In today’s Morning Brief:

EURO Working Group on Behavioral O.R. – Spring Workshop 2022 with INESC Coimbra

This workshop of the EURO Working Group on Behavioural O.R with INESC Coimbra to be held in Coimbra in the Spring, aims at bringing together researchers, students and practitioners to share recent research, new developments and best practices on the special theme of behavioural OR contributions to the energy transition, as well as provide guidance for developing effective behavioural OR-supported interventions in a vast range of domains.

It will take place between 11 and 12 April in Coimbra. If you want to find out more and how you can submit your work, just click here!

EU Green Taxonomy: nuclear and gas are included

The European Commission has presented a Taxonomy Complementary Climate Delegated Act on climate change mitigation and adaptation covering certain gas and nuclear activities. The College of Commissioners reached a political agreement on the text, which will be formally adopted once translations are available in all EU languages.

A great deal of private investment is needed for the EU to become climate neutral by 2050. The EU Taxonomy aims to guide private investment to activities that are needed to achieve climate neutrality. The Taxonomy classification does not determine whether a certain technology will or will not be part of Member State energy mixes. The objective is to step up the transition, by drawing on all possible solutions to help us reach our climate goals. Taking account of scientific advice and current technological progress, the Commission considers that there is a role for private investment in gas and nuclear activities in the transition. The gas and nuclear activities selected are in line with the EU’s climate and environmental objectives and will allow us to accelerate the shift from more polluting activities, such as coal generation, towards a climate-neutral future, mostly based on renewable energy sources. Read the full press release here.

Training data stewards for life sciences

BioData.pt | ELIXIR Portugal, in collaboration with several other organizations has designed a program to train the first generation of Data Stewards for the life sciences, to support the implementation of data management, open science and FAIR data principles in Portuguese R&I organizations. It will unfold from February to October 2022, allowing trainees to get some practice and consolidate the acquired knowledge. It will comprise an introductory module covering the basic concepts of Data Stewardship followed by two assignments and end with a hands-on course for knowledge consolidation. See the full information about the programme here as well as access the application link.

Connecting the dots: Interoperability in the field of educational technology

Education has seen a remarkable increase in the use of digital technologies and data. Investments in software can prove rewarding for schools, but educators still face the challenge of dealing with too many different systems. How can we create coherent digital ecosystems for education? How can policy makers, educators and EdTech companies work together to make this happen?

Don’t miss this OECD webinar, taking place tomorrow at 13h00 CET to learn more about collaborations worldwide, and to understand what education can look like when countries adopt standards and policies for interoperability. Click here to find out more about the speakers and how to watch the webinar.

Eurostars joint transnational call for proposals – March 2022

Eurostars is a funding instrument that supports innovative SMEs and project partners by funding international collaborative R&D and innovation projects. By participating, organizations from 37 countries can access public funding for international collaborative R&D projects in all fields.

To participate, you can submit your R&D and innovation project application between 21 January and 24 March until 14h00 CET. Your project consortium must have an innovative SME in the leading role, but it can also include other types of organizations like large companies, universities, research organizations and more.

To find out more, click here!

Farm to Fork Q&A – new rules for micro-organisms used in plant protection products

In a press release, the Farm to Fork initiative of the European Commission just published new rules for micro-organisms. If you’re interested in reading if this will have an impact on organic farming, if it’s safe to use micro-organisms in agriculture or what these micro-organisms are, make sure to click here to read the Q&A and the new rules.

European Conference H2020RTR – results from road transport research in H2020 projects

The 5th edition of the European Conference H2020RTR will take place on 29-30 March 2022 in Brussels. This yearly conference is co-organized by the European Commission, together with the European Road Transport Research Advisory Council (ERTRAC), the European Green Vehicles Initiative Association for the 2Zero partnership (EGVIAfor2Zero) and the Connected, Cooperation and Automated Mobility Association (CCAM).

During the conference 65 H2020 projects will present their new discoveries and achievements, how they tackled hurdles and resolved challenges, and what are the next research steps in different essential areas for road transport: Green Vehicles, Urban Mobility, Logistics, Intelligent Transport Systems, Safety, Automated Road Transport. They will be delivering a holistic view of how the European research scene is moving forward in these fields, bringing benefits to the environment, economy, and European society overall.

If you want to read the draft agenda and register, make sure to click here.

INESC INOV in SPARTA: workshop on the European cybersecurity Competence Centre

On the 25th of February, 09:30h, join the SPARTA team for a day full of inspiring and challenging discussions. They will be talking about the sustainable transition to the European Cybersecurity Competence Centre, with the 4 pilots (ECHO Cybersecurity, CONCORDIA Project, SPARTA AND CyberSec4Europe) and the European Commission!

The afternoon session is dedicated to thinking about EU’s digital sovereignty, through a discussion with German cybersecurity key players on activities of high priority for achieving EU’s digital sovereignty, necessary steps for strengthening cybersecurity competencies within the EU, and emerging trends in cybersecurity.

7^th Republic of Korea-EU Joint Science and Technological Cooperation Committee Meeting

The seventh meeting of the European Union – Republic of Korea Joint Committee on Scientific and Technological (S&T) Cooperation took place in Seoul yesterday, under the co-chairmanship of Director-General of the Directorate General for Research and Innovation of the European Commission, Mr. Jean-Eric Paquet, and Vice Minister of Science and ICT (MSIT), Republic of Korea, Mr. Yong Hongtaek.

Both sides indicated interest to cooperate with each other in developing green technologies through a variety of multilateral activities, including exchanges between researchers and other stakeholders.

Vice Minister Yong announced that Korea will begin official talks with the EU on Korea joining the Horizon Europe program as an associated country, as he delivered to Director-General Paquet the Letter of Intent signed by the Minister Lim Hye-sook of Science and ICT addressed to Commissioner Mariya Gabriel for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, expressing Korea’s intention to start discussing Korea’s membership in the Horizon Europe program as an associated country.

MEPs commemorate 20 years of Euro bank notes and coins

In yesterday’s European Parliament plenary session in Strasbourg, the Parliament commemorated the 20th anniversary of the circulation of the first euro coins and notes.

Opening the ceremony, EP President Roberta Metsola said that the euro has “truly been one of the greatest achievements of the EU, as evidenced by a recent Eurobarometer survey showing that 78% of people say that it is a ‘good thing’”.

Twenty years have passed since many European Member States accepted this new form of currency. As MEPs celebrate this as one of the most successful endeavours of the Union, what do you think?

EU in balancing act over carbon border levy, industry concerns

In this EURACTIV piece, we are notified that the European Commission’s proposed Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism is meant to replace free allowances distributed to industry under the EU Emissions Trading System (ETS), but European steelmakers worry the transition will not be clean and leave them unprotected from foreign competitors.

The European Commission has proposed replacing the free allowances by a new Carbon Border Adjustment Mechanism, which would make importers buy carbon certificates corresponding to the price paid by European manufacturers. Foreign producers would be exempted from this only if they can show they paid a similar carbon price at home, and importers would then pay the difference.

If you want to read more about why leaders in the carbon industry do not believe this to be a good idea in the short-term, make sure to read the article.