HORIZON BLOG: European R&D policy newsbytes

The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) announced today that Girls Go Circular, a Horizon Europe-funded project, has reached its goal of training 40,000 girls in STEM three years ahead of schedule.

The programme was launched in 2020 as part of the European Commission's Digital Education Action Plan 2021-2027 to empower girls in Europe's innovation landscape and address gender disparity in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM).

Today, April 25th, marks also the 2024 edition of International Girls in Information Communication and Technology (ICT) Day, which draws attention to the critical need for more girls and women in the ICT sector.

"The Girls Go Circular project was launched with a clear goal: to show young girls and women that Europe’s innovation landscape is incomplete without their ideas, their passion and their visions. Funded under Horizon Europe, our research and innovation programme, the European Institute of Innovation and Technology and its community have a key role to play in closing the gender gap in research and innovation, said EU research commissioner Iliana Ivanova.

“I look forward to seeing these girls and young women shape the future of Europe."

More details here.

The European Union and Türkiye reaffirmed their commitment to intensifying cooperation in green and digital transition and greater integration in the European Research Area, including EU missions and partnerships under Horizon Europe.

EU research commissioner Iliana Ivanova and Mehmet Fatih Kacır, minister of industry and technology of the Republic of Türkiye, met today in Istanbul for the second High-Level Dialogue on science, research, technology, and innovation.

They announced that three Turkish innovation programmes will participate in the European Innovation Council (EIC) Plug-in scheme. Also, a Community Hub of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) will be established in Türkiye by the end of 2024.

“Close cooperation in research and innovation with like-minded partners is a key priority for the European Union. This is why our high-level dialogue was a milestone. We discussed how to deepen our already very successful cooperation even further,” said Ivanova. “Together, we can succeed in the green and digital transitions quicker.” 

More details here.

Today, EIT Health Scandinavia launched the EIT Health Biobanks and Health Data Registries platform, a centralised digital hub that aims to connect EU researchers, clinicians, and industry professionals with European biobanks and health data registries to share information and advance medical research.

“With the EIT Health Biobanks and Health Data Registries Portal, not just connecting data; we are connecting minds, fostering collaboration, and propelling healthcare innovation forward,” said Annika Szabo Portela, EIT Health Scandinavia managing director.

Last month, the European Parliament and the Council of the EU reached a deal on the European Health Data Space (EHDS), legislation designed to allow EU citizens access to their health records wherever in Europe and to choose whether or not to allow their anonymised data to be shared for secondary use in research and public health.

Read EIT Health Scandinavia full announcement here.

ALLEA, the European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities representing more than 50 academies from 40 EU and non-EU countries, released today its feedback on the Commission's white paper on options for enhancing support for dual-use technologies in FP10.

According to the paper, creating a new funding instrument dedicated to research projects with potential dual use applications will add to existing administrative burden in EU funding programmes. ALLEA says dual use research projects should be integrated in existing funding schemes.

"Potential future applications are often uncertain at the start of research projects, and a decision at the outset that a project proposal entails a potential dual-use application will be extremely difficult, if not impossible, in many cases,” the paper says.

“The artificial division of research projects based on speculative outcomes is expected to create challenges similar to those already experienced when researchers are asked to categorise their project as basic or applied research before work has even started.”

Read the full ALLEA paper here.

Peter Dröll, a director in charge of ‘prosperity’ in the European Commission’s directorate-general for research and innovation has announced on Tuesday that he will retire from the Commission on 1st of May.

Maria Cristina Russo, the current director for international cooperation will take over Dröll’s position.

Deputy director-general Signe Ratso is said to take over Russo's former directorate.

Read Dröll's announcement here. Read Russo's announcement here.

The European Commission has today launched calls for proposals worth €112 million, under the Horizon Europe 2023-2024 Digital, Industrial and Space Work Programme. 

Over €65 million will be allocated to artificial intelligence, with €50 million dedicated to enhancing AI capabilities and €15 million for transparent AI systems. 

Around €40 million will be invested in quantum technologies, including €25 million for a pan-European quantum gravimeter network and €15 million for next-generation quantum projects. 

Additionally, €7.5 million will support projects focusing on European values, citizen-centric digital transformation, and global ICT standardization.

The Commission announced an investment of over €1.25 billion in research calls through the Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) in Horizon Europe. 

The funding is earmarked to bolster the development of top-tier doctoral and postdoctoral programmes and to facilitate collaborative research and innovation. 

According tothe Commission, approximately 10,000 talented researchers from across the globe are expected to benefit from this funding. 

“The €1.25 billion in these calls will catalyse cutting-edge research and boost the careers of thousands of brilliant minds, supporting their mobility across countries and disciplines to acquire new knowledge and skills. We need these excellent researchers in Europe to ensure that we remain at the forefront of scientific progress and succeed in tackling the challenges that we face,” said research commissioner Iliana Ivanova. 

More details here.

In mid-April, NATO released the “first international strategy to govern the responsible development and use of biotechnologies and human enhancement technologies” the alliance had adopted in February. 

NATO’s goal is to responsibly adopt these innovations, build trust with stakeholders, and defend against misuse by rivals. The strategy released focuses on defensive applications like biosensors for threat detection and health wearables for military personnel, the document reads. 

In the next months, expert research on opportunities and challenges linked to biotech-related solutions will start. 

Read the strategy here.  

The Commission approved on Monday a new EU co-funded Pfizer’s treatment against serious infections caused by multidrug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria, which causes up to 35,000 deaths in the EU every year. 

The studies were conducted with the support of the Innovative Medicines Initiative project COMBACTE-CARE. 

“This is fantastic news coming from the EU co-funded project COMBACTE-CARE under the Innovative Medicines Initiative public-private partnership. It provides a new tool to fight antibiotic resistant bacteria, an area where any new breakthrough treatment makes a real difference on public health,” says Marc Lemaȋtre, Director-General of the European Commission’s directorate general for research and innovation. 

More details here. 

As Switzerland lowers funding for R&I, Swiss academics and researchers are concerned that "fewer financial resources available" will shape the quality of teaching and research. 

Last month, the Swiss government announced a CHF 29.2 billion ($32 billion) education, research, and innovation budget for 2025-2028 - a backdrop of CHF 500 million compared to an earlier budget proposed. 

"Taking inflation into account, it will be more difficult for the resources available to meet the needs generated by the increase in the number of participants in all areas of education," Education Minister Guy Parmelin said about the decision to lower the budget on March 8. 

The ETH Board - the umbrella association of Swiss universities - the Swiss National Science Foundation, and the Swiss Academy of Sciences released a joint statement yesterday in reply to the government's decision. 

"There is a risk that the level of services will be cut back and that some of the projects carried out in the interests of Switzerland's economy and society will have to be suspended."  

Read the Swiss government announcement here. 

Read the joint statement of the Swiss academics and researchers here.