In today’s Morning Brief:

“The Insider”- new episode with Christoph Beuttler

Don’t miss the newest episode of the of “The Insider”, INESC Brussels Hub’s weekly podcast, continuing our Deep Tech series with Science|Business. In this episode we sit down with Christoph Beuttler, Head of Climate Policy at Climeworks.

We delve into a very important area in deep tech: climate and the importance of carbon capture. Make sure to click here to listen to the episode in full and subscribe to it on your favourite podcast-listening platform.

Horizon Europe: The first assessment

Horizon Europe, the EU’s biggest-ever research and innovation programme is finally underway. So how is the programme going? In this annual Science|Business conference taking place between 8 and 9 February, members and guests will offer the first public assessments of HE.

The conference assessments will be assisted by surveys and research by the Science|Business news team in the months leading up to the event. The results will include a high-impact white paper – a first report card for Europe’s biggest bet on the future.

Find more information about the conference and register here.

Member States urged to convene for discussions on supporting young researchers

The Initiative for Science in Europe (ISE), which brings together European learned societies and research organisations, is calling on EU member states to support young researchers whose careers have been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.

ISE hopes EU research ministers, who are convening in Paris this week, will respond to the call for a conference discussing the precarity faced by young researchers during the pandemic, an idea that was first floated around by the former European Research Council President Jean-Pierre Bourguignon in November.

The precariousness of research careers is a growing issue in Europe, with young researchers complaining of being low salaries, lack of permanent contracts and job security, which can lead talent to leave academia or seek science careers in other parts of the world.

Find out more here.

Future of Europe: people’s ideas for democracy and the planet

The Conference on the Future of Europe plenary of 21-22 January debated people’s ideas on how to improve democracy, rule of law, environment and health in the EU.

More than 40 representatives of European citizens’ panels and national panels discussed their recommendations for a better Europe with members of the European Parliament and their counterparts from the national parliaments, representatives of EU institutions and national governments, regional and local authorities, trade unions and civil society.

Make sure to click here to read or watch the recommendations that came out of this session.

Universities call for support adapting to the new Erasmus+ programme

The Guild is urging the European Commission and national agencies to help universities meet the expectations of Erasmus+.

The new seven-year framework for the programme provides new types of support for students such as top-up grants for environmentally-friendly ways of travelling, short-term and blended mobility, and grant top-ups for applicants with fewer opportunities. Universities are reportedly struggled to meet these new mobility expectations as Erasmus+ funding in 2021 remained at 2018 levels.

The Guild hopes universities can work with the Commission and national authorities to find long-term and immediate fixes to the arising problems, such as national co-funding, greater flexibility at reporting stage, and support mechanisms to reach the top-up targets.

European Investment Bank boosts COVID-19 vaccine deliveries to countries in need

Werner Hoyer, the President of the EIB backed a new funding call from COVAX, the global initiative to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines around the world. Hoyer said that the EIB would make an extra €300 million available to enable African countries to access additional doses through COVAX.

The new €300 million commitment from the EIB builds on the Bank’s support for €1 billion of vaccine purchases over the last year. It targets the acute needs of sub-Saharan Africa, where the EIB is working with a network of African partners, including the Africa Vaccine Acquisition Task Team. The innovative funding will ensure that African countries can quickly purchase more vaccines and double the percentage of their populations immunised against COVID-19 from 30% to 60%.

Find out more about this initiative here.

Webinar: Avoiding errors in declaring personnel costs in Horizon 2020 grants

The European Commission has organised a webinar on February 16th from 10h00 to 12h00 (CET) on how to find a way to correctly declare personnel costs in Horizon 2020 grants.

The webinar will feature Peter Härtwich, Head of Unit at the European Commission’s Research DG; David Mejuto Gayoso and Sorin Serban. There is no registration needed, just click this link.