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Happy Monday! In this Morning Brief, we let you know of a new series of webinars starting this March 2022 by the UT Austin Portugal Program dedicated to a new generation of Big Data and HPC applications, the European Commission will also be holding the 5th Circular Economy Stakeholder Conference so don’t forget to register for these! Continuing with the unfortunate pattern of next week, more countries are imposing sanctions on Russia due to its continued invasion of Ukraine. Energy inflation rate continues an upward hike in Europe, and Ukraine’s energy system is currently coping but faces damage as the war carries on, and more!
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:
Towards a New Generation of Big Data & HPC Applications – First Webinar
The UT Austin Portugal Program is pleased to announce the second webinar series under the 2019 Strategic Research Project BigHPC: Towards a New Generation of Big Data & HPC Applications.
This webinar series will focus on the concrete applications of High-Performance Computing and Big Data and discuss the most relevant scientific and technological advancements in the field.
The first webinar, titled “Linking GitOPS towards fast innovation over BigHPC”, will happen this March 10, at 15h00 GMT and it will address GitOPS, a way to implement the continuous deployment and software quality best practices in High-Performance Computing. Attendance is free of charge, but registration is mandatory through this form.
For more information about the webinar topics and the expert participants that you will be interacting with click here!.
Energy inflation rate continues upward hike, hits 27%
Energy annual inflation in the EU hit 27% in January 2022, continuing the upward trend. This information comes from data published by Eurostat recently.
Following its lowest rate in five years in May 2020 (-11%), energy inflation started to increase but continued to show negative rates up until February 2021, varying between -9% and -1%. From March 2021, energy inflation was positive and increased almost continuously, reaching 26% in November 2021 and 27% in January 2022.
The inflation rate for energy is the highest since the Harmonised Index of Consumer Prices (HICP) was first published in 1997. In October 2021, it surpassed the highest point recorded so far: 17% in July 2008. Click here for more Eurostat information on this issue.
EU should sever scientific ties with Russia, says leading German MEP
According to this Science|Business article, “A leading German member of the European Parliament urged the EU to sever all scientific relations with Russia, stepping up pressure from Berlin to use science as a diplomatic weapon against Moscow. Christian Ehler, one of the Parliament’s leading science negotiators, said the European Commission should immediately stop payments to Russian participants in its Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe research programmes, and terminate the participation of Russian entities. “I call on the European Commission and Council of the EU to cut off all scientific and research relations with the Russian Federation,” Ehler said in a statement issued late Friday. That would include ending the EU’s formal science and technology agreement with Russia. Ehler is a lead rapporteur on Horizon.”.
The Clean Energy for EU Islands secretariat launches its new website
The Clean energy for EU islands secretariat – an initiative of the European Commission – has launched its new website with the aim of becoming the central platform for the clean energy transition of the more than 2,200 inhabited European islands.
The Clean energy for EU islands website showcases best practices of islands for the clean energy transition. It informs on policy and regulatory issues for Europe’s island communities and provides advice on how to define a transition agenda together with stakeholders and how to implement clean energy projects..
Ukraine’s energy system coping but risks major damage as war continues
“The country’s energy system is under as much control as it can be given the circumstances, with some local disturbances, but no major impacts yet, representatives from the Ukrainian energy company DTEK told journalists in a press conference. However, they warned that things change by the hour and that, although Russian forces are not targeting critical energy infrastructure at this stage, it is not guaranteed that a stray rocket would not damage something like a transformer or nuclear power plant. According to Ukrainian’s Ministry of Infrastructure, there have already been risks. The Ukrainian air defence shot down a rocket heading towards the dam of the Kyiv Reservoir, the destruction of which could have caused an accident at the Zaporizhzhya nuclear power plant, the government said.” Click here for the full EURACTIV piece.
Commission supports the creation of a skills partnership in agri-food ecosystem
Supported by the Commission, the agricultural and food industry has presented a skills partnership under the EU Pact for Skills.
The goal of the partnership is to upskill and reskill people in the agri-food sector, the largest producing and manufacturing sector in Europe. This will make the agri-food ecosystem more attractive to young people, while offering a lifelong learning perspective for both employers and employees.
The ecosystem ranges from family farms and micro and small food processing companies to large multinationals. In a first stage, the partnership will get a better understanding of the needs of these various actors, with a view to setting realistic but ambitious targets and to monitoring future developments.
Click here to find out more about the initiative.
5th Circular Economy Stakeholder Conference
The 5th edition of the Circular Economy Stakeholder Conference, under the heading “Towards a new normal: Sustainable products for sustainable consumption”, will be held online on 1 and 2 March 2022.
This year the European Commission and the European Economic and Social Committee join forces with the French EU Council Presidency to organize this flagship stakeholder conference, which will bring together leaders from business, public authorities, NGOs, knowledge communities, and other civil society organizations to advance our transition to a Circular Economy.
Click here for the full programme and to register for the conference!
US, EU and allies rachet up moves to isolate Russia technologically
According to Science|Business, “Russia is to be hit by technology sanctions from the United States, EU and Japan in a bid to grind down its economy capacity and stop it possessing advanced weaponry. Explaining the restrictions in a briefing 25 February, an EU official said the technology bans would rachet up pressure placed on Moscow since the annexation of Crimea in 2014. “What the package will do is expand first and foremost the scope of the goods and technologies that have been controlled since 2014,” the official said, in a briefing with journalists. “It will also at the same time impose stricter controls for a number of end users in the civil military sectors of Russia.” The EU will step up restrictions on dual use goods and technologies to Russia that could be used for military purposes.”.
EU at UN Environmental Assembly : seeking to secure launch of negotiations for global agreement on plastics
Commissioner Sinkevičius is representing the European Union at the fifth session of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-5) taking place from 28 February to 2 March in Nairobi, Kenya. In an alliance with partners from all continents, the EU will seek to secure the launch of negotiations for a new legally binding global agreement on plastics. The EU will also aim to create a Science-Policy Panel for Chemicals, Waste and Pollution, to reinforce scientific advice to the global community in a similar way as the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change. A final objective will be to reach an agreement on a definition of the concept of nature-based solutions, decisive ahead of COP15 under the Convention on Biological Diversity.
Find out more in the press release published by the European Commission.
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