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Spending on health research is no longer viewed as extra expenditure but as “something of existential importance”, Rachel Chikwamba, group executive at the South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research, said during the health R&D panel discussion at this week's Science|Business conference.
“The importance of what we do as scientists is now put at the level that it should be put,” she said.
This is especially true for basic research, which had its moment during the pandemic. “We should not forget the research into mRNA started 30 years ago,” said Robert-Jan Smits, president of the executive board at the Eindhoven University of Technology. “This shows the power of basic research and we should never forget that.”
Speaking at the opening session of the Science|Business conference, Victor Dzau, president of the US National Academy of Medicine, stressed that COVID-19 showed global failure to cooperate internationally on pandemic preparedness and response.
“I think we’ve seen a collective failure for the world to take pandemic preparedness and response seriously and prioritise it,” said Dzau, who stressed the shortcomings of a lack of global strategy, criticised the fragmentation of the global R&D ecosystem and denounced vaccine nationalism.
Dzau calls fall a global end-to-end R&D preparedness and response ecosystem which engages all countries. This requires a clear governance model and sustainable financing, he says.
Patients should be at the centre of cancer research to better address their demands and boost acceptance of results, according to new guidelines issued by three member states currently holding the trio presidency of the EU Council.
The guidelines outline how to engage patients and stress the importance of their involvement at all levels of the research process. The three countries – Germany, Portugal and Slovenia – are now encouraging regional and national authorities to adopt the new rules.
“Science must open up across Europe. We need a change of culture in research towards greater participation. These new principles call for the systematic involvement of patients in cancer research,” said Germany’s research minister Anja Karliczek. She added that the rules can also be applied to other field of health research. “The clear signal is that patient involvement must become more standard throughout Europe.”
Echoing the call, in Brussels, the successor of one of the EU’s biggest public-private research partnerships, Innovative Medicines Initiative, will start under a new framework later this year putting patients at the centre of programming. The new edition of the partnership, the Innovative Health Initiative, hopes prioritising patients will help fix Europe’s weak system for translating biomedical research.
The European Commission has shortlisted eight cities in this year’s edition of the European capital of innovation contest awarding cities for finding novel ways to boost their innovation potential.
Out of 39 applicants, three Turkish cities have made the grade, with Ankara, Istanbul and Izmir featuring on the shortlist. Brussels, Dublin, Dortmund, Malaga and Vilnius also made the cut. Now, each city’s representatives will have a chance to argue their case in front of the jury in October.
The winner will receive an award of €1 million from the EU’s research programme Horizon Europe, while second and third place will secure €100,000 each.
Alongside the innovation capital competition, the Commission is running a competition for smaller cities, where seven shortlisted candidates are looking to win a €500,000 cash prize.
The European Research Council’s latest advanced grants call for projects received 35% less proposals compared with last year, boosting the potential success rate to 14.4%.
The decrease in applications follows a jump in proposals seen in last year’s call when the EU’s basic research funding agency recorded a record 42% increase in applications. At the time, the unprecedented spike was put down to the uncertainty surrounding future calls caused by heated and prolonged negotiations on the budget of the EU’s new seven-year research programme, Horizon Europe.
The ERC received 1,735 applications for this year’s call for fundamental research projects led by scientists with a recognised scientific track record. Around 250 of the proposed projects will receive funding from the estimated €626 million funding pot once the results are announced in May 2022.
Around a fifth of the applications were submitted by female scientists and the most popular field of research was physical sciences and engineering.
Next year’s advanced grants call will be open from 20 January to 28 April with an estimated budget of €626 million.
Spain’s Centre for the Development of Industrial Technology is awarding €114 million to finance 190 industrial research, development and innovation projects, topped up with a further €35 million from the Ministry of Science and Innovation.
The projects – two of which will finance COVID-19 related product development – will involve 206 companies around Spain, 137 of which are SMEs.
France and the Netherlands have signed a memorandum of understanding pledging to work closer together on quantum technologies.
The move is designed to build European “strategic autonomy” in the technology, and to create a critical mass of research that will help attract overseas talent.
Several measures are planned, like matchmaking between technology companies and research clusters to improve collaboration, and a quantum jobs portal listing openings in both countries.
“Quantum technologies are among the few key digital technologies that have emerged in Europe and on which we must collectively give ourselves the means to be the leaders of tomorrow,” said Cedric O, France’s secretary of state for digital transition and electronic communications.
Both countries have already announced sizable funding boosts for quantum this year. In January France pledged an extra €1.8 billion, while in April the Netherlands said it would contribute €615 million.
French mathematician Jean-Pierre Bourguignon yesterday served his last day in office as the president of the EU’s leading frontier research agency, the European Research Council (ERC).
Bourguignon was the head of the ERC Scientific Council since 2014 for a total of seven years. His term had officially ended in December 2019, but came back at the helm in early 2020 as interim president, after newly appointed president Mauro Ferrari had fell out of favour with the Scientific Council. Bourguignon has steered the ERC through a difficult period marred by the leadership crisis, the COVID-19 pandemic and tense negotiations on the budget of the new EU research programme, Horizon Europe. Together with the Scientific Council, the mathematician played a vital role in defending the role of fundamental research in the EU budget.
In his farewell message, the departing president stressed the importance of continuing to promote the trust and investment in science, while working close with the scientific community. “With the health threat that COVID-19 has brought and with the escalating climate crisis unfolding before our eyes – and I could list a few more worries – Europe is facing serious challenges that require long-term action. One thing is clear: investing in science is essential for a better and safer future,” said Bourguignon.
On Twitter, the farewell was met with words of gratitude from the likes of EU research commissioner Mariya Gabriel, the European University Association, European Parliament members and many other members of the scientific community.
On 1 October, Bourguignon will be succeeded by German biologist Maria Leptin. Until then, vice presidents of the Scientific Council will take over the president’s duties.
The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) is looking for seven new members to join its governing board that leads the EU innovation agency’s strategic decision-making.
The call for new board members is open until 28 October. One the call is closed, highest-scoring applicants will be invited for interviews. The best candidates will then be shortlisted and presented to the European Commission, which will have the final say in which seven applicants will join the 12-member governing board for a four-year term.
The EIT runs eight (soon to be nine) knowledge and innovation communities in fields such as climate, energy, health, digital and manufacturing. In the next seven years, it is set to spend €3 billion on supporting entrepreneurs and educating the next generation of European innovators.
A new £450 million fund is looking for energy projects promising help position the UK as a world leader in green energy innovation.
Over the next five years, the fund is set to finance projects run by network companies, system operators and researchers in a bid to unlock new ways to power transport, heat housing, and ensuring a smooth roll out of clean energy.
“What we need more than ever to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and reach net zero is innovation. The Strategic Innovation Fund means cutting-edge ideas and new technologies become a reality, helping us find greener ways to travel, and to heat and power Britain at low cost,” said Jonathan Brearley, chief executive of Ofgem, the UK’s electricity and gas regulator.
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