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December 2013 Issue 40
HORIZON 2020 In November, Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn continued her Tour of capitals and participated in launch events for Horizon 2020 in Warsaw and Madrid. She also delivered a speech at the "R&D+i in Europe 2020"
Conference in Bilbao and at the official opening ceremony of the "Russia–EU Year of Science" in Moscow.
For full speeches please visit: http://ec.europa.eu/commission_2010-2014/geoghegan-quinn/headlines/speeches/index_en.htm
"…DON'T BE AFRAID TO THINK BIG, BECAUSE HORIZON 2020 IS ABOUT
BIG OPPORTUNITIES AND BIG RESULTS. MAKE THE MOST OF IT!"
Máire Geoghegan-Quinn
INTERNATIONAL RESEARCH UPDATE December 2013 Issue 40
Dear Reader…
As the end of the year draws near, this issue of our newsletter is
particularly rich in articles telling you about important events that took place during the elapsed month. Horizon 2020 spreads its wings as the launch events follow one another. And we are now only a couple of days away from the launch of the first calls!
The clock is ticking! Yours sincerely, The Editors
In this issue:
EU-Republic of Korea Summit
EU-Japan Summit in Tokyo
EU-China Summit and 1st meeting of the Innovation Cooperation Dialogue
EU-Russia Year of Science
successful launch in Moscow
EU Ambassador to Japan meets with Science Policy Minister Yamamoto And many more…
NEW: The Back Page
December 2013 Issue 40
EU-Republic of Korea Summit – 8 November
The Seventh Summit between the European Union and the Republic of Korea (ROK) took place in Brussels on 8 November. The EU was represented by Mr Herman Van Rompuy, President of the European Council and Mr José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission. The ROK was represented by President Park Geun-hye. The Leaders adopted a Joint Declaration commemorating fifty years of diplomatic relations and setting out a vision for their future development. They welcomed growing bilateral cooperation and agreed to strengthen joint research and innovation cooperation to facilitate joint flagship programmes, especially in nanotechnology, energy, information communication technology - next generation of communication networks, cloud computing and associated standards and policies. They welcomed ROK's participation in ITER, to test the feasibility of commercializing fusion energy and agreed to strengthen cooperation in the area of industrial policy to enhance industrial competitiveness, entrepreneurship, activities for innovation, and support for SMEs. Following the summit, the Implementing Arrangement was signed between the European Commission and ROK's Ministry of Science, ICT and Future Planning to foster opportunities for European Research Council (ERC) grant holders in Europe to host top researchers from Korea, stimulating cooperation by bringing the best researchers together to exchange ideas and experiences as part of the ERC global campaign to raise awareness of ERC funding opportunities outside Europe.
Photo: The Implementing Arrangement was signed by
Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn and Korea’s Minister of Science, ICT and Future Planning, Choi Mun-Kee, in the
presence of the President of the European Council, Mr Van Rompuy, the South Korean President, Park Geun-hye and the
President of the European Commission, Mr José Manuel Barroso.
For further information, please visit http://ec.europa.eu/research/iscp/index.cfm?lg=en&pg=korea
and http://erc.europa.eu/non-european-researchers or contact Dolores Cahill, [email protected] or
Pierrick Fillon-Ashida, [email protected] DG RTD, Directorate D
EU-Japan Summit in Tokyo formulates STI task for the 2014 Summit - 19-20 November
On 19 November, Herman van Rompuy, President of the European Council and José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission met with Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan for the 21
st EU-Japan Summit in Tokyo.
"They reiterated that trade and investment, and research and innovation are the basis of sustainable growth. Summit leaders recognised the high quality of investments by Japan and the EU in each other's markets, as well as the potential for stronger research and innovation partnerships. In view of this, they looked for expanding opportunities for Japan-EU investment and worked towards further developing their partnership in the areas of research and innovation". The Summit recognised the efforts undertaken in the field of Science and Technology since the entering into force of the S&T Agreement in March 2011. President Barroso during the Summit meeting, called on Prime Minister Abe and the Japanese government to find a matching fund solution for Japanese researchers under Horizon2020. To establish such a funding mechanism could be a medium term goal and it will need further exploration. Officials on both sides were therefore tasked with exploring a way forward - towards a "Research and Innovation Partnership" - by the next Summit, which should take place in Brussels in the first half of 2014. The nomination of a first NCP (National Contact Point for the EU Framework Programme) in Japan was also welcomed in the Summit Statement.
Photo: Herman van Rompuy, President of the European Council,
Shinzo Abe, Prime Minister of Japan and José Manuel Barroso,
President of the European Commission.
For further information, please contact Barbara Rhode,
[email protected] or Tom Kuczynski,
[email protected] EU Delegation to Japan
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EU-China Summit and the 1st meeting of the EU-China High Level Innovation Cooperation Dialogue – 21 November
On 21 November 2013 Herman van Rompuy, President of the European Council, and José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, met with Premier Li Keqiang of the State Council of the People's Republic of China for the 16
th EU-China Summit. The leaders stressed
the importance of research and innovation cooperation as part of overall EU-China relations and welcomed the 1st Innovation Cooperation Dialogue (ICD) that took place on the same day. They jointly adopted the China-EU 2020 Strategic Agenda for Cooperation, where the two sides committed to reinforce cooperation on science, technology and innovation. The ICD was inaugurated immediately before the Summit by Commissioner Johannes Hahn and Chinese Minister of Science and Technology Wan Gang. The ICD meeting was co-chaired by Mr Rudolf Strohmeier, Deputy Director-General for Research and Innovation of the European Commission on the EU side and by Mr Zhang Laiwu, Vice Minister of Science and Technology on the China side, with the participation of high level EU and Chinese government representatives and stakeholders in the innovation area. Framework conditions for innovation were discussed in an open and constructive way and the two sides agreed the launch of a new initiative on Food, Agriculture and Biotechnology with the signing of a Letter of Intent between the European Commission and the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences (CAAS). The Letter of Intent will pave the way for an ambitious strategic long-term partnership in the fields of Food, Agriculture and Biotechnology within the overall context of the EU-China Scientific & Technological Cooperation Agreement.
Photo: The launch ceremony for EU-China cooperation in food,
agriculture and biotechnology research and innovation. Seated: Ms Loretta Dormal-Marino, Deputy Director-General of DG Agriculture and Rural development; Mr Rudolf Strohmeier,
Deputy Director-General of DG Research and Innovation and Mr Li Jiayang, President of the CAAS and Vice-Minister of
Agriculture. Standing: Mr Herman Van Rompuy President of the European Council; Mr Li Keqiang, Prime Minister of China
and Mr José Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission.
Several other initiatives were agreed at the ICD in the areas of aviation, clusters, urbanisation and ICT. (see ICD
Joint Statement, EU-China Summit press release, EU-China
2020 Strategic Agenda for Cooperation, and News Alert on FAB
Initiative).
For further information, please contact Diego Sammaritano, [email protected]
DG RTD, Directorate D
EU-Russia Year of Science successful launch in Moscow - 25-27 November
Photo: Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn at the
ribbon-cutting ceremony The EU-Russia Year of Science 2014 was successfully launched at a high-level opening ceremony in Moscow on 25 November. The event and ribbon-cutting ceremony was attended by over 300 EU and Russian senior officials, science ministers and Ambassadors from key Member States, scientists, and representatives of European and Russian research organisations, science-funding bodies, industry and the media. EU Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn opened the event, together with Russian Education and Science Minister Dmitry Livanov. Keynote speakers included in particular Russian Deputy Prime Minister Olga Golodets, Andrey Fursenko, Aide to the President of the Russian Federation who delivered a message from President Putin, and Jaak Aavisto Estonian Minister for Education and Research. The three days of launch events also included a press conference attended by some 40 journalists, an exhibition of successful EU-Russia research projects (in particular in aeronautics), a conference on ‘Vision towards future EU-Russia Cooperation in Science, Technology and Innovation’ organised at Moscow State University by the ERA.Net-RUS project, and an information event on Horizon 2020 at the Diplomatic Academy. In addition, Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn and Director General Robert-Jan Smits held a number of bilateral meetings with Minister Livanov and his two new deputy Ministers, with members of the Association of European Businesses in Russia (AEB), and with representatives of Russia’s new science and innovation funding agencies at a lunch hosted by the
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Head of the EU Delegation Vygaudas Usackas. Coming at a key juncture for both the EU and Russia in the development of their respective programmes, and at a crucial moment in the reorganization of Russian science and science-funding structures, the launch and accompanying meetings provided excellent opportunities to take stock of current achievements in EU-Russia cooperation, to brief Russian partners on opportunities offered by Horizon 2020, and to discuss concrete modalities to strengthen present cooperation and, in the Commissioner’s words to "take it to the next level".
For further information, please visit http://www.eu-russia-yearofscience.eu/
or contact Patrick Vittet-Philippe [email protected]
DG RTD, Directorate D or Richard Burger [email protected], EU Delegation in Moscow
EU Ambassador to Japan meets with Science Policy Minister Yamamoto - 5 November
In the run up to the EU-Japan Summit H.E. Hans Dietmar Schweisgut, Ambassador of the EU to Japan met H.E. Ichita Yamamoto, Minister of State for Okinawa and Northern Territories Affairs, Science and Technology Policy and Space, Mr Masazumi Gotoda, Senior Vice Minister of the Cabinet Office and Kenji Kosaka, Member of the House of Representatives and a former MEXT Minister (Ministry of Education S&T, Sports and Culture) to pave the way for better understanding of the possibilities to work together towards a "Research and Innovation Partnership".
For further information, please contact Barbara Rhode [email protected]
or Tom Kuczynski, [email protected] EU Delegation to Japan
Horizon 2020 officially launched in China –
22 November
Deputy Director-General Rudolf Strohmeier officially launched the EU Framework Programme Horizon 2020 in Beijing on 22 November 2013. In his inaugural speech DDG Strohmeier emphasized in front of more than 250 Chinese and European participants that flourishing EU-China research and innovation cooperation constitutes a key element of overall EU-China relations confirmed during the 16th EU-China Summit and the First Innovation Cooperation Dialogue held the day before. Horizon 2020 is open to participation of Chinese researchers and offers new opportunities for cooperation between European and Chinese centres of excellence to tackle common societal challenges. DDG Strohmeier strongly encouraged the involvement of Chinese researchers and institutions in Horizon 2020. Deputy Director-General Xing Jijun from the China Science and Technology Exchange Centre under the Ministry of Science and Technology confirmed the eagerness for China in closer collaboration with Europe.
The two highlighted the great opportunities for targeted actions between the EU and China focusing on shared priorities, contributing to competitiveness, and generating business opportunities through greater mutual access to knowledge and markets.
Photo: Official launch of EU Framework Programme
Horizon 2020.
For further information, please contact Philippe Vialatte
[email protected] EU Delegation in Beijing
EU/MS–China Joint Research Structures' 2nd
Workshop held in Beijing
On the margins of the 16th EU-China Summit the second Workshop on EU–China Joint Research Structures was held in Beijing. The event aimed at promoting the establishment of new Joint Research Structures, finding synergies between the activities of bilateral research structures and enlarging existing EU-China joint research structures into multilateral ones. The workshop was jointly organised by the EU Delegation, the S&T Counsellors of the Embassies of The Netherlands, France and Italy and EURAXESS Links China. Deputy Director-General Rudolf Strohmeier delivered an opening speech and presented the newly developed handbook “How to establish a Europe-China Joint Research Structure?” This handbook was compiled with the help of the EU SME Centre and the China IPR Helpdesk, and aimed at giving some initial guidance to the idea of establishing such a joint structure within the Chinese legal framework.
For further information, please contact Philippe Vialatte [email protected]
EU Delegation in Beijing EU/MS-India Group of Senior Officials' 1st Meeting on Research & Innovation - 8 October
Pursuant to the EU-India Joint Declaration on Research and Innovation Cooperation signed in New Delhi at the 12th EU-India Summit on 10 February 2012, the first meeting of the EU/MS-India Group of Senior Officials took
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place on 8 October 2013 and was co-chaired by Mr R-J. Smits, Director-General of DG Research and Innovation, European Commission, and Dr. T. Ramasami, Secretary Department of Science and Technology, Government of India. The 1st GSO meeting brought together Senior Officials from Ministries, Departments, and Agencies responsible for Science, Research, Higher Education and Innovation of more than 20 Member States & Associated Countries of the EU and more than 10 Indian Ministries, Departments, and Agencies managing scientific research and innovation. The GSO underlined the importance of strengthening the Indo-European Research and innovation Partnership with enhanced coherence and complementarities between India, the EU and its Member States, and adopted its terms of reference with the overall objective to implement the Indo-European Research and Innovation Partnership more effectively. The GSO endorsed the preliminary directions presented by three GSO Thematic Groups on health, water and energy with advice for further work necessary to (i) Narrow down the focus to a very limited number of priorities in areas of mutual interest, (ii) Map existing EU/MS-India R&I cooperation activities in these areas of mutual interest, (iii) Identify gaps through interactions (e.g. brokerage/twinning events) bringing together project coordinators, stakeholders and programme owners in these areas; (iv) identify EU/MS/India networking and funding schemes which should be mobilised to address the identified gaps including assessing the relevance of developing and proposing co-launch of EU/MS-India flagship initiative(s), and (v) Propose an implementation road map to be recommended by the GSO. Two additional Thematic Groups are envisaged on (i) ICT, and (ii) Bio-economy.
Photo: The first meeting of the EU/MS-India Group of Senior Officials took place on 8 October 2013 in Brussels and was co-chaired by Robert-Jan Smits and Indian Secretary for Science
and Technology, Dr. T. Ramasami.
For further information, please contact
Philippe De Taxis du Poët [email protected]
DG RTD, Directorate D
TOUR OF CHINA 2013 successfully concluded
On 20 November 2013, Maria Cristina Russo, RTD Director for International Cooperation, successfully concluded the Tour of China 2013 at the Tour’s final stop in Beijing. The 2013 Tour of China was an ambitious promotional journey across China organised as a joint project between the EU and the Member States based in Beijing. European Science Counsellors from 12 European Countries – Austria, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Romania and Switzerland – together with the Science and Technology Section of the EU Delegation Beijing and the EURAXESS Links China project presented opportunities for research and innovation collaboration at research-intense universities in 9 key Chinese cities. Altogether the Tour reached an audience of more than 1,000 stakeholders from academia and research. The closing ceremony which was hosted at the Embassy of Italy in Beijing saw around 200 participants.
Photo: Maria Cristina Russo at the Tour’s final stop
in Beijing.
For further information, please contact Philippe Vialatte [email protected]
EU Delegation in Beijing
EU-China Sub-Forum on "Innovative Cities" –
21 November
On 21 November a Sub-Forum on “Innovative Cities” was opened by Ms Maria Cristina Russo, Director for International Cooperation and by Mr Qi Chengyuan, Director-General for High Tech Industry at the National Development and Reform Commission of China. The Sub-Forum provided the occasion for Chinese and European mayors, researchers and industrialists to debate good practice, obstacles, and opportunities for research and innovation cooperation in urbanisation-related issues. Mr Qi Chengyuan underlined in particular that innovation is at the heart of national development strategy in China and that NDRC is engaged in stimulating enterprises to invest
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in R&D. Ms Russo stressed the impact that urbanisation has on society and the environment and that areas like urban planning, green urban mobility and transport, and sustainable energy solutions for cities offer a good potential for cooperation with China.
For further information, please contact Diego Sammaritano, [email protected]
DG RTD, Directorate D Or Ad Van Ommen, [email protected]
DG RTD, Directorate H
8th INTERNATIONAL LEARNING NETWORK (ILN)
WORKSHOP - Innovation through international
cooperation, Budapest - 7-8 November
Coordinators of EU-funded international cooperation projects got together for their 8
th meeting in Hungary to
share views, learn from each other’s experiences and to develop synergies. The main topic of the workshop was how to enhance international cooperation through bridging research and innovation. To stimulate the discussion different stakeholders had been invited to share their views with the plenary on international innovation partnerships. In three parallel sessions, focusing on developing, neighbourhood and industrialised/emerging Countries, the coordinators exchanged their views on how to tackle the innovation dimension within their projects. This was of specific interest as the new international coordination projects Research 2 Innovation (R2I), Bilateral Research Promotion Platforms (BILAT), International Cooperation on Science and Technology Network (INCONET), are tackling the innovation dimension from different angles. In the parallel sessions in particular, region specific answers were found to questions regarding experiences on the direct involvement of industry, SME and financial organizations in the projects, or the relevance of non-technological barriers for innovation partnerships. Other issues discussed were how to work with innovation clusters to promote trade and entrepreneurship, how to interact with different capacity-building projects and how to promote innovation partnerships on the principles of mutual learning and benefits. The coordinators agreed on recommendations on how to foster better international innovation partnerships in Horizon 2020.
For further information, please contact Susanne Madders [email protected], DG RTD, Directorate D
EU-India STI Cooperation Days 2013 on Affordable Health – 10-11 October
On 10-11 October 2013, the 4th EU-India STI Cooperation
Days were held in Paris. The event, jointly organised by New INDIGO, EBTC and the EC, brought together 150 stakeholders from business and research communities focussing on “Affordable Health”. With a high attendance from the Indian side and more than 17 European countries represented, the event mobilised these communities from
both regions and was a great opportunity for partnering. It aimed at networking existing projects (bilateral, multilateral & New INDIGO funded projects), triggering new collaborations and facilitating technology transfers by pooling resources and professional expertise. After the first Group of Senior Officials (GSO) meeting on 8 October 2013 in Brussels, the event was also an opportunity to present the first draft of the Strategic Agenda for Research and Innovation (SRIA); a joint EU-India agenda of research priorities. The 2-day programme offered participants a wide variety of sessions allowing lively discussions and interactions between policy-makers, researchers and stakeholders from the business community. Discussions focused mainly on the innovation gaps as well as on the success factors for EU-India collaboration. The event was also an occasion to reflect on a decade of EU-India cooperation since the signing of the EU-India S&T Agreement in 2001. On the second day, more than 50 participants participated in 135 face-to-face meetings during the Networking Café, an excellent chance to talk to new partners.
Photo: Stakeholders from business and research
communities focussing on "Affordable Health" during the 4th EU-India STI Cooperation Days.
For further information, please contact Marie-Alix Riou
European project Manager – Managing coordinator New Indigo CNRS, [email protected]
EU-Israel Innovation Seminar – 18-19 November
More than 70 European incubator managers, entrepreneurs, policy makers and academics attended the third annual EU-Israeli Innovation Seminar which took place on 18-19 November in Tel Aviv. The European participants who came from 15 EU Member States - Cyprus, Denmark, Finland, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal and Slovenia - were joined by 30 of their Israeli counterparts as well as 30 representatives from EU Embassies. This year's seminar which focused on
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technological incubators was held at the Google Campus in Tel Aviv and included a visit to Israeli incubators and a municipal start-up facility. The keynote speech was given by Professor Ehud Gazit, Chief Scientist of the Ministry of Science, Space and Technology. Among the conclusions reached during the discussions were: the need for a critical mass of talents, the need for successful entrepreneurs to serve as mentors, and the necessity to continually adapt the innovation ecosystem. Differing positions were advanced on whether a culture can be changed, the positive and negative aspects of multinational research centres, and whether "brain drain" was an issue. Among the ideas suggested for maintaining the seminar's momentum was the establishment of a competition to award a prize to the best 3 incubator graduates from among the participating countries. It was also agreed to set up a Google forum to maintain
communication between the participants.
Photo: Participants at the EU-Israel Innovation Seminar.
For further information, please contact
Alexandra Meir, [email protected], Delegation of the European Union to the State of Israel
Automated Driving - the future of the car has started – 15-18 October
From 15-18 October Mr Juhani Jaaskelainen and Mr Wolfgang Hoefs (CNECT) represented the EU at the "Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS)" World Congress held in Tokyo, Japan. Since 2010 there is also trilateral cooperation between the EU/DG CNECT, US/ DoT and Japan/MLIT (Ministry Land, Infrastructure and Transport), on automation in road transport, probe data, evaluation tools and methods and, most importantly, also on standards. Automated driving technology in Japan may be deployed on expressways as early as 2015. Japan has been a leading country in implementing ITS on car navigation, traffic information provision, automatic toll
collection and communication allowing route guidance,
safety driving support, etc. Currently, Japan is developing a wide area traffic information, advanced safety driving
and auto-pilot system. On 8 November, the EU Associated Countries S&T Counsellors in Tokyo and the S&T diplomatic community visited the Traffic Control Center of the Tokyo Metropolitan Expressway which is used by 1.15 million vehicles a day.
Photo: Visit to the Traffic Control Center of the Tokyo
Metropolitan Expressway.
For further information, please contact Barbara Rhode,
[email protected], or Tom Kuczynski [email protected], EU Delegation to Japan
German Research Foundation (DFG) in Japan – 25-29 October
From 25-29 October, a joint outreach action "Go Global with your Career in Research" was held with DFG, Alexander-von-Humboldt Foundation and the EU S&T section to promote European mobility destinations to European, Japanese and other researchers in Japan. Mobility figures for Japanese researchers have declined dramatically during the last decade; due to a trend of Japanese researchers preferring to stay in Japan to maintain their next career step. In order to share the European approach to creating an excellent career for young researchers based on a necessary phase of mobility or work in an international lab, events were held in Fukuoka, Tokyo and Sapporo to present funding opportunities for early-career researchers involving research visits to European countries. The EU contributed with a presentation of the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) under H2020 followed by discussions and individual advice sessions. Many young and experienced researchers showed interest in the individual fellowships programmes, while University representatives were keen on learning about the structure and networks creating exchange actions, such as the IRSES or the ITN.
For further information, please contact Barbara Rhode [email protected], or Tom Kuczynski
[email protected], EU Delegation to Japan
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US-EU Energy Council meeting – 14 November
The Technology Working Group of the US-EU Energy Council held its latest meeting via videoconference on 14 November 2013. The US-EU Energy Council is a high-level political forum bringing together the US Secretary of State and Secretary of Energy, as well as the EU’s High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, the Commissioner for Energy, the Commissioner for Research and Innovation and a representative of the EU presidency, to exchange views on energy security, policy and technology matters. The Technology Working Group (TWG) meeting was co–chaired by Mr András Siegler, Director for Energy in DG RTD, and Dr Phyllis Yoshida, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Europe, Asia and the Americas at the US Department of Energy (DOE). In view of the upcoming Energy Council meeting in December 2013, members of the TWG took stock of the progress made in the four priority areas of energy technology cooperation and reaffirmed their continuation: hydrogen and fuel cells, smart grids including storage, critical materials, and nuclear fusion. The possibility for cooperation was also explored in other areas, such as knowledge exchange on Carbon Capture and Storage demonstration projects and on the environmental impact and risks of shale gas exploitation. Both sides agreed to boost cooperation between EU labs, the JRC and the Joint Programmes of EERA, and DOE’s labs and the new US Energy Innovation Hubs.
For further information please contact András Siegler, [email protected] or Rositsa Petrova, [email protected]
DG RTD, Directorate K
2nd Annual National Knowledge Network (NKN)
Workshop "Enhancing Research Collaboration through NKN" - Bangalore, India - 17-19 October
The National Knowledge Network Workshop is the major e-Infrastructure related event India. The theme of the 2013 edition was "Enhancement of research collaborations through NKN" in different sectors/areas where NKN can play a significant role. An invited presentation was given by Alberto Masoni, representing CHAIN-REDS and e-INIT projects, which, capitalizing on the results of previous EU- Indiagrid, EU-Indiagrid2 and CHAIN projects, provide the means for successful EU-India cooperation on e-Infrastructures. The contribution of these projects to EU-India Science & Technology collaboration was also underlined during the opening talk and the International Panel. The CHAIN-REDS Indian Partner C-DAC also participated in the Workshop with several contributions. The workshop showcased the role of NKN, “The e-Infrastructure of India” in enhancing research collaboration both at national and international level. The workshop provided also the opportunity to consolidate the
basis to further improve EU-India cooperation on e-Infrastructures with the support of the CHAIN-REDS and e-INIT projects.
Photo: International Panel discussion at NKN Workshop 2013.
For further information please visit
http://nkn.in/nkn-workshop2013/index.html or contact Alberto Masoni, Research Director
INFN - National Institute of Nuclear Physics - Italy [email protected] or Serena Belligoli,
Deputy Project Manager, Sigma-Orionis, [email protected]
EU-China 1st twinning workshop on solar dish technology - Xi'an, China, 14-15 November
As agreed under the Joint Statement on new, renewable and energy efficient technologies between DG RTD and the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), workshops on solar dish technology (concentrated solar power) between China and the EU have been planned in order to define areas of mutual interest for further exchange of information and cooperation with relevant Chinese projects. DG RTD's Directorate for Energy and the Department of International Cooperation of the MOST organised the first workshop on 14-15 November 2013 in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, China. Eleven participants from Europe attended the workshop representing organizations which are beneficiaries of the FP7 projects OMSOP and BIOSTIRLING-4SKA. Thirty-four attendees were present on the Chinese side, mainly representing the organizations which are beneficiaries of a grant provided by MOST under the Call "China-EU SME energy saving and emission reduction programme". Each side presented their activities, a few research sites were visited and a matrix of R&D areas of common interest was drafted. A follow-up meeting has been planned to take place in 2014 in Europe.
For further information please contact
Pierre-Antoine Vernon [email protected]
DG RTD, Directorate K
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A new ERA-NET for Latin-America and the Caribbean kicking-off – 11-13 November
The ERA-NET LAC project convened its kick-off meeting in Berlin on 11-13 November. It is coordinated by the German DLR institute and unites seventeen funding agencies, seven from EU Member States, eight from CELAC countries and two from Associated Countries. The project will organise two joint or coordinated calls in specific areas, one to be announced in 2014 and a second in 2015. These calls will not include additional funds from Horizon 2020 or other EC programmes. The project works closely with the EU-CELAC Senior Officials Meetings on Science and Innovation (SOM). The topics to be addressed in the calls will be selected from mature ideas presented by the SOM Working Groups and supported by a critical mass of funders. Funders from EU and CELAC countries not represented in the consortium will also be invited to join the exercise. The consortium is aware of the need to work towards sustainability of the endeavour, beyond the three-and-a-half years duration of the project. A parallel exercise will be carried out in addition to the two calls, to interlink other funding streams by programme level cooperation or twinning of existing or planned calls. The spirit at the meeting was very positive and the participating funding agencies are impatient to start aligning their calls and producing real results.
Photo: Delegates at the kick-off meeting debate first steps.
For further information please contact
Indridi Benediktsson [email protected]
DG RTD, Directorate D
Bilateral Euratom-Ukraine Fusion Cooperation Agreement's 2nd meeting – 19 November
This second meeting of the coordinating committee, which reactivated the bilateral cooperation, was held in Brussels and chaired by S. Webster (RTD.K6), as Head of the Euratom delegation, and Acad. A. Zagorodny (Vice-president of NASU), as Head of the Ukrainian delegation.
A substantial exchange of information on fusion programmes and on-going bilateral collaborative activities took place. Both sides launched proposals for new collaboration. The complementarities, high added value and potential of future cooperation between researchers and in access to infrastructures (namely TJ-II Wendelstein 7-X and JET on the European side and the Ukrainian torsatrons Uragan-2M and Uragan-3M, and the plasma accelerator QSPA Kh-50) were acknowledged. The Committee endorsed the updated bilateral Fusion Work Programme, composed of the following pillars: - Convergence of fusion programmes towards the European Fusion Roadmap (the Committee backed the initiative of Ukraine to present proposals related to the Roadmap's missions and encouraged further interactions between labs on the topics outlined) and; - Updating the mapping of on-going bilateral collaborative activities currently composed of 25 fusion collaborations involving 20 European and 7 Ukrainian entities. The Committee welcomed furthering of the Ukrainian participation in Education & Training activities with the European Fusion Education Network (FuseNet). Both sides recognized the instrumental role of the STCU programme in support of fusion cooperation. At present, the "partner project" remains the main implementing scheme for research collaborative activities.
For further information please contact
Albena Shishkova [email protected]
DG RTD, Directorate K EU-LAC Foundation and EU funded projects' workshop
As follow-up of the visit of Ms Benita Ferrero-Waldner, the President of the EU-LAC (Latin America and the Caribbean) Foundation, to Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn earlier this year a workshop was organised on the 13
th of November in Berlin to exchange information on
relevant projects linking the EU and the Latin-American and Caribbean regions. The meeting brought together two representatives of the EU-LAC Foundation and coordinators or partners of EU funded networks, both thematic and horizontal. The EU-LAC Foundation presented its structure, objectives and specific calls for studies that they will be supporting. The EU funded projects gave overviews of their activities and the links with the EU-CELAC Senior Officials meetings on Science and Innovation and the associated Working Groups. Furthermore the Ibero-American programme CYTED was presented. From the meeting it emerged that the EU-LAC Foundation can be of help to the projects and vice versa in particular with regard to outreach and public relations, e.g. by sharing databases of contacts and cross-linking the websites of the Foundation with the projects’ websites. An
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issue for further discussions and possible future focus is the possibility of hosting outcomes of the projects after their completion and the continued cultivation of interlinkages.
For further information please contact
Indridi Benediktsson [email protected]
DG RTD, Directorate D
CHAIN-REDS Science Gateway: linking up HPC, cloud and grid resources - Roberto Barbera and Diego Scardaci introduce a new way to make the
most of DCIs
The CHAIN-REDS project has deployed the CHAIN-REDS Science Gateway as a portal to interface different types of Distributed Computing Infrastructures (DCIs): local cluster, High Performance Computing (HPC), cloud and grid. The portal, built with the Catania Science Gateway Framework, was presented at the EGI Technical Forum (Madrid, Spain – September 16-20, 2013), in a demo entitled Managing and using interoperable DCIs through a standard-based Science Gateway.
The demonstration showed the interoperability and inter-operation among different DCIs, including clouds using OCCI and SAGA as standard interfaces, and the CHAIN-REDS Science Gateway as a Virtual Research Environment. The vision behind the development of the portal is that standard-based interoperability should be enabled not only across middleware but also, and more importantly, across computing paradigms. In practice, the portal allows: - A scientist to run applications seamlessly on HPC machines, grids and clouds. This is important because each DCI has its strengths, and researchers may wish to combine different added values for a particular project; - The cloud tenant of a real or virtual organisation to easily manage cloud resources pledged by providers based on different middleware stacks.
For further information please visit http://www.chain-project.eu/ or contact
Roberto Barbera, Associate Professor
Catania University and INFN National Institute of Nuclear Physics - Italy
[email protected] or Serena Belligoli, Deputy Project Manager, Sigma-Orionis
CONTACT US!
Eduard Philipp Rille (Editor in Chief) [email protected]
Tel + 32 2 295 4683
Valérie Dierckx (Assistant Editor) [email protected]
Tel + 32 2 298 7748
International Cooperation Directorate Directorate-General for Research and Innovation
European Commission
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December 2013 Issue 40
The Back Page It is commonly known that it is very important to be “the right person, at the right moment, in the right place”. Finding myself here, in these moments of
change when the new European framework programme is launching all over the world, I am definitely living up to the meaning of the saying. As a junior professional I applied for the traineeship at the European Commission because I wanted an
experience that would educate, engage and challenge
me – this is precisely what I am getting by working in DG Research and Innovation. Since I started my job in the Administration and Financial Unit under International Cooperation Directorate, each day brings new tasks and challenges but also a great sense of
accomplishment and determination. With a brief, but profound range of experiences in the European public service sector, the transition from the academic sector to labour market proved to be easier said than done as for most of the young
people nowadays. In Romania alone, there is a 22.2% rate of youth unemployment in comparison with other member states like Germany, Austria or The Netherlands ranking below 9%.1 But as each journey
starts with a small step, so did I. My professional track so far has took me through the gently beautiful country of tulips, the vivid Latin spirit of the Spanish community, the breath-taking fjords of Norway and the country of world-class art and architecture all the way to the mesmerising Chinese
culture and society. Today I am here, trying to cope with the grey sky of Brussels and appreciating each
and every minute of my work, because passion and the courage to not give up leads to great fulfilments.
Two aspects, however, were common in all the environments I worked in – togetherness and the desire to discover ideas, knowledge and new people.
For this reason, I am thrilled to be involved in Horizon 2020 programme: it encourages international cooperation through research mobility and advances innovation. At this point of economic, political and social insecurity that we are witnessing worldwide, it is
even more important for member states to collaborate and support one another as well as with the international partners to achieve the H2020 goal: to make a difference in people's lives2 by investing in
research and innovation. It is a source of great pride to highlight that Romania was the first member state to
open its doors to Horizon 2020 for all researchers, scientists and innovators on the 3rd of October 2013. As a "modest innovator"3, it is more imperative than ever for Romania to mobilize and use all available resources
for providing innovative solutions to
societal issues. Becoming a strong competitor on the regional and international markets also depends on the scientific community. Thus, Romania could benefit greatly from the
new framework program that offers the opportunity
and tools to achieve this target. So, I am hopeful of a united Europe that will be continuously leading change and setting the benchmark in terms of social and economic impact on the people's lives!
Alexandra Matei
Master in Human Rights Law/Politics - Research
University of Manchester, United Kingdom
Bluebook Stagiaire
Directorate D-International Cooperation
DG Research & Innovation
Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the
official policy or position of the European Commission.
1Eurostat
(http://epp.eurostat.ec.europa.eu/statistics_explained/images/8/8
b/Youth_unemployment%2C_2012Q4_%28%25%29.png)
2 Máire GEOGHEGAN-QUINN, 2013. Launch of Horizon 2020 in
Basque Country. Press Release.
(http://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_SPEECH-13-911_en.htm) 3 European Commission, 2013. Innovation Union Scoreboard 2013.
Brussels.
(http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/policies/innovation/files/ius-2013_en.pdf)
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