking event was really interesting and useful, in particular to get to know success stories of European circular economy projects and to learn about funding opportunities for innovation projects.

In which way did the EaP PLUS grant contribute to support your scientific research project?

The opportunity to attend the brokerage event in Oslo with the grant support through EaP PLUS helped to make new contacts (additional to those planned in B2B meetings) and to look for new funding opportunities which could financially support my innovation projects developed at NIER. I had really good discussions with different experts: From the Research Council of Norway Mrs. A.Witczak Haugstad, Mr. Inaam Sheriff as a Business Development Consultant, Mrs. Susie Jahren from Sintef and Mrs. Eveline Lemke from Thinking Circular.

What are the next steps of your scientific research project (where do you see yourself in the next 5 years)?

At present, economy and energy/natural resources consumption issues concern the whole world. In an increasingly globalized world, the energy/natural resources issue cannot be tackled by a single country alone, it is a challenge faced by all human beings. While promoting investment in energy infrastructure, there are such problems as huge imbalances, unjust structures, and structure upgradings in investment and construction of energy infrastructure in most developing countries. With an ever more accelerating globalization, the deepening of regional cooperation and an unprecedented level of international cooperation and exchange, the establishment of an economic, clean, safe and reliable energy system becomes an important task for the whole international community. In view of this situation, sciences are of crucial importance to develop new innovative solutions to tackle all the challenges related to it. Also in order to meet the high international requirements for competitive research funding, it’s good to have strong collaborations at international level and to emphasize individual participations in international projects.