In today’s Morning Brief:

INESC-ID coordinates a European project on electric mobility

The EV4EU project, with a duration of 4 years, is funded by the European Union with 9 million euros through Horizon Europe.

Studies indicate that the massive use of electric vehicles will significantly contribute to the carbon neutrality goals set for 2050, as defined by the European Commission. However, the mass deployment of electric vehicles still presents several challenges.

To address these challenges, the “Electric Vehicles Management for carbon neutrality in Europe” (EV4EU) project will propose and implement user-centric Vehicle-to-Everything (V2X) management strategies, creating the conditions for the mass deployment of electric vehicles.

INESC-ID leads the consortium of sixteen entities from four European countries, which comprise: three research institutions; an institution of higher education; three small and medium-sized companies; seven large companies; a government institution; and an educational establishment, which will be an end user in the EV4EU project. Among these types of partners are Distribution System Operators (DSOs), technology providers, a virtual power plant (VPP), a Charging Point Operator (CPO) and an automobile manufacturer.

Huge congratulations to INESC-ID! To read more click here.

The reform of Research Assessment: summary and presentation by EC

This week the HUB participated in a meeting with the European Commission Head of Unit responsible for coordinating the reform of research assessment processes, from the side of the European Commission.

Jean-Emmanuel Faure, Policy Officer for Open Science, who stressed that a reform on the assessment system of research proposals, researchers, research units and research institutions will increase the quality, performance and especially the impact of research.

The PPT is available in the HUB Private Area and soon too a summary and some highlights with further actions will be discussed with the POB.

Finland will raise R&D spending to 4% of GDP

According to Science|Business, after years of political disagreement and stalled investment after the 2008 crisis, political parties in Finland have reached an agreement that could pave the way to raise public and private R&D spending to 4% of GDP by 2030. More extensive R&D tax incentives, to induce the private sector to increase its investment, are also foreseen.

To raise SME competitiveness, make better use of space data

A report commissioned by the European Parliament sheds some light on how data from space-related monitoring and research can and should be better used by SMEs to increase Europe’s competitiveness. The study, developed by an entity that is partner to INESC in diverse projects (CSES) provides  an  analysis  of  the  European  space  market. The market size and  structure  of  the  European space  industry  is considered, alongside the  dynamics  of  the  new  space economy. The contribution  of  the EU  space programmes  to  fostering  the uptake  of  space data,  and  the challenges  and  drivers  of maximising  synergies  between the EU  upstream  and downstream  space sectors  are  examined.  The  new  Space-based Connectivity  Initiative  is  also  considered.  

EC invites comments on revision of EU State aid rules for agriculture, forestry and fishery

The European Commission is inviting all interested parties to comment on proposed revised State rules for the agricultural, forestry and fishery sectors. This is to align the current rules with the current EU strategic priorities, in particular the Common Agricultural Policy, the Common Fisheries Policy and the European Green Deal.

Member states and other interested parties can respond to the consultation until March 13.

The proposals under consultation and all details about the public consultations are available here.

CitizensHack2022

Citizens and local communities can play an important role in drawing value from R&I ensuring that research results made in Europe translate to benefits for all parts of society. To strengthen engagement of citizens and local societal actors in co-creating and taking up innovative solutions, we need more experimentation and testing of new approaches.

Thus, the European Commission launched CitizensHack2022 – the aim of this action is to develop a Knowledge Valorisation Hackathon concept and methodology and to test it in real life, with a minimum of 30 teams from at least 15 Member States. Local communities, as well as individual citizens, will be able to apply for participation and define the challenge they wish to address during the Hackathon.

These community driven challenges and citizens groups will be matched with researchers to make up the co-creation teams and challenges, of which 30 will be selected to take part to the actual event. Each team will consist of at least two participants from R&I communities (researchers and innovators) and at least two participants from local communities (citizens). Three teams will be awarded as winners of the hackathon, following the decision of the CitizensHack2022 Jury.

Registration for participation is closing on January 23 and the hackathon will take place from 10 to 12 February as a fully online event.

Register here.

“Horizon Europe Coordinators’ Day on Grant Agreement Preparation” Webinar

The DG Research & Innovation of the European Commission is organising an online Webinar, addressed to Horizon Europe proposal coordinators who have already received a letter to start the grant agreement, as well as to other proposal participants and stakeholders.

It will take place on 26 January 2022, from 09h30 to 12h45 (Brussels Time). Make sure to find more information and the detailed agenda here.

Universities demand voice in EU-US Trade and Technology Council

The League of European Research Universities (LERU) says universities can provide expertise on export controls and input on challenges that would come up when implementing the Council’s guidelines in universities.

In a new statement, LERU argues research-intensive universities face unique challenges when it comes to “dual use export control regulations” as their work, relies on a free exchange of ideas.

The EU-US Trade and Technology Council (TTC) launched in 2021 in a bid to improve cooperation on trade, competitiveness, and technology issues, including export controls.

The Guild universities share their experience in applying for Horizon Europe Grants

In this Science|Business piece, researchers and research support officers from The Guild universities highlight the application process for Horizon Europe calls requires further clarity and a more stable and user-friendly submission platform is needed.

Make sure to click on the article to read The Guild’s propositions for the Commission to improve the application process here.