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In today's Morning Brief:

In today’s Morning Brief:

The 2021 Global Research Council (GRC) European Regional Meeting is only two days away

On the 21st and 22nd of October, this hybrid event will bring heads of organisations in the European region will meet to discuss and prepare European contributions to the Annual meeting in Europe and four other GRC regions.

This meeting will focus on two main topics: research ethics, integrity and culture in the context of rapid research results; and science and technology workforce.

To find out more about the programme of the event click here.

Facebook announces plans to hire 10,000 people in the EU to build the ‘metaverse’.

This Monday, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg announced plans to build the metaverse, something that would blur the lines between the digital and physical worlds.

The announcement gave few details of the company’s plans for the new metaverse team, except that the new hires will include highly specialised engineers.

Many, such as the Washington Post, claim that Facebook’s interest in the metaverse are part of a push towards rehabilitation of the company’s reputation.

If you want to learn more about this new technology click here.

Greater inclusivity in post-pandemic connectivity push is needed

Further work towards inclusivity in expanding connectivity in a post COVID-19 world is needed, according to EU experts working in this area.

Regarding the importance of connectivity during and after the crisis, MEP Josianne Cutajar noted the importance of ensuring that connectivity infrastructure works for all and the skills necessary for its deployment don’t leave anyone behind.

The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated how indispensable connectivity is, thus, there is a need from Europe to push towards investment in sustainable and quality digital infrastructure.

If you want to read more about this topic click here.

European Commission estimates two years before Horizon Europe missions can start to deliver

In an interview with Science|Business, the EC’s Director General for Research and Innovation Jean-Eric Paquet said Brussels is starting a campaign to convince member states and regions to help make the five research missions in Horizon Europe a reality.

Each of these five missions will get at least €320 million for the next two years as they get underway. If all goes well, more funding willl be allocated after 2023. The hope is stakeholders will jump on board and commit their own funding. But the key to the success of the missions will be implementation, something the Commission will push for take up of research results on the ground and in policy.

Researchers are still awaiting more clarity on how to take part in the missions. The first details should come out in December of this year, when the Commission is expected to update the 2021 work programme with Horizon Europe calls for the five missions. The 2022 Horizon Europe work programme should be out in Spring. To read more about this click here.

The EIT supports the New European Bauhaus initiative with €5 million

The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) launched the ‘EIT Community Booster – Scaling New European Bauhaus Ventures’ in order to support the New European Bauhaus initiative.

This first call will support twenty innovative companies with a budget of up to €50,000 each to accelerate solutions integrating sustainability, aesthetics, and inclusion.

This call is part of a wider €5 million budget for New European Bauhaus activities supported by the new EIT Community in 2021 to 2022. This call will be open until 17 December 2021 and start-ups and scale-ups are encouraged to apply and scale their venture.

For more information about this

this initiative make sure to click here.

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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 »