Key Takeaways

– Knowledge valorisation: the role of research and technology infrastructures, 15 June 2023, Brussels. The INESC Brussels HUB yearly Summer Meeting is fast approaching. Check the agenda and register before 9 June!

– New and very interesting calls under the Widening part of Horizon Europe just opened: Twinning, ERA Fellowships, among others. Find links with explanatory notes in the Horizon Europe section.

– There is a global drive for more open, rigorous research, from the EU push to a complete transition to free open-access publishing to a US “big leap” towards open science; the trend is strengthening.

– Recent changes in the European Commission DG RTD to accommodate a new European Innovation Council Unit, a new Research Infrastructures and Open Science Unit.

– Strategic autonomy means being more self-sufficient, especially in raw materials, technology development and improved research security. The EU is playing a delicate balancing show in trying to keep EU-China bridges open through continued R&I cooperation.

– The European Commission will nominate up to 15 people to provide an independent, external perspective on the Framework Programme evaluation. A call for experts is open.

– One of the priorities of the upcoming Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU is strengthening R&I ties with Latin America. 

Horizon Europe

Twinning call for proposals is open – Read all about it

Submit your application by 28 September and unlock the Widening Twinning programme elevating networking for scientific excellence. The “Widening participation and spreading excellence” component of Horizon Europe contributes to building research and innovation capacity for countries lagging behind in terms of Research and Innovation, in line with the policy objectives of the European Research Area. Read more in the Research Executive Agency’s latest article covering the Twinning programme application process.  

Horizon Europe ERA Fellowships call is now open

ERA Fellowships build on the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships 2023 action and take place in a Widening country. They are provided to excellent researchers of any nationality undertaking cross-border mobility. Applications must be made jointly by the researcher and a legal entity in the academic or non-academic sector located in a Widening country. Applications must be submitted by 12 September 2023. More info

EUR 20 million available for Pathways to synergies – Call for proposals

Pathways to synergies call for proposals is now open. This new Widening funding opportunity aims to unlock synergies between Horizon Europe/Horizon 2020, and ERDF, IPA (instrument for pre-accession assistance), RRF, INTERREG or similar funding instruments, strengthen innovation capacity and competitiveness of less performing regions and accelerate knowledge transfers and technological innovations. The deadline for applications is 28 September 2023. More info

New Horizon Europe funding opportunity: Dissemination & Exploitation Support Facility call

It will help beneficiaries by widening actions to improve the effectiveness of their dissemination and exploitation and unlock new funding sources. Improving knowledge diffusion, technology uptake and having spill-over effects is fundamental to ensure that researchers and their institutions build on and valorise the latest available knowledge. More info

Commission Open Call: Expert Group on the Interim Evaluation of Horizon Europe

The objective of the European Commission is to nominate up to 15 people to provide an independent, external perspective on the Framework Programme evaluation. The EG will draw up, in a report, strategic recommendations on maximising the impact of EU Research and Innovation programmes in the future. The group will base its report on the Horizon Europe interim evaluation and Horizon 2020 ex-post evaluation findings and conclusions and the results of a European foresight exercise for future Research and Innovation policy. Apply here

Industry 5.0 Award contest opens: apply by 1 September 2023

The Industry 5.0 Award provides a vision of the future of European industry, which aims to achieve societal goals beyond jobs and growth. Industry would become a resilient provider of prosperity by making production more sustainable and placing the worker’s well-being at the centre of the production process. The award concept is prepared in collaboration with European Factories of the Future Research Association (EFFRA), industrial platform MANUFUTURE, European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency (EISMEA) and EIT Manufacturing. Projects competing for the Award should present inspiring and applicable solutions, addressing the three main pillars of Industry 5.0: sustainability, human-centricity and resilience. In 2022, RAMP-PV, a deep tech startup, won the Award for its project for up-cycling of raw materials from photovoltaic panels. Get more inspiration from last year’s finalists. Further info and application here.

Horizon Europe: The EU and the Republic of Korea launch formal negotiations on association with the programme

The European Commission and the Republic of Korea showed their commitment to deepen collaboration in research and innovation on solutions to global challenges by launching formal negotiations on Korea’s association with Horizon Europe, the EU’s Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. An association would mark another milestone for the EU-Korea Strategic Partnership and support the implementation of the EU-Korea Digital and Green Partnerships. An association with Horizon Europe would imply that Korean research and innovation entities would be able to participate in the programme’s collaborative calls addressing global challenges on equal terms with entities from the EU Member States. Read more

European Space Agency chief seeks ‘forward-looking decisions’

According to Research Professional News, Josef Aschbacher suggests a new programme on space exploration and different relationships with industry. Read the full article

Research & Innovation

EU research ministers make a fresh call for a complete transition to free open-access publishing

Science Business reports that EU ministers made a fresh call for open access to become the default mode for scientific publishing in a new set of Council conclusions today, prompting opposing reactions from the science community and journal publishers. Read the full article

Open Science: stakeholders welcome European efforts towards publicly owned and not-for-profit scholarly communication

Key representative organisations of the public research and innovation sector have welcomed today’s adoption of the ‘Council conclusions on high-quality, transparent, open, trustworthy, and equitable scholarly publishing’. In a joint response, the signatories urge EU member states and institutions to continue their efforts towards a high-quality, transparent, open, trustworthy and equitable scholarly communication ecosystem through stakeholder engagement, constructive dialogue with the public research and innovation sector, and with evidence-based reforms underpinned by the principles of open science.

Global drive for more open, rigorous research is growing

According to University World News, there is growing pushback against research systems driven by financial rewards for exciting findings at the expense of rigour and integrity. Thousands of journals and dozens of funders have now adopted the Open Science Framework for transparent research. A new National Institutes of Health data-sharing policy applies to all grants from February this year. “The European Union is further ahead, but the United States is making a big leap, and there’s activity all around the world for these sorts of changes,” says Professor Brian Nosek, professor of psychology at the University of Virginia in the US and executive director of the non-profit Center for Open Science. Read the full article

European Commission sets up new European Innovation Council unit in the research directorate

The European Commission has reorganised its directorate general for research and innovation (RTD) to give it better oversight of the European Innovation Council (EIC), with a new organisation chart published last week showing management of the innovation funding programme has been moved to a new unit. Here are the new organisational charts for DG RTD and EISMEA. Read the full Science Business article

Spain wants the EU presidency to be a ‘bridge’ with Latin American R&D

According to Research Professional News, Spain’s science minister has declared her intention to strengthen research ties between the EU and Latin America during her country’s presidency of the Council of the EU member state governments. Read the full article

Green industry law haunted by old conflicts over nuclear, financing

According to Euractiv, the draft law, which was presented in March by the European Commission and now has to be negotiated within the European Parliament and between EU countries, aims for Europe to produce 40% of the ‘clean tech’ needed for the green transition by itself. The technologies considered strategically important are solar panels, wind turbines, batteries and other energy storage, heat pumps and geothermal energy, electrolysers and fuel cells, biogas technologies, carbon capture and storage, and electric grids. This comes as concerns have grown in recent months that building new production capacities for such technologies could occur in other parts of the world, where large subsidy schemes incentivise business, such as in the US or China. Read the full article

 The five EU research projects involving China’s military-linked universities

Science|Business finds five Marie Curie projects that include as participants some of China’s ‘Seven Sons of National Defence,’ risking aid to its military. This is what these projects involve. Read the full article

Critical Raw Materials: EU ministers want to move fast, but dilemmas abound

According to Euractiv, there are practical difficulties in the way of full implementation of the Critical Raw Materials Act. Portugal is one example: “My main concern today is with the social opposition that we have in Europe to develop this type of mines,” Portuguese economy minister António Costa Silva said, describing what he called a paradox: “People would like to develop a very advanced technological civilisation, but they reject completely the development of new mines.” Read more

G7 ministers call for rules to improve research security

According to University World News, last week, a meeting of science ministers of the Group of Seven (G7) advanced economies held in Sendai, Japan, called for appropriate rules to protect against “outside interference” in international education and research to improve research security and integrity. Read the full article

Territorial Economic Data viewer supports policy monitoring

The Territorial Economic Data viewer (TEDv) gathers data on different Research and Innovation funding, helping policymakers monitor EU programmes and ensuring greater transparency in the use of public resources. TEDv is a data visualisation tool and the first of its kind to combine statistical territorial information on various EU funding programmes (Horizon programme, Cohesion Policy and the Recovery and Resilience Facility) in a single, coherent framework. It was recently launched by the Regional Economic Monitoring (REMO) team of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre. Information is sourced from more 10 different databases, including Kohesio, Cohesion Open Data Platform and EUROSTAT. Territorial funding statistics are divided into 4 dashboards: Regional, Sectorial, Comparison, and Regional info-sheet. Get an overview on this link.

News from INESC institutes

INESC Brussels HUB is signing an Open Letter regarding changes to Who is Who in EC Directorate

INESC Brussels HUB will sign an open letter, initiated by KOWI (European Liaison Office of the German Research Organisations) and counting with the joint support of many heads of German R&I representatives and IGLO members, stating great concern about recent changes made in the Who is Who directory of the European Commission. This directory is used to provide contacts for all project officers in the EC and for a few weeks does not have contact below the Head of Unit level. We consider this to be entirely against transparency and engagement and creates unnecessary obstacles to collaboration. 

ECI Cruelty-free cosmetics – Consultation to adhere to joint final statement

We, at INESC Brussels HUB, have received a proposal to join a public statement led by the French Alliance in Health Research (AVIESAN), joined by ZonMw, the Netherlands Organization for Health Research and Development. It concerns a European Citizen’s Initiative “Save Cruelty-Free Cosmetics – For a Europe without animal testing” that will be the subject of a Public Hearing on 25 May at the European Parliament. The League of European Research Universities (LERU) has already published a statement.

CEA, with Bertrand BOUCHET, who is representing CEA in Brussels, considers that RTOs active in health research could be offered to join this statement. They state that “obviously some of us are working hard to reduce animal testing and provide reliable in-vitro models, with a better translational capacity to human, but we are still far from being able to totally replace animal testing.”. The joint statement underlines this uncertainty: “We, however, jointly claim that it is not yet possible to predict when scientifically valid methods replacing animal procedures will become available. Animal research and animal-free techniques should be considered complementary rather than antagonistic methods.”.

The HUB Policy and Operations Board is being consulted to provide a definitive answer on our signature.

Structuring the ecosystem: RTOs collaboration with higher education institutions

On Wednesday, (24 May 2023) INESC Brussels HUB hosted a meeting with EARTO Secretary General Muriel Attané, EURASHE President Armando Pires, and Secretary General John Edwards to discuss the state of play and prospects for future collaboration between RTOs and applied sciences higher education institutions.

INESC TEC develops pioneering research in the application of variational quantum circuits to reinforcement learning

INESC TEC researchers have developed a study that aims to show the feasibility and usefulness of variational quantum circuits in terms of reinforcement learning, using quantum circuits in the central processing unit responsible for automatic decision-making. This is one of the first research papers to prove the impact of variational quantum circuits on the policy-based context, and it was recently published in the journal Quantum Machine Intelligence. Read more

INOV: MULTICAM prototypes, an online presentation on Blockchain and 5000 followers

• INOV has shared some pictures of their MULTICAM – Low-Cost Multispectral Camera prototype (See the pictures) and during tests after being installed on a seafaring vessel (See the pictures). Learn more about this project
• INOV is promoting an online presentation on “Standardized Governance – An Ethereum Improvement Proposal Study”. 02 Jun 2023, 03:00 pm (UTC+01:00 Lisbon). Register for free to receive the link of the session
• Do you follow INOV on LinkedIn? Recently they celebrated reaching 5k followers on LinkedIn. Be sure to follow their page!

Job Opportunities

• INESC TEC has 23 vacancies in different work areas, such as Computer Science, Power Systems-Smart Grids, Robotics, and more. Find more at INESCTEC website and via LinkedIn
• INESC ID has 9 open positions. More info
• INESC MN is hiring a Junior Characterization Engineer, a Clean Room Process Engineer, and a Junior Researcher – Electrical Engineering. More info
• INOV is hiring a Systems and Network Engineer and a Software Engineer (Full stack) More info
• INESC Coimbra has announced a call for the award of 1 scientific research fellowship (BI) for graduated students. More info

Events & Training workshops

• HUB Summer Meeting 2023 – Knowledge valorisation: the role of Research and Technology Infrastructures | 15 June 2023. We are delighted to announce the programme of the INESC Brussels HUB Summer Meeting 2023, organised in partnership with the RITIFI (Research Infrastructures and Technology Infrastructures for Impact) Horizon Europe Coordination and Support Action. This will be a dynamic and information-packed event, with the participation of the heavyweight research and technology infrastructures around Europe, the European Commission and other relevant EU platforms. Visit the preliminary agenda here and register here until 9 June. Places are limited. Do not miss this opportunity to participate in the thematic discussion groups side by side with some of Europe’s most experienced research infrastructure managers and funders!

• Avoiding common errors in declaring other direct costs under H2020, 30 May 2023, 10.00 – 11.30 CEST (BRUSSELS TIME), Online. Add the event to your calendar and check the draft agenda
• Mission “Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030” in Palermo, 30-31 May 2023.
  Register here
• EU AgriResearch Conference 2023, 31 May 2023, 13:30 CEST – 1 June 2023, 18:00 CEST. Brussels, Belgium. Live streaming is available. This year’s edition will allow participants to engage with scientists, farmers, rural communities, industry, advisors, policymakers, citizens and NGO representatives. It will provide an overview of European research and innovation activities and their achievements in agriculture, forestry and rural development. Participants will also be invited to share their views on how to shape the future EU agricultural research and innovation agenda. Check the agenda and the detailed programme
• Horizon Europe info day – Cluster 1 Health, 01 June 2023, 09:00 (GMT+02:00). This info day aims to inform (potential) applicants about topics included in the Cluster 1 ‘Health’ work programme of 2024 and the open calls. More info and registration

• Info Day on Digital skills, 02 June 2023, Online
  This info session will cover the topics falling under objective 4 “Advanced Digital Skills”, aiming at filling the significant shortage of ICT sector specialists in the EU using advanced digital technologies, focusing on increasing the pool of pupils, in particular girls, who would ultimately be interested in studying STEM and ICT and/or embarking on a digital career. This objective has a total budget of €16 million that will be divided into two topics:

1. Reinforcing Skills in semiconductors. The main aim is to define a platform among Vocational and Educational Training (VET) centres and to develop a European Semiconductors Skills Academy: a European network of higher education institutions and relevant industries, including start-ups and SMEs in microelectronics, to address the shortage of semiconductors specialists. More info
2. Boosting Digital Skills of young pupils, in particular girls. The aim of this topic is to pilot actions to increase the number of students pursuing digital studies and careers, with a special focus on increasing the participation of girls. The call will support joint actions between leading technical higher education institutions, businesses and schools to promote digital studies. More info. Registration link

• ENISA AI Cybersecurity Conference, 7 June 2023,  09:00 -17:00 CET time, Hybrid. The AI Cybersecurity conference aims to discuss critical aspects of cybersecurity in AI systems as well as challenges associated with implementing and supervising secure and trustworthy AI. Online registration
• Digital Europe Programme Info day, 7 June, Online. HaDEA is organising a virtual info session on the 4th Call for proposals launched under the [Digital Europe Work Programme 2023-2024](https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/activities/work-programmes-digital). Participants will have the opportunity to learn more about the calls and join Q&A sessions. Link to join the session. The submission of applications for the call for proposals is now open and will close on 26 September 2023.
• Horizon Europe Coordinators’ Day: Grant Management, 8 June 2023, 09.30 – 12.45 CEST (BRUSSELS TIME), Online. Read more and check the draft agenda.
• EU4Health Stakeholders Conference, 9 June, Hybrid. The European Commission will host a EU4Health hybrid conference in Brussels and online. The event will focus on important health priorities and will offer an opportunity to reflect on priorities, strategic orientations, and future work programmes. Register here
• EU Green Week 2023, 3 – 11 June 2023, Brussels and Online. EU Green Week is your annual opportunity to debate EU environment policy. Join the conference on 6 & 7 June to hear the latest about EU environmental policies, and about biodiversity, circular economy, and zero pollution in particular. The Conference is in Brussels, Charlemagne building, but you can also follow it online. More info
• Euro Nano Forum 2023, 11-13 June, Sweden. The Euro Nano Forum 2023 is a conference held every other year in the country currently holding the presidency of the Council of the European Union. This conference provides a forum for academic, industry and policy representatives to engage in comprehensive discussions. This year it will be held in Sweden from 11 to 13 June, focusing on identifying policy options and priorities and on planning future actions regarding European activities in nanoscience and nanotechnology. Advanced materials, innovation, sustainability, circular economy, and fossil-free energy will also be topics of strategic focus. Register here
• The Widening: Founding Group Meeting. 13 June 2023. 10:00 – 12:00 CET. Place TBC. A private Science|Business Widening hybrid workshop. More info
• Confidence in science: How to ensure sustainable and trustworthy channels of scientific information? 15 June 2023. Time & Place TBC. A Science|Business closed-door hybrid roundtable, organised in partnership with Elsevie, followed by networking drinks. By invitation only. More info
• Health-RI / EOSC-Life workshop: Bridging the gap between researchers and research infrastructures, 13-14 June 2023, Utrecht and Online. A hybrid workshop showcasing resources developed in European RIs (incl. EATRIS, BBMRI-ERIC and ELIXIR, get feedback on these resources from anticipated users, and bridge the (perceived) gap between RIs and the broader user community. Register here
• Info Days: Horizon Europe – Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) Doctoral Networks 2023. 14 June 2023, 09:30 – 17:00 CEST, Online. This is an information event for the MSCA-DN-2023 call which will open on 30 May 2023.The event aims at informing all potential applicants and stakeholders about the important novelties for 2023 and promoting the ID and JD modes. The participants will have the opportunity to raise their questions through Slido, in advance of the event (as of 1 June 2023) and during the Q&A session at the end of the event. It will be an online event, which will be opened with a welcome address and some introductory remarks, followed by the main presentation of the DN-2023 call novelties. Register and download the programme
• 2nd Science and policy matchmaking event, 20 June 2023, 9.30-13.00 CEST, Online. The event will aim to bring researchers and policymakers together to discuss the opportunities that the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)provide for researchers to spend a short secondment or placement at a public administration body. The event is suited for potential applicants for MSCA postdoctoral fellowships looking for a secondment/placement host and potential project coordinators in the MSCA consortia looking for hosting partners in the public sector. More info
• CoARA General Assembly, 23 June 2023, Brussels. As stated in CoARA Governance Documents, the General Assembly represents all the member organisations of the CoARA and is the highest-level decision-making body of the Coalition. All member organisations are entitled to participate in the General Assembly.  Significant functions are assigned to the General Assembly: it is the General Assembly that elects a Chair and Steering Board members, it approves the overall strategy guiding the operations and activities of the Coalition as a whole, it approves the annual work plan and budget, and decides on the Coalition Secretariat. Decisions by the General Assembly require a quorum, where the number of CoARA member organisations present in person or by proxy is at least half (or the whole upper number nearest one half) of the CoARA member organisations.
• Transforming food systems. 27 & 28 June 2023, Riga. The Annual Event is EIT Food’s largest community gathering of the year, bringing together our valued EIT Food Partners and external agrifood stakeholders to showcase the value of the world’s largest and most dynamic food innovation community, demonstrating the power of its impact in addressing the most pressing challenges of our times. Registration. More info
• Horizon Europe: What next for the lump sum approach? 06 June 2023, 14:30 – 15:30 CET, Brussels. A private Science|Business Network Horizon Working Group meeting. More info
• 2nd Science|Business Sector Day: Green Deal & Climate – The road to net-zero industry. 18-19 September 2023, 14:00 – 12:30 CET, Brussels. Members only. More info
• The Widening: Founding Group Meeting. 10 October 2023 (TBC), 10:00 – 13:00 CET, Brussels. Members only. More info
• Making waves: Is international R&I bringing a true blue economy within reach? 12 October 2023, 14:00 – 16:45 CET, Brussels. Members only. More info
• 3rd Science|Business Sector Day: Health & Life Sciences – Future-proofing medicines. 13-14 November 2023. 14:00 – 12:30 CET, Brussels. By invitation only. More info
• Horizon Europe: FP10 and Preparing for the 2024 Annual Conference. 28 November 2023. 15:00 – 17:00 CET. Online. Members only. More info
• The Widening: 2023 Annual Conference. 06 December 2023 (TBC). 13:30 – 17:30 CET. Place TBA. Public event. More info
• Annual Network Conference. 06 February 2024. 09:00-17:30 CET. Brussels. Public event. More info
• 8th World Conference on Research Integrity, 2-5 June 2024, at Megaron Athens International Conference Centre (MAICC), Athens. Travel Grant applications open on 26 June 2023. More info