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As COP26 related news start to dwindle, it is important to get the full view of what are the takes for research and innovation. An SB article does just that. However, the main trend now is the EU’s continuing implementation of its R&I programmes with green and digital as the main pillars. Digital Europe, for example, which is one of the most important programmes for INESC, has just seen its work programmes adopted and published. At the same time, the EC is preparing an innovation strategy to be published in 2022 and universities have expressed their voice towards the reinforcement of ecosystems once again. The key takeaway, also valuable for RTOs such as INESC is that the social innovation (i.e. the capacity to change the way relations between critical stakeholders are organised, promoted and created anew) is as important as tech innovation if not more, at this point. Without more innovation in social innovation, tech innovation alone will not make us more resilient, green, competitive.
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:
Five EU countries form an anti-nuclear alliance at COP26
In face of a French-led push to revive nuclear power in Europe, a group of five EU countries led by Germany have banded together to urge the European Commission to keep nuclear out of the EU’s green finance taxonomy.
“Nuclear power is incompatible with the EU Taxonomy Regulation’s ‘do no significant harm’ principle’, says the joint declaration for a nuclear-free EU taxonomy signed by Austria, Denmark, Luxembourg and Portugal and which you can read here.
The European Commission is expected to table a proposal in the coming weeks that will clarify the status of nuclear and gas under the EU’s green finance taxonomy, a rulebook that provides guidance to investors by spelling out conditions under which technologies can be considered sustainable.
Read more here.
Digital Europe programmes adopted by the Commission
The European Commission has adopted the work programmes for the Digital Europe funding programme setting out almost €2 billion in investments for the next two years. The seven-year programme aims to strengthen Europe’s digital sovereignty in areas such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, quantum computing and cybersecurity. The biggest chunk of the money, €1.38 billion will be invested in key technologies as well as boosting digital skills and broadening the use of digital tools in the European economy. Another €269 million will be spent on cybersecurity in the next year. A further €329 million over the next two years will be invested in digital innovation hubs. We recall below the priorities of the programme, but you can find the detail list here:
What will the Digital Europe Programme fund?
- €2.2 BILLION for supercomputing
- €2.1 BILLION for artificial intelligence
- €1.6 BILLION for cybersecurity
- €580 MILLION for advanced digital skills
- €1.1 BILLION for ensuring the wide use of digital technologies across the economy and society
Innovation ecosystems and the open access checklist
Two new reports by the European University Association, recognized as a formal stakeholder platform to be formally heard by the EU on important R&I-related policy matters, are relevant contributions to the European Commission’s new innovation strategy expected to be rolled out in January 2022. “Innovation ecosystems for a sustainable Europe: How to enhance the contribution of universities” is the first of the reports and it highlights that social innovation (i.e. capacity to organise society differently, such as the relations between universities and industry at local level, etc) is a focus as important as the technological innovation capacity. The other recent input by EUA is the so-called “The new university Open Access checklist”. This checklist is a guide for universities that wish to further develop their Open Access activities.
MEPs push to include academic freedom in EU treaties
MEPs and university representatives are facing a steep road ahead, as they demand academic freedom is made a key principle in EU treaties, meaning member states that are found to be limiting university autonomy and freedom to do research can be held accountable.
“European governments have been shifting norms to limit academic freedom for the first time in the history of the European Union”, stated Christian Ehler MEP, as academic freedom is enshrined in Article 13 of the European Charter of Fundamental Rights.
Parliament is planning to ask the Commission to include an evaluation of academic freedom in all member states in its midterm evaluation of Horizon Europe. The goal would be to exert financial pressure on countries which limit academic freedom, while shielding individual researchers and institutions from such measures.
The principles of academic freedom have been tested in Hungary, Poland, Germany, and the UK. The European University Association (EUA) published a university autonomy report in 2017, and is planning to publish a new version next year as a lot has changed over the past five years, with many new initiatives that measure and seek to enhance academic freedom in Europe.
Read more about it here.
Intellectual Property support to Market uptake
The European Commission is teaming up with the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO) to support the translation of research results to the market. The two organisations aim to help SMEs boost their innovation potential and improve the understanding of the benefits of intellectual property. As part of the collaboration, they will also share IP related data and co-develop IP management policy. “This will contribute to the implementation of EU policy on research, science and innovation in relation to intellectual property matters and supports European Research Area objective to translate results into the economy,” said EU research and innovation commissioner Mariya Gabriel.
Horizon 2020 proposals suggest the need for training researchers in ethics
A recent study analyzed ethics issues in proposals submitted under calls of Horizon 2020. The aim was to explore differences between applicants’ awareness of ethics issues and the opinions of ethics experts conducting the ethics review. Their discoveries highlight a discrepancy between the applicants’ understanding of ethics issues and that of expert reviewers. Their conclusions therefore point to the need for further education and training to be provided to applicants.
The study calls for more concrete action to be taken in providing training and the restructuring of research ethics and integrity frameworks at all levels of research into the process of evaluation of grant proposals and research project execution. This would help to identify critical areas in need of change or improvement. It would also facilitate the preparation for emerging ethical challenges in research in the future and provide support to researchers for dealing with these issues.
Read more here.
Metrology partnership approved by the Parliament
MEPs voted overwhelmingly in favour to support a new research partnership between the European Commission and national metrology institutes aimed at harmonising metrology innovation around the bloc (EUROMET). The Horizon Europe partnership will build on previous European efforts in the science of measurement, laying the foundations for new technologies.
“Metrology is a discipline at the service of all areas of knowledge”, said the European Parliament rapporteur Maria da Graça Carvalho during the Wednesday night parliamentary debate. “We wouldn’t be where we are technologically without metrology. Neither would we get where we want to go.”
EU policymakers started negotiations on the partnership in September. They hope the partnership will play an integral role in developing new technologies, such as quantum computers and AI-based healthcare.
COP26: The most important research and innovation announcements
Science Business picks through the past two weeks of speeches, reports and declarations to summarise the most important reveals of the conference – and tries to make sense of what they actually amount to. Worth the read to get a general idea of trends to come.
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