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In this Morning Brief, we start with a new episode of The Insider podcast on hydrogen, the news that the Innovative Health Initiative seeks a new advisory panel, a consultation on the transition pathway for the mobility ecosystem opens, and news about the 2022 RFCS Summit. We also feature pieces on how researchers are responding to Horizon Europe in the beginning of this new year, the EU’s response to the Digital Markets Act and the role of EU R&I investments on their Hydrogen Strategy.
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:
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?
Listen weekly and subscribe here!
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.
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