HORIZON BLOG: European R&D policy newsbytes

Last week, the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) announced it will launch a new call for proposals for its Higher Education Institutions (HEI) Initiative in autumn 2024.

This Horizon Europe programme aims to transform higher education institutions into hubs of innovation and entrepreneurship while enhancing their integration into broader innovation networks.

The upcoming call will focus on improving the quality and competitiveness of European higher education, advancing research and technology transfer, and fostering stronger collaborations between higher education institutionsand businesses across Europe.

Read the announcement here.

The Western Balkans Fund, headquartered in Albania, and the International Visegrad Fund have announced the first 41 recipients of their joint R&D cooperation scheme: the Western Balkans-Visegrad Fellowship.

Selected from 154 applicants, the winning researchers, lecturers, and scholars from the Western Balkans will receive fully funded fellowships lasting 2-10 weeks at universities in Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia.

Likewise, winners form the Visegrad Group (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, and Slovakia) will receive the same fellowships at universities in the Western Balkans.

Read the full announcement here.

The Polish Contact Agency (PolSCA), dedicated to promoting and supporting the involvement of Poland’s R&D community in European projects, is hosting a webinar focused on the role of application evaluators within the Horizon Europe programme.

The meeting’s aim is to help participants in navigating through the application process to become an evaluator of Horizon Europe projects.

The event is scheduled to take place on September 19 via Webex.

Register here.

Universities of Cambridge and Loughborough launched a research collaboration to develop ultra-lightweight solar cells for space applications.

The project, funded with £484,000 from the UK Space Agency, aims to reduce the weight of solar cells and significantly lower payload costs for space missions.

“The technology we are developing enables mission profiles with higher power payloads.  Power is a universal requirement for all existing space applications including satellite communications networks, imaging, sensing, position, and navigation,” said Louise Hirst, professor at Cambridge University. “It may also enable future space based solar power in which on-orbit solar farms beam power to terrestrial locations.”

More here.

In 2023 EU governments spent a total of at €123,684 million on R&D, a 5.3% increase compared with 2022 (€117 424 million), and a 54.8% increase since 2013 (€79 886 million), according to data published by Eurostat this month.

However, the total public R&D expenditure in 2023 is equivalent to only 0.73% of the EU’s GDP, as Brussels continues to pressure member states to raise public and private investments in research and development up to 3% of GDP.

In 2023, government budget allocations for R&D at the EU level stood at €275.6 per person, a 53.3% increase since 2013 (€181.0 per person). 

The highest allocations were recorded in Luxembourg (€646.6 per person), followed at a distance by Denmark (€552.4) and Germany (€529.3).

EU countries with the lowest R&D budget allocations per person were Romania (€21.2 per person), Bulgaria (€33.1) and Hungary (€48.1). 

More info is available here.

The European Commission approved €5 billion worth of state aid by the German federal government aimed at setting up a new semiconductor manufacturing facility.

The initiative involves building a microchip manufacturing plant in Dresden, which should help Europe secure its supply of semiconductors.

The project will be put forward by European Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (‘ESMC'), a joint venture between Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (‘TSMC'), Bosch, Infineon, and NXP.

“This €5 billion German measure will strengthen semiconductor production capacity in Europe, helping us deliver our green and digital transition and creating opportunities for high-skilled employment,” said Margrethe Vestager, executive vice-president in charge of competition policy.

“The measure’s open foundry model will ensure widespread access to power efficient chips, including by smaller companies and start-ups, while limiting any potential distortion of competition,” Vestager said.

Read the full announcement here.

The European Commission is looking for scientists to join the Group of Chief Scientific Advisors (GCSA), a seven-member group aimed at providing scientific advice to EU commissioners.

Scientific and research organisations across Europe are encouraged to nominate candidates for future members of the GCSA. The deadline for submitting nominations is September 30.

“High-quality scientific advice, provided at the right time, is crucial for enhancing the effectiveness of EU policy making and legislation,” said EU research commissioner Iliana Ivanova.

“The Group of Chief Scientific Advisors ensures that the European Commission decisions are informed by the latest scientific insights and that the EU remain responsive to emerging challenges and opportunities in an increasingly complex world,” Ivanova said.

More details here.

Sweden aims to increase its participation in FP10, according to a new government paper on the future of the EU’s framework programme for research and innovation.

The paper also calls on the EU to allocate a "strong" budget for the European Research Council (ERC) and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA).

The Swedish government also wants to keep the current structure of the programme. "The pillar structure, in its current form, should be maintained to ensure continuity and predictability, enabling participants to focus on addressing global challenges and promoting Europe’s competitiveness without needing to adapt to a new structure that may result in missed opportunities and altered participation conditions," the paper says. 

The full text is available here. 

A second batch of fellowships for researchers displaced from Ukraine is now available under the MSCA4Ukraine scheme.

Around 50 doctoral and post-doctoral fellowships will be supported with the additional funding of €10 million. The money comes from the EU’s Horizon Europe research programme.

Since 2023, the scheme has enabled 125 displaced researchers from Ukraine to train and work in 21 countries.

The call for proposals opened on 5 August and will close on 5 September.

You can find more information here and watch the recording of the info day here.

Eurostat published data on Tuesday showing a 5.3% increase in the EU's total government budget allocations for R&D in 2023 compared to 2022, underscoring significant growth in research funding across the EU.

In 2023, the total budget reached €123.7 billion, equivalent to 0.73% of GDP. Per capita R&D allocation was €275.6 per person at the EU level, with Luxembourg, Denmark, and Germany leading in spending, while Romania, Bulgaria, and Hungary recorded the lowest allocations per person.

More information here.