HORIZON BLOG: European R&D policy newsbytes

The Council of the EU has adopted a recommendation encouraging EU countries to make careers in higher education more attractive.

The document urges action to improve working conditions, support gender equality, and provide access to adequate social protection.

The Council is also calling for greater recognition of the different roles of academic staff, such as teaching, research, innovation, knowledge transfer, and mentoring, and for staff to be encouraged to engage in these activities without fear of interference.

“Today’s recommendation highlights the importance of valuing teaching on a par with research, and calls for greater recognition of the full range of career paths and activities available to academic and professional staff,” said Balázs Hankó, Hungarian Minister for Culture and Innovation.

Leading science and technology universities are urging ranking agencies to adopt more transparent and equitable evaluation methods.

CESAER, a body representing more than 50 of Europe’s leading science and technology universities, published a position paper today providing recommendations to improve university rankings. 

The group advocates for:

• More transparency into the ranking methodologies, including disclosure of data sources, weightings, and calculation;
• The option for universities to opt out of rankings;
• Collaboration with institutions to develop methodologies that provide a fairer assessment of universities;
• Clear communication of rankings’ limitations and appropriate uses to help national policymakers, universities, funders, and students make informed decisions.

"Universities of science and technology play a pivotal role in contributing to competitiveness and addressing global challenges," said Orla Feely, president of CESAER and of the University College Dublin. “To fully capture their dynamic contributions and societal impact, it is essential to develop evaluation frameworks that highlight their unique strengths and the transformative value they bring to society.”

A study of 7,165 start-ups across 37 countries has revealed the share of women founders in deep tech has doubled since 2010. However, women remain underrepresented in the field.

The study ‘Women Founders in European Deep Tech Start-ups’ by the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) reveals that women founders deep tech start-ups receive less total funding compared with men founders. Less than one quarter of deep tech start-ups created in 2022 have at least one woman in the founding team.

“This EIT study is a call to overcome the gender gap for investment in deep tech. The percentage of total funding going to deep tech start-ups with women founders stands at only 11.4%,” said EIT director Martin Kern.

Read the study here.

The cities of Torino, Italy and Braga, Portugal, are the winners of the 2024-25 European Capital of Innovation Awards, the European Commission has announced. 

Torino, the winner of the European Capital of Innovation category, has been awarded a €1 million prize. Braga, the winner of the European Rising Innovative City category, has received €500,000.

The two awarded cities “show that innovation is not just about technology but about creating opportunities, fostering inclusion and improving the quality of life for citizens,” said outgoing research commissioner Iliana Ivanova.

Read the announcement here.

Public and private actors in Europe invested approximately €14.2 billion in defence research and investment in 2023, up 25% from 2022, according to the latest annual report from the Aerospace, Security, and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD).

The report identifies a number of R&D trends in the defence industry, including AI and cybersecurity; quantum computing; autonomous systems including drones; and hypersonics and directed energy weapons.

Meanwhile, public and private R&D investments in the civil aeronautics sector fell by 0.7%, to €9.2 billion.

Industry turnover grew by 17% in the defence sector and 3% in civil aeronautics last year, but the report highlights persistent challenges, including supply-chain bottlenecks, and shortages of critical raw materials and electronic components.

The European Commission, Spain, Lithuania and Austria have announced new funding for the development of renewable hydrogen via the Innovation Fund.

The three member states will participate in scheme which is part of the second European Hydrogen Bank auction, to be launched 3 December. 

In addition to the €1.2 billion in EU funding from the Innovation Fund, the three EU Member States will deploy over €700 million in national funds to support renewable hydrogen production projects located in their countries.

Spain is allocating between €280 and €400 million for the scheme, using funds from its Recovery and Resilience Plan (RRP). 

Lithuania is dedicating around €36 million from its Modernisation Fund budget, while Austria is committing €400 million from its national budget.

More details here.

The European AI Office has published the first draft of the General-Purpose AI Code of Practice, developed by independent experts, which will guide the development of ‘trustworthy’ AI models.

The final text will detail how providers of general-purpose AI models may comply with their obligations under the AI Act.

The Code will be drafted in four rounds until April 2025, with the initial draft set to be discussed with around 1,000 stakeholders, member state representatives and international observers, in four dedicated working groups next week.

The first draft provides includes several open questions inviting feedback and further development by stakeholders.

The Aerospace, Security and Defence Industries Association of Europe (ASD) has called for dedicated funding instruments for civil aviation with an increased budget in Horizon Europe’s successor, known as Framework Programme 10.

The existing Clean Aviation and SESAR 3 joint undertakings have proven to be “a valuable tool” in addressing climate challenges, ASD notes in its position paper on FP10.

 “A new Competitiveness Joint Undertaking replacing the existing institutional partnerships will severely impact and reduce the ability of the civil aviation sector to innovate with confidence and long-term stability,” it says, referencing one of the recommendations in Mario Draghi’s report on EU competitiveness.

“Numerous technological domains, within aviation, are on the verge of disruptive change, and thus require significant investment to allow European actors to have their place in the competitive global marketplace,” ASD states.

The group also wants the scope of the existing partnerships to be expanded, for example to focus more on industrial competitiveness and to include low Technology Readiness Levels.

This year European Defence Fund (EDF) has reported a 28% increase in the number of proposals coming from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) compared to 2023.  

The EDF received a record number of 298 proposals from entities competing for a total funding budget of €1.1 billion. Applicants submitted research proposals on advancements in next-generation armoured infantry vehicles, counter-hypersonic missile technologies, autonomous mine-clearing systems, and secure space communications. 

Successful candidates are expected to be announced in May 2025.  

“At a time when European defence readiness is paramount, it is encouraging to witness the commitment of the defence industry, including an increasing number of SMEs, to build a stronger defence technological base and develop cutting edge defence capabilities,” said Margrethe Vestager, EU executive vice-president in charge of competition policy. 

More here.