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EU cybersecurity research centre ready to launch
The legal framework of the new EU Cybersecurity Competence Centre and its corresponding network of national centres was approved today, allowing the new centre aimed at boosting EU cybersecurity research and capacity to come to live. The new centre is currently being established in Bucharest with the help of the European Commission. Once fully up and running, it will coordinate the work of national cybersecurity agencies, pool resources from EU, member state and industry funds, and define a roadmap for the development and deployment of cybersecurity innovations.
[Report] Measuring what ecosystems do for us: new report on ecosystem services in the EU
Ecosystems contribute essential services to the economy and society. These include the provision of food, filtration of air and water, pollination, climate regulation, protection against extreme weather events such as heat waves and flooding, and many more. The ability of ecosystems to supply these services depends on their extent (‘size’) and condition (‘health’).
Ecosystem accounting is an emerging field that aims to provide an internationally agreed guidance to measure and record changes in ecosystems and ecosystem services in a consistent and comparable manner. In the context of the European Green Deal, the EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 is calling for the establishment of an international natural capital accounting initiative.
Led by Eurostat, the European Commission and the European Environment Agency have established an Integrated System of Natural Capital and Ecosystem Services Accounting for the EU – INCA. INCA contains three types of accounts: extent, condition and ecosystem services. The first two track the changes in natural capital: the total area of ecosystems and their condition or integrity.
As part of the project, the Commission’s Joint Research Centre developed a new methodology to unravel how ecosystem services flow from nature to our economy. More info here
Today a new report “Accounting for ecosystems and their services in the European Union” unravels the benefits that forests, rivers, grasslands, wetlands and other ecosystems provide. It shows how restoring degraded ecosystems has the potential to double nature’s contribution to the EU economy and society.
Further information:
- Integrated System of Natural Capital and Ecosystem Services Accounting (INCA)
- Biodiversity Strategy for 2030
- System of Environmental Economic Accounting – Ecosystem Accounting (SEEA EA)
[Analysis] Technical staff left out as PhDs drive academic hierarchy
Nature recently published an analytical article on the role of the technical staff (including lab technicians and research managers). Its main conclusion is already explicit in the title of the article and basically states that failure to acknowledge support roles weakens the team, and the science. Read the full article here. You may also want to follow the work being developed in Portugal by the PIC – Plataforma de Interface à Ciência and their recent public petition calling for support to the inclusion of the area of R&I management in the ministerial “pact for the reinforcement of the scientific institutions and careers”.
Webinar on Iberian Electricity Market Simulation
A new energy webinar will be organised in July 13, at 3 pm, under the motto “Iberian Electricity Market Simulation”. José Villar (INESC TEC), José Carlos Sousa (EDP Produção), André Rodrigues Oliveira (INESC TEC), and Pablo Rodilla (Comillas Pontifical University) will be responsible for leading this webinar. João Peças Lopes will be in charge of the moderation. The webinar will include an open discussion on the future of the Iberian Electricity Market where João Tomé Saraiva (INESC TEC/FEUP) will also participate. You are all welcome! Please register here to attend. Soon after completing the form, you will receive an email from the organisation with the Zoom access keys.
EU Open Data Days
The Publications Office of the European Union is organising the EU Open Data Days that will take place from 23 to 25 November 2021. This event will give you a unique opportunity to meet the open data community, share experience with experts in the field and explore successful data-driven projects. This fully online event will start with EU DataViz 2021, a conference on open data and data visualisation, on 23 and 24 November. It will close with the finale of EU Datathon, the annual open data competition, on 25 November. More info here.
Long-term vision for rural areas: Commission publishes public opinion survey on rural areas
A majority of EU citizens support the EU including rural areas in public spending decisions. The key need of rural areas most mentioned is transport infrastructure and connections, according to the latest EU-wide Eurobarometer survey of public opinion about rural areas published today by the European Commission. The survey was conducted from 9 to 18 April 2021, including more than 25,841 respondents in 27 Member States. The Flash survey contributed to assessing which priorities the Long-term Vision for rural areas should focus on, complementing the open public consultation conducted by the Commission from 7 September to 30 November 2020.
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