Academic Sector Makes Moves to Going Green
Europe's universities and research organisations are going green, with some bidding to be at the forefront of Europe's 2050 net zero ambition.
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Europe's universities and research organisations are going green, with some bidding to be at the forefront of Europe's 2050 net zero ambition.
The European Innovation Council's (EIC) Accelerator funding for start-ups continues to be held up as the Commission's directorates fight over how to manage the new equity fund. The delays are affecting companies selected to receive 'blended finance' - a mix of grant and equity funding - following the June cut-off date last year, the first under Horizon Europe. But the impact may soon be felt by those next in line, which were selected for funding following the October cut-off.
The European Commission officially launched a €25 million direct aid package of Marie Skłodowska-Curie grants for researchers from Ukraine, as it announced a €562 million increase for the Horizon Europe budget in 2022.
The Biden Administration is planning a campaign to attract Russian scientists and engineers to the US, in an effort to further weaken Russia's science and technology base. It also plans to help Russian physicists at the CERN nuclear lab continue working there, rather than return home when their normal visas expire, if they wish.
UK-based researchers have been awarded 45 grants in the European Research Council's (ERC) latest funding round for experienced researchers, but in the absence of UK association to Horizon Europe, it is on the condition they move to institutions in the EU.
The European Court of Auditors criticised the EU for "shortcomings" in its system to protect industrial designs, trademarks, and unique agricultural products - and, the auditors added, appears to charge too much for the service.
The departure of Jean-Eric Paquet, the head of the European Commission's directorate general for research and innovation, has not been officially confirmed as yet, but the Brussels rumour mill is already churning out potential replacements.
NATO has launched a new research programme called DIANA to bring industry, start-up companies and academia together to research new dual-use technologies that address both societal problems and national security issues. The Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) is focusing on technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data processing, quantum-enabled technologies, autonomy, biotechnology, novel materials and space.
An ambitious EU initiative aiming to create a cyber-replica of Planet Earth for climate-impact simulations may not include British or Swiss organisations - and some researchers in the project say that's a problem.
Switzerland and the UK play an important role in scientific projects that bring countries together.
The EU and US have reached an agreement in principle on facilitating data flows, including research data, across the Atlantic. Steady data sharing has been hampered since the EU's Court of Justice struck down the old rules due to concerns about US government surveillance in July 2020.
The UK has followed much of the rest of Europe and announced its own scientific sanctions against Russia, leaving the US, which has still not issued any centralised guidance, increasingly isolated in its inaction. After reviewing its Russian links, the UK has said its research and innovation funding organisations will not start any new projects with Russia. Payments to existing projects "with a Russian dimension" have been paused pending an assessment of which ones "benefit the Russian regime."
When JET, the Joint European Torus, announced a breakthrough in the production of fusion energy in February, the celebrations could be heard across Europe. Although based in the UK, the project belongs to a much wider fusion research community.
The European Commission today launched a portal that pulls together information and support services for researchers in Ukraine and those fleeing the Russian invasion of the country, amid calls for coordinated EU action. The portal offers help with finding housing, job opportunities and recognition of education qualifications.
Russian scientists who oppose the war against Ukraine say that while they have some understanding of the reasons for European scientific sanctions, stopping international collaboration may be counterproductive in the long term.
A new batch of unapproved drafts of Horizon Europe work programmes obtained by Science|Business reveals details about upcoming funding calls for climate research, improving research excellence in poorer EU countries and strengthening research infrastructures.
Russian researchers are losing access to vital lab equipment and computing power as western sanctions against the country begin to bite, potentially crippling Russia's scientific base.
The UK has extended its funding guarantee for Horizon Europe applicants until the end of the year, providing a measure of security for researchers caught in limbo by the country's failure to associate to the programme.
As the world cuts Russia off from more and more joint research and innovation projects following its invasion of Ukraine, there's been deafening silence from the ITER megaproject that is seeking to demonstrate the potential of nuclear fusion by building the world's largest tokamak in south west France.
EU research ministers signed a declaration laying out common principles and values for international cooperation in research and innovation in Marseille on Monday, but these rules arrive as the rapid pace of geopolitical change threatens to render them useless in selecting scientific collaborators from outside the EU.
For about 20 years, Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet has maintained a partnership with one of Russia's main cardiology clinics, the Almazov National Medical Research Centre in St. Petersburg. This institutional tie was abruptly suspended on 2 March, as part of Sweden's sanctions for the war in Ukraine.