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In this Morning Brief, we open with the Circular Economy Stakeholder Conference that began yesterday, the news that there is still time to take part in the consultation for the 2022 Common Fisheries policy and Common Market organization reports, the EU Knowledge Valorization Week, a very interesting column on the bumpy road ahead for the EU in creating a hydrogen economy, the new scientists appointed as members of the ERC’s governing body, and more!
Any comments or suggestions, hit me up with an email on teresa.carvalho@inesc.pt.
In today's Morning Brief:
In today’s Morning Brief:
Circular Economy Stakeholder Conference 2022
The fifth edition of the annual Circular Economy Stakeholder Conference will take place in hybrid format on 1 and 2 March 2022, with a focus on sustainable products for sustainable consumption. The European Commission and the European Economic and Social Committee have joined forces with the French Presidency of the European Union to organise this flagship stakeholder conference, gathering decision makers, businesses, public authorities, NGOs, knowledge communities and civil society organisations to discuss ways to advance the transition to a circular economy in Europe. Participants will have the opportunity to grow their network of circular partners, and discussions will focus on upcoming milestones in the implementation of the EU’s Circular Economy Action Plan, including the sustainable products initiative and the sustainable textiles strategy.
Click here for more information.
2022 Common Fisheries policy and Common Market organization reports: still time to take part in consultation
All stakeholders, including the fishing industry, non-governmental organisations, academic, scientific, social and economic partners are invited to share their views in the online questionnaire by 14 March 2022.
The Commission will deliver the reports by the end of 2022, as announced in article 48 of the CFP Regulation and 48 of the CMO Regulation.
The objective of the CFP report is to address the functioning of the CFP and look at how we can strengthen its implementation. The CFP Regulation sets out that the implementation of the CFP is guided by the principles of good governance, taking into account regional specificities, through a regionalised approach, as well as appropriate involvement of stakeholders at all stages. To close the consultation process, the Commission will organise a stakeholder event on Friday 10 June 2022.
The final reports will also be based on the supporting studies, referred to in the corresponding chapters of the questionnaires, as well as the on-going initiatives and reports in the PECH committee.
Click here to find more information and the questionnaires.
Denmark tells universities to suspend all cooperation with Russia
According to this Science|Business article, “Denmark has become the second European country to sever academic ties to Russia in response to the invasion of Ukraine. This afternoon the country’s research minister Jesper Petersen wrote to universities to urge them to suspend research and innovation cooperation with institutions in Russia and Belarus. He also told them to refrain from any new exchanges, according to a statement posted by the country’s research ministry. “I call on universities and higher education institutions to suspend their cooperation with institutions in Russia and Belarus,” he said in a statement. “This would be a clear signal that aggression leads to isolation in the international community. “The Government condemns the actions of Russia and Belarus and supports Ukraine and the Ukrainian people,” he added. The Danish move comes after Germany last week said it would cut academic ties in response to the invasion.”.
EU Knowledge Valorization Week 2022: Join, Discuss, Exchange!
Registration is now open for the EU Knowledge Valorization Week taking place from 29 March to 1 April, with the aim to translate research and innovation results into tangible solutions for a resilient and sustainable Europe. The virtual event will showcase best examples of policies and tools that promote the uptake of research results for the benefit of all. It is a forum to discuss challenges and highlight opportunities with a wide range of stakeholders.
Universities, business associations, research organizations, arts institutions, amongst others have helped shape the programme by sharing their best practices. Complemented by highly topical panel discussions and ‘Valorization cafés’ for debate amongst participants. The 2022 week is more than ever a place of exchange and collaboration.
Click here for more information and to register!
The Guild warns EU data does not ensure fair access to research data
University associations are warning Brussels the new Data Act does not provide enough means to ensure a fair access to privately held data for research purposes.
In a statement published on Monday, the Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities said the European Council and Parliament should “recognise that research is an activity conducted in the public interest and that research is crucial to ‘respond to a public emergency’, ‘prevent a public emergency’, and ‘assist the recovery from a public emergency’.”
The full statement is available here.
European Innovation Council opens €1.7 billion funding round
The European Innovation Council (EIC) has launched today three calls worth a total of €1.7 billion to select innovative companies for scale-up funding. The calls cover multi-disciplinary research teams working on potential technology breakthroughs in any field and to turn research results into innovation opportunities.
Some of the money will be routed to mature technologies based on proof of concept projects funded by the European Research Council (ERC). About €60 million will go to projects on “green digital devices for the future” and a clean energy technologies.
Commission announces first 50 recipients of Women TechEU grants
The European Commission has announced today the first 50 women-led companies to receive €75,000 grants each. The money would help companies working on deep-tech innovations to get started. The Women TechEU programme is funded through Horizon Europe, the EU’s research and innovation fund.
“We will assist these 50 women-led companies with funding, mentoring and networking opportunities and we will scale up this programme in 2022,” said Mariya Gabriel, EU commissioner for research and innovation.
Projects will start in spring 2022 and are expected to run for 6 to 12 months. The winners will be given tailored coaching and mentoring in the European Innovation Council’s women’s leadership programme. Click here for more information.
Creating a hydrogen economy: a bumpy road ahead for the EU
In this EURACTIV column by Maximo Miccinilli, Senior Vice-President and Head of Energy and Climate at FleishmanHillard EU, he states that “It is time to face it. The EU is pursuing a titanesque task: defining a regulatory framework that can support the massive development of a continent-wide hydrogen economy from scratch. A mission that seems as challenging as reaching carbon neutrality by 2050. The current context of high energy prices and a major conflict with Russia, further threatening security of supply, makes it even harder. The negotiations on the package of measures that are meant to align the body of EU’s policies with its short and long-term climate targets – collectively known as ‘Fit for 55’ – has just entered a very delicate phase both in the European Parliament and Council. Policymakers are expected to strike a balance between resolving a pressing energy crisis, implementing climate policies that put the bloc on a path towards climate neutrality, and defining policies to alleviate distributional effects. More than ever before they see hydrogen as a perfect way to wean the European economy off fossil fuels, decarbonize hard-to-abate sectors (especially heavy industry and transport) and – most importantly – to do it affordably. However, there are three important reasons why the road ahead to build the fully fledged hydrogen economy will be thorny and more complex than usually suggested.” Make sure to read it here.
Commission appoints top scientists as members of the European Research Council’s governing body
The European Commission has appointed three new members of the European Research Council’s (ERC) governing body, the Scientific Council.
They are appointed for an initial period of four years and will take office on 2 March.
The three new members are:
- Professor Chryssa Kouveliotou, professor at the George Washington University, Washington D.C., United States;
- Professor László Lovász, professor emeritus at Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Hungary;
- Professor Giovanni Sartor, professor at the University of Bologna and at the European University Institute, Florence, Italy.
“This addition will ensure that the independent ERC Scientific Council with its leading researchers from all disciplines continues to represent the scientific community in Europe across the full breadth of research domains,” said ERC president Maria Leptin.
Click here for more information.
More Articles
26/05/2023: New Horizon Europe calls, a global drive for open science, European Commission DG RTD recent reorganisation, EU-China & much more
In today’s Morning Brief:
Horizon Europe
– Twinning call for proposals is open – Read all about it
– Horizon Europe ERA Fellowships call is now open
– EUR 20 million available for Pathways to synergies – Call for proposals
– New Horizon Europe funding opportunity: Dissemination & Exploitation Support Facility call
– Commission Open Call: Expert Group on the Interim Evaluation of Horizon Europe
– Industry 5.0 Award contest opens: apply by 1 September 2023
– Horizon Europe: The EU and the Republic of Korea launch formal negotiations on association to the programme
– European Space Agency chief seeks ‘forward-looking decisions’
Research & Innovation:
– EU research ministers make fresh call for a full transition to free open access publishing
– Open Science: stakeholders welcome European efforts towards publicly owned and not-for-profit scholarly communication
– Global drive for more open, rigorous research is growing
– European Commission sets up new European Innovation Council unit in the research directorate
– Spain wants EU presidency to be ‘bridge’ with Latin American R&D
– Green industry law haunted by old conflicts over nuclear, financing
– The five EU research projects involving China’s military-linked universities
– Critical Raw Materials: EU ministers want to move fast but dilemmas abound
– G7 ministers call for rules to improve research security
– Territorial Economic Data viewer supports policy monitoring
News from INESC institutes:
– INESC Brussels HUB is signing an Open Letter regarding changes to Who is Who in EC Directorate
– ECI Cruelty-free cosmetics – Consultation to adhere to joint final statement
– Structuring the ecosystem: RTOs collaboration with higher education institutions
– INESC TEC develops pioneering research in the application of variational quantum circuits to reinforcement learning
– INOV: MULTICAM prototypes, an online presentation on Blockchain and 5000 followers
– Job Opportunities
Events & Training workshops
19/05/2023: HUB Summer Meeting, Digital Europe Programme, Regional Innovation Valleys, European R&I funding and policy, and much more
In today’s Morning Brief:
Horizon Europe
– Commission Expert Group on the Interim Evaluation of Horizon Europe
– Commission launches first €122M call to create regional innovation ecosystems
– New calls for proposals of the Digital Europe Programme
Research & Innovation:
– EU research commissioner Mariya Gabriel resigns
– France to boost funding for health research infrastructures and UK to invest £100M in improving RIs
– Commission takes European Innovation Council management under its wing
– Industry 5.0 Award: The contest is open for applications
– AI Act moves ahead in EU Parliament with key committee vote
– Defence industry renews call for R&D spending boost
News from INESC institutes:
– Technology and Law: building a virtuous relationship, by Graça Barbosa
– The 2022 INESC-ID AnnualReport is out
– Exciting news from H2020-RESCUER
– Launch of the New Horizon Europe Project SYCLOPS
– INESC TEC supports the implementation of robotic technologies to reduce the ecological footprint
– INESC TEC develops virtual reality app to support youngster looking for jobs
– Job Opportunities
Events & Training workshops
05/05/2023: HE calls update, cohesion policy, open access, open science, cohesion policy and coordination of national and EU R&D policy.
In today’s Morning Brief:
Horizon Europe
– Horizon Europe – easy call and topic search
– From KOWI: MSCA: Model Working Contract for Doctoral Networks published
Research & Innovation:
– Report on the outcome of 2021-2027 cohesion policy programming
– Spain adopts national open access strategy
– Commission attempts to strengthen coordination between national R&D policies and EU research programs
– Commission Plans to launch a European Standardisation Panel survey
– Research funders draw attention to uneven implementation of open science
– EIT Climate to become financially sustainable by end of 2024
– Preparing for Belgium’s Thirteenth Presidency of the Council of the European Union
– African Union-European Union High Level Policy Dialogue – Science, Technology and Innovation. Senior official meet to endorse the AU-EU Innovation Agenda
News from INESC institutes:
– INESC MN has a new publication in Advanced Materials Journal
– INOV projects on Youtube
– Diogo Vaz published an article in Público
– Job Opportunities
Events & Training workshops