In today’s Morning Brief:

Is Hydrogen the rockstar of alternative energies? The Insider Weekly podcast

In this episode of The Insider we go deeper on why is hydrogen considered by many as the rock star of alternative energies and how are research organisations, such as INESC TEC, looking at the future in this promising area. This follows from the participation of INESC TEC in a closed Science Business event entitled: H-factor: Will European R&D catalyse the clean hydrogen era?

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Innovative Health Initiative seeks new advisory panel

The Horizon Europe-supported industrial partnership for innovative medicines and health technologies is looking for science and health experts to join its new Science and Innovation Panel (SIP) that will set the initiative’s priorities and design calls for proposals.

The SIP will bring together the organisations participating in the Innovative Health Initiative (IHI) – the successor of Horizon 2020’s Innovation Medicines Initiative – such as the European Commission, health industries, national representatives and the scientific community. The call for 10 experts is open until 21 February 2022.

The IHI is set to formally launch its new seven-year framework for financing large-scale projects in a bid to advance health research and innovation in areas of unmet needs this Wednesday.

Find out more information here.

Horizon Europe: bigger and more complex than ever – in some cases

With the first round of Horizon Europe applications complete, Science|Business has been asking researchers about their first impressions of the programme.

The reviews are mixed. From praising the lighter administrative touch, to suggestions it would be better to revert to paper submissions, the research community is divided. One thing most agree on is that Horizon Europe calls are more ambitious than ever, and few can fit their proposals into the new 45 page limit.

Make sure to read their article and participate in the survey of what you think of Horizon Europe so far here.

Facebook trumpets massive new supercomputer

In this EURACTIV article, Facebook’s parent company Meta, announced yesterday it was launching one of the world’s most powerful supercomputers to boost its capacity to process data, despite persistent disputes over privacy and disinformation. The US tech giant said the array of machines could process images and video up to 20x faster than their current systems.

“The experiences we’re building for the metaverse require enormous compute power” wrote Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg on Facebook. The firm envisages developing AI tools that will, among other things, allow people speaking several different languages to understand each other in real time. Meta said the machine, known as AI Research SuperCluster (RSC), was already in the top five fastest supercomputers and would become the fastest AI machine in the world when fully built in the next few months.

Make sure to read the article here.

Consultation on the transition pathway for the mobility ecosystem opens

The European Commission is asking companies across the ecosystem, public authorities, social partners, research organizations and all interested parties to express their views on how the mobility ecosystem can accomplish the green and digital transitions, whilst increasing their resilience.

These parties are all invited to help better define the costs, needs and conditions to accompany the transformation of the industrial mobility ecosystem. Through this process of co-creation, a jointly agreed plan, known was a transition pathway, will be finalized in the course of this year. The consultation will last until 31 March.

Find out more here.

Climate, Energy & Mobility – Cluster 5 Info Day in February

The primary goal of the Cluster 5 info days’ second edition is to present 74 open topics (including batteries, renewable energy, zero-emission road transport, among others) of the Horizon Europe 5 2022 calls by way of a plenary and three parallel sessions.

The programme is available here and no registration will be necessary as the sessions will be available to watch directly from the page. It will take place on 3 February by the Horizon Europe National Contact Points. The main objective is to gather all the relevant stakeholders intending to apply for funding, to support the development of consortia and their project ideas.

The role of EU R&I investments to deliver on their Hydrogen Strategy

A new Commission working document showcases the role of EU R&I investment in clean hydrogen to accelerate the green energy transition and reach the European Green Deal goals by 2050.

The document describes the research and investment related instruments, and the challenges and opportunities to fully deploy the hydrogen technologies on the market in the near future, and accelerate setting up the European hydrogen economy.

Read the Commission staff working document here.

2022 Research Fund for Coal and Steel (RFCS) Summit

In 2022, the Research Fund for Coal and Steel (RFCS) – whose origins in the European Coal and Steel Community are at the roots of modern European unity – will celebrate its 20th anniversary and enter a new era under its revised legal basis, with an increased budget for research activities.

To mark the occasion, the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DG R&I) and the European Research Executive Agency (REA) will jointly co-host, together with the coal and steel communities, a high-level two-day event in Brussels on 21 and 22 March 2022, with the first day dedicated to steel and the second to coal.

Agenda and details will be available shortly so keep an eye on this page.

EU must resist attempts to dilute the Digital Markets Act

In this EURACTIV column by Ursula Pachl, the Deputy Director-General of the European Consumer Organisation (BEUC), she writes the DMA aims to ensure Europe’s future digital markets become more open and fair curbing the ability of the big internet platforms to misuse their powerful positions to game the internet in favour of their interests.

To be effective, it is particularly important that the DMA includes a number of very specific obligations. For example, the DMA must ensure instant messaging and social networking services like  Signal and Element can interoperate with the communication services offered by “gatekeepers” like  WhatsApp. There must be safeguards to prevent gatekeepers circumventing the DMA’s obligations by using behavioural or user interface design techniques (including so-called “dark patterns”) that,  for example, make it really difficult to unsubscribe from a service.

Make sure to read her column here.