Horizon Europe is well underway, but the world of European R&D policy goes well beyond the confines of the €95.5 billion R&D programme. EU climate, digital, agriculture and regional policies all have significant research and innovation components. National governments often come up with new R&D policies, decide to fund new research avenues, and set up international cooperation deals. This blog aims to keep you informed on all of that and more.
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The European University Association is calling for education, research and innovation to be set as “high priorities” in the EU’s next Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF), due to start in 2028.
The next MFF, which will run from 2028 to 2034, must ensure both flexibility and predictability while Erasmus+ and FP10 need to exist as standalone programmes “with their own identity and community,” the statement reads.
Read the full statement here.
The League of European Research Universities, the Association of American Universities, the Group of Eight in Australia, the U15 in Canada and in Germany, the RU11 in Japan, the Russell Group in the UK, have signed the Ottawa Declaration, which aims to boost international research collaboration amid growing geopolitical tensions.
The organisations are committed to continue “intensified engagement based on the defining characteristics of leading research universities, namely for the public good, academic freedom and institutional autonomy, integrity, security and the responsible conduct of research, and transparency,” the organisations said in a statement.
Read the full statement here.
The alliance of life sciences research centres, EU-LIFE, said that research and innovation should play a central role in the EU’s next long-term budget, through a standalone FP10 with a budget of at least €200 billion.
According to the organisation, at least 15% of the Multiannual Financial Framework, which will run from 2028 to 2034, should be allocated to the upcoming EU research Framework Programme, FP10.
This includes doubling the budget of the European Research Council, the funding of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions, and investments in the European Innovation Council’s Pathfinder and Transition programmes. EU-LIFE should also enable collaborative research programmes ta a low technology readiness level.
Read the full statement here.
The Polish National Agency for Academic Exchange has opened a new call to fund projects that have been awarded the Seal of Excellence under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) postdoctoral fellowships calls.
The proposals have been evaluated by the European Commission with a score of at least 85% but failed to receive funding due to budget constraints, the statement reads.
Read the full statement here.
Eurostat has found that 13% of EU businesses were using artificial intelligence technologies.
According to the EU’s statistics office, businesses in Denmark and Sweden are leading the trend, with 27.6% and 25.1% of them using AI, respectively. Romania, on the other hand, is lagging behind at 3.1%.
Read the full statement here.
University association CESAER calls on the EU to ensure that universities of science and technology fully contribute to implementing the Clean Industrial Deal (CID).
“Universities of science and technology must be systematically involved in shaping and delivering this agenda,” Mariusz Malinowski, CESAER Envoy to the Polish Presidency of the Council of the EU and vice-rector for Research at Warsaw University of Technology, said in a statement.
Read the full statement here.
The European Research Council (ERC) and the Association of ERC Grantees (AERG) have launched the new Ambassadors for the ERC network, which aims to promote investment in frontier research.
“I hope the ambassadors will become recognisable faces of ERC-funded research,” Maria Leptin, the president of the ERC, said in a statement. “We must keep reminding our fellow citizens why funding frontier research is not optional, and why it is essential for Europe's long-term health and prosperity.”
Read the full statement here.
The European Commission held a workshop with the ministry of higher education in Palestine on collaboration opportunities with EU researchers under Horizon Europe.
“So far, four Palestinian entities participated in Horizon Europe and received an EU contribution of close to €400,000,” the Commission said in a statement. “Those include Arab American University, Pal-think for Strategic Studies, Al Quds University and Berzeit University.”
Read the full statement here.
Universities of the Netherlands is urging the European Commission to support a standalone Framework Programme 10, with a long-term approach to research and innovation investments that does not forget about fundamental research.
“We fear that in the next [multiannual EU budget], the EU’s R&I investments will be mistakenly blended into the Competitiveness Fund and will be dominated by the EU’s strategic priorities,” the letter reads.
“It is precisely by transcending political agendas that R&I can best contribute to tackling societal challenges and help Europe remain one step ahead.”
Scientific autonomy and academic freedom are also prerequisites for industrial competitiveness, the Dutch universities warn.
The European Research Council (ERC) said that it would allocate €1.8 million in the mERCury initiative to improve National Contact Points’s support (NCPs) to researchers applying to ERC grants and, ultimately, boost the quality and number of ERC proposals.
The initiative, which targets 23 NCPs from EU member states and associated countries that provide guidance to researchers willing to benefit from Horizon Europe funding, is expected to run from 2025 to 2028.
“A strong emphasis will be placed on levelling the playing field,” the ERC said in a statement.
The research funder plans on drawing at least 60% of participants in capacity-building events from widening countries or less experienced NCPs. “The project will also run stakeholder workshops, publish guidelines, and deliver at least seven open-access training events for applicants – with a target of 70% participation from widening countries.”
Read the full statement here.
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