Welcome to today’s Morning Brief. The Morning Brief newsletter is only available to INESC staff and affiliated researchers upon subscription (weekly or daily), after creating an account in the Private Area of the HUB website. To do so, click the log-in icon on the top-right corner of this website.
In this Morning Brief we start with a save the date from the French Presidency of the Council of the European Union, the CEA and other partners on three High-Level conferences all related to trending R&I topics. We also let you know of an Energy Transition Expertise Centre Stakeholder Workshop, the new European Commission strategy for universities which some are fighting against, new job opportunities and consultations, and a fascinating read on why Artificial Intelligence can’t be just data-based.
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:
Save the Date(s): French Presidency of the Council of The European Union
The French Presidency of the Council of the European Union along with CEA – French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission, among other partners are hosting three high-level conferences between February and March:
– Quantum Ambitions: Strengthening Europe’s Leadership (21/02)
– AI for Industry and Society: Trust and Frugality (25/02)
– Towards a Renewal of the European Solar Photovoltaic Industry (02/03)
Find out more information on the CEA and the French Presidency.
Once the registration for these events is open, the INESC Brussels Hub will provide a link for those who are interested to register.
Stakeholders submit R&I manifesto to Conference on the Future of Europe
According to Science|Business, a group of 94 organisations have submitted an R&I manifesto for debate in the plenary of the Conference on the Future of Europe. It is backed by over 600 universities, 400 research institutes, 140 business associations and 15 regional and local bodies.
“In the coming years, research and innovation will be crucial to steer Europe’s recovery, preparedness and resilience, accelerate the twin green and digital transitions, and support the EU’s aspirations of open strategic autonomy,” the manifesto says.
The full text and list of supporters are available here.
Energy Transition Expertise Centre Stakeholder Workshop
The first Energy transition expertise centre (EnTEC) stakeholder workshop is going to happen later this month, organised jointly by the European Commission and the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research ISI.
It aims to inform stakeholders about the EnTEC project and present the first two in-depth studies:
– Enabling the Energy Transition – How flexible digital options can support;
– The role of renewable H2 import & storage scale up the EU deployment of H2
Fraunhofer ISI will introduce the project. The EnTEC partners McKinsey&Company and Trinomics will present the studies. Afterwards there will be an opportunity to discuss the study results and ask questions to the project team.
Don’t forget to click here to sign up for the workshop, Monday 31 January at 10h00 (CET).
New Commission strategy for universities is hard to achieve
The European Commission has put a plan for a European degree at the center of a new strategy to boost transnational cooperation in Europe’s higher education system, but universities say the proposal is overly ambitious, and question if member states will give up their national competence to let Brussels decide how universities award diplomas.
The ideas proposed are not new, but it is the first time the EC has put them into a single document, which is now meant to serve as a starting point for negotiation with Member States.
Make sure to read this Science|Business article exposing the questions and challenges that this plan might present to universities and students. The Guild – The Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities, has also responded to this initiative here.
European Commission’s JRC is hiring for Quantitative Policy Analysts
The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre is hiring four Quantitative Policy Analysts to work in the Competence Centre on Composite Indicators and Scoreboards.
They are looking for enthusiastic people to work on projects related to using data for constructing composite indicators and scoreboards, monitoring multidimensional phenomena and understand their drivers and policy implications.
Want to be part of the team? Find out more on how to apply and the job description here.
European Commission seeks revision of REACH, the EU’s chemicals legislation
The Commission is launching a public consultation on the revision on the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation and Restriction of Chemicals – REACH. The revision will aim to align the EU chemical rules with the Commission’s ambition for safe and sustainable chemicals and a high level of protection of health and the environment, whilst preserving the internal market.
This REACH revision is one of the actions announced in the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability.
The public consultation will provide insight for the ongoing work on an impact assessment. The consultation will run until mid-April 2022. To find out more click here.
Calls for proposals to promote European agri-food products launched
The European Commission has launched the 2022 call for proposals for European agri-food promotion programmes, in the EU and abroad.
This year puts a special focus on the promotion of products and methods that support more directly the European Green Deal objectives.
A wide range of bodies, such as trade organisations, producer organisations and agri-food groups responsible for promotion activities are eligible to apply for funding and submit their proposals. Projects will be assessed in particular with regard to sustainability of production and consumption criteria, in line with the climate, environmental and animal welfare objectives of the CAP as well as the Farm to Fork strategy.
Proposals should be submitted by 21 April 2022 17:00 CET (Brussels) via the dedicated portal. The Commission will assess the proposals and announce the beneficiaries in the autumn.
Find out more on how to apply here.
Science Advice under Pressure 2022
The European Commission’s Scientific Advice Mechanism warmly invites everyone working at the science-policy interface to explore the key challenges of delivery science advice under pressure through a series of panel debates, interactive sessions and networking opportunities.
It will take place between 27 and 28 April in Brussels and online. This is a conference co-organised by the Group of Chief Scientific Advisors to the European Commission and by SAPEA.
To find out more information and how to register click here.
Artificial Intelligence searches for the human touch
For many outside the tech world, “data” means soulless numbers. Whereas for computer scientists, data means rows and rows of rich matter, there to be manipulated.
AI-driven algorithms are increasingly impinging upon our everyday lives. They assist in making decisions across a spectrum that ranges from advertising products to diagnosing medical conditions. It’s already clear that the impact of such systems cannot be understood simply by examining the underlying code or even the data used to build them. We must look to people for answers as well.
Don’t miss this fascinating Financial Times piece underlining the importance of humanity in AI here.
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