HORIZON BLOG: European R&D policy newsbytes (Archived_03)

Finnish physicist Jari Kinaret has assumed the role of executive director of the new Chips Joint Undertaking, succeeding Yves Gigase.

The Chips JU is the new name for the Key Digital Technologies partnership; it has an expanded scope and a larger budget, in order to implement the initiatives featured in the EU Chips Act which entered into force in September.

A professor at the Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden, Kinaret has a background in physics and nanotechnology. Since 2013 he has served as the director of the EU’s €1 billion Graphene Flagship research project dedicated to exploring the potential of graphene.

The League of European Research Universities (LERU) has welcomed the European Parliament’s commitment to increase the Horizon Europe budget for 2024, in contrast to the Council’s proposal to cut the budgest.

Horizon Europe programmes are popular with researchers and already have very low success rates, the LERU said in a statement published on Monday. “This proves there’s no spare money in Horizon Europe and no room for further budget cuts.”

The organisation accused member states of undermining funding commitments made as part of the multi-annual financial framework, and said new priorities such as those addressed in the Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP), currently in negotiations, should come with new funding.

“There is simply not enough money in Horizon Europe, so what is there should stay there,” said LERU secretary-general Kurt Deketelaere.

The European University Association (EUA) has published a short paper offering universities guidelines on the use of global university rankings. 

The paper highlights some of the shortcomings of global ranking lists and offers universities 10 “key considerations” when thinking about using rankings. Global ranking lists are widely used by universities, students, governments and businesses as a way of judging the quality of an institute. 

The paper states: “While rankings… have had some positive impact (for some institutions), they continue to face sustained criticism for their choice and use of indicators, data collection methods, promotion of a single model of excellence, and lack of transparency on what they can – and cannot – tell their users about institutional quality and excellence.” 

The Russian government has declared a Berlin-based research institute “undesirable”, under laws that have been used to clamp down on independent activists and NGOs.

The Centre for East European and International Studies (ZOiS) was pronounced “undesirable” on 13 October, according to the research organisation.

“We thus join a long list of academics and institutions that are equally ‘undesirable’ in Russia,” it said in a statement.

ZOiS said it had already stopped all institutional cooperation with Russia since the Ukraine invasion, and added that free social science research had not been possible in the country “for a long time.”

Instead, the move is likely “directed against those academics and cooperation partners with family links to Russia here and elsewhere,” it said.

Spain is introducing sweeping reforms to its support for industrial doctorates, as it doubles the budget of the next call for projects, due to open at the end of the year, to €8 million. 

Together with the budget increase, the government will open the call to private non-profits and public administrations. Up until now, industrial doctorate funding was reserved for private companies.  

Other novelties include complementary funding for the project undertaken by the researchers, more flexible deadlines, and measures to reduce early withdrawals and post-grant resignations.  

Science is increasingly getting caught between its intrinsic openness to the world and governmental quests for national security and competitiveness, according to a study by the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI). 

The study, currently only available in French, explores the latest national and international moves to boost research security and limit foreign interference as well as the use of science and technology diplomacy to strengthen political links.  

The study highlights the key role private companies play in the development of AI and quantum technologies, which limits policymakers’ ability to oversee research security and international cooperation.  

The study will be available in English in November. 

The European Commission has opened a €96.6 million call for doctoral training and postdoctoral fellowship programmes to be co-funded through the EU’s Horizon Europe research programme. 

Universities, research centres, companies and government authorities are invited to apply for co-funding to develop and support regional, national and international training and career development programmes. 

This Marie Sklowdowska-Curie Actions COFUND programme aims to foster training and career development for researchers around Europe as well as help them enlarge their networks, share knowledge and boost creativity and entrepreneurship.  

John-Arne Røttingen will take office as chief executive officer of the health research foundation Wellcome in early 2024. 

Røttingen will take over from interim CEO Paul Schreier to lead Wellcome’s mission to spend £16 billion on discovery research and science-based solutions for tackling pressing health challenges by 2032. 

Røttingen is currently ambassador for global health at Norway’s ministry of foreign affairs. He has previously worked with Wellcome as founding CEO of the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovation (CEPI), which the foundation helped launch, and as CEO of the Research Council of Norway. 

The White House Office of Science and Technology Policy has announced a fast-track action committee to evaluate the potential and challenges of marine carbon dioxide removal.

Carbon dioxide removal involves removing CO2 that is already in the atmosphere or in the upper ocean, and storing it for centuries or longer. It is seen as a promising solution to offset emissions.

Less is known specifically about marine carbon dioxide removal, but suggestions include altering the chemical composition of sea water so that the ocean absorbs more CO2 from the atmosphere.

The new committee will study the various possibilities; draft recommendations for policy, permitting and regulatory standards; and develop a plan for a federal research programme. It includes experts from more than a dozen federal departments and agencies.

The US National Science Foundation (NSF) and the French National Research Agency (ANR) have signed a memorandum of understanding on research cooperation, which paves the way for research activities that are supported by both organisations.

Proposers from both countries will be able to submit a collaborative proposal that will undergo a single review process at the lead agency.

As part of the agreement, the agencies are inviting collaborative proposals in two new fields: catalysis with Earth-abundant materials, and quantum information science and engineering.

The agreement will also see the organisation of research visits, conferences, and joint workshops.