In today’s Morning Brief:

Session dedicated to the ERC Consolidator Call 2021

Don’t miss this webinar session on the ERC Consolidator Call 2021 on March 26. It is a webinar open to all but focused on the candidates elaborating a proposal.

ERC NCPs will welcome CoG candidates on March 26, at 14h30. Click here for a link to the session.

If you are looking for more information on ERC don’t miss the recording of our event on “Research Careers in Research Performing Organisations – The case of the European Research Council” on our website here.

Adapting to climate change in European cities

To kick start the year, the Covenant of Mayors – Europe Office has released the publication  “Adapting to climate change in European cities: Towards smarter, swifter & more systemic action”.

The new EU Strategy and this historical juncture – presenting an opportunity to ‘build back better’ – make this a timely moment to consider where local and regional governments should best direct their efforts for a more resilient future. In this context, this publication is designed for decision-makers and technical staff working on climate change adaptation and resilience in local and regional governments.

Click here to download the publication.

Reaction Wall, European Laboratory for Structural Assessment (ELSA)

The EU Science Hub is inviting cross-boundary proposals for projects to experiment, prototype and demonstrate ideas for the New European Bauhaus.

The JRC ELSA Reaction Wall and the Nanobiotechnology Laboratory will serve as collaboration platform to stimulate creativity and innovation in the built environment.

The central feature of the European Laboratory for Structural Assessment (ELSA) is the Reaction Wall. It consists of a reinforced concrete vertical wall and a horizontal floor rigidly connected together to test the vulnerability of buildings to earthquakes and other threats to structural stability.

In this call for proposals, ELSA is collaborating with the Nanobiotechnology Laboratory to provide access to techniques such as electron microscopy, X-Ray diffraction, X-Ray photoelectron microscopy and BET for the structural and morphology characterisation of smart and sustainable materials including nanomaterials in buildings and constructions.

Click here to find out more about the call which closes on February 1st.

AI Adoption Roundtables: UK End-User Review 2022

Between 18-20 January, Innovate UK, Innovate UK KTN and the Office for Artificial Intelligence will organise a series of roundtables bringing together end-users from different industries to assess the extent to which the sector appetite and readiness for AI adoption has been impacted by Covid-19 and Brexit.

In 2019, Innovate UK KTN conducted comprehensive research across the sectors with high potential for implementing AI research and innovation in order to accelerate their growth and competitiveness. UK KTN would now like to understand how the global events that took place in the last 18 months have modified industry interest in adopting AI.

The event will take place online on January 18 from 10h00 to 12h30. Find out more information and how to register here.

The Future of Mobility: what is the role of communications?

Only available in Portuguese, Susana Sargento, Carnegie Mellon Portugal’s Scientific Director anticipates in this piece for SapoTEK that 2022 will be a crucial year for smooth, autonomous and connected mobility to become a reality in Portugal.

Make sure to give it a read here.

A long-term vision for the EU’s rural areas

Europe’s rural areas provide us with our food, homes, jobs, and essential ecosystems services.

To ensure that rural areas can continue to play these essential roles, a European Commission communication sets out a long-term vision for the EU’s rural areas up to 2040. It identifies areas of action towards stronger, connected, resilient and prosperous rural areas and communities. A Rural Pact and an EU Rural Action Plan with tangible flagship projects and new tools will help achieve the goals of this vision.

On 20 December 2021, Vice-president Šuica, Commissioner Wojciechowski and Commissioner Ferreira extended an open invitation to join the discussion on the Rural Pact. They encourage all interested authorities and organisations to express their support for the vision’s shared goals and their interest in taking an active role in its development.

Stakeholders can get involved in building the Pact by joining the Rural Pact community though a dedicated on-line form here.

The Pact initiates a long-term process. It seeks to simplify interaction on ideas and experiences, to help public authorities, stakeholders and citizens to combine and increase efforts for the benefit of rural areas.