Joint Research Centre - European Commission

An advanced radar system, developed by the JRC, is being used at the Giglio Island in Italy to support the Italian authorities in monitoring the movements of the cruise ship that grounded off Tuscany on 13^th January. Data on the ship movements have been of fundamental importance during the search and rescue operations and will remain crucial when the fuel is pumped off the ship's tanks.

The JRC system, called MELISSA, is an innovative and low-cost radar imaging system that allows for the detection of movements of objects with very high accuracy and resolution. The system is compact, portable and easily deployable and can work day and night under any weather conditions.

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.