Welcome to today’s Morning Brief. The Morning Brief newsletter is only available to INESC staff and affiliated researchers upon subscription (weekly or daily), after creating an account in the Private Area of the HUB website. To do so, click the log-in icon on the top-right corner of this website.

In this Morning Brief, we remind you of our WG Agro Workshop happening this Thursday and open to INESC researchers, the European Commission launched a new tool to facilitate statistical transfers of renewable energy, Science Europe launches a vision for Research Culture in the ERA, 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:

The Commission launches a new tool to facilitate statistical transfers of renewable energy

The Commission recently published a new website to facilitate statistical transfers of renewable energy between EU countries. The Union Renewable Development Platform (URDP) provides an overview of the excess, or surplus, of statistics across EU countries and it features a matching mechanism, which shows options for potential agreements for statistical transfers and the associated conditions, such as volumes and price.

The platform also provides guidance on how to prepare an agreement. The timing is just right, since the platform will make it possible for EU countries to cover the missing statistics to their 2020 target for a share of renewable sources. It will also allow to plan new transfers, helping them to keep the trajectory towards the 2030 targets.

WG Agro Workshop

Human activities create pressures on natural resources that go far beyond sustainable levels, affecting land, agro, water and food (LAWF) systems.

This Thursday, at 09h00, the Hub WG responsible for this thematic area at INESC will hold a short virtual workshop where we count with the important participation of INESC researchers interested in this thematic area, to help us define our R&I identity towards the world, our vision for the future and through this, our strategic goals in the LAWF domain for the decade that now unfolds.

Registration for participation is compulsory here but all researchers willing to participate in the discussion are welcome.

Science Europe launches a vision for Research Culture in the ERA

On 25 November 2021, Science Europe releases a vision for Research Culture in the European Research Area (ERA) and commits to collective actions that enable a thriving research system.

Societal challenges and research problems are becoming more and more complex and demands on science are increasing. In parallel, the attractiveness and sustainability of research environments are also put too much into question, reflecting the need for research funding and performing organisations to re-consider some research practices.

The new statement on Research Culture envisages an ERA that focusses on the quality of research and its processes, supports scientific freedom, and promotes social diversity and inclusion, acknowledging that these conditions will, in turn, foster a productive research system.

Read more here.

A Soil Deal for Europe

The European Commission is looking for specialists in soil-related fields to evaluate and select the best proposals for EU research funding.

The Commission’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme will provide  €320 million funding during the period 2021-23 to help deliver this mission. Thus, they are looking for experienced and motivated specialists in soil-related fields to evaluate and select the best innovative ideas that could advance the protection and restoration of soils in Europe and beyond.

Click here to find out if you fit the profile and how to register.

Commission hosts second matchmaking event to speed up the development and production of COVID-19 medicines

Yesterday and today, the Commission is hosting a pan-European matchmaking event to accelerate and upscale the development and production of COVID-19 medicines in Europe, as part of the actions under the EU Strategy on COVID-19 Therapeutics.

This event aims at strengthening the participation of EU companies in value chains for COVID-19 therapeutics and speeding up connections among the participants. It also broadens the focus: from therapeutics specifically used to treat COVID-19, to also including those used to treat the symptoms of COVID-19, as well as the production of disposable materials and ingredients needed for making such medicines.

Read more about it here.

Europe’s climate legislation must work for citizens, says Spanish lawmaker

Europe’s new climate legislation needs to help citizens transition to renewable energy while protecting them from price shocks caused by volatile fossil fuel prices, according to Nicolás González Casares, a Spanish lawmaker for the Socialists and Democrats.

“Protecting citizens is the objective of the work we are carrying out with the implementation of the EU Green Deal and with the Fit for 55 package,” said Casares at an event run by EURACTIV.

Europe is undergoing a huge overhaul of its energy and environment legislation as policymakers try to put the 27 EU countries on track to meet their climate ambition.

The most recent legislative push – the so-called ‘Fit for 55’ package tabled in July – saw increased targets for renewable energy and energy efficiency as well as increased protection for vulnerable citizens.

Just months later, Europe saw how necessary those measures were as high energy prices hit consumers, raising concerns that the most vulnerable households would be pushed further into poverty and social exclusion.

In the long run, building up Europe’s renewable energy capacity would also protect consumers from price hikes because it would increase the amount of cheap, locally-produced energy and reduce the EU’s reliance on foreign imports.

Read more 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

Read More »

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

Read More »

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

Read More »