Joint Research Centre - European Commission

The JRC has published six vacant positions for researchers and scientific experts from the following countries: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Faroe Islands, Iceland, Israel, FYR of Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Serbia, Switzerland and Turkey. Applications will be accepted from experts from research organisations, public administration bodies, national enforcement laboratories and scientists.

The JRC has also proposed 32 activities including specialised workshops, advanced training courses and small projects within its areas of competence. The workshops are set up to allow competent organisations to study the scientific and technical methods and techniques underpinning EU policy implementation.

The JRC has signed a letter of intent for closer cooperation with the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT). The two organisations will strengthen their collaboration in a number of areas, including energy, nuclear safety and security, sustainable transport and electromobility, climate change, information technology and foresight and anticipation.

A scientific paper published today by Science shows that a limited number of air quality measures can substantially mitigate global warming and have significant benefits for human health and agriculture. Together with twelve partners from all over the world, including UNEP, NASA and the Stockholm Environment Institute, JRC scientists identified 14 emission control measures that can best help to limit global warming and improve health and food security in the coming decades.

The prices of agricultural commodities are expected to stay firm over the medium term, according to a new report published by the European Commission.

The JRC contributed to the report, "Prospects for agricultural markets and income 2011-2020", which was published by the Commission's Directorate-General for Agriculture and Rural Development. The JRC contribution to the report focused on the modelling approach, in particular to run uncertainty analysis.

The JRC has published the third edition of its Technology Map of the European Strategic Energy Technology (SET) Plan. The map – prepared by the JRC in collaboration with other European Commission services – provides an assessment of the state of the art of a wide portfolio of low-carbon energy technologies. This edition of the Technology Map addresses 20 different technologies, covering the whole spectrum of the energy system, including both supply and demand technologies.

The catalogue includes data on the technologies' current and estimated future market penetration and the barriers to their large-scale deployment; the ongoing and planned R&D and demonstration efforts to overcome technological barriers, and reference values for their operational and economic performance. These can be used for the modelling and analytical work performed in support of implementation of the SET-Plan.