Preparing INESC for ERC
Preparing an institution for ERC is something that takes time, effort and investment. The most successful institutions in Europe, year after year, are those that developed internal institutional capacity, dedicate human resources to support applicants to know hot to better prepare themselves for future calls and help from the idea generation process up to the interview phase. This is what the HUB ERC Excellence Programme will be all about. More details about this in the coming days. Until then, check these short ERC Classes, made available by ERC itself:
1. Step by step to the ERC application process
2. How to get started with your ERC proposal
3. How to write part 1 of your ERC proposal
4. How to write part 2 of your ERC proposal
5. How do we evaluate your ERC proposal
6. How to prepare for your ERC interview
This is a good starting point and all information about this programme is crucial to start shaping up our capacity to change the 0% success rate so far across all INESCs.
EARTO Annual Conference
As foreseeable, the EARTO Annual Conference has been a celebration of RTOs role in Europe, not only as spearheads of the research and innovation agenda of the EU, but also as key instruments of the quick response to the pandemic and as future protagonists of the economic recovery. RTO representatives were made able to participate through pre-recorded videos: among them, the CEO of INESC TEC, Joao Claro, intervened in the panel on technological infrastructures. The discussion throughout the event touched on crucial topics of the future of RTOs: the digital and green transition, the development of technological infrastructures, the technological sovereignty, and above all the necessity of international and interorganisational collaboration to achieve those goals.
Agreement on Connecting Europe Facility
The European Parliament and the Council have reached an agreement on the Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) for € 33.7 billion. The funding, although less conspicuous than what had been proposed by the Commission in 2018, will support the goals set up by the Green Deal and the Digital Decade, by financing the transition to a smart and sustainable mobility system. The CEF promises to facilitate the deployment of innovative, secure, and sustainable cross-border digital infrastructures, and to enhance the interoperability of networks across borders and cross-border energy cooperation. Here is a good media article with further details on this too.
Evidence and science in policy
In the early hours of Friday, we participated in the Euractiv debate “Knowledge, science, democracy: what is the role of evidence in policy and society?”. Some of the considerations brought up by EC representatives are relevant to understand the direction that the Commission is setting for RTOs and all R&I institutions. Despina Spanou, from the cabinet Schinas, for instance, called for “more collaboration in science”, and encouraged the establishment of interdisciplinary R&I hubs. From DG RTD, Anna Panagopoulou highlighted the need to connect research and society, by reinforcing the trust of citizens towards science, which must be accomplished through increasing scientific literacy and understanding in society, and a goal that should be reflected in the projects benefitting from the Horizon Europe funding.
Views on GEP developing from GEECCO and TARGET
Last Thursday, we watched the conference co-organised by GEECCO (Gender Equality in Engineering through Communication and Commitment) and TARGET (Gender Target). The speakers brought their experience with creating and implementing Gender Equality Plans with RPOs and RFOs, and conveyed some key messages regarding gender criteria in STEM that will be useful to INESCs, too. Firstly, that a Gender plan is not only about numbers and “fixing” them: it is also about changing the institutional culture and changing the way knowledge is transmitted within and by the institution. This structural change needs several factors: the resources – both financial and human –, the time for the transformations to take place, the support of the management, and the commitment of the internal “community of practice”. The process can have a great impact on the organisation, both in terms of networking with other foreign RTOs involved in similar activities, and in terms of increasing the institution’s public image as a modern employer that values mutual respect and diversity.
The HUB will continue to support the INESC institutes with planning all necessary actions to reach their gender equality goals.
Germany to create two new health research centres
According to Science Business, Germany is set to establish two new research centres for mental health and children’s health, with the ministry for education and research investing 500,000 euros in each centre. The new centres, which act as research networks for specific health issues, will aim to improve diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mental health illnesses and diseases affecting children and adolescents. For the next six months, the selected centres, both of which bring together six to seven research institutions, will work on developing a common strategy and goals to advance basic, clinical, prevention and health services research in the two fields. The country already has six health centres for diabetes, cancer, infectious, neurogenerative, cardiovascular, and lung diseases.
Is Morocco becoming an associated country to Horizon Europe?
On 10 March 2021 the first informal exploratory talks meeting on the association of Morocco to Horizon Europe took place following the formally expressed interest of Morocco in becoming associated to the Horizon Europe Framework Programme.
Hidden Gems
This Is How They Tell Me the World Ends: The Cyber-Weapons Arms Race | Nicole Perlroth
In Episode 182 of Hidden Forces, one of the most interesting podcasts out there (where you can find many interesting episodes about blockchain and crypto, cybersecurity, economics and entrepreneurship, among others), Demetri Kofinas speaks with Nicole Perlroth, award-winning cybersecurity journalist for The New York Times and author of a recently published book on the cyber-weapons arms race titled “This Is How They Tell Me The World Ends.”
This is the latest episode in a series that we’ve devoted to the subject of information security and the threat posed to our infrastructure and to our lives by the cyber-weapons industry.
Cyberattacks against individuals, companies, and infrastructure have increased steadily year after year. Attacks like the recent one targeting a water treatment facility in Florida or the Solarwinds hack, discovered last December and which compromised thousands of private and government users — including Homeland Security, the Pentagon, and the NSA — are only the tip of the iceberg. These types of attacks are happening 24hrs a day, 7 days a week, and the costs that they impose on individuals and organizations are measured in the trillions of dollars every single year.
The purpose of this conversation is to highlight both the nature and the urgency of the threat posed by the cyber-weapons industry. You will learn details about the market for exploits and vulnerabilities and what measures we can take to protect ourselves individually and as a society.
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