Live Blog Entries

Ivanova goes to Bulgaria in first international trip as research commissioner

The new EU Commissioner for research and innovation, Iliana Ivanova, this week makes her first official international trip since taking up the role earlier this month as she heads to her native Bulgaria.

Today she will meet with Prime Minister Nikolai Denkov and President Rumen Radev. She will also meet with various other ministers in charge of science, innovation, education and culture.

On Friday she will give a speech at the Spinoff Bulgaria conference in Sofia.

WIPO report: Switzerland is world’s most innovative country

Switzerland, Sweden and the US are the world’s most innovative countries in 2023, a new report from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) states.

In its latest edition of the Global Innovation Index, it lists the UK and Singapore as the two other countries to make up the top five. Finland, Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and South Korea round out the top 10.

Global government R&D budgets increased between 2021-22, the report says, based on preliminary data. However, this is largely carried by big increases in Japan and South Korea, and to a lesser extent in countries such as Germany. This has made up for budget reductions in many other countries.

Another developing trend is the global value of venture capital investments in innovation, with a big drop off in the past year due to impact by high interest rates.

Read the full report here.

EU-LAC Digital Accelerator launches call for challenges in smart production

Companies based in Europe, Latin America and/or the Caribbean are invited to share their challenges in the digitalisation of their production processes, in the first call of the EU-LAC Digital Accelerator.

The initiative is funded by the European Commission as part of the Global Gateway EU-LAC digital alliance, which aims to boost business partnerships between the two regions. The first call concerns both primary and secondary sectors.

Selected companies will be put in contact with startups or SMEs which are able to propose innovative solutions by taking advantage of digital technologies. The benefits of participation also include connecting with investors and funding institutions, and customised acceleration services, such as the establishment of a business roadmap, worth up to up to €40,000.

Interested companies can find more information on the initiative’s website.

Chinese students and scholars are mobilised to defend China’s image abroad

China uses academics and students abroad to shape public opinion and exert global influence, according to a new report from the Mercator Institute for China Studies.

The report highlights the role of nationalist Chinese students and groups in defending the Chinese government’s positions. Hong-Kong protesters in Europe and elsewhere have previously complained about intimidation from pro-Beijing students. “China’s embassies are in close contact with student associations and have publicly praised efforts to defend China’s image,” the report states.

“With a new Patriotic Education Law in the making, this brand of internalized defensive nationalism is posed to grow.” The draft bill would extend patriotism courses to Chinese communities overseas.

The authors recognise that diaspora groups are also the main victims of surveillance and coercion abroad, “especially students and scholars who research, discuss or advocate on critical issues."

UKRI to improve support for postgraduate research

UK Research and Innovation promises to lead the work on reforming support for postgraduate research in the country, in new report outlining the next steps and what’s been done already.

The plan includes a sector-wide commitment to discuss a potential common baseline for a minimum stiped for student’s living costs as well as wider support.

UKRI has already increased the minimum stipend paid to its students by nearly 20% in cash terms between 2022 and 2024, and launched the PGR Funders and Providers Forum to facilitate discussions among funders and representatives from research organisations.

France to put €10M in US and UK-led cancer research partnership

France’s Institut National Du Cancer (INCa) will invest €10 million in research taking on cancer’s toughest challenges through the global Cancer Grand Challenges initiative.

France’s investment will help to fund the next round of teams. There are currently 12 teams shortlisted, each hoping to win up to £20 million in grants when the results come are announced in March.

The initiative was founded in 2020 by Cancer Research UK and the National Cancer Institute (NCI) in the US.

Commission organises research and innovation foresight event

On 13 October the European Commission will host an event to discuss the latest developments in research and innovation foresight – a form of future gazing to assist policymakers.

The event will share the results of a so-called Mutual Learning Exercise, which seeks to understand how to learn lessons about how to use foresight to support science and research.

It will be held at the Estonian Permanent Representation to the EU in Brussels. Registration can be accessed here.

Three new Africa-Europe research clusters launched

The Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities and the African Research Universities Alliance have unveiled three new joint research clusters, focusing on creative economies, engineering, and the politics of sustainable development.

There are now 20 such clusters, bringing together 250 researchers in 60 universities and research institutes. These latest groups are a response to an EU push to strength research and innovation cooperation with Africa, following an African Union-EU Innovation Agenda launched in July.

“At this particular time, when European discourse about Africa is increasingly dominated again by migration and crisis, it is more critical than ever to show how Europeans and Africans can only progress by addressing our common challenges together, in real partnership; and this is what all three Clusters do,” said Jan Palmowski, secretary general of the Guild.

US NIH modifies its plan requiring access to foreign grantees’ notebooks

After complaints from health researchers, the US National Institutes of Health announced some changes to a new rule it is planning to require access to foreign grantees’ lab notes.

The original plan, which had followed US government audits of prior NIH grants, would have required foreign recipients of NIH grant “sub-awards” – that is, scientists abroad who are working with US NIH grantees in research consortia – to “provide copies of all lab notebooks, all data, and all documentation that supports the research outcomes as described in the progress report, to the primary recipient no less than once every six months.”

The revised rule, which NIH said was in response to comment it received from the research community, modifies that language to require annual, rather than semi-annual, access. And it says the access can be electronic, rather than on paper.

Either way, the proposed change in the agency’s standard grant terms had stirred alarm among many foreign researchers and ministries, fearful it could compromise patient confidentiality or data privacy regulation – and create a bureaucratic obstacle to health-research collaboration. NIH is the world’s largest civilian funder of health research, and has numerous collaboration agreements with research agencies around the world. These links have been widely credited as a driving factor in the record-fast development of COVID vaccines in 2020 and beyond.

New report maps controversial gain-of-function research

A US think tank has released an analysis mapping out which countries are carrying out gain-of-function research, a technique that enhances the capabilities of pathogens to understand them better.

The research method has come under scrutiny by lawmakers in the US after some journalists and scientists argued it could have been behind the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak in Wuhan, China.

But it remains seen as a highly useful scientific tool, and is often used in tandem with so-called loss-of-function research, which strips pathogens of their abilities, the report, from the Center for Security and Emerging Technology, says.

The analysis finds that any regulation of gain-of-function research will prove highly complicated, because scientists cannot always predict whether changes they make will make a pathogen more or less virulent.

Refugee academics at all time high, says rescue charity

The Council for At-Risk Academics (Cara), a UK charity that places threatened academics at UK universities, has said that it has rescued more scholars than at any time since the 1930s, when it was established to help researchers flee the Nazis.

Since Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, more than 210 Ukrainian academics have been placed at over 60 UK universities, said Cara.

40 Afghan researchers and their families fleeing the Taliban have also come to UK institutions.

“In our 90th year, we are now receiving more requests for help than at any time since we were founded in the 1930s," said Stephen Wordsworth, Cara's executive director.

European Investment Fund to invest €40M into climate tech growth fund Blume Equity

The European Investment Fund (EIF) is investing €40 million, with support from the InvestEU programme, into the European climate tech growth equity fund Blume Equity.

EIF joins an investor base that includes the Swedish National Pension Plan, Visa Foundation, US fund-of-funds programme Impact Engine, and other institutional investors who see the opportunity to invest into the next generation of European climate tech companies.

This is one of the largest investments EIF has made into a first-time growth-stage fund.

The investment is part of the EIF's mission to support high-growth and innovative Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) across Europe, as well as to ensure at least 25% of its activity is in climate and environment-related projects by 2024.

Commission plan to improve working conditions for researchers ‘not enough’

The proposals put forward by the European Commission on 13 July to improve working conditions for young researchers in the European Research Area (ERA) do not go far enough, according to the League of European Research Universities (LERU).

In a statement published on 20 September, the network of universities welcomed the measures, which include the creation of an observatory to monitor research careers and a new European competence framework for researchers.

But it also noted several deficiencies, including a lack of recommendations addressing national barriers to mobility. Bert Overlaet, chair of the LERU careers of researchers and HR policy group said: “We need a much stronger coordination effort at the European level to overcome structural barriers hindering research careers in Europe.”

While the Commission recommends limiting the number of fixed-term contracts for researchers, the LERU says these contracts are a “direct consequence of the precariousness of funding”.

The full statement is available here.

China leads the way in science and technology clusters, WIPO report says

The world’s five largest science and technology (S&T) clusters are now located in East-Asia, according to the 2023 edition of the Global Innovation Index (GII) from the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO).

Tokyo-Yokohama is the largest S&T cluster, followed by Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Guangzhou, Seoul, Beijing, and Shanghai-Suzhou clusters. The San Jose-San Francisco cluster came in sixth position.

The ranking was revealed ahead of the release of the full GII 2023 findings on 27 September. The WIPO identifies S&T clusters by analysing patent-filing activity and scientific article publication.

WIPO director general Daren Tang said it was “heartening to see that these S&T clusters are growing at a particularly fast pace in emerging economies”. The report cites Brazil, India and Turkey as examples.

China has 24 clusters in the top 100, followed by the US with 21, and Germany with nine. Cambridge in the UK and San Jose-San Francisco in the US were found to be the most intensive clusters in proportion to their population density.

Horizon Europe: €180M for upcoming culture and creativity cluster calls

There’s a new batch of Horizon Europe calls for proposals for culture, creativity and inclusive society projects set to open on 4 October.

A total of €180 million will be available for projects on topics such as job creation, AI, loneliness, rule of law, political identities and extremist movements under Horizon Europe’s Cluster 2.

Cluster 2 projects are expected to mainstream social sciences to help understand contemporary transformations in society, economy, politics and culture.

The European Commission will hold an info day on the calls on 18 October.

Winners of the 34th EU Contest for Young Scientists announced

Six budding scientists have been awarded the top prize at this year’s EU Contest for Young Scientists (EUCYS), each scooping €7,000 for their winning projects. It is the 34th annual EUCYS event.

Maksymilian Gozdur from Poland, Elizabeth Chen from Canada, Martin Stengaard Sørensen from Denmark and a three-member team from Portugal comprising Afonso Jorge Soares Nunes, Inês Alves Cerqueira and Mário Covas Onofre all shared the top prize.

Second and third-placed projects went to scientists from the Netherlands, Canada, Ireland, Italy, Bulgaria, Slovakia, Greece and Germany.

In total, 85 projects were submitted to an international jury made up of 22 top scientists and engineers from around the world.

Marc Lemaître, director-general of the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation at the European Commission, congratulated all the winners and contestants.

“"EUCYS is about rewarding the enthusiasm, passion and curiosity of Europe's next generation of bright minds finding new solutions to our most pressing challenges,” he said.

Director of NTNU Brussels office elected next chair of Unilion

Massimo Busuoli, the director of the Brussels office of the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), has been elected as the next chair of the Universities Informal Liaison Offices Network (Unilion) for the year 2024.

Unilion is an informal network of over 50 Brussels-based liaison offices.

Busuoli, who received 70% of votes in his favour, said that he is “eager to pro-actively contribute to the further development of the network, enhancing its added value for its members”.

No change in gender balance in European venture capital management

Women still manage only 9% of Europe’s venture capital firepower, or assets under management, marking no change in the balance since last year.

The conclusion comes from the third annual study from the association European Women in VC and suggests more support is needed for women fund managers.

While acknowledging progress is slow, the report adds to mounting evidence that more diversity in asset management leads to better results. The report’s financial performance analysis based on a sample of 100 VCs shows financial performance increases with higher representation of women in senior management.

“While progress is being made, we must collectively acknowledge that change takes time. The correlation between gender diversity and superior performance is a powerful motivator for the industry to adapt to the evolving landscape,” said Kinga Stanislawska, founder of European Women in VC.

France is a leader in Horizon Europe partnerships, report says

France is one of the leading countries in terms of participation in public and private research and innovation partnerships supported by the EU, according to the latest ERA LEARN country report.

In Horizon 2020, the previous seven-year EU research programme, France took part in 102 partnerships, far above the EU average, and led 27 of them. In Horizon Europe, which has a much slimmer partnership portfolio, the country’s organisations are taking part in 43 partnerships and leading 3 of them.

Horizon partnerships are an umbrella term for joint programmes run and co-funded by the European Commission with industry and public organisations under the EU’s research programmes, Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe.

ERA LEARN is a project attempting to make sense of these partnerships. This is the project’s ninth country report, with the others covering Poland, Austria, Spain, Belgium, Finland, Norway, Germany, and Estonia.

Find the full report here.

Horizon association: UK Parliament committee investigates country’s status in cancer research

The UK parliament’s health committee today heard evidence on how the country can maintain its status as a world leader in cancer research, in light of the UK joining EU’s Horizon Europe research programme.

MPs discussed the significance of Horizon Europe association with four specialists from Oxford University, AstraZeneca, the Institute of Cancer Research and the Medical Research Council.

Dutch research association criticises Council moves to cut Horizon Europe budget

The proposal to cut €166 million from the 2024 Horizon Europe budget by the Council of the European Union is “appalling”, according to the Netherlands House for Education and Research (Neth-ER).

The Dutch association is calling on the European Parliament to stand against this decision and fight for a higher budget for the EU’s flagship R&I programme.

“The persistent trend towards syphoning off funds from Horizon is completely unacceptable and should come to a halt as soon as possible,” Neth-ER has written in a statement.

European Innovation Council to offer firms EIT Digital support

EIT Digital, a community of tech-focused firms, and the European Innovation Council (EIC) have announced that they have struck a series of new partnerships to help European start-ups.

Following a pilot year of collaboration, the two organisations said that firms that win funding from the EIC will have funded access to five different EIT Digital services.

These include training programmes to help them access the US market; a scheme to enable them to raise venture capital funding; and involvement in a network that allows them to hire EIT Digital students as interns.

Don't turn science into a political bargaining chip, says ALLEA president

Scientific collaboration is a global endeavour and should now be "weaponised and exploited as a mere bargaining chip", said Antonio Loprieno, president of All European Academies (ALLEA).

In a statement published on Monday, Loprieno said the EU-UK deal on Horizon Europe association is a landmark moment. However, he calls on policy makers to "refrain from using research as a pawn in political spats".

The full statement is available here.

Six demands for the next EU research framework, according to research and technology organisations

EARTO, the European Association of Research and Technology Organisations, has outlined six strategic issues to consider in discussion about the next big EU research programme, due to start in 2028.

The six issues include encouraging more policy integration within the programme, bringing more stability to its budget, reflecting on the management set up, improving implementation and simplifying how it all works. A sector-specific demand call to pilot targeted support for technology infrastructures.

The statement is geared at EU member states representatives at the European Research Area and Innovation Committee (ERAC), who are set to discuss the future research framework in a meeting next month.

Portugal sets up €8M defence research programme

The Portuguese government has launched a new €8 million six-year research and innovation programme for defence.

The programme will deliver joint research projects, doctoral education and advanced training as it boosts coordination between the country’s armed forces and research centres.

The move comes as countries around Europe bolster their defence funding in response to Russia’s war in Ukraine, including upping targeted research and innovation spending.

More such partnerships are to follow to stimulate innovation and development in other government-supported sectors in the country.

UK agrees new strategic partnership with Singapore

UK and Singapore have signed a new strategic partnership, which will include enhanced cooperation on research, development and innovation.

Agreed in the margins of the G20 summit in India, the new partnerships lay the groundwork for a new bilateral investment treaty. The UK hopes the agreement will help harness expertise in cybersecurity and artificial intelligence.

EIT Innoenergy raises €140M in private investments

EIT Innoenergy, an EU-backed energy innovation community, has raised €140 million in private investment which it hopes will double its impact.

EIT Innoenergy supports a portfolio of companies it hopes to help grow with the extra funding. Since 2010, the innovation community has supported thousands of start-ups and students, which have launched more than 300 products to market and filed more than 370 patents.

The investment is welcome news as EIT Innoenergy approaches the final year of its financing contract with its parent EU agency, the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT).

Investors include Societe Generale, Santander CIB, Renault Group, Stena Recycling, Siemens Financial Services, Schneider Electric, Capgemini, Volkswagen Group, ING, Koolen Industries, Engie and others.

New German-American project to bridge gap between health research and AI

The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard and Helmholtz Munich have started a new project seeking to leverage machine learning methods to take advantage of the recent explosion of genomics data.

“Despite an explosion in biological data, the technology sector remains the key driver of machine learning advances today,” said Caroline Uhler. “[Both institutes] are seeking to change that by developing foundations of machine learning that are geared specifically to biological problems, and we’re excited for this collaboration to amplify our efforts.”

Joint efforts will include a range of activities, including the exchange of graduate students, postdoctoral fellows and other research staff.

Seventh EU-backed supercomputer inaugurated in Portugal

The EU-supported supercomputing partnership EuroHPC today launched its seventh supercomputer, Deucalion, in the Azurém Campus, Guimarães, Portugal.

The supercomputer’s peak performance is 10 Petaflops, or 10 million billion calculations per second, making it the most powerful computer in the country. It will be used to advance research and innovation in energy efficient technologies, weather forecasts, seas and oceans, drug discovery, new materials design and neuroscience, among others.

The computer cost €20 million, €7 million of which came from EU funds. The other EuroHPC supercomputers are located in Bulgaria, Luxembourg, Slovenia, Czechia, Italy and Finland.

Schinas takes over research, innovation and education commissioner portfolio

The European Commission’s portfolio for the head of research, innovation and education keeps switching hands and has now landed on the desk of vice-president Margaritis Schinas.

This is a temporary solution. The portfolio will be taken over by Iliana Ivanova by the end of the month, pending European Parliament’s approval. She successfully auditioned for the job in a Parliament hearing on Tuesday.

Schinas was named caretaker of the wide-ranging portfolio after its previous caretaker Margrethe Vestager, commissioner for digital, temporary withdrew from her work to run president of the European Investment Bank.

Other parts of Vestager’s portfolio will be taken over by commissioners Vera Jourová and Didier Reynders.

ERC awards 400 new Starting Grants to support basic research

The European Research Council (ERC) today announces the awarding of 400 new Starting Grants to fund researchers across the EU in carrying out fundamental research. In total, €628 million will go towards the winning researchers’ projects via the EU’s flagship R&I funding programme, Horizon Europe.

The highest number of winners are based in Germany, with 87 grantees based there, followed by 50 in France, 44 in the Netherlands and 32 in the UK.

As the UK is still not associated to Horizon Europe, UK-based grant winners will not be able to accept the funding unless they choose to move to an institution located in a country associated to Horizon Europe. The UK has its own funding safety net in place to support researchers who win Horizon Europe while the UK remains outside the programme.

EU announces funding for Nigerian researchers

The EU has pledged €440,000 to support researchers in Nigeria as part of the Horizon Europe programme.

It comes as Nigeria’s attempts to bolster its engagement with the EU and its flagship R&I programme, Horizon Europe, with the country only having minimal involvement to date.

Turkey joins EU’s Digital Europe Programme to further advanced technologies

Turkey has completed an association agreement for the €7.5 billion Digital Europe Programme. It opens the door for Turkish participants to get involved in joint projects in areas such as artificial intelligence and other advanced technologies. It also means it will be possible to set up Digital Innovation Hubs in the country.

In a statement, the European Commission said that it hopes to see Turkey “foster closer links to the EU economy and society, cooperate more on developing our technological capabilities and support digitalisation, in particular of small and medium-sized enterprises”.

EU needs investment alongside regulation to be global tech leader, Breton says

Europe must double down on its investment in advanced technologies, EU Commissioner for the internal market, Thierry Breton, said during a speech today at the Tallinn Digital Summit in Estonia.

It is not a new idea, but one he reiterated here, calling out the need to invest in AI, quantum technologies, semiconductors and supercomputers.

“Referees don't win matches,” he said, referring to the EU’s pride in its strong technology regulations. “For Europe to be a digital leader, we need to invest in innovation, industrial development and digital infrastructure deployment so that our digital players can grow and expand.”

UK releases more details of upcoming AI safety summit

The UK has unveiled more details about the agenda for its upcoming AI safety summit, designed to create international consensus on how powerful new systems can be used for good, rather than creating harm.

"The need to address these risks, including at an international level, is increasingly urgent," according to a recent statement about the conference, scheduled for 1-2 November.

The summit will discuss, among other things, "areas for potential collaboration on AI safety research, including evaluating model capabilities and the development of new standards to support governance," it says.

One question that has dogged the runup to the summit is whether to invite China - there's no official confirmation yet of whether Beijing will be present.

European Parliament releases briefing on EU space strategy

The European Parliament's research service has released a brief paper outlining challenges to the EU's space strategy, warning, amongst other things, of dependence on SpaceX, Elon Musk's private space firm that has pioneered the use of re-usable rockets.

The European Space Agency was forced to use a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket to launch its Euclid telescope in July this year, the briefing points out. "Europe needs to assess how to improve its independent access to space in terms of governance, investment and research," it says.

It also assesses that jamming and cyber attacks are more likely to be weaponised against satellites than missiles that actually shoot them down, despite recent Russian tests of such kinetic weapons. "This is mainly because such measures do not create debris, are less expensive than building interceptor missiles, offer deniability, and are less likely to trigger armed retaliation," it says.

Ghent University rector slams EU approach to science cooperation with China

Talk of the EU de-coupling or de-risking scientific ties with China is missing a bigger picture, the rector of Ghent University in Belgium, Rik Van De Walle, has said.

In an opinion piece written as part of the 2023 ACA Think Pieces series, Van De Walle wrote that assessing scientific cooperation with China on a case-by-case basis risks drying out the knowledge system.

His remarks come after a June conclusion by the Council of the European Union calling for a multifaceted policy approach to China. More recently, the European Commission stated it will change Horizon Europe rules to reflect Brussels’ assessment that Chinese telecoms giant Huawei is “high risk”.

For Van De Walle, this thinking is backwards.

“The reasoning that seems to be behind this strategy is that collaboration with certain regimes by default constitutes a risk rather than a benefit,” he wrote.

“In the current context, however, the common presumption that China always takes from the West and never the other way around seems highly questionable. How can we be confident that keeping knowledge from ‘leaking’ to other parts of the world will bring more benefits than drawbacks? Is not the knowledge system one of multidirectional circulation rather than of ‘leaking’ in a single direction? And is it then a wise thing to start closing knowledge pipelines ‘case by case’ with the risk that the overall knowledge system gradually dries out?”

Commission hosts brainstorming session on accelerating advanced materials research

The European Commission will host an online workshop on 15 September to brainstorm how the EU can use digital tools to speed up research and innovation related to advanced materials.

The event will include discussions on innovative platforms, data exploitation and data sharing.

Leading R&D policymaker leaves Brussels for ambassador post in Vietnam

Julien Guerrier is leaving the European Commission to take up the role of EU ambassador-designate to Vietnam at a time when Marc Lemaître, the head of the research directorate, is preparing to revamp DG RTD.

Guerrier has long been involved in research policy at the Commission and departs from his role as director of the Common Policy Centre for Horizon Europe.

He is not the first RTD official to leave Brussels for Asia. Last year, RTD’s former director-general Jean-Eric Paquet took a job as EU ambassador to Japan.

In a newsletter post, Guerrier highlighted recent EU achievements in R&I, including the launch of EU Missions, the European Innovation Council and the adoption of the 2021-24 Strategic Plan for Horizon Europe.

“These achievements would never have been possible without the commitment [of the people I have worked with] to the European project and their relentless efforts to ensure Horizon Europe fosters real progress towards a Europe that remains a leading powerhouse in science and innovation,” he wrote.

UK universities gain big from philanthropy, study finds

Annual philanthropic donations to UK universities have doubled in the last decade to a record £1.5 billion in 2022 despite crises, a study found.

Philanthropic donations now make up a significant proportion of some universities’ incomes. In the 10 highest performing universities, this percentage rose to a record average of 10.4% of overall turnover in 2022.

Philanthropy is on the rise while public funding for UK universities is at its lowest level since the 1990s, making it a key source of income, according to the ten-year study carried out by the Council for Advancement and Support of Education (CASE) and the fundraising consultants, More Partnership.

Canada awards CA$960M to over 4,700 researchers

In Canada’s latest big research funding round, over 4,7000 scientists are set to receive CA$960 million through various grants, scholarships and programmes.

The funding includes CA$514 million for discovery research in natural sciences and engineering, over CA$113 million to support 396 research infrastructure projects, CA$133.7 million for professors in the country’s research chairs programme and almost CA$150 million for various social sciences and humanities projects, among others.

Through far-ranging programme, the money will help acquire new tools for researchers, train, attract and retain the next generation of scientists, ensure an inclusive research environment and foster international and domestic partnerships.

UK announces £1.2M for industrial decarbonisation research

UK’s Industrial Decarbonisation Research and Innovation Centre (IDRIC) has announced £1.2 million funding for industrial decarbonisation research projects.

The money will go towards speeding up the decarbonisation of the UK’s major industrial clusters and contribute to reducing industrial emissions by at least two thirds by 2035.

The first two phases of flexible funding will support projects from the Universities of Durham, Cardiff, South Wales, Sussex, Oxford, Strathclyde, Lincoln, Liverpool, and Sheffield as well as Heriot-Watt University and Imperial College London.

EIT Manufacturing announces partnership with regional business promotion agency in Austria

Standortagentur Tirol, the regional business promotion agency has signed a new cooperation agreement with EIT manufacturing. Two sides hope to boost support for start-ups, SMEs and research institutions in the manufacturing industry.

“We are proud to be able to support and connect Tyrolean companies at European level through this partnership,” said Johannes Hunschofsky, managing director at EIT Manufacturing East.

“The Standortagentur Tirol is a driver for innovation in the region and the instruments and programmes of EIT Manufacturing will offer additional opportunities for manufacturing companies to develop and implement innovations,” Hunschofsky said.

Swiss launch second Horizon Europe replacement call for SMEs

The Swiss innovation agency Innosuisse has launched a second call for ideas from small and medium sized enterprises and startups that have already entered the market.

The Swiss Accelerator will fund up to 70% of successful projects, with up to CHF 2.5 million (€2.6 million) per bid. Applications close on 9 October.

The scheme is part of the country's transitional measures designed to compensate for the country's exclusion from the EU's research and innovation programme, Horizon Europe.

Commission seeks a policy officer for EU Horizon Europe office in Kyiv

The European Commission is looking to hire a policy officer based in Kyiv who will report to the EU delegation to Ukraine and to the Commission’s directorate for research and innovation, DG RTD.

Successful candidates are expected to work together with RTD on the implementation of Ukraine’s association to Horizon Europe and Euratom, as well as help set up the newly established Horizon Europe office in Ukraine.

The Commission warns applicants the working schedule may be “atypical” due to the ongoing war and related security concerns.

The deadline for applications is 15 September. More details here.

Romania to launch new funding programme aimed at luring back researchers from abroad

The government has announced plans for yet another funding scheme aimed at researchers and innovators who are now working abroad but would want to return and work in their home country.

The new funding competition would focus on consolidating centres of excellence and establishing interdisciplinary partnerships. Research minister Bogdan Ivan vows the programme will allocate “millions of euros” to the best researchers in the country and abroad. “It’s a huge step for innovation in Romania, in fields such as digitalisation, climate, environment, health and culture,” said Ivan.

It’s not the first time Romania is trying to attract scientists living abroad, with previous attempts delivering mixed results. Other countries in the region, such as Bulgaria, Czechia, Hungary and Poland have come up with similar schemes aimed at regaining some of the bright minds they have lost to the west since 1990.

UK to host first global AI safety summit in November

The UK is set to host the first global summit on artificial intelligence safety this November, a victory for the country’s Prime Minister Rishi Sunak who hopes to position the UK as a leader on AI.

The two-day event will take place on 1 and 2 November at Bletchley Park, the site where the world’s first programmable digital electronic computer was created to help crack secret communications of the Axis Powers during the Second World War.

“The UK has long been home to the transformative technologies of the future, so there is no better place to host the first ever global AI safety summit than at Bletchley Park this November,” Sunak said.

One day left to apply for NATO’s defence innovation accelerator programme

There is one day left to apply for NATO’s three Pilot Challenge calls for proposals focusing on energy resilience, secure information sharing and sensing and surveillance.

The calls are part of NATO’s €1 billion defence innovation accelerator called DIANA.

Around 30 proposals will ultimately be selected for funding, receiving initial grants of €100,000. After a six-month period, a smaller number of start-ups will proceed to phase 2 and receive an additional €300,000.

DIANA was officially launched last year and aims to develop dual-use technologies such as artificial intelligence, autonomous systems, advanced manufacturing, biotechnologies and quantum technologies.

Israel and Switzerland: boost to joint research projects

Scientists in Israel and Switzerland will now have to submit only one grant application for joint projects after the two countries’ research agencies simplified the procedure.

The two funders – the Israel Science Foundation (ISF) and the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) – will take it in turns to review the projects on a yearly basis. This year, researchers can submit their applications to the SNSF by 2 October.

Switzerland has similar agreements with Austria, Belgium, Croatia, the Czech Republic, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Poland, Brazil’s State of Sao Paulo, Slovenia, South Africa, Italy’s Province of South Tyrol, Sweden and the USA.

Head of German Research Foundation visits US and Canada to boost transatlantic cooperation

The head of the German Research Foundation (DFG), Katja Becker, is on a multi-day trip to North America with the aim of strengthening cooperation with strategic partners in the US and Canada.

The trip will include the signing of a memorandum of understanding between the DFG and the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, intended to boost Germany and Canada’s cooperation on humanities and social sciences.

In the US Becker will hold talks with representatives of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, while DFG vice president Britta Siegmund will meet with representatives of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID).

Read more about the DFG trip here (in German).

Poland, the US and the Baltics join forces in new call to support Ukrainian research

A new call has been launched to support Ukrainian research and researchers through cooperation with partners in the US, Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.

The IMPRESS-U call, which stands for International Multilateral Partnerships for Resilient Education and Science System in Ukraine, is being led by the American National Science Foundation.

The Polish partner, the National Science Centre, has set aside PLN 10 million (approx. €2.2 million) for the call.

The call is aimed at supporting high-quality research projects with Ukrainian partners, helping Ukrainian researchers integrate into the international science community and helping rebuild the country’s research potential.

“In NCN grant programmes to date, such opportunities have been few and far between and usually restricted to specific research areas,” Justyna Woźniakowska, head of the international cooperation department at the NCN, said. “This call facilitates cooperation in all the disciplines.”

Commission warns of new attacks on academic freedom in Hong Kong

The European Commission has warned that academic freedom in Hong Kong has come under further pressure this year, with political science departments at some universities closing down.

In its annual report on the Chinese special administrative region, the Commission warned that local media have "singled out academics and criticised their research work based on their perceived political stances, forcing some of them to leave their positions".

The Chinese Communist Party has tightened its grip over the former British colony during the past decade, clamping down on political protest and dissent in a city that once had a relatively free academic culture, press and judiciary.

Political science researchers have postponed sensitive research, the Commission report warns, while a foreign researcher was denied a visa without explanation by the Hong Kong authorities.

Meanwhile, the number of students and researchers from the EU in Hong Kong has declined, it adds.

EIT Digital and angel investors network announce tie-up

EIT Digital and the European Business Angels Network (EBAN) have announced a partnership that they hope will allow more European digital technology start-ups to get access to early stage capital.

The hope is that angel investors - who typically provide small amounts of funding for companies that are just starting out - will be able to use information from EIT Digital to find firms they want to back.

"With an ecosystem full of start-ups and a host of programmes to support them, EIT Digital can now represent a new source of deal flow for members of EBAN," EIT Digital said in an announcement today.

EIT Digital is the digital technology branch of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology.

Public EU R&D spending up by 5% in 2022

EU governments are upping their investments in R&D, with a recorded 5% increase in 2022 compared with the previous year.

The increase follows a trend of rising investment in R&D over the past decade. Compared with 2012 spending, EU member states invested 49.2% more in R&D in 2022. This amounted to €117 368 million, equivalent to 0.74% of the EU GDP.

Luxembourg leads the charts with the highest investments in R&D at €661.6 per person, compared with the EU average of €262.7 per person. Denmark and Germany are also putting a fair share of their money in finances, around €520 per person each. Romania, Bulgaria and Latvia, meanwhile, are at the bottom of the chart with investments as low as €17.6 per person in Romania.

UN creates advisory group for breakthroughs in science and technology

A new scientific advisory board will be set up to advise United Nations’ leaders on harnessing the benefits and mitigating risks of future breakthroughs in science and technology.

The board will be made up of seven eminent scholars, chief scientists of UN’s various bodies, the secretary-general’s envoy on technology and the rector of the UN University.

“Scientific and technological progress can support efforts to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals — but they are also giving rise to ethical, legal and political concerns that require multilateral solutions,” said António Guterres, UN secretary general, who announced the creation of the board.

“My Scientific Advisory Board will strengthen the role of the United Nations as a reliable source of data and evidence and provide advice to me and my senior management team,” he added.

New US-backed fund for researchers in Ukraine

Ten to fifteen research team in Ukraine will be able to access a forecasted $1 million to advance their research under the a new US-backed project IMPRESS-U.

US’ National Academy of Sciences (NAS) intends to raise the money from private donors and foundations. The project is run in partnership with eight other US and EU based public research agencies.

The programme is looking for projects that are creative in enhancing international partnerships, prepare an internationally engaged research workforce, and contribute to building a modern research, innovation and education system in Ukraine.

More details here.

EIC extends October deadline for stage two Accelerator call

Start-ups will have an extra two weeks to submit their full second stage proposals for the next European Innovation Council (EIC) Accelerator call in October.

The deadline was moved from 4 October to 19 October to give applicants more time to adjust to the disruptions caused by the unexpected shut down of the custom EIC Accelerator submissions platform in early June.

After the platform was unexpectedly shut down, submissions for stage two proposals were moved to the regular Horizon Europe submissions platform, while the submission of short stage one proposals was halted for a month until 3 July.

The EIC Accelerator offers high-risk European start-ups grant and equity funding. With a €7 billion seven-year budget, it’s the EU innovation fund’s largest programme.

159 projects selected for Erasmus+ modernisation scheme

The European Commission has picked 159 higher education projects from across the world for funding as part of the Erasmus+ programme's capacity-building efforts.

The EU will dish out €115.3 million to various schemes, including projects to professionalise maths in central Africa, create curricula for a sustainable ocean economy in the southern Mediterranean, and give women in central Asia entrepreneurship skills.

It also plans to give €5 million to help Ukrainian universities build a digital platform to help students who have had to flee the country or are internally displaced.

"Capacity building in higher education beyond our borders is a particularly important strand of Erasmus+," said Margaritis Schinas, vice president for Promoting our European Way of Life. "We all gain from these exchanges and cooperation with our partners across the globe."

23 NATO members become limited partners in alliance's €1B Innovation Fund

Twenty-three members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) have officially become limited partners in the alliance's €1 billion NATO Innovation Fund (NIF).

The goal of what NATO describes as the world’s first multi-sovereign venture capital fund is to invest in start-ups and deep tech to address defence and security challenges. Investments will be made into businesses located in any of the 23 partner nations, while indirect investments will also be made into deep tech funds with a “trans-Atlantic impact”. The fund was first launched in June 2022 and is due to make its first investments later this year.

Sweden, which is close to finalising its membership to NATO, has also expressed an interest in joining the NIF, which will boost the €1 billion budget.

The 23 limited partners of the fund are: Belgium; Bulgaria; Czechia; Denmark; Estonia; Finland; Germany; Greece; Hungary; Iceland; Italy; Latvia; Lithuania; Luxembourg; Netherlands; Norway; Poland; Portugal; Romania; Slovakia; Spain; Türkiye; United Kingdom.

European Innovation Council aims to double participation of Widening countries

The European Innovation Council (EIC) has set a goal of increasing the participation of the 15 Widening countries to 15% across all EIC instruments, up from the current 8%. Widening countries are those that generally perform weaker in research and innovation.

The EIC has published a series of recommendations to help achieve this goal, including improving information about the EIC, offering specialised training, addressing biases and requiring at least 30% of the evaluators and jury members to be from Widening countries.

The EIC, funded through Horizon Europe, aims to support and fund innovation projects and has a budget of €10 billion.

Read the EIC’s full statement here.

CERIC adds new facilities for fuel cells research

The Central European Research Infrastructure Consortium (CERIC) has added new labs and instruments to its open access offer for fuel cells research.

As of the next round of calls for proposals, researchers can apply for access to the Hydrogen Technology Center (HTC) facilities, located at Charles University in Prague.

More details here.

Commission is looking to recruit experts for new Bauhaus mission board

The European Commission has launched a call for high-level experts to join a board for a proposed Horizon Europe mission on the New European Bauhaus.

The deadline for submitting applications is 29 August 2023.

Swiss research minister meets EU counterparts

Switzerland's state secretary for education, research and innovation last week met her EU counterparts in Santander, Spain, at least in part to discuss the future direction of Horizon Europe, the EU's research and innovation programme from which Bern is currently excluded.

Martina Hirayama held talks "focused on European science diplomacy and the further strategic planning of Horizon Europe", according to a statement from the Swiss government.

"The focus of the discussion was to assess and promote coherence between Horizon Europe’s overall objectives and their implementation in both the Horizon Europe Strategic Plan 2025–2027 and in future framework programmes," according to the statement. She also held bilateral talks with research ministers from Germany, Romania, Austria, Estonia and Spain.

Bern remains locked out of the programme after wider talks about its relationship with the EU collapsed in 2021. But the Swiss still hope to join the framework programme, and have put national guarantee schemes in place to compensate for being locked out.

Innovative Health Initiative launches two new calls

The Innovative Health Initiative (IHI), the research partnership between EU and Europe’s health industry has launched two new calls for proposals featuring topics on the environmental impacts of healthcare, the use of animals in research, and the generation of synthetic health data for research.

The calls are worth €200 million and are funded from the Horizon Europe budget. Industry partners will commit an equivalent amount to the projects, mainly though in-kind contributions, such as their researchers’ time and access to resources and equipment.

IHI’s interim Executive Director, Dr Hugh Laverty, said: “The topics in these calls show how IHI makes concrete contributions to key European policies. Our two topics on the environmental impacts of healthcare are in line with the goals of the European Green Deal. We have topics that advance the EU’s aim of replacing, reducing and refining the use of animals in research. We also have a topic that will help to boost the involvement of people from underserved patient populations in clinical trials.”

Commission explains lump sum funding

The European Commission has released two videos on how grantees and applicants can manage lump sums and better understand this new way of allocating Horizon Europe money.

Lump sums are advertised as a bureaucracy-free alternative to traditional real cost reporting, which involves having to file timesheets and report on each item of spending. The Commission has been pushing for a roll out since 2018 to reduce bureaucratic overheads and cut high error rates in EU spending on research.

The roll out hasn't been easy with many criticising the original lump sum pilot based on which the Commission is now introducing more and more lump sum funding in Horizon Europe.

Commission maps out experimentation tools for boosting innovation

The European Commission has set out the tools and examples from around Europe that enable innovators to test out their ideas in different regulatory contexts in a new staff working document.

Such tools include regulatory sandboxes, test beds and living labs that allow innovators to figure our how their innovations could work in the real world.

The document, focused on energy, is part of the Commission’s push to deliver on the New European Innovation Agenda, an EU plan to boost its deep tech innovation landscape adopted last summer. The plan’s other regulation-related measures include a revised state aid framework for research and development, new experimentation facilities for AI innovation and anadvisory group focused on virtual worlds.

Partnership on AI to release shared protocols for AI guardrails in October

A group of AI stakeholders will release the first version of shared protocols for the safe and responsible development of large-scale AI models in October.

The first version of the protocols, developed by stakeholders from organisations such as ACLU, Anthropic, Google DeepMind, IBM, Meta, and Omidyar Network, will be put forward for public consultation.

The goal is to give AI model providers the tools to ensure their models are safe and help them use AI to pursue societal benefits. The Partnership on AI brings together academic, industry, civil society and media to set guidance for a responsible AI future.

DFG and Leopoldina back EU proposal on gene editing

The European Commission’s draft regulation on new genomic techniques in plant breeding and agriculture will help to make agriculture in Europe more sustainable, according to a joint statement by the German Research Foundation (DFG) and the National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina.

“The new regulation will facilitate access to field trials on plants developed with these new technologies, thereby paving the way to more diverse crops with a smaller ecological footprint,” said DFG president Katja Becker.

“The way we farm will help determine the success of our efforts to address the climate and biodiversity crises,” said Leopoldina president Gerald Haug. “New breeding techniques can play an important role in the transformation of agriculture,” he said.

Commission publishes plan for phasing out animal testing

The European Commission has put forward a plan aimed at phasing out animal testing, including the use of animals in research, after a citizen-led initiative mounted another campaign against the widespread practice.

The Commission is to launch a new roadmap for legislative and non-legislative actions that would further reduce animal testing, with the aim of coming up with alternatives. According to the new plan, the Commission will also allocate “appropriate” funding for projects that focus on finding alternative testing methods.

Member states rubberstamp EU Chips Act

The Council has today approved EU’s new regulation on semiconductors, the Chips Act. This is the last step in the decision-making procedure.

“With the Chips Act, Europe will be a frontrunner in the world semiconductors race,” said Héctor Gómez Hernández, Spanish minister for industry, trade and tourism. “In the long run, this will also contribute to the renaissance of our industry and the reduction of our foreign dependencies,” he said.

EIC selects 19 projects to mature from cutting edge science to market readiness

The European Innovation Council (EIC) has selected 19 projects following the April 2023 EIC Transition cut-off.

The successful projects come from 18 EU member states and Horizon Europe associated countries, and were selected from a pool of 180 eligible submissions. They will receive a total of €46.76 million in EU cash (up to €2.5 million each).

More details on the projects are available here.

OECD releases new study into European innovation policy

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development has released a new report into the research and innovation policies of Austria, Finland and Sweden, and how these countries have used the EU's huge post-pandemic stimulus package to effect change.

States increasingly want to use research and innovation policy to try to change their economies and societies.

But research policy may have played less of a role than expected in national Recovery and Resilience Plans (RRPs), which set out how members states plan to spend their stimulus cash.

"Surprisingly, the role of R&I policy in the RRPs is less important than expected, despite its emphasised importance in literature and political rhetoric," the OECD's study found.

EIT opens applications for four new governing board members

The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) is looking for four new governing board members.

Board members set the EIT's strategic leadership, and select, fund and evaluate the organisation's sector-specific communities.

Candidates need at least five years of professional experience in research and innovation, business or education.

The application deadline is 29 October.

European Parliament publishes background document on Horizon Europe interim evaluation

The European Parliament has published a background document on the upcoming interim evaluation of Horizon Europe, which is set to be published by mid-2025.

The Parliament’s document comes after former research Commissioner Mariya Gabriel stepped down in May to return to domestic politics in Bulgaria, with Iliana Ivanova being nominated as her replacement.

It sets out the progress to date of Horizon Europe projects and responses to the framework programme from stakeholders, which were gathered in a public consultation between December 2022 and February 2023.

It also reiterates the Parliament’s position on several aspects of Horizon Europe, including the implementation of the European Innovation Council grants, the overall Horizon Europe budget and synergies between various EU research and innovation programmes.

Five European cities shortlisted for 2025 green awards

The five European cities in the running to win the European Green Capital and Green Leaf Awards have been named.

For the European Green Capital, which recognises cities of over 100,000 inhabitants for their work in addressing environmental challenges, the final three shortlisted cities are Graz in Austria, Guimarães in Portugal and Vilnius in Lithuania.

For the Green Leaf Awards, which recognises smaller urban areas, the two finalists are Viladecans in Spain) and Treviso in Italy.

The winners will be announced in this year’s European Green Capital, which is Tallinn in Estonia, on 5 October.

OECD releases new report on COVID-19’s impact on science

The OECD has published its second of three reports on how science was mobilised during the COVID-19 pandemic.

This latest paper focuses on activities linking society and science, for example agenda setting, public communication and engagement.

It follows the organisation’s first report looking at policy for science and key systems to boost science, such as research infrastructures and public-private partnerships.

New EU-Africa innovation agenda to boost science and technology cooperation

The African Union (AU) and the EU adopted a new joint innovation agenda agenda aimed at increasing the capacity of African research.

“The Innovation Agenda will represent the backbone of our cooperation supporting research and innovation actions with Africa,” said Margrethe Vestager, executive vice president of the European Commission.

“Research and Innovation endeavours are to be translated into actual products, services, businesses and jobs thereby developing a long-term sustainable AU-EU cooperation model,” said Mohamed Belhocine, commissioner for science and technology at the AU Commission.

EU and Chile strengthen cooperation on critical raw materials

EU commissioner Thierry Breton and Chilean foreign affairs minister Alberto van Klaveren Stork have signed a memorandum of understanding to deepen cooperation in the field of sustainable raw materials value chains.

The deal will enable bilateral cooperation on research and innovation projects in the field, including minerals knowledge and minimizing environmental and climate footprints.

EU-CELAC Summit: Joint declaration on a Digital Alliance

The European Commission has announced a new cooperation framework in the field of digital technologies with countries in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The EU-LAC Digital Alliance is an informal, values-based framework for cooperation, open to all Latin American and Caribbean (LAC) countries and EU Member States who may participate through their respective governments and agencies related to the digital agenda.

Spanish researcher Martínez Peña to take over as ESFRI chair in January

José Luis Martínez Peña is set to become chair of the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) from 1 January 2024, replacing Slovenian science manager Jana Kolar.

Martínez Peña is a research professor at the Materials Science Institute of Madrid (CSIC) and has a long background in research infrastructures. He has in the past advised the Spanish government on large infrastructures such as the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility, and has also worked as the associate director of the Institut Max von Laue-Paul Langevin (ILL) in Grenoble and was executive director at ESS-Bilbao in Spain. He was also a member of the rector committee at the Barcelona Supercomputing Centre.

ESFRI chairs hold the position for a fixed term of two years. Outgoing chair Kolar congratulated her successor in a post on Twitter.

Japan and EU reach deal on semiconductor R&D

Tokyo and Brussels have signed a cooperation deal that they say should pave the way for "in-depth cooperation in research and development" on semiconductors.

Following a summit on 13 July, the powers agreed to cooperate in a range of areas to secure semiconductor supply lines, just as tensions over the technology between China and the West ratchet up.

They also agreed to allow mutual access to each other's supercomputers, and to "continue to exchange views for Japan's possible association to Horizon Europe".

UK and Germany research funders sign agreement

UK Research and Innovation and the German Research Foundation (DFG) have inked a new memorandum of understanding to work more closely together.

It should allow scientists from both countries to more easily submit joint funding proposals.

According to the DFG, the deal is an "important signal" that the two countries will continue to work closely together despite "difficult" negotiations over the UK's membership of the EU's Horizon Europe research and innovation programme.

EU invests €3.6B in 41 large-scale clean-tech projects via Innovation Fund

The European Commission has today announced the funding of 41 large-scale clean tech projects through the Innovation Fund worth a total of €3.6 billion.

The projects are located in 15 different countries and are all due to begin operations before 2030. The EU expects the projects to contribute to reducing the amount of CO2 emissions emitted by 221 million tonnes over their first 10 years.

The Innovation Fund is financed through the EU’s Emissions Trading System (ETS). This works by setting a cap on the amount of emissions that certain companies produce. Those that produce fewer emissions than the set limit can sell their unused allowance to other companies. The EU is able to use some of that revenue to pump into the Innovation Fund.

EIT Climate-KIC launches new Investing for 1.5C initiative

The EIT Climate-KIC has launched a new initiative to support businesses working to tackle rising global temperatures called the Investing for 1.5C. It has been co-launched with founding partners Ship2BVentures and UnaTerra.

Kirsten Dunlop, CEO of EIT Climate-KIC, said that Investing for 1.5C is about “making a clear statement that we’re ready to shift mindsets and behaviours not only to limit warming, but to create a world where we thrive”.

“It says that we are willing and able to invest in entrepreneurs who are building the high-impact businesses of the future, reshaping demand for energy and materials.”

The EIT Climate-KIC is a project of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology aimed at supporting innovation that can mitigate the effects of climate change.

New €100M fund to back SMEs developing medical solutions for major health threats

A new €100 million investment instrument targeting SMEs working to respond to major health threats has been launched through the Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) initiative.

The funding for the instrument, called HERA Invest, will come from the European Investment Bank, which will provide venture loans covering up to 50% of total project costs.

It seeks to primarily back companies working on developing medical solutions to pathogens with pandemic or epidemic potential; chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats originating from accidental or deliberate release; and antimicrobial resistance.

Commission asks for feedback on Erasmus+ monitoring and evaluation

The European Commission opened a month-long public consultation on the framework for monitoring and evaluating the EU’s €26.2 billion education and mobility programme, Erasmus+.

Stakeholders can comment on the framework that sets out indicators to monitor and analysewhether the programme is meeting its objectives until 8 August.

Leave your feedback here.

Commission presents EU metaverse strategy

The European Commission has taken the first step in setting its vision for Web 4.0 and virtual worlds in new strategy adopted this week.

The strategy aims to shape global standards and support skill development, industry and deployment of virtual public services. The strategy includes a proposed public-private partnership on virtual worlds under Horizon Europe to foster R&I in the sector, which, if approved by policymakers, could launch as early as 2025.

The metaverse is a key part of the puzzle as the EU looks to digital as one of the main drivers of economic growth in the coming years, with the global virtual worlds' market size is estimated to grow from €27 billion in 2022 to over €800 billion by 2030.

MEPs approve €3.3B for semiconductor research and innovation

The European Parliament has today adopted the EU Chips Act, including €3.3 billion for research and innovation in the field.

Half of that budget will be allocated from Horizon Europe.

Among other things, the funding is aimed at enabling the creation of a network of competence centres aimed at addressing the EU's skills shortage and attracting new talent for research, design and production.

The Chips Act is the EU's main tool for securing the supply of chips in a changing geopolitical context. The law is meant to boost production and innovation, and establish emergency measures against shortages.

European Commission adopts ERC funding plan for 2024

The European Commission has adopted the 2024 work programme for the European Research Council (ERC).

The plan includes new elements in the assessment of research proposals and candidates’ CVs, and in the evaluation process.

The new plan also introduces lump sum funding in Advanced Grants and updates the structure of evaluation panels.

The document is available here.

EIT launches deep tech talent prize

The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) has launched a new prize to award universities, companies and other bodies up to €60,000 help recognise European training in deep tech, an area of innovation based on scientific or engineering breakthroughs.

Applicants have until 31 October to submit an application, including a video pitch, for the Deep Tech Talent Training Prize.

"This prize recognizes and praises the exceptional contributions of European organisations, such as universities, training providers, and companies, in tackling the challenges of deep tech training," said Nektarios Tavernarakis, chair of the EIT's governing board.

WHO predicts biggest science and tech innovations in public health

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has ranked over 100 innovations for their potential to improve global public health, and concluded that genomic diagnostics shows the most promise.

After convening a panel of experts, the WHO also judged that better vaccine production and distribution systems are also critically important.

Low-cost viral diagnostics, new antimicrobial drugs and remote diagnostics - through smartphones or watches, for example - were also some of the top-ranked innovations touted by the WHO in its horizon-scanning report.

South Moravian region first in Czechia to win European Entrepreneurial Region

The region of South Moravia and its city Brno have become the first in Czechia to win the European Entrepreneurial Region (EER) award for 2024.

The EER was set up in 2010 in partnership with the European Commission to reward regions and cities that demonstrate outstanding support for innovation and entrepreneurship.

Each year, three places are chosen as winners. Alongside South Moravia, the autonomous region of Friuli-Venezia Giulia in Italy and the Vila Nova de Famalicão municipality in Portugal were also recognised. A special mention was also given to Polish region Małopolska, also known as Lesser Poland.

Anna Putnova, Brno’s city councillor for innovation and cooperation with research organisations, said the reward is recognition of 20 years of hard work.

“Thanks to this, our region can now rank among one of the fastest growing innovation ecosystems in Europe in terms of growth of investment in technology companies," she said.

EUA calls for longer-term support for Ukrainian universities

Support for Ukrainian universities needs to switch from a short-term, emergency basis to a long-term model, the European University Association (EUA) has stated.

To help drive this, the EUA has today published a series of recommendations on how best to support higher education in Ukraine going forwards.

This includes support for Ukrainian universities through inter-institutional partnerships and increasing information sharing and cooperation among major stakeholders.

See the full set of recommendations here.

Spain and Switzerland agree to strengthen research and innovation cooperation

Spain and Switzerland have today signed a joint declaration agreeing to boost their cooperation in research and innovation.

The agreement has a duration of five years and has broad scope to strengthen partnerships in all areas of R&I, with a particular focus on the topics of climate and sustainability, digital transformation, energy, equality and diversity, humanities and social sciences, life sciences and health, quantum sciences and technologies, and space.

EU, US, Canada mark decade of marine research cooperation

The Galway Statement for Atlantic Ocean research cooperation today marks its tenth anniversary with a series of events in Dublin and Galway.

The initiative has spearheaded research boosting the restoration of marine ecosystems and protecting coastal communities from the sea level rise while advancing ocean science, research and observation systems and aligning national research programmes.

Science universities alliance commends progress on European Research Area

Progress to advance the European Research Area (ERA) is going well, according to Cesaer, an alliance of 58 European science and tech universities.

In a new position paper published today, the group described the ERA as a “trailblazer” and said that progress has been made on nearly all 20 actions set out in the ERA Policy Agenda.

“Some ERA actions suffered from start-up difficulties and some are progressing more quickly than others, but overall, it is welcomed that implementation is progressing,” Cesaer wrote in its paper.

Cesaer also highlighted the work of the ERA Forum, an expert group of the European Commission set up to advance work on the ERA policy agenda.

European Universities initiative reaches 50 alliances after latest funding

The latest call for the European Universities initiative under the Erasmus+ scheme has led to the creation of seven new European Universities, bringing the total to 50.

A ‘European University’ is a network of several higher education institutions offering students the chance to pursue transnational degrees.

The 50 alliances now involve over 430 universities in 35 countries, including all of the EU countries, as well as close neighbours such as Iceland, Norway, and Turkey.

This latest call had a budget of €402.2 million, the highest ever.

The European Commission is aiming to reach 60 European Universities by mid-2024.

Breton in Japan to talk AI and semiconductors

Thierry Breton, EU commissioner for internal market, is in Tokyo this week for a series of meetings aimed at advancing digital policy cooperation with Japan.

The meetings on Breton’s agenda include the first EU-Japan Digital Partnership Council meeting, the signing of memoranda of understanding on semiconductors and Arctic Connectivity, and meetings with CEOs and government officials to discuss the EU’s Chips Act, undersea cables and secure mobile networks, among other topics.

European innovation consultants' association elects new board

The European Association of Innovation Consultants (EAIC) has elected its new executive board, including new President Luc Ragon, who is the CEO of French innovation consultancy Benkei.

The new board thanked outgoing president Pekka Koponen of Spinverse and the other former members for their “significant contributions and tireless efforts in advancing the goals of the EAIC”.

You can see a full list of the newly elected board members here.

New German battery materials facility opens as EU looks to boost competitiveness

Europe’s first battery material production facility for cathode active materials – the basic material for batteries – has officially opened its doors today in Schwarzheide, Germany.

The facility was financed under an Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) project and is being run by Chemical group BASF.

European Commission vice-president Maroš Šefčovič, who coordinates the Commission’s work on the European Battery Alliance, participated in the inauguration ceremony at the facility today.

The new plant covers the full life cycle of batteries, from the extraction of raw materials, through the production of batteries and their recycling and re-use.

It is expected that it will contribute to European competitiveness in the field, reduce its overseas dependencies and help towards the EU’s green transition.

Biochemist Becker re-elected president of German Research Foundation

Katja Becker, a biochemist and medical scientist, has been elected for a second term as president of the German Research Foundation, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG). It means she will stay in the position for four more years.

She became the first woman ever to hold the position when she was first elected in 2020. In her time, she has faced several challenges, including the coronavirus pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which led to the DFG suspending all German-Russian research cooperation.

Looking forward, Becker has said that securing funding for the DFG and research in Germany more generally is a “political priority” in a difficult economic time.

Use policy to make sustainable food choice easy, scientists tell Commission

EU policy to ensure sustainable food choices are affordable and easy to make, the Group of Chief Scientific Advisors told the European Commission in latest report in support of the preparation for an upcoming framework for sustainable food systems.

“Measures to make healthy and sustainable diets more affordable, to regulate product placement and advertising, and to mandate food reformulation should be used together with transparent information and education on food literacy,” Eric Lambin, leader of the adviser group of sustainable food consumption said.

MSCA: EU to invest €95M in co-financing researcher training

Horizon Europe’s Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) will co-finance 16 doctoral training and 14 post-doctoral fellowship programmes in the latest €95 million funding round.

MSCA, the EU’s researcher mobility programme, provides funding for regional, national and international PhD and post-doc trainings every year. This year, it received 107 applications and selected 30 winning projects, which include 511 organisations in 39 countries across a variety of disciplines.

Sweden and the US strengthen energy research cooperation

Swedish education minister Mats Persson today signed an implementation agreement for energy research cooperation with the US.

The agreement will allow the two countries to promote science and technology cooperation in energy, but also in other fields such as advanced scientific computing research, basic energy sciences, biological and environmental research, fusion energy sciences, high energy physics and nuclear physics.

“For the Swedish government, it’s very important to tackle the societal challenges we face using innovative and effective solutions. In the energy area, we need to collaborate with the best partners to identify and develop ways of addressing the growing need for clean and green energy production,” said Persson.

Brussels R&I policy bubble reiterates call to update EIC IP rules

Universities, research and technology organisations and knowledge transfer professionals want to see changes to the European Innovation Council’s (EIC) provisions for intellectual property.

The current rules for EIC Pathfinder and Transition calls mean universities and research organisations must grant immediate royalty-free rights to intellectual property generated in their laboratories by EIC-backed academics. They say this is at odds with regional and national rules and negates the work of university technology transfer offices (TTOs).

Policy experts have been advocating for a change to the rules for months and recently gained the support of the EIC governing board, which put forward recommendations for changes to the European Commission, in charge of setting the rules.

EU to invest €832M in defence R&D

The EU is set to put €832 million in defence research and development projects this year under the €8 billion European Defence Fund (EDF).

The money will fund 41 joint research projects developing the EU's high-end defence capabilities in areas such as naval, ground, air combat, space-based early warning and cyber defence.

The European Commission proposed to put an extra €1.5 billion in EDF last week as part of the proposal to create a Strategic Technologies for Europe Platform (STEP) to reinforce the EU’s strategic autonomy.

JRC and Sweden's Research Institute to cooperate on green deal R&D

The EU science hub, the Joint Research Centre (JRC), and the Research Institutes of Sweden (RISE) have signed five-year deal to cooperate on research and innovation on sustainability-related topics.

These include cities and buildings, future-oriented industrial policy, innovation for sustainability and circular economy.

Nearly half of Swiss post-doctorates end up leaving the country, study shows

Just under a half of researchers who began a post-doctorate in Switzerland in 2015 left the country within six years, a new report from the Swiss Federal Statistical Office shows.

Of the 2,800 people who began a post doctorate that year, 44% were no longer in Switzerland six years later. Just 27% of these people were employed – at the time of the study – in Swiss higher education institutions, while 14% were still in the post-doctorate.

The study is the first in Switzerland to detail in-depth the career trajectory of post-doctorates who are awarded a mobility grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF).

Investing in clean tech yields results, Commission finds

Money spent on developing clean technologies isn’t a waste, according to the European Commission’s analysis of 184 demonstrator projects for climate neutrality in energy-intensive industries, worth over €3 billion.

The analysis revealed public spending can leverage significant private investment and EU funds have a clear role in supporting technologies at different maturity levels.

"This report sends a signal to industry, public and private investors, national governments and managing authorities to support and increase investments that will turn our ambition into a planet-compatible reality,” said Commission vice president Margarethe Vestager.

Universities call for clearer framework for international collaboration

The Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities has put forward a set of recommendations on how to build up frameworks to get the most out of international higher education cooperation.

Education policy encourages universities to cooperate internationally through student exchange and joint programmes, among other means, but there’s little guidance on what is needed for the cooperation to return value.

The Guild sets out five recommendations to help maximise the impact: develop a nuanced and diverse set of learning activities, ensure sustainable and inclusive scalability, ensure policy priorities build on existing good practices, invest in pedagogic innovation, and make sure universities lead on changing the practice and narrative for innovation in internationalisation of education.

Jan Palmowski, secretary-general of the Guild, says the paper tackles the question what the added value of a European degree is. “But this insight paper goes further, showing that a discussion about form must always build on content,” he notes.

EU announces new ‘Jules Verne’ exascale computer in France

The European High Performance Computing Joint Undertaking (EuroHPC JU) has selected the Jules Verne consortium to host & operate in France the second exascale supercomputer to exceed the threshold of one billion billion calculations per second.

With a total budget of around EUR 540 million, the machine will be co-funded by the EuroHPC JU, with budget stemming from the Digital Europe Programme (DEP) and by contributions from France and the Netherlands.

MSCA: €15.4M to bring research closer to education and society

The European Commission has opened a new call worth €15.4 million for 2024 and 2025 editions of European Researchers’ Night and Researchers at Schools, two science engagement and communications events aimed at showcasing research and its impact on society.

More info about the call is available here.

Annual forum highlights key challenges facing EU’s climate change mission

Over 600 participants of an annual forum have weighed in on the challenges that the EU’s Mission on Adaptation to Climate Change is facing. The forum took place on 13 June.

The key takeaways included a demand for “appropriate” and “accessible” funding for adaptation measures, better coordination between national, regional and local authorities, and greater input from the private sector in the green transition.

The EU’s climate-focused mission aims to support European regions in becoming more environmentally friendly and resistant to the effects of climate change. In total, 308 regional and local authorities from 25 EU member states have signed the mission’s charter.

EU and Israel hold meeting on Horizon Europe

The EU and Israel reaffirmed their commitment to continue to work together on research and innovation through the Horizon Europe framework programme during a meeting held in Brussels on 12 June.

It was the second such meeting between the sides since Israel’s association to Horizon Europe in 2021.

There were discussions on Israel’s overall participation in Horizon Europe, its involvement in the EU’s thematic missions and partnerships initiatives as well as the European Innovation Council, and its strong performance in winning European Research Council grants.

EU and Serbia in first joint committee meeting on Horizon Europe

Representatives of Serbia and the EU met on 15 June for a first Joint R&I Committee Meeting under Horizon Europe between the two sides. Serbia has participated in EU research and innovation programmes since 2007, but became a fully associated member of Horizon Europe only in 2021.

Discussions during this meeting centred on strengthening R&I cooperation between the two sides, increasing Serbia integration into the European Research Area, and increasing Serbia’s participation in Horizon Europe.

Universities launch 17 EU-Africa research networks

Seventeen new so-called ‘Africa-Europe Clusters of Research Excellence’ are set to give EU-AU research cooperation a boost by bringing together distinguished researchers from both continents.

In the project spearheaded by the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) and The Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities, the clusters will address seventeen key societal challenges while stimulating equitable collaboration.

The EU and the AU has been working on advancing their cooperation in science over the past few years, including through a recently adopted joint AU-EU Innovation Agenda, which promises to accelerate talent circulation, help develop research infrastructures and foster the emergence of joint centres of excellence.

Horizon Europe: first €116M for bio-based industry R&I

Horizon Europe supported public-private partnership with the bio-based industries has selected the first 21 research projects to invest €116 million in.

The grants will fund the development of new bio-based products and materials, first-of-their-kind production facilities and innovative processes.

The goal of €2 billion Horizon Europe partnership, the Circular Bio-Based Europe Joint Undertaking, is to boost the industry’s competitiveness while helping it transition towards more circular modes of production and business.

UK sets outline for high-level research assessment reform

UK’s higher education funding bodies have set out initial rules for assessing £2 billion of block-grant research funding and its impact for 2021-2027.

The new rules will shift focus away from the performance of individuals to the impact on the research environment. This will in turn help reshape how research is incentivised and reported, allowing funders to recognise and reward a wider range of research outputs.

Three elements will be assessed: people and culture (25% weighting), contribution to knowledge and understanding (50% weighting) and engagement and impact (25% weighting).

Across the Channel, the European Commission initiated a similar push to reform how research is assessed last year. The movement is now supported by more than 500 research organisations around Europe.

Research cooperation included in new EU-Argentina critical materials agreement

European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen this week signed a memorandum of understanding with Argentinian President Alberto Fernández agreeing to a partnership on sustainable raw materials value chains.

An element of the partnership involves research and innovation cooperation, including working together on mineral knowledge, environmental measures and the circular economy.

UK life science companies raise more venture capital funding than Germany, France and Canada combined

The £10.5 billion in venture capital raised by UK life sciences between 2020 to 2022 is more than what was raised in Germany, France and Canada combined, the British Business Bank’s latest Small Business Equity Tracker has found.

In total, life science companies accounted for 16% of total venture capital investments in the UK in the same period.

Louis Taylor, the CEO of British Business Bank, said part of the reason the UK is so successful in scaling life science companies is because of the country’s “incredible academic institutions”.

But he warned that the sector could still be impacted by a general downturn in venture capital in the UK if there is not continued “later stage and specialist, patient capital”.

The EU’s Innovative Health Initiative launches first five projects

The Innovative Health Initiative has launched its first five projects with a designated total budget of €129 million. Half of the funding comes from Horizon Europe, with the rest from industry partners and other IHI contributors.

The projects include three centred around cancer treatment, detection, diagnosis and care, one aimed at improving care of people with multiple sclerosis and the other to support treat those with Alzheimer’s disease who also have other health problems.

The IHI was founded in 2021 and builds on the work of a previous partnership between the EU and the pharmaceutical industry, the Innovative Medicines Initiative.

European Commission appoints new director for health and food at Joint Research Centre

The European Commission has decided to appoint Ciarán Nicholl as director for health and food in the Joint Research Centre (JRC), the Commission’s in-house service for science-based advice.

Ciarán Nicholl is an Irish national and since 2013 he has built up a unit for disease prevention in the health and food directorate and founded the European Commission's Knowledge Centre on Cancer. He joined the JRC in 1995 as a post-doctorate grant holder working in nuclear chemistry and he has ten years’ experience in JRC communication.

Germany’s research foundation receives 143 proposals for new Clusters of Excellence

A total of 143 proposals for new Clusters of Excellence have been submitted to Germany’s research foundation, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG), as part of a call for proposals under the country’s Excellence Strategy.

These proposals will now go into a review process, with a final decision on which projects will receive funding made in May 2025. Funding will then begin on 1 January, 2026. A total of 70 Clusters of Excellence can be funded, with the German federal and state governments putting up €539 million per year.

Of the 143 proposals, 45% describe themselves as being interdisciplinary, while 31% are in the field of life sciences, and 28% are in humanities and social sciences.

EIT launches first one-stop-shop for its services in North Macedonia

Innovators in the Western Balkans can now get access to all European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) services through a one-stop-shop in Skopje, North Macedonia.

The EU agency offers various training, funding and business acceleration support to companies and innovators across Europe in eight sectors, include digital, health and raw materials. The new hub in Skopje is the first one to bring EIT services from its 90 sector-specific hubs in one place.

More one-stop-shops are expected to be launched by the end of next year to give innovators in better access to the EIT’s services as part of the EIT Regional Innovation Scheme (EIT RIS). The hubs will be located all around Europe’s less innovative regions, where innovators tend to need more support.

DFG to hold sustainability-focused annual meeting in late June

The German Research Foundation (DFG) will hold its annual meeting from 26 to 28 June in Saarbrücken this year, focusing on sustainability and other current issues.

To usher in the net zero transition, the foundation’s Presidential Commission on Sustainability will present its recommendations aimed at anchoring sustainability in the DFG’s work.

The three-day gathering will bring together the management of the DFG to make funding decisions, select the winners of the prestigious the Heinz Maier-Leibnitz Prize for early-career researchers and discuss the state of the research system.

Commission approves new €21B project to develop microchip technologies

A new cross-Europe project worth up to a potential €21 billion has been launched today with the goal of furthering advances in microelectronics and communication technologies.

The project is the sixth example of what is known as an Important Project of Common European Interest (IPCEI) approved under state aid rules.

It involves cooperation between 14 member states, who will provide €8.1 billion in funding towards the project. The European Commission expects private investments of €13.7 billion to add to this.

This is the biggest IPCEI to date and will involve 56 companies across the EU, which will participate in 68 projects.

European Commission executive vice president Margrethe Vestager spoke of the importance of European investment into microchip technologies in a speech today.

“Microchips are the backbone of innovation and of Europe's industrial competitiveness in a digital world,” she said.

“The green and digital transitions require new, advanced technological solutions. And this is why we must increase Europe's own chips research, development and production capabilities. We need to be pioneers and develop truly innovative solutions and their first industrial deployment in Europe.”

European Parliament’s science and technology panel publishes annual report

The European Parliament's Panel for the Future of Science and Technology (STOA) has published its annual report outlining its activities in 2022.

The panel published 14 studies last year as well as many more short ‘at a glance’ papers and hosted 13 events. Discussions were held on topics such as lump funding in EU research programmes, open strategic autonomy and more. One of the main topics discussed was the implications of the growing power of artificial intelligence. As pointed out by STOA chair Christian Ehler in the paper’s introduction, six STOA studies published last year concerned AI.

Marc Angel, vice-president of the European Parliament responsible for STOA, said that STOA’s work has “never been more important than it is now”.

“The past few years have brought unprecedented challenges, from both a scientific and a political viewpoint,” he said. “The pandemic showed in a very direct way how critical good scientific advice is to a sound policy response. But it also showed that science is not at a standstill, it evolves as our knowledge improves: an open and free debate is at the heart of the scientific method. Policy must also follow; an open debate is crucial to finding the correct policy response.”

Switzerland sets start-up challenge to find smartphone security solutions

The Swiss government is organising a Cyber Startup Challenge to find new innovations in smartphone security.

The challenge is organised by the Federal Department of Defence, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS) and runs until 31 August this year.

The winner of the competition will receive a contract for a proof of contract and will have the chance to showcase their product in a “real DDPS environment”.

Commission and WHO launch digital health partnership

EU is teaming up with the World Health Organization (WHO) to employ digital tools in world-wide efforts to track and tackle health threats.

Starting this June, the WHO will build on the EU’s digital COVID-19 certification system to establish the Global Digital Health Certification Network (GDHCN), a range of digital products to aid the fight against on-going and future health threats globally.

The cooperation is expected to evolve “with a stage approach” to cover more diseases and user cases, such as the International Certificate of Vaccination or Prophylaxis.

Commission analyses 800 projects linked to ocean and water mission in new report

A new European Commission report has identified and analysed over 800 EU-funded projects that are contributing to the EU mission “Restore our Ocean and Waters”.

The mission is one of five created under the Horizon Europe programme to tackle various issues, and has the goal of protecting and restoring oceans and seas.

The new analysis looked at projects funded by 16 different EU programmes, the majority from Horizon Europe and horizon 2020, but with others also coming from Interreg, LIFE2027, EMFAF, Erasmus+2027 and more.

A special dashboard has been created alongside the report, which offers a visualisation of the different projects.

Women still represent over half of employees in EU’s science and tech sectors

More than half of the 76 million people working in science and technology in the EU are women, who represent 52.2% of the workforce, new data shows. This figure is unchanged from 2021.

Lithuania and the French island of Corsica have the highest percentage of women working in science and technology, at 64%. On the other end of the scale is the North-West region of Italy, where 45% of the workforce are women.

Despite the fact that women outnumber men overall in the field, they only make up 41% of the total number of scientists and engineers. This is an increase of 2% compared to 2012. However, the slow proportional increase is also down to an overall increase in the number of people employed as scientists and engineers, as the total number of women working in those sectors has grown by 2.3 million in the past decade.

€77.5M awarded to MSCA staff exchange winners to boost knowledge transfer

A total of 73 projects from around the world have been selected as winners of the 2022 Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) call for staff exchanges, which is aimed at creating links between academic and non-academic organisations to increase innovation and knowledge transfer.

The winning projects will receive a combined €77.5 million.

There were nearly 200 applications for the call, with 189 of them deemed eligible and therefore evaluated, meaning the call had a success rate of 38.6%.

This year’s call will open on 5 October.

EU to open new calls for proposals for civil security and society worth over €170M

The EU is opening new calls for proposals under Horizon Europe for Civil Security and Society worth over €170 million on 29 June.

There are six topics addressed under the calls, including fighting crime and terrorism, border management and increased cybersecurity.

A two-day event will be held on 27 and 28 June to provide potential applicants with more information on the calls.

You can find out more information about the event days here.

Germany and Ireland to work together on hydrogen research

Germany and Ireland today signed off an agreement to kick off cooperation on green hydrogen research, including a pilot project exploring what a cross-border hydrogen value chain could look like.

Both countries have high ambitions for green hydrogen, which is set to become a key part of EU’s energy mix as the economy transitions towards net-zero.

Ireland hopes to become a green hydrogen exporter, using its surplus wind power to turn water into green hydrogen though electrolysis. Germany, a net importer of the gas, wants to ensure it can cover its needs with imported gas from Ireland and other countries, such as Namibia, with which it has signed a similar cooperation agreement.

Universities point to strategic importance of UK association to Horizon Europe

It’s crunch time to seal the UK’s participation in the EU’s Horizon Europe research programme as the global R&D race heats up, the League of European Research Universities (LERU) says in latest statement.

LERU notes increasing R&D investments in China and the US, but says the EU and UK together “can cement Horizon Europe’s status as the world’s biggest and most impactful scientific programme and set the direction in areas of strategic importance, such as AI, engineering biology and quantum technologies.”

The UK was locked out of the EU’s €95.5 billion research programme for months, but the two recently returned to the negotiating table to seal the UK’s participation after resolving wider political disputes in the Windsor agreement.

EU and US to hold fourth Trade and Technology Council meeting

The EU and US will hold the fourth meeting discussing tech and trade cooperation in Sweden this week.

The topics on the table will include artificial intelligence, emerging technologies, online platforms, sustainable trade, export controls and investment screening as well as trade facilitation.

Cross-Atlantic tech cooperation has been on the rise since the Council was first launched, with the EU and US agreeing to coordinate green tech incentive schemes and edging closer to a joint approach to artificial intelligence.

MSCA: Commission launches €434.8M call to train PhDs

Horizon Europe is set to fund 130 projects training 1600 doctoral candidates in latest €434.8 million Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) call for doctoral networks.

The money will fund international doctoral programmes, including industrial doctorates, which allows researchers in training to gain experience in industry and the public sector, as well as joint doctorates that lead to multiple degrees.

The call will close on 28 November 2023, with first projects due to start in summer 2024.

UK spinouts ‘punching above their weight’, new annual report shows

The third annual report on UK spinouts has now been published, put together by company data sourcing specialists Beauhurst in partnership with the Royal Academy of Engineering.

It shows that the 1,166 active spinout companies make up just 2.52% of all high-growth businesses in the country, but according to the report they “punch well above their weight”. For example, the spinouts secured 9.11% of all equity finance raised by private UK companies last year.

The UK government has also acknowledged the importance of spinouts to the British economy, according to the report.

Commission announces €4M to support Atlantic Ocean protection initiative

The European Commission has launched a new €4 million call for proposals under Horizon Europe to support the All-Atlantic Ocean Research and Innovation Alliance (AAORIA), a grouping of countries on either side of the Atlantic formed in 2022 to promote research aimed at protecting the ocean.

This latest call is for a Coordination and Support Action with a compulsory international element that should also aim to build on existing initiatives, such as the All-Atlantic Ocean Youth Ambassadors, joint actions and already developed working groups.

The AAORIA is a partnership between the EU, Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Cabo Verde, Morocco, South Africa and the United States.

The deadline for proposals under this call is 21 September 2023. More information on the application procedure is available here.

Spain awards funding to 19 recipients of EIC’s seal of excellence

Sixteen companies are set to receive €30 million in grant funding from the Spanish government through the EU recovery plan, after receiving seals of excellence from the European Innovation Council (EIC). Comunidad de Madrid will be funding three additional recipients of the EIC seals.

The seals of excellence are awarded to research and projects that would deserve funding from Horizon Europe, the EU’s €95.5 billion research and innovation programme, but do not receive it due to oversubscription and budget limitations.

The seals are a quality label that member states can use to grant funding from their own resources or from other nationally-managed Eu programmes.

EIF commits €60M for new space technology fund

The European Investment Fund (EIF) has committed €60 million in equity to Alpine Space Ventures (ASV), a Germany-based venture capital fund focusing on the private space industry.

The funding is backed by InvestEU and the CASSINI investing facility of the European space programme, as well as by the European Recovery Programme of the German government.

ASV is quickly emerging as one of the leading NewSpace funds in Europe. The fund focuses on the entire value chain of satellite constellations and Earth observation.

To date, ASV has already invested in four companies: small satellite manufacturer Reflex Aerospace, electric propulsion company Morpheus Space, carbon composites expert Blackwave and Source Energy, a provider of integrated energy solutions for space vehicles.

EIF and Lithuania’s SME Bank announce a guarantee scheme for small companies

The European Investment Fund and Lithianua’s SME Bank have signed a new guarantee agreement under the InvestEU programme to guarantee a portfolio of more than €37 million in new loans for micro and small enterprises and small mid-caps in the Baltics, Finland and the Netherlands.

The agreement will provide guarantees for loans in three key policy areas: sustainability, innovation and digitalisation, and micro finance.

“SME Bank's mission is to simplify the lives of SME owners by leveraging technology to enhance access to financing opportunities,” said CEO of SME Bank Virginijus Doveika.

EIT selects 16 more projects for its university innovation flagship

Sixteen new projects involving 180 organisations will join the European Institute of Innovation and Technology’s (EIT) flagship programme aimed at helping universities innovate.

Each project, involving a mix of universities, industry, research and public organisations, will receive up to €750,000 to build up the universities’ entrepreneurial capacity in fields such as AI, machine learning and clean tech.

This EIT’s flagship programme launched in 2021 and has since invested €55 million to support projects involving 260 higher education institutions and 100 non-academic partners.

Swedish government’s interference in university boards ‘worrying’, EUA says

The European University Association has criticised a move by the Swedish government to shorten the mandate of external members serving on university boards from three years to 17 months.

Last month, the government moved to limit the term time of these members to speed up the appointment of security experts to the boards, citing concerns that universities were being infiltrated by agents of China, Iran and Russia.

But the EUA says the move “sets a worrying precedent”. “It represents undue interference in the institutional governance of universities, with the government unilaterally changing a well-established process regulating the nomination of external members on university boards.”

It has called on the Swedish government to reconsider its decision.

Academies of science in Europe and Asia call for urgent action on climate change

Academies of science in Europe and Asia are calling for urgent action to address the impact of climate change around the world.

Around 90 scientists from 45 countries convened in Warsaw last week for the European Climate Conference organised by the Polish and German academies of sciences.

The attendees agreed on a text that sets out 10 statements on the damaging consequences climate change will have on humans and societies and ways in which these challenges can and should be tackled.

“Effective actions for climate neutrality mean deep transformations of most aspects of the economy, the energy system, international markets, and the global cooperation framework,” the attendees wrote.

They called for mitigation measures aligned with the Paris framework to be accelerated and for regulation and financial instruments to be used to support the transition towards climate neutrality.

Science platform urges work on research careers programme to go on after Gabriel's resignation

The Initiative for Science in Europe (ISE), an independent platform of scientific organisations, has set out its hopes and expectations for the European Commission’s research and innovation portfolio following the resignation of Commissioner Mariya Gabriel last week.

Gabriel stepped down from her role as commissioner in charge of innovation, research, culture, education and youth to return to Bulgaria where she will become prime minister after a nine-month period as deputy prime minister.

ISE has urged vice presidents Margrethe Vestager and Margarítis Schinás, who will take over from Gabriel, to continue the work setting up a programme dedicated to researchers’ careers. It has also called on them to put in place an independent observatory for innovation careers.

In addition, the platform set out concerns that the vice presidents should be aware of. This includes simplifying certain funding schemes under the Widening programme of Horizon Europe, including basic research as a component of R&I actions across all funding schemes and protecting the MSCA and ERC programmes from budget cuts.

ISE thanked Gabriel for her dedication and commitment to the broad portfolio she oversaw, and welcomed Vestager and Schinás as her replacements. The two vice presidents are not certain to remain in charge of Gabriel’s former portfolio long term, and a new commissioner could be chosen before the new Commission is instated next year.

Universities warn against changes to EU Data Act

The League of European Research Universities (LERU) has spoken out against three amendments to the EU’s Data Act proposed by policymakers, ahead of the last round of negotiations on the final details of the proposal.

LERU warns against charging universities any money for industry data it has requested for research (article 9), limiting the scope of what counts as an emergency situation that allows public bodies to request private business data (article 14), and introducing extra requirements that obstruct universities’ access to data used for research in support of the public sector.

The European Parliament and member states are expected to reach a deal on the Data Act, a plan to promote industrial data sharing in the EU, on 23 May.

Commission launches first €122M call to create regional innovation ecosystems

The first €122 million call to create Regional Innovation Valleys today, kicking off the European Commission’s plan to connect regional deep-tech innovation valleys in up to 100 regions.

The new flagship innovation programme builds on previous EU initiatives but goes beyond other funding schemes by putting the onus of managing funds on the regions themselves. The Commission’s goal is to have 100 regions sign up for cross-border cooperation and use it as a tool to help the bloc’s less innovative regions catch up.

The calls are open until 17 October. An online info session will be held on 25 May.

France to boost funding for health research infrastructures

France is set to invest in four new ‘bioclusters’, 12 university hospital institutes and various research infrastructures, as part of its €1 billion health R&I boost.

The new infrastructure will complement seven existing research programmes, seven university hospital institute, and one ‘biocluster,’ a network of various research organisations.

France hopes the new investments, which are part of a €7.5 billion plan to transform the country’s health sector, will help attract high-level talent and translate science into innovation.

Investment in R&I is key to EU’s raw materials ambitions, RTOs say

To shake its reliance on third-country monopolies for raw materials, the EU must ensure stable long-term investment in materials R&I, the European Association of Research and Technology Organisations (EARTO) says in latest statement.

In particular, EARTO calls for cutting-edge research and innovation to transform the EU’s manufacturing sector and stable long-term investment in research on materials substitution.

EARTO’s statement is a reply to the European Commission’s public consultation on Critical Raw Materials Act, a plan to help the bloc secure and diversify its supply chains, proposed earlier this spring.

Commission takes European Innovation Council management under its wing

The European Commission is set to have better oversight over the European Innovation Council (the EIC) after it moved the management of the innovation fund to its directorate for R&I, away from an executive agency.

Up until today, the EIC was managed under EISMEA, the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency, but parts of it will now be overseen directly by the Commission, with Keith Sequeira remaining in the top position as head of unit.

The move affects only parts of the EIC, with EISMEA retaining control over other the EIC equity fund, among other units.

The change in management comes after months of rumours that the Commission is tightening its grip on the €10 billion start-up, which has had a rough start under the EU’s Horizon Europe research programme.

Here the new organisational charts for DG RTD and EISMEA.

G7 science ministers map out priority cooperation areas in wide-ranging statement

The G7 Science and Technology Ministers met in Sendai this week to affirm their commitment to joint work on improving the global research and innovation landscape, ahead of the G7 summit in Japan.

Following the meeting, the ministers promised to collaborate in promoting open science principles, ensuring global research security and integrity, and fostering international science collaboration.

In a joint statement, the ministers singled out four areas in which they strive to demonstrate leadership: safe and sustainable use of outer space; the workings between climate change and seas and oceans; support for research infrastructures; and promotion international talent mobility.

Ireland sets up forum for R&I policy

The Irish government is setting up a Research and Innovation Policy Advisory Forum to structure its dialogue with stakeholders.

The forum will be made up of ten to 15 national and international experts, who will inform and support policymaking on questions such as research careers, equality and inclusion, strategic foresight and synergies in the national R&I system. It will be chaired by the minister for higher education, research and innovation.

At EU level, the European Commission runs a similar platform, the ERA Forum, which brings together Commission officials, member states and R&I lobbies to discuss research policy.

A call for members will be open between 26 May and 30 June. The first meeting is expected to be held in autumn 2023.

German Research Foundation: €76M to support early-career researchers

The German Research Foundation (DFG) is putting €76 million in new research training groups to boost support for early-career scientists in eleven areas.

The 11 new groups will cover topics such as genesis of the universe, quality of health research and nucleic acids for the next five years.

DFG currently funds 220 such training groups, which enable doctoral researchers to complete their doctorates by following a structured subject-specific research and qualification programme.

UK to invest £100M in improving research infrastructures

The UK is to pump an additional £103 million into expanding and upgrading several research infrastructures around the country.

The majority of this money – some £79.3 million – will be taken from a £150 million pot that has been specially set aside to help deal with the impact of delays in the UK gaining association to the EU’s Horizon Europe research programme.

Facilities that will receive a share of the money include the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, the National Oceanography Centre’s state-of-the-art deep-sea research facility and the UK Digital Heritage Centre at the University of Liverpool.

Christopher Smith, international champion at the UK Research and Innovation, which is managing the investment, welcomed the financing.

“The investments, made across the UK, will provide UK researchers with advanced equipment, facilities and technology, and help maintain the UK’s position as a leader in research and innovation,” he said.

Commission opens search for independent experts to evaluate Horizon Europe

The European Commission is looking for 15 independent experts to help it evaluate the first three years of the EU’s €95.5 billion Horizon Europe research programme.

The group will be tasked with providing an outsider perspective in the evaluation of Horizon Europe and advising the Commission on how to maximise the impact of EU’s research programmes in the future.

Interested candidates can apply to join the group until 20 June.

First EU-India trade and technology council to be held next week

The first meeting of the EU-India Trade and Technology Council (TTC) will be held in Brussels on 16 May to begin high-level work on aligning policy on key green and digital technologies.

The council will work in three priority areas: strategic technologies, digital governance and digital connectivity; green and clean energy technologies; and trade, investment and resilient value chains.

The council was launched in February. The EU already runs a TTC with the US, which helps coordinate transatlantic policies on everything from artificial regulation and cybersecurity to securing key supply chains.

Digital Europe: calls open with €122 million for digital transition

The European Commission today opened calls for digital transformation projects worth €122 million under the €7.5 billion Digital Europe programme.

There’s €32 million to protect children online, €31 million for data projects, including establishing a European reference genome database to help foster research, €25 million for cloud to edge infrastructure, €18 million for AI, and €18 million for boosting digital skills.

The calls are open to businesses and public administrations in countries that take part in the programme until 26 September 2023. The next set of calls will be published at the end of May and later this year, with a total budget €392 million for this year.

Science is a key driver for European prosperity, German centre-right says

Germany’s centre-right political alliance CDU/CSU has highlighted research and innovation as key drivers for prosperity and cohesion in the EU, in a new position paper on European policy.

The wide-ranging statement calls for the bloc to prioritise research and innovation, seeking to better bridge the gap between knowledge and products on the market, especially in digital and space sectors.

The paper also calls on the EU to be “a guarantor for academic freedom in Europe and world-wide” and highlights the importance of cooperation with the UK in the field of science.

Read the full statement here.

Commission picks lead for €20 million support project for Ukraine’s innovators

A network of organisations has been selected to run the European Innovation Council’s (EIC) €20 million project supporting Ukraine’s innovators.

The project will offer at least 200 Ukrainian deep tech start-ups advisory support and up to €60,000 in funding to help them grow and become part of Europe’s innovation ecosystem.

The €20 million will be distributed through the selected pan-European network of 22 start-up associations, enterprise support centres, incubators and accelerators, coordinated by FundingBox Accelerator in Warsaw.

This is one of the key support actions for Ukraine under the EU’s €95.5 billion Horizon Europe research programme and the only one specifically targeting start-ups.

EU and African Union to adopt joint innovation agenda

The joint AU-EU innovation agenda is almost ready for signing, after representatives of both blocks met last week to discuss the final draft.

The agenda proposes short, medium and long-term objectives and actions for research and innovation in public health, the green transition, technology and capacities for science.

It’s been in the making since the first EU-AU ministerial meeting on R&I in 2020 and is set to be adopted in the second such meeting next month.

New law should promote fair access to research data, EUA says

The European University Association (EUA), alongside several fellow associations that represent universities and university libraries, has called for the EU’s co-legislators to ensure that the proposed Data Act ensure fair access to data for research purposes.

In a joint statement, EUA, CESAER, the Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities, Knowledge Rights 21, LIBER Europe and Sparc Europe say that new EU data policies should take into account the role and situation of universities.

Their recommendations are available here.

Research lobbies worried animal testing phase-out will be detrimental to science

The League of European Research Universities (LERU) and the EU-LIFE research association say the European Commission should resist calls to ban a full phase-out of animal testing by next year. Such a move would have detrimental effects on biomedical research, they say.

In a statement published this week, LERU and EU-LIFE call on European leaders to consider a differentiated approach in plans for reducing the use of animals for research purposes. “The efforts to replace animal use in research should be significant, keep a pace with, and push forward, scientific knowledge and development of technology,” the statement says.

EU finally opens cybersecurity research centre in Bucharest

The EU’s new cybersecurity funding agency, the European Cybersecurity Competence Centre in Bucharest, is set to open this week.

The centre, located on the campus of the Polytechnic University, will manage EU’s cybersecurity funds and oversee the union’s cyber projects run under its research and digital programme, Digital Europe and Horizon Europe.

It will also be a coordination point for a network of national cybersecurity centres, helping to build up an ecosystem boosting innovation and competitiveness in the sector across the bloc.

The centre has been a long time in the making, with four Horizon 2020 funded pilot projects testing ideas for joint action to retain and develop the EU cybersecurity capacity since 2016.

Universities welcome member states’ recognition of inequalities in scientific publishing

The League of European Research Universities (LERU) welcomes EU member states’ plans to rein in unfair academic publishers but says more should be done to create an open science ecosystem in Europe.

In a far-ranging position paper, LERU calls more to be done to create an inter-connected public infrastructure for open science and more incentives for researchers that adhere to open science principles.

EU research ministers are set to adopt a set of council conclusions aimed at revamping pay-wall free publishing to make it the default mode of scientific publishing and tackle inequalities in the system exacerbated by extortionate fees charged to authors.

DFG president floats around idea for a science-focused UN sustainable development goal

Global research cooperation could be an eighteen United Nations’ sustainable development goal, Katja Becker, president of the German Research Foundation (DFG), suggested at a UN forum this week.

Becker highlighted the importance of science in tackling climate change and other pressing global challenges, and suggested “ne could even think of a more ambitious idea: defining and establishing an additional Sustainable Development Goal for science.”

She added: “A new SDG that puts global research cooperation at centre stage – not only but also because searching for the truth is a fundamental part of human nature.”

But until and unless this becomes reality, Becker noted, “everything else needs to be done that contributes to integrating research and research findings into the SDG agenda.”

Research funders draw attention to uneven implementation of open science

The European open science movement is growing but implementation of its principles is uneven, says a new report by Science Europe, a group of major research funding and performing organisations.

The report gathers the views from an October conference held by Science Europe and suggests lack of inclusivity and equitability is becoming a growing concern as open science initiatives rapidly spread through Europe.

EU member states are set to address the growing issue in council conclusions later this month.

The view from space: First images from Europe’s latest generation of weather satellites are out

This new high-resolution image gives weather forecasters more information about the clouds cloaking much of Europe, parts of northern Africa and the Atlantic Ocean.

Europe’s meteorological satellite agency, EUMETSAT, and the European Space Agency (ESA) have released the first images from a new generation of weather satellite that was launched in December.

According to EUMETSAT, the satellite reveals a level of detail about the weather over Europe and Africa not previously possible from 36,000km above the Earth.

The satellite, its instruments and the ground-based infrastructure required to process images are undergoing testing, calibration and validation until late 2023, when the images will be produced every 10 minutes and released operationally for use in weather forecasts.

More photos, animations and videos are available here.

LERU, CE7 issue joint statement on research assessment

The League of European Research Universities (LERU) and CE7, a group of seven leading universities in central Europe, call on member states to engage in consultations with research organisations and funders to confirm their commitment to the EU agreement on research assessment.

According to the LERU statement, governments of EU member states and associated countries should also be included in the reform process that is seeking to come up with new standards for the evaluation of researchers and their work.

The full statement is available here.

ERC president elected member of the US National Academy of Sciences

Maria Leptin, the president of the European Research Council (ERC), has been elected international member of the National Academy of Sciences in the US.

Leptin was elected along with 22 new international members in recognition of their “distinguished and continuing achievements in original research.”

“This is really a great honour,” Leptin said on her Twitter page today.

Ensure investment and inclusive governance in virtual reality, universities tell Commission

The EU must ensure fair governance and public investment in virtual and augmented reality, the European University Association (EUA) told the European Commission in its latest consultation on virtual worlds.

As the Commission moves towards developing policy for virtual and augmented reality, universities note they are increasing becoming important users, and creators, of such technologies. But their wider roll-out in research and education will require public investment, beyond pilot projects and private funding.

At the same time, the successful roll-out of virtual and augmented reality technologies rests on creating standards that allow access, interoperability and privacy. To ensure this, the EU must create a diverse governance structure that represents the whole higher education and research ecosystem, universities say.

UK, Switzerland hold first round of talks on science and innovation cooperation

Swiss state secretary Martina Hirayama and UK science minister George Freeman met in London today at the first meeting of the joint Swiss-British committee for science and innovation.

Back in November, the two countries signed a memorandum of understanding on cooperation in research and innovation. The agreement set the stage for strengthening UK-Swiss bilateral cooperation in research, as the two countries continue to be locked out of Horizon Europe, the EU’s €95.5 billion research and innovation programme.

House of Lords calls on No 10 to finalise UK’s Horizon Europe association

The European affairs committee in the House of Lords published a report last week calling for a reset on UK-EU relations, including an end to uncertainty over association to EU’s Horizon Europe programme.

The report says UK’s association to Horizon Europe and other EU research funding schemes would benefit both the UK and the EU. However, the UK government has not taken swift steps to conclude negotiations, despite clearing out broader political hurdles.

“Now that agreement has been reached on the Windsor Framework, the necessary steps to complete UK association should be concluded as soon as possible,” the report notes.

EU cohesion funds to boost R&D sector, Commission hopes

The European Commission has published today a new staff working document on its Cohesion programme for 2021-2027 where it estimates the €378 billion fund will help bridge the innovation divide in Europe.

According to the document, thanks to €73 billion in dedicated cohesion funding, 83,000 researchers will have access to improved facilities and 725,000 companies will be supported in their smart growth.

Of this allocation, €35 billion will be spent on developing and enhancing research and innovation capacities and the uptake of advanced technologies.

The Commission’s full plan for cohesion funding over the coming years is available here.

Commission to showcase opportunities for R&I in energy, mobility, transport and Euratom

The European Commission’s directorate for research and innovation is organising an official information event in Brussels on financial and business opportunities that can support the market uptake of new technologies, beyond its flagship research programme Horizon Europe.

More details about the event here.

IHI looks for patients and informal caregivers to help improve health research and innovation

Innovative Health Initiative (IHI) is looking to establish a group of patients and informal caregivers who can support their activities in health research and innovation through lending their perspectives, experience and expertise.

The IHI Patient Pool could be called upon to participate in project meetings, scientific events, webinars or training sessions. Additionally, IHI could seek expertise from this group when it comes to carrying out evaluations of proposals, reviews of projects or discussions on funding possibilities.

The idea is to use the knowledge and know-how of patients and caregivers to support IHI activities.

‘I strongly encourage patients and caregivers to get involved in this initiative, so that with their help, we can achieve our ambitious goal of translating health research and innovation into tangible benefits for patients,” said Hugh Laverty, executive director ad interim of IHI.

Those who wish to apply to be a part of the IHI Patient Pool have until 8 June to apply. Find out more here.

Commission seeks experts to evaluate Horizon Europe calls for proposals

The European Commission is looking for experts to participate in evaluating various calls for proposals.

This includes 2023 calls under the EU Mission ‘A Soil Deal for Europe’ and 2024 calls under cluster 6 of the Horizon Europe work programme, ‘Food, bioeconomy, natural resources, agriculture and environment’.

Find out more about becoming an expert at this link.

EIT Climate to become financially sustainable by end of 2024

Innovation network EIT Climate has been awarded its final EU grant worth €20 million in the run up to becoming financially sustainable by the end of 2024.

The climate innovation network was one of the first three knowledge and innovation communities (KICs) launched in 2010 under the then-newly created EU innovation agency, the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). It runs various training programmes, innovation projects and business incubators and accelerators to accelerate net-zero innovation.

From the get-go, the goal was to get these KICs – now eight with two more in the making – to become financially independent, sustaining their operations through various private investments rather than EU grants. This has proven difficult over the years, but EIT Climate is set to achieve the goal in the next two years by scaling up its Systems Innovation as a Service approach, which enables it to co-design and implement place-based portfolios of innovations on the ground to match scalable solutions to industry value chains.

The two-year €20 million grant will strengthen the network’s operational capabilities to scale the model commercially.

German Academic Exchange Service expands international cooperation advice desk

Germany is doubling the budget of KIWi, the Competence Centre for International Academic Collaborations, to €2 million in face of high demand for its service advising researchers and academics how to navigate the increasingly complex international collaboration landscape.

The centre was created in 2019 by the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), one of the world's largest funding organisation for the international exchange of students and researchers, to help universities and research organisations deal with the fallout from shifting geopolitical plates.

Joybrato Mukherjee, president of DAAD, explained to Science|Business why KIWi should be expanded in a one-on-one interview back in March.

Commission opens call to find countries to host GOVSATCOM and IRIS² infrastructure

The European Commission has today launched a call for expressions of interest for member states to host ground infrastructure for the satellite communication projects GOVSATCOM and IRIS².

Countries interested in hosting the infrastructure have until 30 June to submit their proposals.

GOVSATCOM, short for Governmental Satellite Communications, is a system of satellites and ground-based infrastructure that provides secure and robust communication services to the government and military.

IRIS², short for Interoperable Radio Information System for European security, is an initiative that aims to develop a common communication platform for public safety and security organisations. It will also allow for mass-market uses, including providing mobile and broadband access, particularly in wifi dead zones in Europe, Africa and beyond.

Consortium of technology transfer offices publishes how-to guide on negotiating valuations

TenU, an international consortium of universities in the UK, Belgium and the US has published a report on how university tech transfer offices and VCs should negotiate valuations of start-ups.

The report is available here.

Ukrainian and Dutch research funding agencies sign memorandum of understanding

The National Research Foundation of Ukraine (NRFU) and the Dutch Research Council (NWO) have signed an agreement to work on bilateral or multilateral funding calls and promote international exchange of know-how.

The memorandum of understanding was signed by NRFU director Olga Polotska who visited The Hague last week.

More details here.

EU launches online portal for climate adaptation mission

The European Commission has launched an online portal to help drive forward the EU’s mission on adaptation to climate change.

The portal provides information about the mission and latest developments regarding delivery of research and innovation projects and initiatives on climate adaptation. The website will enable regions and local authorities to work on preparing for worsening impacts of the climate and biodiversity crises.

More details here.

European University Association elects new president

Josep M. Garrell is the new president of the European University Association (EUA). He was elected this morning at the EUA’s general assembly in Gdańsk.

Until 2022, Garrell served as rector of Ramon Llull University in Barcelona for ten years. He is also a former vice-president of the Conference of Rectors of Spanish Universities (CRUE) and has been a member of the EUA Board since 2019.

Garrell, who will take up the role from 1 July, succeeds Michael Murphy, former president of University College Cork, after a four-year term.

ERRIN launches soil protection manifesto with support from European Commission

The European Regions Research and Innovation Network (ERRIN) has launched a manifesto along with the European Commission to support the EU’s soil mission.

The manifesto is aimed at regional and local policy-makers, stakeholders and citizens who wish to get behind the EU’s work to protect soil health through the missions component of the Horizon Europe fund. It is voluntary.

Those who sign the document will get access to the latest research results relating to soil protection, and will have opportunities to participate in activities and events centred around the topic.

Germany updates plan for research transfer in particle physics

Germany’s research ministry has come up with an updated version of its plan for translating research on small particles, and the structure and function of matter into innovation.

The universe and matter research action plan was first revealed in 2017, encompassing 1.5 billion in funding each year. It’s been updated twice. This third edition outlines how Germany will reach three new goals: getting ideas off the ground, involving stakeholders and strengthening skills. There’s €9.5 million in seed funding to enable funding, networking and skill building projects.

“We will facilitate cooperation between research and industry at an early stage. We will provide incentives for better exploitation of the results. And with our start-up funding, we want to significantly increase the number of spin-offs,” said research minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger.

EIT Health and IHI to work together on health R&I

EIT Health and Innovative Health Initiative (IHI), the EU’s industrial research partnership, will work together to improve healthcare entrepreneurship and innovation.

Signing a formal agreement today, the two EU health research programmes will now identify areas and means for collaboration. This will include finding ways to leverage EIT Health’s accelerator and access to finance programmes to build on the results of IHI’s work.

“The MoU marks the start of a new strategic relationship between our organisations and paves the way for exploring joint actions on shared objectives,” Jean-Marc Bourez, CEO of EIT Health.

The collaboration is part of wider efforts to establish closer links between different parts of the EU’s €95.5 billion Horizon Europe research programme thus leveraging impact.

Universities support EU governments’ ambition to improve academic publishing system

EU member states are set to adopt conclusions on improving the academic publishing system, a move which the Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities says could pave the way for the development of alternative, less expensive publishing models.

Next month, EU research ministers will express support for open-access publishing models that do not burden authors with extortionate article-processing charges (APCs).

These fees, universities argue, contribute to inequalities in the academic world and dissuade researchers from publishing their work in the most appropriate outlets. The Guild calls for the development of alternative models that enable fee-free open access publishing.

"Our universities are alarmed: their publication expenditures are hitting the ceiling,” said Julien Chicot, senior policy officer at The Guild. “What we need is that this system comes back to its first and foremost objective: give all researchers the most appropriate, equitable, and effective means to disseminate, and access to, high-quality research outputs."

Commission to highlight Knowledge Valorisation initiative in week of events

The European Commission is to highlight its Knowledge Valorisation initiative with a series of events taking place from April 25 to 28.

The initiative is aimed at turning research results into solutions more efficiently, which the EU hopes to promote during its Knowledge Valorisation Week.

Each day will have a different focus, ranging from sustainability, to management of intellectual assets to cooperation between industry and academia. On Friday, there will be a skills day aimed at researchers and young innovators.

A full programme outlining the event is available here

AI technologies need closer political attention say MEPs in open letter

A group of 11 MEPs from across the political spectrum are calling on industry, researchers and decision-makers to pay more attention to the potential dangers of very powerful artificial intelligence.

In an open letter, the MEPs stated their intention to try to shape the EU’s AI act to make it “human-centric, safe and trustworthy”.

They also called on European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and US President Joe Biden to convene a high-level summit with the goal of setting out principles on the governance of AI technologies.

The MEPs cited an open letter by the Future of Life Institute, which has been signed by Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak and tech business magnate Elon Musk, which called for a six-month moratorium on the training of advanced AI systems. While the MEPs distanced themselves from the more “alarmist” elements of this letter, they showed their support for what they called the letter’s core message, that the rapid development of AI requires close political attention.

The European Commission set out its strategy on AI in 2021, which includes the development of an AI Act that it hopes will serve as a blueprint for coordinated global governance related to AI technologies.

Commission opens public consultation on its technology transfer exception regulation

The European Commission has today launched a public consultation to get feedback on its Technology Transfer Block Exemption Regulation (TTBER), which, in certain cases, allows companies to share their technology with others without violating EU competition law.

The aim of the regulation is to make it easier for companies to legally share their technology in order to boost innovation and increase competition.

The public consultation is open until 24 July this year and follows on from a ‘Call for Evidence’ about how the TTBER is applied in practice, which was launched last November.

ERC selects consortium to support science journalism in €1.5M project

The ERC has selected a consortium of organisations that will provide support to science journalists around the EU, such as funding extended stays with research teams and providing specific training on ethical reporting.

The FRONTIERS project is the winning consortium, which will receive a grant of €1.5 million to cover the period of 2023 to 2027.

The consortium includes partners such as the Centre for Ethics in Science and Journalism from Italy, the NOVA University of Lisbon, the Pompeu Fabra University in Spain and Enspire Science from Israel, which will coordinate the project.

ERC president Maria Leptin said of the project: “Quality journalism is necessary to safeguard democracy, which is our collective responsibility. All institutions and bodies should contribute, and the ERC is certainly no exception. I hope we can send a strong signal to the research and media communities – and beyond.”

EUA backs ‘open by default’ approach to international academic collaboration

The European University Association (EUA) has called on the European Commission to not let protection measures interfere in international collaboration between universities.

The association was responding to a public call for evidence as part of its Defending European democracy initiative.

The EUA acknowledged that there is risk in certain international collaboration in research and academia, but backed the ‘open by default’ principle that served the Commission’s 2021 ‘Global approach to research and innovation’.

A ‘blanket ban’ on cooperation with higher education institutions in countries deemed as a threat to the EU risks hindering progress, the EU states.

The EUA also called for greater protection for academic freedom and institutional autonomy as well as promotion of the role universities play in democratic societies.

University calls on EU to acknowledge role of R&I in democracies

The EU should include research and innovation needs and priorities in its upcoming defence of democracy policy package, the University of Bergen told the European Commission in latest public consultation on the topic.

Universities play a key role in contributing to the public debate by providing knowledge and innovation, offering education and playing as a forum for discussion. The EU’s policy in defence of democracy should support their role, the university suggests.

The paper lists four areas of action: prioritise research within the humanities to foster dialogue, acknowledge importance of research on the European heritage and art, fund legal and political research, and promote research on human and civil rights and AI.

New €260M Horizon Europe call for postdoc fellowships

The latest Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) funding call for postdoctoral fellowships opened today with a budget of €260 million.

The call, open until 13 September, will fund 1200 projects allowing researchers that hold a PhD to continue their academic careers through advanced training and international, interdisciplinary and inter-sectoral mobility.

Like many Horizon Europe programmes, the MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships attracts a surplus of applications and not all excellent proposals can be funded due to insufficient budgets. To help those that fail to receive funding find it elsewhere, last week the European Commission awarded Seal of Excellence certificates to 1,607 such researchers.

Poland to invest €158M in green hydrogen production

Poland is set to grant its oil and gas company PKN Orlen €158 million to install 100 MW of green hydrogen capacity in its refineries, after the European Commission approved the state aid.

The money will be invested in Orlen’s LOTOS Green H2 project enabling the of use the sustainable gas in refinery production processes. The green hydrogen electrolyser is set to start running from 2027, gradually increasing its production up to 13,600 tonnes of renewable hydrogen per year.

The project feeds into the EU’s ambition to become a major green hydrogen economy as it races to reach net zero emissions by 2050.

Spain becomes full member of SKA Observatory project

Spain has become the latest country to join the Square Kilometre Array Observatory (SKAO) project as a full associated member. SKAO is an international radio telescope project being constructed in sites in both Australia and South Africa.

As a full member, Spain will support the financial costs of the project with a contribution of €41.4 million, to be paid out during the initial construction phase between 2021 - 2030, Spain’s Ministry of Science and Innovation announced.

The formalisation of Spain’s association to the project means Spanish companies can participate in the construction of the two radio telescopes.

News of Spain’s association comes after an announcement in late March by German Federal Research Minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger that Germany would pursue full membership of SKAO.

EIC funds 44 cutting edge research projects in €167M call

The European Innovation Council (EIC) will fund 44 new projects in six strategic areas in the latest €167 million Pathfinder funding round.

The EU innovation agency’s Pathfinder programme funnels money into high risk research projects exploring early-stage ideas for radically new technologies. This latest call set out six strategic areas for projects: carbon dioxide and nitrogen management and valorisation; integrated energy storage; cardiogenomics; tech to support a shift from episodic to continuous healthcare; DNA-based digital data storage; and quantum information processing, communication and sensing.

The projects will feed into the EIC’s portfolio of projects that explore different approaches to solving tech questions set out by Pathfinder challenges, looking to increase societal impact.

EU to fund remote fellowships for Ukrainian research teams

A new EU scheme is set to give out remote fellowships to Ukrainian researchers to help them continue work disrupted by Russia’s war.

The grants will run for six to 12 months and will fund teams to carry on research project in collaboration with EU counterparts. Priority will be given to projects directly showing close collaboration with European scientists and contributing to the running and reconstruction of Ukrainian research infrastructures.

Principle investigators from Ukraine can submit applications on behalf of their research teams until 8 May. The funds will be provided under Horizon Europe’s EURIZON project.

New draft of Horizon Europe annotated grant agreement

The European Commission has released yet another update of the draft annotated grant agreement (AGA), a guide to Horizon Europe grant agreements.

The guide, an essential source for applicants who struggle to understand legal language, simplifies the terms and conditions of the grant process, such as calculating personnel costs, security, protecting intellectual property rights and clauses on confidentiality

The first draft guide was released in July 2021, shortly after the launch of the first big Horizon Europe calls. It was again updated in November 2021.

You can find the new AGA here.

Commission opens new calls for projects to use In-Orbit Demonstration and Validation service

The Commission has today opened two new calls for projects to participate in In-orbit Demonstration and Validation (IOD/IOV) experiments between 2023 and 2026.

The IOD/IOV service supports companies or institutions in testing new technologies in orbit.

These latest calls for expression of interest are open until 15 March 2026 with several cut-off dates planned. The first application period will close on 31 May this year.

Horizon Europe 2023-24 budget topped up with extra €64M for renewables and civil security

The European Commission has today amended its 2023-34 Horizon Europe work programme to include an extra €64 million that will go towards boosting civil security for society and renewable energy.

Of the additional funds, €50 million will be used to add six new topics under the area of civil security for society. This provides investment into research and innovation activities aimed at fighting hate speech, boosting border surveillance and strengthening the resilience of critical infrastructure operators. A total of 12 projects are expected to receive funding in these areas over the next two years.

The remainder of the money will act as additional investment into renewable energy-related projects.

This extra funding brings the total 2023-24 work programme budget up to €13.5 billion.

Commission adopts €1.2B European Defence Fund work programme

The European Commission’s newly adopted annual work programme for the European Defence Fund (EDF), worth €1.2 billion, includes a 50% funding boost for non-thematic R&D activities in calls aimed at SMEs and research organisations. 

The new work programme was adopted today. Calls for submissions will be opened in mid-June, with a deadline of 22 November. 

The calls under the work programme aim to “prepare the ground for the development of next generation fighter systems, main battle tanks, European indirect fire capabilities, as well as strategic air transportation of outsized cargo, a core capability for rapid mission support worldwide”, a Commission press release states.

Commission launches €100M call for small-scale clean-tech projects via Innovation Fund

The European Commission has today launched its third call for small-scale projects under the Innovation Fund, offering projects working in various fields of the clean energy sector the opportunity to win up to €100 million in financing. 

The projects eligible should have a capital expenditure of between €2.5 and €7.5 million, with the Innovation Fund money permitted to finance up to 60% of a project’s capital expenditure. 

The Innovation Fund provides investment for the development and deployment of new technologies aimed at reducing greenhouse gas emissions and combating climate change.

It is financed through the EU’s Emissions Trading System (ETS). This works by setting a cap on the amount of emissions that certain companies produce. Those that produce fewer emissions than the set limit can sell their unused allowance to other companies. The EU is able to use some of that revenue to pump into the Innovation Fund. 

ERC announces 218 new winners of Advanced Grants

The European Research Council (ERC) has announced 218 new winners of its Advanced Grants, worth a total of €544 million. The prestigious grants are given to experienced scientists or researchers who have made significant strides already in their fields.

The majority of the winners will base their research in Germany, with 37 choosing it as their host country. This is followed by the UK with 35, France with 32 and Spain with 16.

There are 36 German winners, 32 French winners, 21 Italians and 19 British.

The UK is currently still not associated to Horizon Europe, with talks between Brussels and London ongoing after Brexit. It means that any projects based in the UK will not be eligible for the funding unless the association negotiations are successful before the grant agreement needs to be signed, or the winners choose to move their project to another associated country.

Female researchers made up 23% of the winners, which makes it the highest proportion ever in the Advanced Grant call.

Maria Leptin, ERC President, welcomed this progress, saying she was “especially pleased” to see a high number of female winners.

“We look forward to seeing the results of the new projects in the years to come, with many likely to lead to breakthroughs and new advances,” she added.

In total there were 1,650 applications for Advanced Grants, meaning the success rate was 13.2%.

Tech companies partner with EIT to train 500,000 people in deep tech by 2025

Technology companies and institutions around Europe have pledged to train up to 500,000 people in deep-tech linked skills by 2025 in an initiative led by the European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT).

Abodoo, Computer Vision Center, Generation, Intel Corporation, JA Europe, the Tampere University of Applied Sciences, and the Technical University of Cluj-Napoca have all signed up to support the EIT’s Deep Tech Talent Initiative.

“The EIT and our new partners all share a vision where deep tech like AI – which is changing the world as we speak – is developed and used first and foremost to help humanity with challenges like climate change, sustainable food production, and health crises,” said Nektarios Tavernarakis, chair of the EIT governing board.

“I look forward to working together with our new pledgers to develop the talent that will carry out this vision.”

High level of female leaders among 32 winners of latest EIC Accelerator competition

A group of 32 companies have been selected as winners of the first European Innovation Council cut-off of the year and will receive a total of €195.8 million in funding. Of those companies, 40% have a female CEO, CTO or CSO – the highest proportion so far in the competition’s history.

There were a total of 476 applicants for the first cut-off which closed in January, with that number gradually whittled down to the final 32. The winners include a quantum technology company from Poland, a nano-coatings technology company from Latvia and a Swedish company developing a new softener for bone cement that will help in the treatment of patients with vertebral fractures.

A further 126 companies that did not receive funding but did meet all the criteria at the remote evaluation stage will receive a Seal of Excellence to prove their company’s worth when applying for other grants.

Another EIC Accelerator cut-off also just closed on 22 March, with 551 applicants.

Commission announces call to support Regional Innovation Valleys initiative

The European Commission has launched a call for expressions of interest as part of a plan to establish 100 Regional Innovation Valleys, in which regional stakeholders collaborate with cross-border partners.

The programme is part of the New European Innovation Agenda that aims to make the EU a leader in deep-tech innovation.

The call for expression of interest for Regional Innovation Valleys was announced at an event in Brussels today to promote another initiative, the Partnerships for Regional Innovation (PRIs).

The Valleys initiative is meant to build on both the Smart Specialisation initiative and the PRIs.

“Innovation is Europe’s best response to the challenges of the green and digital transitions. For the first time, Cohesion Policy Funds and the Horizon Europe programme [will] work closely together to support interregional cooperation for innovation,” said Elisa Ferreira, European commissioner for Cohesion and Reforms.

“With the Regional Innovation Valleys we aim to establish a community of regions that meet local challenges and needs whilst contributing to the EU’s strategic priorities,” EU research commissioner Mariya Gabriel said announcing the call.

“Committing to become a regional innovation valley means building resilience in the face of global competition. We call on regions to join forces and develop a robust European innovation ecosystem,” Gabriel said.

EU needs to agree on common definition of academic freedom, Parliament says

A new report by the European Parliament has identified concerns over government interference in the affairs of universities and research institutions in Hungary, Croatia, Denmark, Greece, Ireland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia.

Legal changes to the governance relationships between the government and universities in these countries could enable politicians to interfere in institutional matters in academia.

Members of the European Parliament have been sounding the alarm over declining academic freedom in the EU, after Hungary managed to force the Central European University to move from Budapest to Vienna.

In this report, the Parliament calls for a common definition of academic freedom across all member states and for a new monitoring system, including a bigger role for the Parliament's STOA committee as an "academic freedom clearing house".

The report also calls on the European Commission to introduce new calls in Horizon Europe and Erasmus+ for research projects on academic freedom.

Boost investment in space exploration or fall behind, ESA told

Europe must jump onboard of the ongoing human space exploration revolution and increase investment to secure its space autonomy, leading space experts told the European Space Agency (ESA).

The panel of 12 experts presented their independent report on the state of European space exploration to the ESA Council in Paris last week.

“Europe’s goal should be to capture one third of this future market,” the report says. “Countries and regions that will not secure their independent access to space and its autonomous use, will become strategically dependent and economically deprived of a major part of this value chain.”

Today, Europe has no independent human launch capacity and relies on non-European partners to send humans to space. This must change if Europe wants to be a leading space economy.

Regions in Bulgaria and Romania ranked last in latest EU innovation league

The European Commission has published the latest edition of its regional competitiveness report, according to which, regions in Bulgaria and Romania score the lowest in the innovation sub-index.

Capitals Sofia and Bucharest are getting closer to EU average innovation performance, but regions outside the capitals are ranked well below EU and national averages.

The average innovation performance of the Warsaw region in Poland is also dragged down by lower scores in other regions.

Overall, the report shows regions in central and eastern Europe continue having difficulties in catching up with innovation performance in the rest of the bloc.

The report is available here.

EU-US technology and innovation working group meets to discuss cooperation in nuclear fusion research

The technology and innovation working group of the EU-US Energy Council has met earlier this month to discuss cooperation in nuclear fusion research.

The meeting was co-chaired by Maria Cristina Russo, director for global approach and international cooperation in research & innovation at the European Commission and Joshua Volz, deputy assistant aecretary for Europe, Eurasia, Africa, and Middle East, at the US Department of Energy.

A new Model Project Agreement (MPA) is to allow the EU and the US broaden the scope of joint research activities on fusion, and increase the number of fusion projects financed.

ERC: New evaluation panels and lump sum funding coming up in 2024 work programme

The European Research Council (ERC) has announced plans to restructure some of its evaluation panels and to introduce lump sum funding in Advanced Grants in the work programme for next year.

The ERC work programme for 2024 is to be formally adopted later this year, but the funding agency has decided to publish now details about the changes so researchers can adapt ahead of the publication of individual calls.

More details here.

ERC study on data repositories highlights complexity of complying with open science rules

A new ERC study that analysed 220 data repositories has found that over 90% of trusted ones are in line with basic open science requirements.

However, only three of the repositories met all the mandatory requirements for metadata and none of them met all the mandatory and recommended requirements that are set out in Horizon Europe grant agreements.

In general, the study highlighted how complicated it is to know whether data repositories meet open science requirements.

To help researchers, the ERC set out a list of repositories that researchers can use to comply with open science rules.

Call for ‘holistic’ assessment of European Universities Initiative

The European University Association (EUA) has called for a holistic assessment of the progress of the European Universities initiative.

European Universities brings higher education institutions from around 30 different countries to cooperate on education, research and innovation.

The idea for the initiative was proposed by the Commission back in 2017, with the goal of creating a European Education Area by 2025.

EUA has said that with the pilot phase of the initiative over, it is now necessary to measure the progress in a wider way, with focus so far too much focused on quantitative measurements.

It sets out its key considerations in a policy note available here.

Swiss delegation travels to Singapore for defence technology summit

A delegation from Switzerland’s Federal Office for Defence Procurement is in Singapore this week to attend the country’s defence technology summit. The trip comes after an invitation from the head of Singapore’s Defence Science and Technology agency, Merwyn Tan.

The visit will give representatives of both countries the chance to discuss collaboration on defence, defence technology and security.

The visit comes as Switzerland remains locked out of the EU’s research and innovation programme Horizon Europe owing to an ongoing disagreement about the country’s relationship to the EU.

It also comes as European countries and the EU in general attempt to ramp up spending on defence in light of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In 2021, European defence spending reached over €200 billion for the first time, an increase of 6% on 2020. However, just prior to Russia’s invasion, the budget for the European Defence Fund was cut from an initially proposed €13 billion to just shy of €8 billion. Since then, there have been calls from MEPs to increase the budget.

EIT Digital appoints Federico Menna as CEO

Federico Menna is to succeed Willem Jonker as CEO of EIT Digital, one of the nine Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs) of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT).

Jonker was at the helm of EIT Digital for ten years, before moving back to The Netherlands to run a new national agency for artificial intelligence. Since his departure, Menna has served as interim CEO.

Newly appointed in the permanent role, Menna says his goal as new CEO is to expand the footprint of EIT Digital in Europe and establish new regional offices. “It is my goal to further expand our strong ecosystem across Europe to ensure that many more partners will benefit from EIT Digital’s impact on digital innovation, entrepreneurship and talent,” he said.

High demand for EIC breakthrough research funding

The latest EIC Pathfinder Open call received 788 project proposals requesting €2.4 billion of grant support, thirteen times more than it can fund.

The European Innovation Council’s Pathfinder programme funds interdisciplinary high-risk science-towards-technology projects in all fields of research. Interest is high, with only 60 applicants, a total of 7.6%, set to receive financing from the indicative €179.5 million funding pot.

Low success rates are a common problem across EU’s research programmes, and the recently launched EIC is no exception, recording a high level of interest across its calls.

EU Commission adopts 2023-25 Euratom work programme

The European Commission has adopted the Euratom work programme for 2023-25, including plans for €132 million in funding for projects focused on the safety of small modular reactors, the development of nuclear materials and the secure management and disposal of radioactive waste.

Most of the projects will be carried out through co-funded European partnerships. More details here.

Gabriel visits Slovenia to launch ‘enhanced dialogue’ on R&I policy

EU commissioner for research and innovation Mariya Gabriel has visited Slovenia last week to kick off a new know-how exchange process on research and innovation policy between Ljubljana and Brussels.

Gabriel said the talks are aimed at tackling research policy challenges that Slovenia faces. Slovenian research minister Igor Papič said the new bottom-up process for research policy, the so-called enhanced dialogue on research and innovation policy, “will reinforce our efforts strengthening research and innovation in Slovenia.”

EU and Slovenian delegations met in Ljubljana last week to discuss innovation, hydrogen and green technologies and attracting research talent.

MSCA: €429 million to fund 149 doctoral programmes

Horizon Europe will invest €429 million in 149 doctoral programmes in academia and industry, under the latest Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) call.

The awarded programmes will train over 1,650 doctoral candidates in all fields of science, of which a third will be in engineering and ICT.

The funding includes €47.5 million for 14 programmes aimed at training PhD candidates in industry and €43.6 million for 12 programmes that lead to joint or multiple doctoral degrees.

Horizon Europe association should be ‘a priority’ in EU-Swiss relations, says Šefčovič

In a speech at the University of Fribourg on Wednesday, European Commission vice-president Maroš Šefčovič said a fresh start in EU-Swiss relations would also include Horizon Europe association.

“Swiss association in Horizon Europe, the EU's key research and innovation funding programme of some €95.5 billion, would be a priority in the joint way forward,” Šefčovič said.

However, he warned that progress Switzerland’s participation in Horizon Europe would need to “move at the same pace on all underlying issues in our relations.”

Switzerland has been locked out of the programme due to broader political disagreements between Brussels and Bern that began unfolding in 2021 when Switzerland abandoned talks on an overarching agreement with the EU.

Auditors accuse Fraunhofer executives of excessive luxury spending

Germany’s audit office has found Fraunhofer, Germany’s largest applied research organisations, to have wasted large sums of its budget on luxury dinners, cars and hotels.

The December report had initially been classified but Tagesspiegel leaked the story. On Tuesday, the auditors published the report.

Federal research minister Bettina Stark-Watzinger reacted, saying the report “raises numerous and serious allegations” against Fraunhofer and its board.” She added that the ministry has asked Fraunhofer to improve its compliance management system.

Here is the report in German.

Almost 70% of 2021 science publications in France are open access

Open access publishing is on the rise in France, with 67% of scientific publications published in 2021 found in open science journals as of December 2022.

This marks a five point increase compared to the previous year and 29 points since 2028, according to the latest edition of the Open Science Barometer. And there’s progress in all fields of science: at least half of all 2021 publications are available free or charge in each discipline.

France, much like the rest of the EU, has been pushing for more open access publishing in recent years. EU governments are currently debating a joint position on advancing open access in the EU Council of member states, to be adopted before July.

Spain to pilot €30 million fund for research groups to explore new ideas

Spain is set to trial a new science funding programme, which will provide researchers with stable funding for four years to explore their ideas, without being tied to specific projects.

The soon-to-be-launched pilot will have a budget of €30 million and finance around 72 health research groups this year, each with around €100,000.

The government promises the new type of non-prescriptive funding will be more flexible and less bureaucratic, and will complement project-based financing for science.

Following the trial period, the programme is expected to grow to €700 million a year by 2033. This will cover 70% of all research groups in Spain, as the government estimates there are around 10,000 consolidated research groups in the country.

The new programme is part of Spain's new science law, which aims to tackle precarity of research careers in the country, a growing concern in the EU.

Commission asks for feedback on its executive agencies

The European Commission wants stakeholder feedback on the work of its six executive agencies, to feed into their three-year evaluation.

For research stakeholders, the agencies in question are the Research Executive Agency (REA), which manages a large portfolio of Horizon grants, the European Research Council Executive Agency (ERCEA), and the Executive Agency for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (EISMEA), whose brief includes large parts of the European Innovation Council (EIC).

The consultation is open until 7 April.

OECD to release latest edition of flagship science and tech report on Thursday

The 2023 STI Outlook report on global trends in science and technology (STI) is set to be out on Thursday.

The OECD’s flagship biennial report is a key source informing STI policy, as it tracks global patterns and their potential implications on and for national and international policies.

This year, the focus will fall on the transformation of energy, agrifood, and mobility systems, boosting investments in low-carbon technologies, and international cooperation amid rising geopolitical tensions.

The European Commission and the OECD will hold a public event exploring the implications of the global trends detailed in the upcoming report on Thursday afternoon.

Commissioner Gabriel plans innovation event in Silicon Valley

EU commissioner for research and innovation Mariya Gabriel is planning a series of events in San Francisco next week, as companies and tech investors are struggling to cope with the sudden collapse of the Silicon Valley Bank, one of the biggest tech lenders in the US.

Gabriel will bring along a delegation of more than 40 representatives of the EU research and innovation community, from mayors to start-up founders and rectors for the EU Innovation Forum, and hold a roundtable on how European companies can tap into the Silicon Valley innovation pool.

She previously visited Silicon Valley in October last year to promote the EU’s new innovation agenda and to hold meetings with academics, start-up founders and venture capitalists.

EU mulls creation of space law as plan for defence strategy is announced

The EU is to consider creating an EU Space Law to bring consistency to the European space sector in terms of security, safety and sustainability.

The announcement was made today in a first-ever joint communication on a European space strategy for security and defence between the European Commission and the high representative.

Aside from a common space law, the strategy proposes the creation of an analysis centre looking at space capabilities and to increase Europe’s space technology autonomy.

The joint communication follows on from an agreement made last year between EU leaders to identify space as a key strategic area.

The Commission and the High Representative will soon present further details to member states on implementing the strategy.

Switzerland plans changes to research and innovation act to support new CERN projects

Switzerland has launched a consultation on changes to its Federal Act on the Promotion of Research and Innovation (RIPA) to make sure the laws support new projects at CERN.

The country’s Federal Council announced the consultation today and will send an eventual bill on amendments to the RIPA to the Swiss parliament by the end of the year.

In a statement, the Federal Council stated that it was drawing up a plan to make sure that new CERN projects will be compatible with “the objectives of Swiss research, host state, environmental and spatial planning policies, and that they are implemented in the best possible administrative conditions”.

For this plan to go ahead, changes to the RIPA are required.

Ninth European Capital of Innovation Awards launched

The contest is open to all cities in EU member states or in countries associated to Horizon Europe with a population of at least 50,000. Six prizes will be given out under the categories of ‘European Capital of Innovation’ and ‘Rising Innovative City’.

The winner of the European Capital of Innovation will win €1 million. Last year, the award went to Aix-Marseille Provence metropole in southern France, while the Rising Innovative City award was won by Haarlem in the Netherlands.

European research commissioner Mariya Gabriel said, “Cities play a key role in creating a supportive and inclusive ecosystem, where innovation is designed to benefit its citizens. [They are] a place where technology, innovation, learning and knowledge are fostered by bringing together different partners, from civil society and universities to local businesses, SMEs or start-ups.”

The call for applications is open until 29 June.

Commission announces increased 2023 budget for Erasmus+ with a special focus on Ukraine

The budget for the Erasmus+ work programme has been raised to €4.43 billion for this year, following the Commission’s adoption of a revision today.

The budget for last year was just under €4 billion.

The 2023 revised programme includes €100 million pulled from the 2027 budget, to help people fleeing the war in Ukraine, and educational organisations and staff remaining in the country.

The total budget for Erasmus+ for 2021 - 2027 is €26.2 billion, with an additional €2.2 billion available through other EU instruments.

The next Erasmus+ call for proposals, focusing on cooperation partnerships – particularly for students and staff in Ukraine – will open on 22 March.

Swiss talk open science with EU

The Swiss state secretary for education and R&I Martina Hirayama met with the representatives of the European Open Science Cloud (EOSC) in Bern today to discuss open science.

During the meeting, Hirayama emphasised Switzerland wants to play an active role in the European Research Area (ERA) and take part in efforts to move towards more open science.

The EU and Switzerland have a long history of working together in R&I but for the past few years Switzerland has not been allowed to associate with the EU’s research programme Horizon Europe due to wider political disputes.

Gabriel kicks off first women founders summit

EU R&I commissioner Mariya Gabriel opened the first European Female Founders Summit and called for continued support for women innovators on International Women’s Day.

“Girls and women are still underrepresented in STEM fields and women-led companies have difficult access to venture capital”, said Gabriel. “This is not only a matter of equal opportunities. Closing the gender gap in STEM alone could lead to GDP growth of up to €820 billion by 2050.”

The EU research programme Horizon Europe has around €2,6 billion in funding contributing to gender equality and asks applicants on all its calls to prove they have gender equality plans in place at their organisations. Under Horizon, the Commission also runs Women TechEU, a support, coaching and mentoring scheme for women-led start-ups. But the gender gap persists in Europe’s R&I ecosystem: last year women-led start-ups received just 2% of venture capital investment in Europe.

Spain gives green light to new space agency

The government this week approved the creation of the Spanish Space Agency, which will guide the country’s strategic action and investments in the field of space.

The agency will have a budget of more than €700 million in its first year and a staff of 75 people to help the country develop more space technology and use it areas such as security, earth observation, geolocation or telecommunications.

The move is part of the country’s revamped science law and accompanies a series of actions aimed at strengthening the Spanish space sector.

More than 300 regions and local authorities join Horizon-funded climate adaptation mission

The European Commission has announced that 301 regions and local authorities have signed the EU mission for adaptation to climate change.

The mission is funding projects worth €370 million from Horizon Europe for the 2021-2023 period. The research and innovation projects will help regions understand how to rebuild areas affected by extreme weather, create floodplains and explore climate resilient types of farming.

By signing the charter, regional and local authorities agree to cooperate and mobilise resources to reach their climate adaptation goals.

Ireland makes funding available for national open research plan

Ireland’s minister for higher education and research Simon Harris has announced €1.9 million in funding to advance the country’s action plan for open research, which is aimed at increasing public engagement with research and citizen science.

In addition, the open research action plan also aims to hep Ireland’s research sector to transition to full open access to research publications.

At the EU level, the European Commission is already requiring recipients of its research grants to publish results in open access publications.

More details about Ireland’s plan are available here.

EU commission adopts recommendations on handling standards and intellectual assets

The European Commission has published a code of practice for the management of intellectual assets and a code of practice on standardization.

The publication of the documents represents a step forward in implementing the Commission’s plan for knowledge valorisation announced in December. The Commission says the documents provide guidance for researchers and innovators on intellectual asset management and on how best to use the results for standardisation.

EU commissioner for research and innovation Mariya Gabriel said the codes of practice will enable the deployment of new technologies.

Leaked: new version of draft EU countries’ statement on scientific publishing

EU member states have made a few tweaks to their upcoming conclusions on the state of scientific publishing, in the newest version of the draft document seen by Science|Business.

The draft conclusions, to be signed off in the next couple of months, aim to ensure the scientific publishing industry is fair and sustainable as it edges towards a free-to-read model.

In the newest reiteration of the draft text adds stronger references to research assessment reform, multilingualism and clarifies clauses on peer review.

Find our latest story on the conclusions here.

Call to ‘shelter’ ERC and MSCA from budget cuts

The Initiative for Science in Europe (ISE) is calling on EU policymakers to safeguard the budget of the European Research Council (ERC), the EU’s main science funder; and the academic exchange programme Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA).

In a paper submitted to the European Commission’s survey on the past and future of EU research and innovation programmes, ISE says both programmes are underfunded and “a significant number of submitted proposals which passed the threshold of excellence cannot be funded.”

According to the paper, the budget of the two programmes should be increased after 2027. In the meantime, for the remainder of Horizon Europe, their budget should be “shielded from any cut.”

The position paper is available here.

EU to invest €320M in ocean protection research projects

The EU will invest €320 million in ocean research to protect marine sea life and tackle climate change issues as part of a broader package of measures announced today.

Part of that money will go towards the EU Mission ‘Restore Our Ocean and Waters by 2030’, with funds also being directed towards the All-Atlantic Ocean Research Alliance and the Digital Twin of the Ocean project.

In total and beyond investment in research, the EU will put €816.5 million towards 39 commitments aimed at ocean management, tackling marine pollution and generally protecting the ocean’s biodiversity.

The announcement comes as the eighth edition of the Our Ocean conference takes place in Panama.

The Guild joins agreement on research assessment reform

European university network The Guild has signed the Agreement to Reforming Research Assessment to underline its commitment to a fairer system of research assessment.

The agreement was put together by Science Europe, the European University Association, and research policy advisor Karen Stroobants with support from the European Commission.

Jan Palmowski, secretary-general of The Guild, announced the network’s signature of the agreement on Wednesday.

“Whether our members are signatories or not, our universities have all been deeply involved in discussions in their communities and beyond to ensure that assessment captures as best as possible research excellence and its scientific, societal, cultural or impact,” he wrote in a public post.

“This is a time when how we do our research, and what is expected of a researcher, is changing rapidly, and it's important that research assessment reflects this change.”

IZTECH publish position paper as part of Horizon Europe public feedback call

The Polish Chamber of Commerce for High Tech Technology (IZTECH) has published its position paper on past, present and future EU framework programmes, which it submitted to the European Commission as part of a call for feedback.

In its report, it makes several recommendations to improve Horizon Europe, highlighting for example the need to bridge the east-west innovation gap by capitalising on all EU member states.

APRE submits Horizon Europe feedback to the Commission

The Italian Agency for the Promotion of European Research (APRE) has published a report it submitted to the European Commission in response to a call for public feedback on the past, present and future of its research programmes.

The report was produced by a group of experts put together by APRE with the aim of providing feedback for the interim evaluation of Horizon Europe. It is the agency’s first contribution in its series of activities titled “Towards the Mid-Term of Horizon Europe”.

EU steps up ambition in deploying hydrogen valleys

A new declaration signed today sees the European Commission, industry, scientific community and regions commit to stepping up efforts in setting up hydrogen valleys around the EU.

Hydrogen valleys are clusters where hydrogen production, transportation and applications are connected in one geographical area. The new joint declaration calls for sustainable investment, knowledge sharing and development of skills to help build up these regional hydrogen networks.

The EU hopes to double the number of these valleys by 2025 as part of its ambition to have a world-leading renewable hydrogen economy. The current goal is to produce 10 million tonnes of renewable hydrogen in the EU each year by 2030, making the green version of the gas a key part of EU’s energy mix.

Gabriel meets Brussels’ R&I liaison office network

EU research commissioner Mariya Gabriel today held a meeting with the Informal Group of R&I Liaison Offices (IGLO) and urged the network to expand to more countries.

“Today, we invite IGLO to enlarge its membership to Bulgaria, Hungary, Luxembourg, and Portugal,” said Gabriel.

The network of 26 country liaison offices aims to enhance cooperation and information exchange between their representatives in Brussels, their national research systems and European institutions on EU’s research, innovation and education policy.

Unspent Horizon money should be rolled back into the programme, says Leibniz Association

The Leibniz Association calls on the European Commission to recycle unspent Horizon Europe money and roll it back in the research budget.

In a paper submitted to the European Commission survey on EU research programmes which ended last week, the association argues the unspent funds should not be returned to member states.

The European Parliament and the Council have been arguing about this issue for the past few years. While MEPs and the Commission want the committed funds to be kept inside the Horizon Europe budget, member states insist that money should return to national coffers.

The Leibniz Association also calls on the Commission to avoid diverting Horizon money from established research areas to other emerging programmes, such as the Chips Act and the New European Bauhaus.

The paper also calls for additional funding for the European Research Council and a better balance between basic and applied science.

The full paper is available here.

ERC Scientific Council greenlights lump sum pilot for 2024 Advanced Grants

Preconditions needed for the European Research Council (ERC) to introduce lump sum funding to its Advanced grants for experienced researchers starting in 2024 have been met, according to a decision taken by the ERC Scientific Council last week.

The move was first announced by the ERC in June last year. However, at the time, the Scientific Council said piloting the new form of financial disbursement should not affect the autonomy of the principal investigator in managing their grants. The Council also wanted to make sure that there will be not explicit “deliverables” or milestones to be reached that could undermine scientific excellence by preventing researchers from acting upon unexpected findings.

According to an ERC spokesman, the Scientific Council has confirmed that both preconditions have been met and the pilot can move forward.

Currently, ERC grants are distributed based on the real cost of the projects, a process which involves a complicated accounting process. The European Commission argues a new lump sum system would lift the burden of financial reporting, while researchers will be paid on the basis of activities carried out.

University association Coimbra Group submits feedback on EU research programmes

The Coimbra Group, an association of 41 European universities, has submitted its position paper to the European Commission in response to a call for public feedback on the past, present and future of its research programmes.

The association highlights positive aspects of previous and current framework programmes, as well as pointing out several challenges and offering recommendations for improvements. It looks at debatable issues such as the use of lump sum funding, the Missions aspect of the programme, and more broader diversity issues within the research sector.

In a look ahead to the 10th framework programme, which is due to kick off in 2028, the association offers four principle suggestions:

Simplicity and better synergies with other funding sources
Improved accessibility and Inclusiveness
More Transparency and participation in the design process
Increased budget

Read the full paper here.

Conference on innovative solutions to illegal migration in the Schengen area set for March

A conference on the use of innovative technologies to support Schengen area migration management will be held on 28 March, bringing together industry representatives with those from the European Commission, Frontex and Europol.

The conference’s goal, aside from fostering dialogue between policymakers and those in the technology sector, is for companies to showcase their innovative solutions aimed at tackling illegal migration.

More information about the conference can be found here.

MSCA4Ukraine fellowships announced: 124 Ukrainian scientists to continue research abroad

One hundred and twenty-four scientists from Ukraine have been granted fellowship support to continue their research abroad through the MSCA4Ukraine programme.

The winners, made up of 111 post-doctoral researchers and 13 doctoral researchers, will take up their positions from 1 March onwards.

The MSCA4Ukraine initiative was launched in September 2022 to provide support to Ukrainian researchers affected by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

In total, there were over 400 applications. The MSCA4Ukraine helpdesk has committed to supporting unsuccessful applicants with assistance, advice and support in applying for other schemes where possible.

EU research and innovation commission Mariya Gabriel said: “The MSCA4Ukraine initiative is yet another proof of our solidarity with the Ukrainian people. We are proud that 124 scientists will be able to continue their research work and will have access to training, skills and career development opportunities. It is our hope that they will be able to contribute to the reconstruction of their home country once the war is over.”

Ireland invests €63 million in programmes to boost innovation

The Irish government is investing over €63 million in two new programmes to support research and innovation with the support of funds from the European Regional Development Fund.

The first programme is aimed at developing training programmes to support the creation of new products and start-ups and will receive around €30 million.

The second programme will last four years and is designed to create more consistent knowledge transfer practices.

These initiatives are being managed by government agency Enterprise Ireland.

EIC launches lab-to-market support programme

The European Innovation Council (EIC) has launched its Tech to Market Entrepreneurship and Venture Building Programme to support beneficiaries of its EIC Pathfinder and EIC Transition funding in getting their products from the research stage to market.

The idea is to support participants in gaining business skills, and to support them in setting up a start-up through training courses and expert guidance.

A first information session on the programme will take place on 15 March. More details can be found here.

European Investment Fund agrees €211M loan guarantee agreement with Swedish company Almi

Swedish business development company Almi has signed an agreement with the European Investment Fund (EIF), backed by the InvestEU programme, to unlock €211 million for SMEs and micro enterprises in Sweden.

The agreement will provide loan guarantees for companies in three broad fields: Green transition, digitalisation and loan access for microenterprises.

The EIF’s chief executive, Marjut Falkstedt, said, “I am delighted to be signing our first InvestEU guarantee agreement in Sweden with Almi. This deal will allow Almi to increase its lending to small businesses and contribute to boosting innovation, digitalisation and the green transition.”

Widening: 25 new projects to help bridge Europe’s regional innovation gap

The European Commission will sign 12 new agreements for Teaming projects and 13 for Excellence Hubs, under Horizon Europe’s Widening programme tackling Europe’s the east-west innovation divide.

The 12 Teaming projects will create and modernise centres of excellence in Europe’s less innovative regions with the help of leading institutions abroad; extra funding for this will come from structural and other EU funds. The 13 Excellence Hubs projects will aim to create innovation ecosystems in the so-called Widening countries and beyond.

The list of projects can be found here.

Eligibility rules in Horizon Europe remain ‘very complex’, Czech national contact points say

According to a paper by the Czech national contact points, eligibility rules for personal costs in Horizon Europe grants are still very complex. The organisations call for more clarity and more detailed guidance documents.

“The lack of guidance and interpretation of the rules is disturbing and leads to legal uncertainty for beneficiaries,” the paper reads.

Among other complaints, the Czech contact points call for “more detailed explanations and better communications” of rules for blind evaluation. They also say new funding instruments under the Widening programme require improvements.

The paper was submitted to the European Commission for its public consultation on the EU’s research framework programme. The consultation is set to close this week on 23 February. You can submit your feedback here.

Call for ‘stable budget’ for health research in Horizon Europe

Dutch medical universities say the European Commission should secure a “stable budget for health priorities” in Horizon Europe for the coming years.

According to a paper by the Netherlands Federation of University Medical Centers (NFU) annual debates around repurposing Horizon Europe money from one initiative to another should be avoided for the sake of predictability.

The NFU has also proposed a wide range of topics for health research, including an increased focus on mental health research.

Researchers in New Zealand can now apply for Horizon Europe grants

Funding calls under Pillar 2 of Horizon Europe are now open to researchers and organisations from New Zealand.

This is possible under a transitional arrangement between New Zealand and the European Commission until the formal association agreement is approved by Wellington. The arrangement makes New Zealand one of the first countries outside Europe eligible to participate in HorizonEurope.

The association agreement is expected to be signed later this year.

UK and Singapore partner up to support space tech start-ups

The UK’s Science and Technology Facilities Council, a government agency, has signed a new partnership with Singapore Space and Technology Limited, a non-governmental organisation, to help boost growth in space technology start-ups.

The agreement will give the partners greater access to venture capital ecosystems in their respective markets, provide reciprocal access to test facilities, research infrastructures and laboratories and also give Singapore-based start-ups access to the European Space Agency network.

Paul Vernon, executive director for business and innovation at STFC, said:

“There has never been a more exciting time for a business to get involved in the space industry and the opportunities it can bring. I look forward to our continued partnership with Singapore Space and Technology Limited as we support our space tech start-ups in their mission to innovate, flourish and succeed in global markets.”

Commission opens China fellowship calls

The European Commission has opened a call for expressions of interest to bring together experts on China in order to inform EU policymaking.

The Commission plans to engage up to 15 fellows at a time. The main areas of expertise it wants are: politics, geopolitics, security and/or history; human and/or social sciences; economics and/or finance; digital and/or innovation; environment, climate and/or life sciences.

The fellows will be recruited for periods ranging from 6 to 12 months, and will bring together "academics from world-class think tanks and universities".

For more information, interested parties can contact [email protected]">IDEA, the Commission's in-house advisory body.

Negotiations on EU Chips Act ready to begin

The European Parliament this week officially set its negotiating position on the EU Chips Act, giving way to negotiations with member states and the European Commission on the final details of the bill.

The draft bill is aimed at bolstering a home-grown semiconductors industry by boosting production and innovation, and setting up emergency measures against shortages.

It comes in two sets of documents: the Chips Act itself and a regulation for a public-private chips partnerships under the Horizon Europe research programme. The Parliament’s amendments focus on creating a network of centres to bolster skills and projects aiming to boost the security of supply.

When it comes to the partnership, the Parliament is set to fight for serious investment in the research programme. “Europe’s partners and competitors are also investing heavily in their semiconductor facilities, skills and innovation. We may not have the enormous financial firepower of the US, but the budget offered by the Commission and Council needs to reflect the seriousness of the challenge,” said Eva Maydell, rapporteur for the file.

Denmark: €170 million in state aid for renewable hydrogen production

Denmark is set to give its renewable hydrogen industry a boost after the European Commission approved a new €170 million subsidy scheme.

The scheme will support the construction of up to 100-200 MW of electrolysis capacity, enabling to turn water into hydrogen to be used as fuel and in chemical processes.

The bid for direct grants will be open to all companies planning to construct new electrolysers in Denmark.

One week left to submit feedback on EU R&I programmes

The public consultation for the large-scale evaluation of EU’s research framework is set to close in one week, on 23 February.

All interested members of the R&I community are invited to submit their feedback on the previous Horizon 2020 research framework, the first half of the current Horizon Europe programme, and feed into the discussion on the strategic plan for the second half of Horizon Europe.

You can submit your feedback here.