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In this Morning Brief, we open with the 9th edition of the annual European Cyber Security Conference taking place this coming March. We also discuss Stick to Science, a measure announced yesterday by the R&I community that urges European leaders to take action on Horizon Europe when it comes to the UK and Switzerland. In a similar topic, France helps Brussels with the plan for research assessment and the European Chips Act was announced, 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:

The 9th Annual European Cyber Security Conference

On March 24, the 9th Annual European Cyber Security Conference will take place under a hybrid format.

Gathering leading policy-makers, industry players, high level cyber security and defence experts, this Forum Europe conference, organised in partnership with the European Cyber Security Organisation (ECSO), will explore Europe’s response to cyber security issues in a dynamically evolving global risk landscape and what the next steps for all actors of the ecosystem should be to create a safe and secure environment allowing Europe to leverage the tremendous socio-economic benefits offered by digital technologies.

To find out more about the conference and how to register, click here.

 

Research and Innovation community urges European leaders to take action on Horizon Europe

Stick to Science, a new campaign launched by Universities UK, EPFL, ETH Zurich, the ETH Board, Wellcome and The Royal Society, asks EU leaders to place science collaboration before politics, as the UK’s and Switzerland’s participation in the EU’s world-leading research and innovation programme Horizon Europe hangs in the balance.

The campaign calls for an open and collaborative research and innovation landscape in Europe, that is free from political barriers. The entire European scientific community is invited to sign this initiative as of 8 February under the dedicated website.

Switzerland and the UK are two long-standing and academically important partners in the European research and innovation landscape. The current situation means that the work of some of the best minds in Europe’s science and excellent research infrastructures are missing out on the additional scientific knowledge and resources of UK and Swiss institutions. These circumstances prevent Europe’s top scientists from working together to tackle global challenges such as climate change, pandemics, and food security.

 

France helps Brussels move ahead with ‘disruptive’ plan for research assessment

France is now working with the European Commission and science and university associations to push for a new system of evaluating research in Europe, launching the Paris Call on research assessment.

The call, drafted by the French government’s Committee for Open Science, says evaluating researchers based solely on the number of highly cited papers they have published in journals with high impact factors underestimates the value of other contributions, lowers reproducibility of research, and discourages researchers from opening up their research and working with others.

The Paris Call fits with the Commission’s checklist of 20 priorities set out in the new policy agenda of the European Research Area, with science and research assessment first on the list.

Jean-Eric Paquet, head of the Commission’s research directorate said he hopes more organisations will join the coalition, so it includes all 27 member states. At the moment only 22 are represented

Read more here.

 

European Chips Act: Communication, Regulation, Joint Undertaking and Recommendation

The European Commission unveiled the EU Chips Act, its proposal for the largest subsidy programme ever for a single industry (apart from agriculture).

Securing the supply of advanced chips has become an economic and geopolitical priority. Therefore, €11 billion of public money will be invested in the Chips for Europe initiative by 2030 to attract and support production capacity and research in energy-efficient chips. In addition, the state aid regime is being upgraded. And a coordination mechanism between the Member States and the Commission will monitor the semiconductor value chain, draw together common crisis assessment and coordinate actions to be taken from a new emergency toolbox.

“Chips are necessary for the green and digital transition – and for the competitiveness of European industry,” noted Margrethe Vestager, European Commissioner for Competition, “We should not rely on one country or one company to ensure safety of supply. We must do more together – in research, innovation, design, production facilities – to ensure that Europe will be stronger as a key actor in the global value chain.”

Make sure to read more here.

 

Creative industries are slowly making their way into mainstream European research

In this Science|Business article, the creative and cultural sectors are slowly gaining a toehold in the research world, after five years of the European Parliament calling for them to be a focus of EU R&D programmes.

As a start, the European Commission launched the New European Bauhaus, aiming to mesh the Green Deal on climate change with work to future-proof Europe’s cultural heritage. Following on from this, there is a creative industry-related call in the Horizon Europe programme, and this autumn the European Institute of Innovation and Technology is due to launch a knowledge and innovation community focused on the sector.

This is a good start for a redesign of European society that gives more recognition of the role of creatives in innovation projects.

 

Zero Pollution: Commission seeks views on review of EU rules on use of mercury

The European Commission is launching an open public consultation on the review of the Mercury Regulation, which tackles the last remaining intentional uses of this very toxic chemical in products.

The EU has policies to reduce the risk of mercury exposure for both people and the environment, with legislation covering all aspects of the mercury lifecycle.  But significant amounts of mercury are still used in the EU, mainly in dental amalgam and some products such as lamps or measuring devices. As mercury pollution is persistent, such continued use contributes to its accumulation in the environment, including food. The review of the current rules will contribute to the Zero Pollution ambition for a toxic-free environment announced in the European Green Deal.

The consultation will run until 3 May 2022 and is available here.

 

Carbon farming: EU ministers find the devil in the details

While France’s Minister of Agriculture and Food Julien Denormandie lauded member states’ enthusiasm on low-carbon agriculture, the informal meeting of EU agriculture ministers in Strasbourg revealed tricky technical questions on the matter that still lie ahead.

Carbon farming refers to agricultural practices that help store carbon from the atmosphere in agricultural soils.

Other member states have already implemented support measures for carbon farming. Spain has included practices such as extensive grazing or conservation agriculture in its catalogue of eco-schemes funded through the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). These measures “constitute a good example of what we can develop,” the Spanish minister, Luis Planas, told journalists on the sidelines of the meeting.

Carbon sequestration in agriculture is very important to reach the goal of carbon neutrality until 2050 that the EU has set out in its flagship climate policy, the Green Deal.

Click here to read this EURACTIV piece.

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

Read More »

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

Read More »

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

Read More »