ERRIN News & Events provides reports of main ERRIN activities (public events and project news) and EU research and innovation news from other sources. For more info on ERRIN activities see the weekly newsletters or check check the Director's Blog.
NETWATCH: a platform for transnational R&D programmes
1 February 2010
On 1 February, the European Commission launched NETWATCH, an information platform for the collaboration between transnational R&D programmes, notably the Commission’s own ERA-NET scheme. NETWATCH provides very valuable information on participants in ERA-NETs, a calendar of calls and a list of joint calls launched, as well as a toolbox for call implementation. This website will certainly be an invaluable resource for programme officers managing ERA-NET participations as well as for officials from ministries and agencies owning or managing research programmes that could potentially benefit from participation in the ERA-NET scheme.
NETWATCH can be found here
Source: SwissCore
EIT announces KICs launch conference
February 24, 2010
The EIT and the Spanish Presidency are going to hold the official KIC kick-off conference 2 and 3 June in Barcelona. Participants will have the opportunity to meet several organisations involved in the first three KICs. The event will also focus on the role of business in the Knowledge Triangle and the EIT's global dimension. The launch was originally planned to take place in San Sebastian on 29 and 30 April.
Source: EIT
EC creates two new DGs on Energy and Climate Action and sets up a Research taskforce
February 18, 2010
The European Commission announced the creation of two new Directorate Generals to implement the organisational consequences of the allocation of portfolios to Commissioners: DG Energy (ENER) and DG Climate Action (CLIM). The Energy DG consists of the departments in the former Transport and Energy DG dealing with energy issues and of the Task Force Energy. The departments responsible for transport policy will remain in the renamed Mobility and Transport DG (MOVE). The Climate Action DG will be created from the relevant activities in DG Environment, the activities in the External Relations DG related to international negotiations on climate change and the activities in the Enterprise and Industry DG related to climate change. The Commission also set up a new task force to advance its strategic approach on research.
Source: European Commission
ECA publishes opinion on how to improve the financial management of the EU budget
February 17, 2010
The European Court of Auditors published an opinion entitled "Improving the financial management of the European Union budget: Risks and challenges". This opinion, adopted on 14 January, aims to bring together the main messages of recent annual and special reports of the Court in order to identify the main risks and challenges to reducing further the level of irregularity as well as improving the quality of EU spending. One of the areas that the Court focuses on is EU research policy, in particular FP6 and FP7. The Court calls for radical simplification of the relevant legislative frameworks as well as more cost-effective supervisory and control systems, which could focus more on outputs than inputs.
Source: EARTO
Research wasted as 'demo projects' face funding drought
23 February 2010
The fruits of EU research are not being converted into marketable products due to difficulties in funding"demonstration" projects, according to Bernhard Schleich of SusChem, a European technology platform for sustainable chemistry. Schleich says most funding opportunities in Europe are still "research-oriented". But it is a big step from a research result to a final, marketable product. Here, companies are often left alone because this phase is no longer considered pre-competitive – which is not always the case. Often excellent research will not be developed further because no 'risk funding' is available. He hopes the EU will address this in the forthcoming Innovation Action Plan.
Source: Euractiv
Innovation chief: Venture capital can turn science into commerce
18 February 2010
Europe produces more research papers than the US or Japan but needs an influx of venture capital to turn inventions into commercial success, according to Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, EU commissioner for research, innovation and science. The EU's newly-installed innovation commissioner, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, listed venture capital amongst a series of bottlenecks to innovation in Europe when she briefing journalists on her first day in the job (EurActiv 11/2/10). Venture capital has been creeping up the agenda in recent months and was highlighted by a panel of business exports who reported on the state of Europe's innovation infrastructure for the European Commission last year (EurActiv 14/10/09). The European Investment Fund (EIF) provides venture capital and loan guarantees to small businesses and has stepped up its activity since the outbreak of the financial crisis.
Source: Euractiv
Commissioners mull joint innovation paper
11 February 2010
The EU commissioners for innovation and industry are drawing up a new policy paper to feed into a top-level debate on the direction of innovation strategy. In September 2009, the European Commission announced its plan to publish a European Innovation Act before spring 2010. The plan is being drafted by the EU executive's enterprise arm – which will soon be renamed 'Industry and Entrepreneurship'. The drive towards a more coherent innovation strategy took place during the 2009 European Year of Creativity and Innovation (EYCI), which culminated in the publication of a 'manifesto' for innovation.
Source: Euractiv
EU ministers see science as part of the solution to the crisis and vow to boost investment in R&D
7-8 February 2010
European research ministers made a commitment in San Sebastian to increase investiment in R&D and to promote a culture of trust in scientists. Ministers adopted the Donostia-San Sebastian Declaration, which recognises that fondamental and applied research are part of the solution to the current crisis. The Declaration, which was unanymously approved by European Competitiveness Ministers, and the result of the discussions between Ministers will serve as an input in the preparation of Presidency conclusions in view of the next Competitiveness Council of 1 and 2 March.
Source: EARTO
New role of the advisory body CREST in the ERA
8 February 2010
One of the priorities of the Spanish presidency is to revise the mandate of the Scientific and Technical Research Committee (CREST). Set up in 1974, CREST is an advisory body that assists the European Commission and the Council in performing tasks in the sphere of research and technological development. With the increasing prominence of research on the EU agenda, CREST activities have gained increased importance over the last years.
Source: SwissCore
SME participation in FP7 yields mixed results
8 February 2010
The European Commission has set the goal for FP7 that at least 15% of the funding available under the Cooperation part should go to SMEs. According to the most recent figures, published in autumn 2009, 13.4% (or €850 million out of €6’337 million) of the budget has been granted to SMEs within the Cooperation programme. On average, SME participants receive €268’000, which is €53’000 less than non-SME participants.
Link to the report “Delegating implementing tasks to Executive Agencies: a successful option?”
Source: SwissCore
Special report of the European Court of Auditors on Executive Agencies
8 February 2010
A newly published report on the European Commission’s (EC) Executive Agencies raised the attention of the policy community in Brussels and abroad. Its author, the Court of Auditors, is the European Union’s external auditor or, as the Court puts it itself, the “independent guardian of the financial interests of the Union’s citizens.”
In this function, the Court publishes reports focusing on specific issues on a regular basis. It took on the topic of the Executive Agencies (EA) that have been set up by the EC in recent years, among others the EAs related to research and FP7: the Research Executive Agency and the ERC Executive Agency.
Link to the report “Delegating implementing tasks to Executive Agencies: a successful option?”
Source: SwissCore
ERC: Updated Guide for Peer Reviewers
8 February 2010
The European Research Council (ERC) has recently published an updated Guide for Peer Reviewers (dated September 2009). The guide provides information on the evaluation system, the evaluation criteria, the panel structure, as well as the role of the different reviewers. It is applicable to the ERC Starting Grant (already closed) and Advanced Grant (currently open) Call 2010.
Link to the Guide
Source: SwissCore
New report on research careers in Europe
8 February 2010
In 2007, the European Science Foundation (ESF) launched a joint platform for the exchange of views and development of strategy concepts in the field of research careers. The ESF Member Forum on Research Careers (ES MO Forum) set up three working groups focused on research career structure and development, gender issues and transferable skills.
The conclusions and recommendations of the ESF MO Forum are presented in the newly published report “Research Careers in Europe Landscape and Horizons”. The report should help identify the best strategies to enhance the attractiveness of research careers – an issue that also seems to be a priority for Research Commissioner Maire Geoghegan-Quinn – and hence ensure the competitiveness of the ERA.
Link to the report
Source: SwissCore
New petition for simplified EU research funding launched
8 February 2010
A website supporting a new way of considering research on the European level was launched on 3 February. The initiative aims at raising awareness on this topic and “asks the European Council (sic) and Parliament to urgently simplify the financial and administrative provisions related to the Framework Programme and other European funding instruments considering their important leverage effect for the competitiveness of the European Research Area.”
Link to the petition
Source: SwissCore
Still a long march to an EU patent?
8 February 2010
It has become usual that outgoing EU presidencies claim considerable success in the creation of an EU patent (see Synopsis 2009/4). Also the Swedish Presidency, in this regard no exception, is mentioning a breakthrough for an EU patent. Indeed, the EU Member States agreed on 4 December on some elements that could become the base of a future EU patent and of a single European Patent Court. What the ministers have agreed upon is to think of creating a centralised European patent litigation system. However, on other issues such as the language regime, fees and governance, only little success has been made.…
More information on the EU patent can be found on the website of the Swedish Presidency:
http://www.se2009.eu/en/the_presidency/about_the_eu/competitiveness/facts_eu_patent%20
The Council conclusions of 4 December on the EU patent can be found here:
http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/intm/111744.pdf%20
Source: SwissCore
What do we know about R&D-intensive SMEs?
8 February 2010
The Institute for Prospective Technology Studies (IPTS), an Institute of the EU Joint Research Center (JRC), has just published its most recent Working Paper on Corporate R&D and Innovation. The paper is dealing with R&D-intensive SMEs in Europe. It typifies different groups of R&D-intensive SMEs according to their inputs into the innovation process and makes recommendations how they can be supported most efficiently. For example the type of fast growing SMEs, called “Gazelles”, do in fact grow, but struggle with the high capital investment needed to become and remain large. In this case the paper recommends to privilege support measures which tackle their weakness (physical expansion) rather than to support their strength (knowledge production through R&D). Another type of small or medium sized firms, called “corporate laboratories” , does not seem to have significant problems in finding investors at all.
Link to the integral study on R&D-intensive SMEs
Countries’ investment in training during recession
8 February 2010
Despite the economic downturn, EU Member States seem committed to supporting the development of skills. This was recently revealed by a CEDEFOP (European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training) survey on the countries’ investment in training. Everywhere in Europe, great efforts are made to maintain skill-levels. Some Member States have even increased their education and training budget. The survey shows that there is a consensus among governments and social partners in trying to keep people in work. As a result, many Member States provide public funds and come up with several short-term measures to support work-based training and fight unemployment.
Link to the results of the CEDEFOP
Source: SwissCore
Kick-Off meeting of ERRIN fast-track network
8-12 February 2010
Making Knowledge Work (MKW), an INTERREG IVC project and fast-track network under the Regions for Economic Change Initiative, had its kick-off meeting this week (3 February) in Eindhoven. The project is led by Eindhoven/Brainport and has 12 regions as well as ERRIN as a partner. MKW analyses and transfers successful actions that stimulate the take up of innovative ideas and knowledge in the regions. It aims to bridge gaps in the innovation chain through concrete policy action by way of regional action plans and follow-up investments. The project is a strategic project for ERRIN and will, ultimately, benefit all ERRIN members. It will deliver, among others, a policy mainstreaming guide and a web platform/knowledge base to showcase regional good practice, based on a standard format, in the field of knowledge valorisation (getting research to innovation), regional innovation profiles and a who is who of regional innovation actors, that will be opened to all ERRIN members and operated by ERRIN after the end of the project.
Source: http://www.errin.eu%20
ECO-Innovation project – opportunities for ERRIN members:
8-12 February 2010
This week we had the kick-off meeting for Ecolink+, an eco-innovation project supported by DG Enterprise under the umbrella of Europe INNOVA and funded by the CIP programme. In this project ERRIN is partnering, among others, with Eurada, EBN and two expert consultancies in the area of early stage investment and innovation management, Meta-Group and Europe Unlimited. Ecolink+ is a project to help Europe’s best eco-entrepreneurs to share their experiences and also help them refine their business model and improve their internationalisation strategies. To this end the project the partners in cooperation with DG ENT will establish a Club of 100 top eco-innovation companies with high growth potential and give them the opportunity to network, exchange best practices and build partnerships helping them to enter the eco-innovation market armed with the best possible knowledge and information. A call to ERRIN members for the expression of interest for the organisation of trans-regional meetings aimed at showcasing local companies active in the area of eco-innovation and how they can be supported in a regional context has been launched. The call is for 7 of these meetings, 3 in 2010 and 4 in 2011. The call is open until 30 June 2011.
Source: ERRIN ealert
Industrial Group publishes White Paper on the Future Internet PPP definition
3 February 2010
The European Future Internet Initiative (EFII) is an industry grouping made of 16 of the leading ICT companies in Europe. On 2 February, EFII adopted a White Paper on the Future Internet PPP definition. This document is intended to convey the vision of EFII for the future Internet PPP and to serve as an input in the preparation of the work programme 2011-2013 for a dedicated call ono the Future Internet.
Source: EARTO
Clean Sky Launches third call for proposals
2 February 2010
The Clean Sky Joint Technology Initiative has launched its 3rd call for proposals. This call covers 45 topics with total available funding of up to €12.4 million euros. Interested stakeholders may submit proposals until 27 April 2010, 17:00 Brussels time.
Link to call text
Source: EARTO
EC publishes evaluation of the Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Jobs and first overview of responses to the EU 2020 consultation
2 February 2010
The European Commission has published an evaluation document of the Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Jobs. The original Lisbon Strategy was launched in 2000 as a respoonse to the challenges of globalisation and ageing. It was re-launched in 2005, with a stronger focus on growth and jobs, with the definition of four priority areas, including reseach and innovation.
Source: EARTO
Final version of the FoF multi-annual roadmap available
1 February 2010
The final version of the Strategic Multi-Annual Roadmap for the Factories of the Future PPP was adopted on 20 Janauary. This roadmap has been prepared by the Ad-Hoc Industrial Advisory Group for the Factories of the Future, created in March 2009 to help define the research content of the initiative. The roadmap lays out industrial research priority areas for the implementation of the FoF PPP covering the period from 2010 to 2013.
Link to roadmap
Source: EARTO
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