European Commission

The report and photos of the event held last 18 April at the French embassy can be downloaded on this website under Events.

The The Development Economics Group at Wageningen University is looking for a PhD researcher for a joint project with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences in Beijing on “Organizing small high value-added food producers in China: Cooperation, trust, and rural development”. The project is funded by the NWO – JSTP programme.

Candidates are expected to complete a PhD dissertation within four years.
 Eligibility criteria include:

• MSc degree or equivalent in economics
• Mother tongue: Mandarin Chinese
• Fluency in written and spoken English
• Strong quantitative skills
• Strong scientific writing skills
• Proven affinity with rural development issues in China
• Preferably, experience with carrying out rural household surveys and/or using experimental methods (public good games)

The selected candidate will be offered a full-time position (38 hours), initially for 18 months after which a go/no go decision will be taken on extension with another 30 months. Gross salary per month € 2062 in the first year rising to € 2638 per month in the fourth year, for a full-time appointment.

The PhD will be offered a course program, which can be tailored to the desires of the candidate and the research team.

Deadline to submit application is 14 May, 2013. Find out all details on the Wageningen University & Research Centre website.

The EU-China Joint Workshop on Urban Innovation is co-organised by the European Commission Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD) and the China Centre for Urban Development (CCUD) of the National Development and Reform Commission of China (NDRC), in collaboration with the relevant Directorates-Generals of the European Commission, EURAXESS Links China (through its ‘EURAXESS Connect’ events series) and the Chinese government.

It will take place in Foshan, Guangdong on 30-31 May 2013 and will bring together Chinese and European stakeholders from policy, research, and industry backgrounds working on urbanisation and innovation issues. EURAXESS Links China, in line with its mission to valorize the expertise of China-based European researchers to foster European research internationalization, will fund the participation to the workshop of up to five China-based European experts.

The main objectives of the workshop are to:

• Identify potential research themes and flagship projects for future joint research on sustainable and innovative urbanisation
• Identify obstacles in relation to the Framework Conditions relevant to Research & Innovation and initiate a dialogue on how to overcome them
• Exchange of information and best practices in on-going joint activities with China (EU, Member States & Associated Countries) in the field of R&I on urbanisation

The output of the workshop will contribute to both the Research and Innovation Pillar of the EU-China Sustainable Urbanisation Partnership, as well as to the First EU-China Innovation Cooperation Dialogue to take place later this year.

The workshop will include field visits in Foshan on the 29th, with on the 30th and 31st plenary sessions featuring high-level speakers, and panel sessions on the following three topics:

• Sustainable planning
• Green urban mobility
• Sustainable energy solutions for cities

Please see the draft agenda which will be updated on a regular basis on the EURAXESS Links China website.

For further details and information on this event, please contact china@euraxess.net.

The first EURAXESS Share Event organised by EURAXESS Links China this year, brought together over 100 international researchers at the French embassy in Beijing for an afternoon of lively exchanges and discussions about the experience of working as a researcher in a foreign country, i.e. in China for Europeans and in Europe for Chinese, the challenges and rewards that come with it, and the impact such international mobility has on the development of the Sino-European relationship.

The workshop was followed by a convivial reception for all participants in the presence of French ambassador Mrs. Sylvie Bermann and deputy head of the European Union Delegation to China Mrs. Carmen Cano.
The report of this event will soon be published on the EURAXESS Links China website.

The French Center for Contemporary Chinese Studies (Centre d’études français sur la Chine contemporaine –CEFC), located in Hong Kong, is looking for a researcher-chief editor of its publication 'Perspectives Chinoises' and its English edition 'China Perspectives'. The job will be carried out based on an expatriate employment contract for two years and renewable.

Experienced or teaching Researchers from France and other countries of the European Union are particularly encouraged to apply.

The selected candidate is expected to start working on 1st of September, 2013.

More details about this position and the desired profile can be seen here.
Details about the application requirements are available here.

Application is to be done online on the French Foreign and European Affairs Ministry: https://pastel.diplomatie.gouv.fr/transparenceext/transparence_emplois_reseau_diplomatique_consulaire.php#

Deadline to submit application is 7 June, 2013.

For its first event in 2013, EURAXESS Links China invites researchers in all fields, administrators and policy-makers engaged in Sino-European scientific cooperation to take part in an afternoon-seminar, to discuss the impact of the various forms of researchers' mobility and exchanges on the development of the Sino-European research cooperation and overall relationship.

The role of researchers moving and working outside of their home country is often stressed as one of key importance for the progress of scientific cooperation and, from an even broader perspective, for the development of relations between different regions and civilizations of the world.

The idea behind this short seminar is to reflect on the assumptions that mobility and exchanges of researchers are crucial to bring the scientific cooperation as well as the overall relationship between Europe and China forward, discuss to which extent they might be true or not, and based on the participants' own experiences and best practices, what needs to be done to make them come true.

The seminar will be hosted at the French Embassy in Beijing on Thursday 18 April afternoon and followed by an "Easter" cocktail dinner at the Residence of the French Ambassador to China. Professor Thierry Meynard SJ, director of The Beijing Center, will first share with the audience his erudition on the historical beginnings of knowledge exchanges between China and Europe.

Participants will then be divided in three parallel roundtables according to their general area of activity (Social sciences researchers, "hard" sciences researchers, research diplomats and administrators) to discuss the topic, based on their particular experience.

The conclusions of each roundtable will then be shared, compared and discussed during a plenary closing session.

Download the invitation and programme for more details.

Registration is done by writing to china@euraxess.net, indicating organization and position.
As the number of seats is limited we encourage those interested in attending to register as soon as possible.

In next month’s “Understanding Science” talk, Professor Dermot O’Hare (University of Oxford) will show how chemistry holds the key to making a sustainable society a reality rather than merely a vision. The talk will take place at 7.30 p.m. on Thursday 11th April in “Face Bar” which is just to the south of the Workers’ Stadium and conveniently close to the Dongdaqiao metro station (Line 6).

Please see the flyer and the map for further details.

This is a joint meeting with the Oxford and Cambridge Club Beijing. If you are planning to attend the talk, please reply to this email to register your interest so that we can give “Face Bar” an idea of the numbers of chairs to set out.

"Understanding Science" is organized by the UK Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) and the Institute of Physics (IoP) and the team welcomes you to join this and future events. Please feel free to forward this information to any friends you think may be interested.

The speaker invited to this session of ThinkInChina will be Dr. Huang YingYing, associate professor at the department of sociology of Renmin University and deputy director of the Institute of Sexuality and Gender.

Dr. Huang's most recent research projects include: The emerging grassroots groups of female sex workers in China: agency and challenges under anti-prostitution policy; The rise of sex and sexuality studies since 1980s; The changing sexualities in China: population-based surveys in 2000, 2006 and 2010; Exploratory research on sexuality among PLWHA women in China; and Partnership for Social Science Research on HIV/AIDS in China. Dr. Huang also worked as gender consultant for several international HIV/AIDS Projects since 2003, and is one of the key sponsors of biannual international conference on Sexualities in China which started in 2007.

The session will take place as usual at the Bridge Café in Wudaokou and start at 7pm.

Flyer
Supplementary material notice
HIV Sex Workers China
Diversity Clients Sex Workers China
Sex Workers in China Occupational Concerns

The "Executive Programme for Scientific and Technological Cooperation" between Italy and China for the years 2013-2015 promoted by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MAE) and the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST), was signed in Beijing on January 16, 2013.

The initiative aims to encourage scientific and technological cooperation between Italy and China, by financing joint research programs in the following areas: Applied Basic Sciences (Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics), Biotechnology and Medicine, Energy & Environment, Information Communication Technology, Nanotechnology and Advanced Materials, Space and Aeronautics, Technology Applied to Cultural Heritage.

Among the projects submitted, 31 have been selected and will be jointly carried out over the next three years by Chinese and Italian researchers.

The list of projects selected and the text of the Agreement are available on the Italian Foreign Affairs website.

Sino-Italian Project on 'Optimized bioconversion of crude glycerol into hydrogen and ethanol using Geo-Chip and coupling with MEC' launched

Among the 31 selected projects, one between the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA) and the Harbin Institute of Technology (HIT) named 'Optimized bioconversion of crude glycerol into hydrogen and ethanol using Geo-Chip and coupling with MEC' has been initiated by a former fellow of the now terminated 'EU Science and Technology Fellowship China programme'.

The cooperation between ENEA and HIT began in 2009 thanks to the EU Science and Technology Fellowship programme China, during which Mr. Varrone visited HIT for 18 months (also enrolling as a PhD student), performing the selection and enrichment of a suitable microbial pool, able to convert glycerol into H2 and ethanol. Now the process has been optimized on a small scale in ENEA and needs to be scaled up.

Since the previous cooperation lead to interesting results (in terms of publications, conferences and awards) the new projects between ENEA and HIT will aim at a deeper understanding and further enhancement of the process, helping to bring this new technology closer to the market. In fact some industries already showed their interests, but asked for some improvement. The goals of the new cooperation will thus be to reach the improvements asked by the industry.

If interested in this field or research, please feel free to read the project's full description and to contact Cristiano Varrone at cristiano.varrone@enea.it.

“Understanding Science” is back after the holiday and back in its original location in the Bridge Café in Wudaokou.

On Tuesday 19^th March at 7.30 p.m. Dr. Oulu Wang, who is a Harvard–China Scholar at Peking University, will give a talk on "Stressing Obesity".

It is well known that obesity leads an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, diabetes, and cancer. Dr. Wang will describe her work on the negative impact of stress on obesity and show how a greater knowledge of this area may one day be used to reduce the disease burden of obesity.

"Understanding Science" is organized by the UK Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) and the Institute of Physics (IoP) and the team welcomes you to join this and future events.

The next session of Young China Watchers Shanghai will feature Shen Dingli, Professor of Interational Relations at Fudan University’s Institute of International Studies and Center for American Studies.

Professor Shen will speak about the components of China’s soft power from the founding of the PRC till today, with special attention to its recent efforts and its future prospects. He will touch on China’s diplomatic roles in the Korean Peninsula, the Gulf of Aden, and Africa, as well as the link with China’s economic influence, including its support of global financial institutions and assistance to developing countries.

More details and registration to this event online at http://www.eventbrite.com/event/5691174456/mcivte

In accordance with the China-EU S&T Cooperation Agreement and the Joint Declaration on EU-China Innovation Cooperation Dialogue signed on September 20, 2012, the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology announced the 2013 round of the China-EU Science and Technology Cooperation Program.

The 2013 China-EU S&T Cooperation Program especially welcomes applications in the following areas:

• Urbanisation/transportation, including: green energy building, waste recycling applications, comprehensive city management integrated technology, new energy vehicles etc.
• Renewable energy resources, including: solar energy, wind energy, smart power grids and storage, increased energy efficiency etc.
• Information and communication technology, including: next-generation mobile communication, cloud computing, internet of things，high-performance supercomputers, internet security etc.
• Health, including: clinical medicine/translational medicine, biomedicine, ageing population etc.

Project participants should have a good cooperative relationship with their European partners, and have signed a cooperative agreement or letter of intent, containing separate clauses on intellectual property rights, or have signed a separate IPR agreement. The European side should consist of at least two cooperating institutions from at least two European Union Member States.

 The budget for each project should not exceed 3 million RMB.

More details about this call can be found in Chinese on the MoST website. English translation of the call’s notice can be found here.

The next session of Young China Watchers will feature Dr. Ian Bremmer of Eurasia Group who will be discussing The Implications of G-Zero World for Asia. He will talk for around 30 minutes, followed by 20 minutes of Q&A, then relaxed drinks.

Ian Bremmer is the president of Eurasia Group, the leading global political risk research and consulting firm.

This session will take place on Tuesday, March 5, 2013 from 7:00 PM at the Face Bar (26 Dongcaoyuan, Gongti Nanlu, Beijing - 北京市朝阳区工体南路, 东草园26号, 6551 6788)

Register on the Young China Watchers website.

DRAGONSTAR is a Sino-European prinect funded by the European Commission which aims to support the Chinese participation in Horizon 2020; to enhance reciprocity in access to respective research and innovation funding programmes; and to promote bilateral cooperation in research and innovation with particular focus on technological cooperation between industrial players.

The website features information about ongoing cooperation and funding programmes. Check it now at http://www.dragon-star.eu/.

The next Think In China conference will take place on Tuesday 26 February, 7 pm, at the usual venue, the Bridge Café in Wudaokou.

Dr. Zhang Rui Jie, Managing Director at Low Carbon City China Programme, will discuss China’s low carbon policies.

Download this session’s flyer and check the new Think In China website at www.thinkinchina.asia.

The French Center for Contemporary China Studies (CEFC) located in Hong Kong and belonging to the French National Scientific Research Centre (CNRS) welcomes every year researchers and teaching staff from French Universities who then come to the CEFC as seconded to the CNRS. For this 2013 edition of the programme, CEFC will support projects related the study of political, economic, social and cultural mutations of contemporary China and of the contemporary Chinese-speaking world (Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macao).
Interested researchers and teaching staff are now invited submit their research projects proposals to the director of the CEFC for preliminary assessment and then to forward their demand to their university or other higher education home institution which will then be responsible for formally submitting the demand to the CNRS.
Deadline for this formal submission is 12 February 2013.
Further details about the application procedure can be found online here (in French) or by contacting the secretary general of the CEFC, Mr. Alfred Aroquiame, at aaroquiame@cefc.com.hk

Introducing to you the first in Hong Kong and Asia Doctor of Applied Language Sciences (DALS) programme is a professional doctorate programme offered by the Faculty of Humanities (FH) of PolyU (Hong Kong Polytechnic University). The programme is now inviting applications for its second intake in September 2013. Convening interdisciplinary experts from Departments of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, English, English Language Centre from the Faculty of Humanities and Department of Computing of the Faculty of Engineering, the programme aims to help nurture and develop a critical mass of future leaders in language-related professions.
Unlike traditional PhD programmes, DALS combines not only theoretical components, but also advanced studies and action research in areas of professional significance and relevance in the following strands:
1) Second Language Education;
2) Intercultural and Professional Communication;
3) Translating and Interpreting; and
4) Language and Information Technology.

Scholarships are also offered to outstanding students with excellent academic merits, as well as teaching assistantship to qualified candidates.

To learn more about the programme, please visit the DALS website at www.polyu.edu.hk/FH/DALS. Applications can now be made until 1 March 2013 at Study@PolyU website at www.polyu.edu.hk/study.
For further queries, please write to fh.enquiry@polyu.edu.hk or phone Emily Ng at 3400 8215.

The CAS-MPG Partner Institute for Computational Biology is an internationally focused research institute based in Shanghai, China and jointly operated by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and the German Max Planck Society (MPG). Work at this institute is driven by the accelerating importance of statistical and computational methods in modern biology, and we specialize in innovative research at the boundaries between disciplines.

PICB would be delighted to receive applications for Group Leader positions from scientists working in the following research areas:
● Genomics;
● Epigenomics;
● Functional genomics;
● Computational biology;
● Biostatistics;
● Biomathematics.
PICB will offer a competitive salary package to successful applicants, including a basic salary, position allowance, related welfare and housing benefits.
Interested applicants should send a covering letter, 3 letters of recommendation, a curriculum vitae, a brief summary of past achievements, a research proposal and at least three representative publications to:
Prof. Xinguang Zhu
CAS-MPG Partner Institute for Computational Biology
320 Yueyang Road, Shanghai 200031
Tel: 86-21-54920481
Fax: 86-21-54920451
E-mail: zhuxinguang@picb.ac.cn

CAS-MPG Partner Institute for Computational Biology is seeking highly motivated postdoctoral research fellows/research associates to study molecular networks in human and model organisms. The candidates must be able to independently design and carry out computational analyses or biological experiments.
The research interests of the lab can be found at http://www.picb.ac.cn/~jdhan.
For the computational side, a candidate must have a Ph.D. degree in computer science/mathematics/engineering/biology and extensive training in statistics or computational modeling or fluent in graph searching and analysis algorithms.
For the experimental side, a candidate must have a Ph.D. degree in molecular/cell/developmental biology and experiences in transcriptional regulation, cell culture and biochemical experiments or developmental biology. Experiences with stem cell research will be a plus. Depending on previous experience and publications, a candidate molecular biologist or developmental biologist will also be considered for the laboratory manager position of the wet lab.
Both candidates must have solid publications to support their experiences and trainings.
Foreign citizens with overseas Ph.D. degrees are equally welcome and if accepted, will be awarded special fellowships. The working language in the lab is English.
Applicants can send a CV and research interests to Dr. Jing-Dong Jackie Han
Email: jdhan@picb.ac.cn

The EU-China DRAGON STAR Project kick off meeting took place in Beijing on 11-12 November. DRAGONSTAR aims to support the Chinese participation in Horizon 2020; to enhance reciprocity in access to respective research and innovation funding programmes; and to promote bilateral cooperation in research and innovation with particular focus on technological cooperation between industrial players.
Dragon Star is coordinated by the Foundation for Research and Technology (Greece), and includes seven EU and four Chinese Research and Innovation institutions, notably the China Science and Technology Exchange Centre (CECO/CSTEC). The project's deliverables include producing original studies and expert reports; organizing information and brokerage events; setting up trainings for NCPs; and providing support services for the creation of Joint Labs.
Participants at the meeting expressed their commitment to actively support on-going EU and Member States initiatives and to contribute to the further development of bilateral cooperation activities.

On Wednesday 16th January at 7.30 p.m. Dr. Beth Sawyer of the Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences will talk on “Why don't bacteria get Alzheimer's Disease?" and show how 'misfolded' proteins associated with diseases like Alzheimer's and mad cow disease can not only have beneficial biological functions but may also help in the design of new nanomaterials. Please see the poster for more details.

The talk will take place in The Bookworm in Sanlitun, a short walk from the Tuanjiehu metro station (line 10). Click here to see the map and contact details.

The "Understanding Science" team welcomes all those interested to join this and future events.

The Collaborative Research Network (CRN) on EU-China Relations, supported by the University Association for Contemporary European Studies (UACES), is funded for the period of 2012-15 and is open to all UACES members and beyond.

The main objective of the CRN is to bring together scattered and fragmented knowledge and on-going research about contemporary China and EU-China relations in a structured network.

The second CRN workshop on Europe-China Relations in Global Politics entitled 'Strategic Partnership? EU-China Relations Under a New Leadership' will be taking place in early March 2013 in Beijing. The call for papers is open until Friday 14 December 2012. More info online:

https://sites.google.com/site/eurchine/home/events/forthcoming-events

Young China Watchers will hold its first session in Hong Kong next December 20, 8 pm, at the Mariners’ Rest, Hullett House, 2A Canton Road, Tsim Sha Tsui.

Dr. Willy Wo-Lap Lam will be speaking about the 18th CCP Congress and implications for reform.

Adjunct Professor of History and Political Economy at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, as well as a Select Professor of China Studies at Akita International University, Japan. Dr. Lam is also a Senior Fellow at Jamestown Foundation, a leading foreign-policy think tank in Washington D.C. A former journalist, Dr. Lam has worked for the South China Morning Post and CNN. He is the author of Chinese Politics in the Hu Jintao Era (M E Sharpe, New York, 2006) and The Era of Jiang Zemin (Prentice Hall, Singapore & New York, 1999).

RVSPs to youngchinawatchers@gmail.com

EURAXESS Jobs is one of the 4 pillars of the EURAXESS initiative, next to EURAXESS Services, EURAXESS Rights and EURAXESS Links.

EURAXESS Jobs is an online job portal with thousands of job and fellowship offers available daily. Over 6,000 research organisations (companies, universities, research centers, labs etc.) are registered           and regularly publish new jobs, positions and fellowships announcements, covering all fields of research, from basic research to engineering sciences and research management.

Around 61,000 researchers already opened accounts on the portal and more than 20,000 CVs have been uploaded.

Since November 2012, EURAXESS Jobs increased the visibility of the jobs and fellowships offered in the countries where EURAXESS Links is present (including China, US, Japan, India and ASEAN countries).

Research organizations, companies, universities and all potential researchers’ employers and funders based in China can now register for free to the EURAXESS Jobs portal and publish their announcements to find the qualified staff they are looking for. Their offers will appear on the homepage of the EURAXESS Links China website and be included in the EURAXESS Links China monthly newsletter.

Researchers based in China and looking for career opportunities in Europe, in China or worldwide are more than ever invited to register free of charge and to use this new job and funding searching tool.

There are currently over 5500 research jobs and fellowships opportunities published on the EURAXESS Jobs portal, join in!

To know more on how to post announcements (for employers) or how to post a CV (for jobs & fellowships seekers) try directly on the EURAXESS Jobs website: http://ec.europa.eu/euraxess/index.cfm/jobs/index (click on “New User?”, quick & easy)

Or read first the detailed guidelines.

The "Understanding Science" team welcomes you to join their next session on Wednesday 5th December at 7.30 p.m.

Prof. Richard Strom of the National Astronomical Observatories, Chinese Academy of Sciences (NAOC), ASTRON Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy & University of Amsterdam will talk on “When Venus Transits the Sun: Heroic efforts to observe a rare event” and cover the history of this rare astronomical event. Please see the poster for more details.

Please note the change in venue for this talk, which will take place in the Bookworm in Sanlitun, a short walk from the Tuanjiehu metro station (line 10).

CEFC (Hong Kong) is calling for applications for a PhD scholarship from 1 September 2013. The Scientific Board of ‘Pôle Asie’ research institutes attached to the French Foreign Ministry will award a ninth months, non-renewable PhD scholarship. The scholarship comprises a monthly stipend of 1625 Euros, round-trip air travel from Europe to Hong Kong or Taiwan (when applicable), transportation of luggage up to 200 Euros and repatriation insurance.

Applicants must be citizens of a member state of the European Union and must be enrolled in a PhD program in the social sciences or humanities for 2012-2013 at a French university or a university in a member State of the European Union, or an institution affiliated with the CEFC.

Candidates will be under the obligation to reside in either Hong Kong, Taiwan or mainland China. Their research project must be relevant to the scientific mission of the CEFC, which is to study the political, economic, social and cultural developments in the contemporary Chinese world.

In return, the research fellow will submit an article to the journal "China Perspectives" and book reviews, both to be published by the CEFC.

The application shall contain:

• a research project;
• a detailed CV;
• a cover letter;
• two recommendation letters from recognized scholars in the field.

The selection will be based upon the following criteria which shall be outlined clearly in the research project :

• Aims of the research project;
• Methodology, Sources, Fieldwork;
• Provisional Calendar;
• Scientific collaboration with both Chinese and European Insitutions;
• Expected Results (publication projects…);
• Writing skills in French.

To download the application forms: click here

Applicants must submit their applications (in French) by email, as a single pdf attachment to Alfred Aroquiame by email (aaroquiame@cefc.com.hk) and the subject header should be ‘AIDE A LA MOBILITE 2013’.

Applications should be received by January 1st, 2013.

For more information: CEFC - Telephone: (852) 2879 6915 or 6910, Fax : (852) 2815 3211, Email : aaroquiame@cefc.com.hk

The ThinkINChina team in partnership with EURAXESS Links China is organizing this Saturday 1^st of December the first convivial meeting for all the researchers in Beijing: Researchers of different nationalities, with different backgrounds and active in different research fields but all sharing the same experience of working/studying in China.

You are warmly invited to join us for this first researchers' night at the Bed Bar (Gulou area, see the flyer for the detailed address). The gathering for researchers will start at 8pm and the party for all afterwards at 10pm with music and discounts on the drinks.

The next session, and the last one in 2012, of ThinkINChina will take place next Monday at the Bridge Café and feature Professor Tu WeiMing of the Department of Philosophy of Peking University talking about the question of identity in cultural China.

Details can be found on the flyer.

The Europe-China Clean Energy Centre (EC2) and its partners, the Energy Research Institute of China’s National Development and Reform Commission and the Regional Environmental Centre are pleased to invite you to the high-level conference “Cooperation on Energy Security: China-EU Government and Business Perspectives”, to be held on Thursday, 13 December 2012, at Tangla Beijing Hotel, Beijing, China.

The event will provide opportunity to meet representatives of Chinese governmental agencies and

companies such as: China National Offshore Oil Corp. (CNOOC), Shenhua Group Corporation Limited,

China Guodian Corporation, SINOPEC, CNPC, China Coal, State Grid Corporation of China, China Huaneng and China Huadian Corporation.

 Please join us at the conference and share your vision for joint strategies and actions to create win-win cooperation between China and the EU at both governmental and business level.

 To indicate your interest in participating in the conference, please return the registration form by Monday, 3 December 2012 to info@ec2.org.cn.

Background information of the meeting

Agenda of the meeting

This one and half day conference will feature state-of-the-art research on various disciplines of environmental sciences from prestigious scientists in the EU and China, as well as lessons and experience learnt on EU-China collaborations. There is also a session on the current Chinese environmental research infrastructure, future collaboration funding opportunities and roadmap on key technologies on environmental research.

The conference aims to attract EU and Chinese environmental research experts and policy makers who would like to be informed about current environmental research trends on atmosphere, climate change, water, soil and biodiversity, EU-China research cooperation and initiatives, as well as strategic development plans and roadmaps for future collaboration opportunities from the EC and China.

The deadline for registration is 30 November 2012. More details can be found on the SPRING project website: http://springproject.eu/en/international-conference-on-eu-china-environmental-research-collaboration

The 8th Edition  of the Summer School in China 2013 – Executive Education Training Program with two parallel curricula entitled "Summer Institute on Climate Change and Environmental Protection (SICCEP)" and "Summer Institute on Intellectual Property Rights and China (IP-China)" coordinated by the University of Milan (Italy), the University of Turin (Italy) and Edge Hill University (United Kingdom), will be held at Peking University School of Government in Beijing (China) from the 6th July to the 3rd August 2013 (SICCEP and IP-China) or from the 20th July to the 17th August (IP-China and SICCEP).

The first curriculum is called “Summer Institute on Climate Change and Environmental Protection” (SICCEP) or more precisely Law, Policy, Economics and Technology on Climate Change and Environmental issues: European and Chinese Perspectives. It addresses issues such as energy policies, environment law and sustainable development, intellectual property and technology innovation.

The second curriculum is called “Summer Institute on Intellectual Property Rights and China” (IP-China).

The participants will decide to enroll in all the scheduled courses and seminars will receive the certificates for both curricula.

The deadline for the application to the Summer School in China 2013 is scheduled on December 15, 2012.

Queries can be addressed to : summerlawinstitutesuzhou@unimi.it

To download the brochure (PDF file): BROCHURE SUMMER INSTITUTE 2013 - Deadline December 15, 2012

To download the call for applications (PDF file): SUMMER INSTITUTE IN CHINA 2013 - Deadline December 15, 2012

To download the call for applications (Word file): SUMMER INSTITUTE IN CHINA 2013 - Deadline December 15, 2012 word

The registration to the 1st Global EURAXESS Links Event "Linking Researchers Worldwide" is now open.

This major networking event organised by DG Research and Innovation of the European Commission, EURAXESS Links China and EU Delegation S&T team for the European and Chinese research community will take place at the Regent Hotel (JinBao Street, DongCheng District) in Beijing on Thursday, 15 November, 2012.

This one day conference + dinner will focus on EURAXESS as a global network for researchers linking Europe to the world. The participants will be invited to exchange in a friendly atmosphere with speakers from both Europe and China (as well as online speakers from Japan, India, Singapore and the USA) on how to use science as an engine for growth and how to create an attractive environment for international researchers.

A new job searching tool will be officially launched at the end of the conference.

We warmly invite you to register now and to spread the invitation to your colleagues and friends (all nationalities are welcome)!

Registration website: https://www.mci-registrations.com/euraxess/default.aspx

Contact: Jacques de Soyres, EURAXESS Links China Officer - jacquesdesoyres@euraxess.net

The Understanding Science team is holding its 5th Shanghai lecture on Tuesday October 16th from 7pm to 8:15pm at the Wooden box café. This seminar, entitled "Intercalation Chemistry in China: From Eggshell Porcelain to Highways in Inner Mongolia" will be presented by Professor David G. Evans from the Beijing University of Technology. In this lecture, Professor Evans will show how we can prepare new layered double hydroxide (LDH) materials with a chemical sandwich structure, and then how by varying the chemical components in the layers (the bread of the sandwich) and those between the layers (the filling of the sandwich) it is possible to prepare materials with different properties and applications: From eggshell porcelain to greenhouses, insulated electric cable and highways in Inner Mongolia.
All those interested are welcome to join this lecture.
Please RSVP to understanding.science.seminars@gmail.com

All the details about this lecture available at http://understandingscience.wix.com/uscience

The ICARE project, funded by the External Cooperation of the European Commission, is coordinated by ParisTech (Mines ParisTech-pilot) and brings together 11 partners (eight European and three Chinese). The project focuses on supporting the creation and development of an institute for clean and renewable energy in Wuhan, Hubei Province in China.

ParisTech seeks to fill as soon as possible the post of Vocational Training Manager (full-time position). Based in Wuhan, China (Huazhong University of S&T), the Vocational Training Manager will be responsible for the industrial partnership activities of the Institute, and will develop and coordinate, in partnership with the director of the training centre, vocational training programs. It will also be brought under the supervision of the EU Dean participation in the daily administration of the Institute, namely a master programme, a vocational training centre, a research platform and University Relations (logistics, students, faculty and administrative services).

More details about this announcement and many more offers on the EURAXESS Job portal.

A joint declaration on a European Union- China High level Innovation Cooperation Dialogue has been signed at the occasion of the 15th EU-China Summit on 20 September in Brussels.

Through this new mechanism, both sides intend to exchange best practices and ideas on innovation strategies, and jointly encourage and support cooperation on research and innovation activities. On the EU side, the dialogue will be led by the Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science and mobilise all EU relevant services. On the Chinese side, it will be led by the Ministry of Science and Technology and composed of representatives of relevant governmental bodies.

This dialogue will fully involve industry, universities and research institutions so as to complement mutual strengths and deliver 'win-win' partnership results in the areas of human resources, skills, technology, research infrastructures, financing of innovation, exploitation of research findings and entrepreneurship.

A particular attention will be paid to framework conditions such as IPR, Standards, symmetrical opening of R&D programmes, etc. with the view to promoting mutual trust and benefit.

Source: European Commission

This event, organised by DG Research and Innovation, took place on 19 September in Brussels as part of the EU-China Mayors' Forum. The objective of this workshop was to discuss the research dimension of the EU-China Partnership for Sustainable Urbanisation through the contributions of three initiatives supported by the European Commission's Directorate-General for Research and Innovation:

• The URBACHINA project funded by the FP7 Socio-Economic Sciences and Humanities Theme: Sustainable Urbanisation in China: Historical and Comparative Perspectives, Mega-trends towards 2050
• The Research Joint Programming Initiative Urban Europe,
• The European Energy Research Alliance Joint Programme for Smart Cities.

The workshop, which gathered 70 participants, presented new joint approaches from EU and China to address the challenges of urbanisation, both from a technological and from a socio-economic perspective.

It focused on systemic and integrative solutions, ranging from scientific foresight and evaluation, to new methodologies and implementation at the level of cities, in particular in the field of energy. The event provided an opportunity to strengthen EU-China research and policy collaboration on sustainable urbanisation, and to reinforce an effective science policy dialogue between key actors.

More details available here: European Commission

On 14 September 2012, the Commission adopted a Communication entitled 'Enhancing and focusing EU international cooperation in research and innovation: a strategic approach' (COM(2012) 497). The Communication sets out a new strategy for international cooperation in research and innovation, in particular with a view to implementing the new European research funding programme called ‘Horizon 2020’ (2014-2020).

The objectives are to:

• strengthen the Union’s excellence and attractiveness in research and innovation and its economic and industrial competitiveness;
• tackle global societal challenges, such as food and energy security and climate change;
• support the Union’s external policies.

To achieve these objectives, the strategy will follow a dual approach:

• Horizon 2020 will be open to participation from entities from across the world, although the approach to providing funding from the Union budget to these entities will be revised. Through this general opening, European researchers will be free to cooperate with their third country counterparts on topics of their own choice;
• To complement the general opening, targeted activities will be developed where cooperation will be sought on particular topics and with well identified countries and/or regions

More details available in source: European Commission

“Understanding Science” is a Café Scientifique-style programme which provides an opportunity for anyone who is curious about science, or wants to know more about what’s happening at the frontiers of research today, to find out by listening to leading scientists from China and abroad talking about their work. The talks are informal and accessible to everyone, with no specialist knowledge required. Afterwards, there is an opportunity for plenty of questions and discussion. “Understanding Science” was set up by Fellows on the European Union Science and Technology Fellowship (STF) Programme and following the end of that programme is being organized by the UK Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) and Institute of Physics (IoP).

The next “Understanding Science” event will be held at 7. 30 p.m. on Tuesday 9th October in the Bridge Café in Wudaokou, when Prof. Clive Greated (University of Edinburgh) will talk on “Water Power” and describe how a whole new generation of novel wave power machines are beginning to feed energy to the grid. Much of the work he will describe has been carried out in collaboration with researchers in Dalian University of Technology. Please see the flyer and the venue's map for further details and directions to the Bridge Café.

The "Understanding Science" team welcomes you to join this and future events. Please feel free forward this invitation to any friends you think may be interested.

The Club of Rome is organizing the Change-Course-Conference from December 8^th to 11^th 2012 in Winterthur, Switzerland and is planning to invite approximately 50 dedicated and creative young people from all over the world to attend. They will exchange views, discuss their generation’s future and the challenges they will face, and seek the common ground that underlies their initiatives, approaches and ideas.

The Club of Rome will cover the cost for travel, accommodation and food for 50 young adults to attend the conference.

Dedicated young people from all around the globe with a proven track record of interest and engagement regarding global challenges interested in participating are invited to send a CV and a short statement (no more than 500 words) explaining why they would like to participate to changecourseconference@clubofrome.org before 21 September.

More details can be found in the call for applicants and concept note of the conference.

The Delegation of the European Union to China, EURAXESS Links China, the Centre for Nanoscale Science and Technology of Peking University and the Madrid Institute of Advanced Studies in Nanoscience are organizing a seminar to foster Sino-European research cooperation in the growth of graphene and its applications.

The event will take place on Thursday 27^th and Friday 28^th of September 2012 in Beijing, at the Delegation of the European Union to China and Peking University. Please find here the programme of the meeting.

The opening of the event will feature presentations of the Chinese and European research landscapes on graphene and its applications, and will be followed by presentations of ongoing research activities by Chinese and European researchers and discussions about possible collaborations.

Stakeholders, including from the business sector, interested in attending this seminar are invited to register before 19 September. The seminar will be held in English and attendance is free of charges.

Please register your participation by sending an email to:

Jacques.desoyres@euraxess.net (Registration will be closed when the number of registration reaches the limited space).

In next month’s “Understanding Science” talk, Professor Dermot O’Hare (University of Oxford) will show how chemistry holds the key to making a sustainable society a reality rather than merely a vision. The talk will take place at 7.30 p.m. on Thursday 11th April in “Face Bar” which is just to the south of the Workers’ Stadium and conveniently close to the Dongdaqiao metro station (Line 6).

Please see the flyer and the map for further details.

This is a joint meeting with the Oxford and Cambridge Club Beijing. If you are planning to attend the talk, please reply to this email to register your interest so that we can give “Face Bar” an idea of the numbers of chairs to set out.

"Understanding Science" is organized by the UK Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) and the Institute of Physics (IoP) and the team welcomes you to join this and future events. Please feel free to forward this information to any friends you think may be interested.

The first EURAXESS Links global event "Linking researchers worldwide" will take place in Beijing, China on the 15th of November 2012.  EURAXESS Links USA, Japan, Singapore and India will be connected online to the event with researchers' testimonials.

The event will take place at the Regent Hotel in Beijing and should be a great occasion for the European and Chinese research communities to get together and interact with policy leaders from Europe and China, as well as with eminent representatives of the business R&D sector and representatives of the research communities in the other regions of the world where EURAXESS is also present (USA, Japan, India, ASEAN). A first general draft programme is available.

More information about the programme of the conference and the registration procedure will be communicated soon. You can already contact the EURAXESS Links China officer at Jacques.desoyres@euraxess.net to secure a seat to this major event.

With the aim to give the international audience a closer look on this phenomenon, Technological Entrepreneurship in China assembles the contributions of Chinese and European authors to describe the contexts in which Chinese technological entrepreneurship happens, the key players involved, the forces at play and their interplay, the practices of pioneer and emerging Chinese technology-based enterprises, and reflect as well on the existence, nature and persistence of a Chinese way to technological entrepreneurship.

The presentation of the book will be a chance to deepen these topics and question, debate and network with the authors of the book, coming from both Chinese and European universities and research institutions.

The book presentation will take place at the Italian Institute of Culture in Beijing. Further details can be found in this flyer.

Understanding biodiversity and climate change is an enormous task for the scientific community. Mastering this challenge might be decisive for the future well-being of mankind. International and interdisciplinary cooperation is an essential precondition for successful work in this area. Germany has made considerable endeavours in fostering new research approaches. Outstanding examples will be presented to the participants of the tour.

The German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) invites scientists and administrators from non-German universities and research institutions, who are attempting to initiate close cooperation with German colleagues, either in their specific research area or at an institutional level, to participate in a tour with focus on interdisciplinary research in biodiversity and climate change in Germany.

The tour will provide an overview of cutting-edge research at German universities and non university research institutions, as well as graduate education at the interface of various disciplines. Comprehensive information on funding opportunities for cooperation in education and research will also be provided.

Application deadline is September 15. Please visit http://www.research-in-germany.de/sciencetour2012 for further information.

The Beijing “Understanding Science” team is sending invitations to attend a special summer lecture, held in collaboration with the International Astronomical Union (IAU). Prof. Brian Schmidt from the Australian National University, who was awarded the 2011 Nobel Prize for Physics, will talk on the “The Accelerating Universe”. The lecture will take place at 10 a .m. on Saturday 25^th August in the China Science and Technology Museum. The Museum is located in the northeast of the Olympic Park about 10 minutes walk eastwards from the "Forest Park South Gate" subway station (Line 8). Please see the flyer for further details.

Like all “Understanding Science” events, attendance at the talk is free but in this case it is recommended you reserve a seat once they become available at http://www.cstm.org.cn/eapdomain/home/index.jsp.

The Centre d’études français sur la Chine contemporaine (CEFC - UMIFRE 18, MAEE-CNRS) is hiring a director for its Taipei office (Taiwan) on an 2 years (renewable) expat contract, starting on 1 September, 2013.

Details about the job offer and the online application gateway can be found on the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs website:

https://pastel.diplomatie.gouv.fr/transparenceext/transparence_emplois_reseau_diplomatique_consulaire.php#  

This position is aimed in priority at confirmed researchers from the European Union with an academic tenure.

The description of the position can also be downloaded here.

Candidates should use this application form.

Application deadline : 15 November 2012

The European Commission has announced on July 9 the final and biggest ever set of calls for proposals for research under its Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). Some € 8.1 billion is available for research projects covering a vast range of scientific disciplines, policy areas, and commercial sectors. The deadlines for submission are from autumn 2012.

The FP7 ‘Cooperation’ programme supports collaborative research in a range of fields including health, ICT, transport, energy, environment, oceans, food, agriculture, fisheries and biotechnology, material and social sciences, etc.

In most cases, proposals must include at least three different EU member states or FP7 associated countries to be eligible. As a general rule, Chinese teams may join European consortia. In addition, Chinese participation is targeted on certain topics including:

- KBBE: Coordination on major infectious diseases of animals and zoonoses (link to the corresponding call: KBBE.2013.1.3-04) 

- NMP: Biomaterials - Imaging and rapid precise prototyping technology for custom made scaffolds (NMP.2013.2.2-2)

- SPACE: air-quality and emissions monitoring (SPA.2013.3.2-01)

In order to apply, please consult the ‘Work Programme 2013’ available for each thematic area.  There, you will find descriptions of the topics to be funded, including the ones targeted at China mentioned above. Guides for applicants and submission, as well as other key documentation should also be consulted. See: http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/page/home and the Press Release: http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/12/752&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=fr

Advice and guidance on how to participate and find partners can be seeked contacting National Contact Points across Europe (http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/ncp_en.html) and, in particular for Chinese potential applicants, the Chinese contact point (China-European Union Science & Technology Cooperation Promotion Office (CECO) http://www.ceco.org.cn/ ).

The European Commission has launched a large international study on the mobility patterns, career paths and working conditions of researchers (http://www.more-2.eu/). A first survey focusing on the opinions of researchers currently associated to a European university was launched in June 2012.

This second survey looks beyond Europe and focuses on the international mobility of researchers to and from Europe and other places in the world. It targets both EU and non-EU researchers.

The EC would like to know about researchers‘ views, needs and experiences with international mobility. Which countries have you worked in as a researcher?  What factors have played a role in your decisions to move country? Have you previously worked in Europe and if so, how does this compare to other parts of the world? Have you considered carrying out future research in Europe?

responses will help the European Commission to develop better policies that should improve the mobility opportunities, career prospects and working conditions of researchers.

The questionnaire should take no more than 15-20 minutes to complete. It will remain open till September 15th.

All answers will be treated as strictly confidential and processed anonymously.

Access the survey at http://s.chkmkt.com/?e=21264&d=e&h=0B637FEC1B8E248&l=en.

The Delegation of the European Union to China, EURAXESS Links China, the Centre for Nanotechnology of Peking University and The Madrid Institute of Advanced Studies in Nanoscience are organizing a meeting to foster Sino-European research cooperation in the growth of graphene and its applications.

The event will take place on Thursday 27th and Friday 28th of September 2012 in Beijing, at the Delegation of the European Union to China and Peking University. Please find here a draft programme of the meeting and the map of the venues.

This event will feature presentations of the Chinese and European research landscape, presentations and Q&A session about funding opportunities for international research collaborations on graphene growth and its application to high tech sectors such as ICT, introductions to ongoing research activities by Chinese and European key-researchers and discussions about possible collaborations and synergies.

High-level Chinese and European researchers and other stakeholders involved in graphene research are invited to participate in this meeting and grasp this opportunity to network with potential partners. Younger scientist in the field based in China are also invited to attend as this could be a unique opportunity for them to interact with some of the most active research groups from China and Europe.

Regarding funding opportunities, new calls under the EU's 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP7) have been published on 9 July 2012. Information about calls related to the meeting’s topic are already available in the FP7 NMP Work Programme 2013 :
• NMP.2013.1.2-1 Nanotechnology-based sensors for environmental monitoring
• NMP.2013.1.4-2 Metrology research for the development and validation of design rules for engineering of nano-structured and nano-enabled materials and devices
• NMP.2013.2.2-4 Materials solutions for durable energy-harvesters
• NMP.2013.4.0-1 Graphene production technologies
• NMP.2013.4.0-2 Innovative materials for efficient, stable and cheap organic photovoltaic cells.

Guides for applicants and submission, as well as other key documentation should also be consulted. See: http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/page/home.

We encourage researchers to prepare proposals and will keep those registered to the meeting informed about the calls publication. As the deadline foreseen for these calls is 23 October 2012, the meeting will also be an opportunity for researchers responding to this call to ask questions before finalizing their proposal.

Please register your participation by sending an email to:

Jacques.desoyres@euraxess.net or fengluo@pku.edu.cn (Registration will be closed when the number of registration reaches the limited space). We will confirm your attendance by email and we look forward to welcoming you soon.

In the process of social industrialization, water resources shortage and environment problems caused by water pollution have become increasingly prominent. Traditional water treatment techniques could no more meet the needs of social and environmental development.

Thus the advanced membrane technology is showing special importance in water and waste water treatment. In order to promote the research and application of membrane in this area and set up an exchanging and cooperating platform for experts, scholars and enterprises, the “China-EU Membrane Research and Application Workshop on Water and Waste Water Treatment: Process Intensification” is going to be held at Weihai, China from November 12 to 14, 2012.

The call for papers runs until 31 July 2012. A short CV and a photo of the author are also expected to be submitted with the abstract to whstec@sina.com.

Contact Ms. Zhang Junjie (Jenny) or Mr. Pei Guoxin at the Weihai Science & Technology Exchange Center with Foreign Countries for more details:

Tel: +86 631 5814988
Fax: +86 631 5892828
E-mail: whstec@sina.com
zjj0631@hotmail.com

Download the workshop’s First Announcement.

The French Centre for Research on contemporary China (CEFC) invites applications from researchers from EU member states or associated countries for a one- or two-year research mobility project under the current Call for Projects - International Outgoing Fellowships funded by the European Framework Programme 7 (click here for details about the funding and eligibility criteria).

The CEFC, based in Hong Kong, is a multidisciplinary social science research centre dedicated to the study of contemporary China.

The CEFC offers to host researchers working on contemporary China in the area of social sciences and who want to submit a proposal within the frame of this call.

How to apply: Interested researchers are invited to contact the Director of the CEFC with a CV and a 1-page outline of their project, also specifying the "return host organization", as early as possible, and no later than 27 July 2012, by email only: sveg@cefc.com.hk

The CEFC is the only independent European research centre in China entirely devoted to the study of contemporary China. A public research institute, the CEFC is jointly funded by the French Foreign Ministry and the National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS), with a mission to study the political, economic, social and cultural developments in Greater China.

For more information, please see the CEFC website: http://www.cefc.com.hk

The Understanding Science scientific popularization talks are back in Shanghai for the third edition, on Monday June 18 from 7pm to 8:30pm at the Wooden box cafe. This 3rd seminar, entitled “Eat Drink Men Women: follow the birds and the bees in times of famine” will be presented by Dr Samuel LINSEN from the CAS-Max Planck Partner Institute for Computational Biology in Shanghai. “Famines are, for many societies, still a realistic threat and understanding the physiological impact of these may alleviate its lasting consequences. Dr Linsen will explain that by following generations of people born in times of famine, and using animal models, we can today get some insights into our physical and mental response towards starvation. During the lecture, examples of the early-life response to nutrient limitations will be discussed”.

Further details can be found on the event's flyer.

RSVP to leguyader.laurent@gmail.com

The Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) signed last April an agreement in the Netherlands to invest in Sino-Dutch Science-Industry cooperation in research and innovation. Both parties agreed to implement the Programme of Innovation Cooperation (PoIC) in 2012-2013 which will support joint research projects on research topics such as LED-technology, semiconductor technology, sustainable new materials, production and safety of food and quality of health.

A joint call for proposals has recently been launched in China and the Netherlands. Sino-Dutch consortia consisting of 4 partners (Dutch and Chinese industry and academic parties) were able to pre-proposals for joint innovation projects. The deadline was set on 16 April 2012. Prior to the call a Sino-Dutch Platform for partnership in research and innovation was launched by MOST and the Chemical and Physical Sciences Division of NWO last year May to support networking and information-sharing on science-industry research collaboration.

Hopkins China Forum events are organized by The Johns Hopkins University and its affiliated alumni associations worldwide. This particular seminar is organized in collaboration with Young China Watchers (Shanghai) and will feature Dr. Eric Li (李世默) Founder and Managing Director, Chengwei Capital at The Wooden Box 9 Qinghai Lu (just to the South of Nanjing West Road) on Monday, May 28th, 2012 19:00pm –20:15 pm. 

In the view of the speaker, Eric Li, Western-style democracy is not an absolute value, and is not necessarily suitable to all countries at all times. While the modern West sees democracy and human rights as the pinnacle of human development -- a belief premised on an absolute faith -- China is on a different path. China’s leaders are prepared to allow greater popular participation in political decisions if and when it is conducive to economic development and favorable to the country's national interests, and have in fact done so in the past 10 years. Democracy should be seen as a means to a specific end, effective political governance, and not as an end in itself.

 Eric Li is the Founder and Managing Director of Chengwei Capital, and also a frequent contributor to leading publications such as the New York Times, the Huffington Post, the South China Morning Post, the Christian Science Monitor, and Global Times. Recent op-eds have included “Why China’s Political Model is Superior” (New York Times) and “Bo Xilai and China’s Future” (Huffington Post). Li serves on the boards of the China Europe International Business School (CEIBS) and of CEIBS Ghana, the school’s branch in Africa, and is also Chairman of the Chunqiu Institute and a Henry Crown Fellow at the Aspen Institute. Li holds a PhD from Fudan University’s School of International Relations and Public Affairs.

Download the invitation

The next Understanding Science seminar will take place on Tuesday 22 May at 7. 30 p.m at the Bridge Cafe in Wudaokou (Haidian district). Prof. Simon D. M. White, director of the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics in Garching, Germany, will be the invited speaker. Details can be found on the seminar’s flyer.

This is part of a series of “Understanding Science” lectures set up by a group of researchers on the EU Science and Technology Fellowship Programme in which scientists explain the background and significance of their work to a general audience in an informal setting.

This is in an open event. You are warmly invited to participate and to bring friends and colleagues with you. 

The Webinar Do Research in Switzerland!  8th May 2012, is an occasion for researchers outside Switzerland to learn more about European funding opportunities.

Two European programmes will be presented by the Swiss Experts, Dr. Katja Wirth and Dr. Judith Zbinden.

The first programme, the so-called European Research Council Starting Grants (ERC StG), is designed to support excellent researchers at the stage at which they are starting or consolidating their own research team. 

The second programme, the Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowships (IIF), is an opportunity for young researchers to come toEurope for a 2 years project. You will also have the opportunity to listen to testimonies for researchers and the experiences they made with their grants.

Date: 8 May 2012, 10:00 Brussels time (UTC+2h).

Information and registration: www.euresearch.ch/webinarasia  

Although many tens of thousands of Chinese scientists have studied and worked inEurope

over the last thirty years, very few Europeans have made the reverse trip to live and carry

out research in China. A European Union initiative – the EU Science and Technology

Fellowship Programme China (STF China) – has begun to redress this balance, bringing

benefits to both Europe andChinaand promoting stronger cooperation in the future.

Following on from the very successful 1st STF Conference held in March 2011, this 2nd STF

Conference will showcase the research achievements of the European STF Fellows of the

second intake, as well as examining the challenges faced by overseas researchers working

in another cultural environment, and discussing ways of promoting researcher mobility and

people-to-people exchanges.

The details of the Conference are:

Date: May 16, 2012 Wednesday

Time: 09:30-20:00 (including dinner)

Venue: Kempinski Hotel,No.50 Liangmaqiao Road,Beijing 100125

The detailed invitation and agenda of the meeting can be downloaded here.

Please complete the attached registration form and return to Ms. Edda GU edda.gu@euchinastf.eu by 7 May, 2012 if you wish to attend the conference. Should you have any further questions please don’t hesitate to contact the STF Office under 010-8447 5946.

 A German Chancellor Fellowship allows you to carry out a project of your own design in cooperation with a host in Germany you have selected for one year for professional development, study, or research. The aim of the program is to give young leaders the opportunity to spend an extended period of time in Germany at an early stage in their careers. After returning to their careers in their home countries, they have the potential to become - because of their intensive experiences in Germany - intermediaries between their home countries and Germany as they assume important positions in the fields of business, science, politics and society.

The German Chancellor Fellowship Program requires that the applicant has received their BA within the past 12 years at the time of the application. Prior knowledge of German is not a prerequisite. Candidates from all professions and disciplines, but especially individuals in the humanities, law, social sciences and economics, are eligible to apply to the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation directly.

Application deadline for applicants from the People's Republic of China is June 30, 2012.

More details available on the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation website.

The next Understanding Science seminar will take place on Monday 16th April at 7. 30 p.m at the Bridge Cafe in Wudaokou (Haidian district). Prof. David Phillips, president of the Royal Society of Chemistry (UK) will give a talk on the “The Science behind Photomedicine” in the Bridge Café in Wudaokou. Details can be found on the seminar’s flyer.

This is part of a series of “Understanding Science” lectures set up by a group of researchers on the EU Science and Technology Fellowship Programme in which scientists explain the background and significance of their work to a general audience in an informal setting. In future the RSC (together with the UK Institute of Physics (IoP)) will take over the running of these lectures, since they provide with an excellent opportunity to tell non-chemists why chemistry can be fascinating and how it can benefit society.

This in an open talk. You are warmly invited to particiated and to bring friends and colleagues with you.  

The European Young Researchers’ Award (EYRA), coordinated by Euroscience in collaboration with The European Council of Doctoral Candidates and Junior Researchers “Eurodoc” and Marie Curie Fellows Association “MCFA”, is granted to researchers demonstrating outstanding research performance and leadership. At the same time, the award aims to inspire early stage and experienced researchers to incorporate a European dimension and perspective into their research. The Award is granted each year but the prize-giving-ceremony is held every two years at the Euroscience Open Forum (ESOF) where the two recipients will present their work. The Award consists of a Certificate and a grant to cover travel and accommodation for the stay in the ESOF city (this year, it will be Dublin, Ireland:   http://www.dublinscience2012.ie/)

The deadline for sending in applications is 19 April 2012.

An international selection Committee will evaluate the applications and select the awardee.

Find out all details about this award and the application procedure on the Euroscience website.

The information meeting will finally not take place at the Delegation of the European Union to China as initially planned but at the Novotel Peace Hotel.

Download the agenda of this one day event here.

The registration deadline has been extended to 17 April. E-mail at delegation-china-scitech@eeas.europa.eu.

This event will feature a presentation of the new calls for proposals in space research (Exploitation of astronomical and astrophysical data from space missions; observations in and from space; space and climate change) under the EU Research 7th Framework Programme (FP7), testimonials of Chinese participation in previous calls, as well as presentations on support to finding partners and on Chinese space programmes and potential for further EU-China research cooperation.

Since the opening of the Silk Road between the East and the West or Marco Polo’s trips to China in the XIIIth century, Asia andEuropeare closely connected via an economic and intercultural exchange. Their relations started long before the “era of globalization” but could since the beginning of all interaction be considered as a start for the creation of a global society and of the shaping of a world trans-culturally connected.

This conference aims to trace and analyze the history of contacts, transfers and exchanges between Asia andEuropeand to point out differences as well as similarities in the development of a modern society. Socio-cultural aspects will be discussed as well as economic issues.

The conference brings scholars from Asia andEuropetogether to discuss the differences between Chinese and European historiography as well as their major lacks and challenges. The conference aims to use a trans-national approach to explain how local history is connected into a more general framework.

It is organized by the Department of History of theTsinghuaUniversityin collaboration with the European Delegation to China and EURAXESS Links China.

Download the conference programme.

Registration by email to c.howald@gmx.de or manuel.perez@eui.eu.

This conference is part of an initiative to support EU-China cooperation in the field of historical studies. If you are a European researcher in history based in or working on China, and even if you cannot make it to the conference, you are warmly invited to get in touch with the organizers of the conference at the email addresses indicated above.

In 1994, Airbus China Company was officially established and Airbus China Beijing Representative Office started operation, which currently has a staff of about 211 Chinese local and expatriates in China. Customer service offices providing on-the-spot airline support include Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, Hangzhou, Jinan, Lanzhou, Nanchang, Nanjing, Qingdao, Shanghai, Ningbo, Shenzhen, Shenyang, Dalian and Xi'an, also Hong Kong. Today, a US$80 million training and support centre, which is the most modern and first dedicated in China, is fully operational inBeijingnear theBeijingCapitalAirport. Now Marketing China Department is looking for a Senior Marketing Analyst.

Details about responsibilities and qualifications can be found here.

Interested candidates should send detailed resumes in both English and Chinese indicating applied position in email to Recruit.CHINA@airbus.com

ESOF – Euroscience Open Forum – is the biennial pan-European meeting dedicated to scientific research and innovation. The ESOF2012 event to be held in Dublin, 11-15 July 2012 will bring together over 5,000 scientists; business leaders; senior EU and government officials; and international scientific media to discuss the best of European science and to address all of the current major global scientific challenges, including Energy, Climate Change, Food and Health. Themes include “Food Security” to “The Life and Death of the Universe”.
ESOF provides young researchers with a unique opportunity to interact with leading scientists from various scientific fields. With up to 1,000 young researchers from across Europe and beyond, ESOF2012 will give them the unique opportunity to expand their networks of international contacts and to establish important links with potential collaborators.
Various organizations, including the Swiss Embassy in Ireland, the Swedish Research Council (VR), the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation (DASTI) and the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) offer travel grants to help young researchers who wish to attend ESOF2012. See the Euroscience website for more information on the current open calls http://www.esof.eu.

The deadline for applications for travel grants is Thursday 10th May 2012.

For any further information, please contact the Euroscience Office at office@euroscience.org, or by telephone +33 (0)3 88 24 11 50.

Two fellowships available for Ph.D. candidates are on offer at the Polytechnic University of Milano inItaly.

The first one is a FP7 Marie Curie Initial Training Network fellowship for a PhD in Energetic and Nuclear Science and Technology Safety and Risk Analysis. The yearly value of this scholarship is 42,000 euro starting in November 2012. The deadline for application is 13 April, 2012. Further information can be obtained here.

The second scholarship, also open to PhD candidates  in Energy and Nuclear Science and Technology Safety and Risk Analysis, is awarded in collaboration with OECD Halden Reactor Project in Norway and provides a nonthly net income of 1,202.84 euro. Application can be submitted from March to May 2012. Further information can be obtained here.

The link on the webpage of the laboratory in Politecnico di Milano Department of Energy Nuclear Section is http://lasar.cesnef.polimi.it/

The European China Law Studies Association (欧洲中国法研究协会，www.ecls.eu, hereafter ECLS) is pleased to invite applications to attend its 7th Annual General Conference to be held in Helsinki from September 24 to 25, 2012. The annual general conference is to be jointly organized by the Finnish Institute of Chinese Law and Chinese Legal Culture and the Faculty of Law of the University of Helsinki.

Since its founding in 2006, ECLS has become a major meeting point for scholars, observers and practitioners around the world who are engaged in the study of Chinese legal environment and its changing society, from both comparative and interdisciplinary perspectives. The annual general conference provides an excellent forum for the exchange of information as well as a platform for the development of research collaborations or joint projects. The conference is also intended to cultivate a new generation of scholars and practitioners interested in issues related to China, the EU and legal globalization.

Abstracts should be no more than 500 words in length and must be submitted using the online submission procedure no later than April 15, 2012. For online submission, please use https://elomake.helsinki.fi/lomakkeet/33790/lomake.html. The submissions shall be evaluated by the conference organizer and the results will be notified by May 20, 2012.

Detailed presentation of the conference can be downloaded here and further information can be obtained by contacting Prof. Chen Yifeng at yifeng.chen@helsinki.fi. 

Helmholtz Association announces a joint-call for 5 Joint-Research Groups together with its partner CAS in February 2012. The targeted research fields include energy, earth and environment, health, key-technology, structure of matter, space and transportation.

The aim for this HCJRG programme is to support the jointly identified cooperation projects with mutual interests and scientific excellence. It is hoped that this instrument would reinforce the connections between Helmholtz and CAS and improve the visibility of the successful collaboration between the two parties. The German university partners could also benefit for participating in these HCJRG projects.

The HCJRG call is to find in the Helmholtz English website at: http://www.helmholtz.de/jobs_talente/postdoktoranden/helmholtz_china_joint_research_groups

And the Chinese call on the CAS website is at: http://www.bic.cas.cn/tzgg/201202/t20120213_3439013.html

Each selected joint research group would be funded for three years, while Helmholtz invests 80,000-120,000 euro annually and CAS will invests 300,000 RMB/year or around 35,000 euro/year. According to the signed agreement between the Helmholtz and CAS presidents, it is expected that there should be at least two further rounds calls in the subsequent years if this first one runs well.

Deadline for application is 15 May, 2012. Further details available here.

The new edition of the Journal of Science and Technology Policy in China (Vol.3 Issue 1) features two articles which might be of particular interest to EURAXESS Links China members:  Examing China's S&T statistics by Denis Fred Simon, University of Oregon and  Cong Cao, School of Contemporary Chinese Studies, University of Nottingham and China's next big challenge: mastering radical technology by Anton Kriz and David Cunneen, Newcastle Business School, The University of Newcastle, Australia.

The first article discusses the reliability of official Chinese government statistics in general, overviews the evolution of China’s S&T statistical system while highlighting the main sources of such statistics, points out some of the particular problems related to China’s S&T statistics, and tries to provide perspectives about how to best use and interpret these numbers.

The aim of the second article is to investigate China’s capacity for nurturing radical technology. For China to recapture its earlier technological prowess it will need a creative class. The paper proposes eight stepping stones for China to move from its current situation to a position where creativity and radical technology re-emerge.

IESD will welcome its ten-year-anniversary in 2012. Since its establishment IESD has enrolled 104 international Master students and 30 Ph.D students from more than 30 countries. All the courses are taught in English and internship resources are provided to the students, in particular in international organizations. International organizations, NGOs as well as national ministries of environment or energy are also usual employers of IESD Masters programmes' graduates.

In 2012, IESD will keep running the following programs:

Ø  Master Program in Environmental Management and Sustainable Development

Ø  Doctoral Program in Environmental Management and Sustainable Development

And new programs as following:

Ø  International Master’s Program in Environmental Engineering

Ø  International Master’s Program in Environmental Laws

Ø  International Master’s Program in International Politics and Environmental Governance

Ø  International Master’s Program in Green Environment and Energy Economics (Sino-Italy)

 The tuition fee is RMB 39000/year. To promote and encourage excellence in higher education in developing countries, TongjiUniversitywill provide limited scholarships (for which the deadline for application is mid-March).

The deadline for application is 31^th May 2012. More information can be found at http://unep-iesd.tongji.edu.cn/ .

Contact Person:

Maggie SHEN

Office: +86-21-6598 7790    Fax: +86-21-6598 5059

Mobile: +86-1381 654 2292

Address: 903,ZongheBuilding,1239 Siping Road,Shanghai, 200092, P.R.China

The Odysseus initiative is intended to offer start-up funding to a number of outstanding researchers who have built up a career outsideFlanders, in order to develop a research group within a Flemish university or to set up a research line and become progressively more involved in the Flemish research establishment.

What makes the Odysseus programme so special, is the unique combination between sufficient project financing to establish a new research team within a Flemish university and a permanent position for the Odysseus beneficiary within the same university.

The subsidy is used for two types of start-up financing:

- Odysseus Group I – International leading research

Researchers who are internationally acclaimed as pioneers in their field and who already have a position at a foreign university, can apply for an Odysseus Group I position. It is expected that these researchers already lead their own research group within the institute to which they are affiliated, and this research group will consist of permanent staff, several post-docs and a number of PhD students. The support for this set-up ranges from 400,000 to 1,500,000 EUR per year (2,000,000 to 7,500,000 for a 5-year period).

- Odysseus Group II – Researchers with the potential to develop a leading international status

Researchers who have at least 3 years’ post-doctoral experience abroad and whose work has convinced leading colleagues in the field that they have potential to develop a leading international position can apply for an Odysseus Group II position. These researchers are expected to be leading a small team within a research group, consisting of one or more PhD students and possibly one or more post-docs. The support for this set-up ranges from 100,000 to 200,000 EUR per year (500,000 to 1,000,000 for a 5-year period).

The latest Odysseus call opened on 15 December, 2011. The closing date for submission is 1 April, 2012. Further details available here.

These fellowships are for excellent international young researchers to work for six or twelve months in a Chinese university or research institute. All candidates are recommended by the Chinese host organisation. They must have obtained a PhD, have more than three years of basic research or post-doctoral experience, and must be aged under 35 as at 1 January of the year of application.

This funding is for research expenses only. The host organisation is responsible for covering living costs, insurance, research facilities etc. 100,000 RMB for 6 months / 200,000 RMB for one year.

The NSFC recently released the application calendar 2012. The deadline for the first round of recommendation is 15 February, 2012. Recommended researchers will then have until 31 March to submit their individual application. Fellowships eventually awarded under this first round will start on 1 July, 2012.

A second round or recommendations and applications will be launched later this year (with deadline on 31 July 2012, and fellowship start on 1 January 2013).

Full information is available on the NSFC website.

The general scheme for international students to study in Chinais the Chinese Government Scholarship Scheme under which scholarships are granted to foreign students to start different levels of studies (from undergraduate to doctoral studies and senior scholars) in Chinese Higher Education Institutions. Chinese Government Scholarship Program is established by the Ministry of Education ofChina in accordance with educational exchange agreements or understandings reached between the Chinese government and the governments of other countries, organizations, education institutions and relevant international organizations to provide both full scholarships and partial scholarships to international students and scholars.

The scholarship covers university registration and related costs and provides free accommodation on the campus and a living allowance of 1400 RMB/month for undergraduate students, 1700 RMB/month for Master students and 2000 RMB/month for Doctorate students.

Application documents should be forwarded to CSC by April 30^th, 2012, via either the Chinese diplomatic mission in the applicant’s home country or the embassy of the applicant’s home country inChina. Individual applications are not accepted by CSC.

Find out more about the application procedures on the CSC website.

Beside the general scholarship scheme, other schemes are established with specific partners or target specific types of students. Further details are available in this announcement published on the CSC website.

The "Fernand Braudel-IFER" programme offers postdoctoral fellowships in social and human science for:

- incoming fellows : it offers foreign researchers (or researchers living abroad) the possibility to do research inFrance

- outgoing fellows : it offers French researchers (or researchers living inFrance) the possibility to do research in another European country

These research stays are designed to enable researchers to

- Carry out an individual research project at a host laboratory

- Integrate scientific networks inFranceor other European countries

- Build lasting partnerships between their home institution and the host institutions.

All social and human science disciplines are eligible.
An interdisciplinary approach to research topics is encouraged. The standard length of the fellowship is 9 months. However, the length of the research stay can be adjusted if warranted for scientific reasons.
The amount of the monthly stipend for room & board and living expenses is €2,000. Travel expenses (one round trip) are paid following agreement between the fellow and the Fondation Maison des Sciences de l'Homme (FMSH).

Next deadline for application is 31 March, 2012.

More details available on the FMSH website.

Leibniz – DAAD Research Fellowships’ is a new programme implemented by the ‘Leibniz Association’ and the ‘German Academic Exchange Service’ (DAAD). The fellowships offer highly-qualified recent foreign postdocs the opportunity to conduct special research at institutes of the Leibniz-Association inGermanyfor a period up to 12 months. At the time of their application, applicants should have completed their studies with a PhD or equivalent degree no more than 2 years ago.

The grant includes:

                - a monthly instalment of 1,840,- EUR;

                - a monthly subsidy of 58 EUR for the insurance for health, accident and personal/private liability inGermany(53 EUR per month has to be covered by the fellowship holder);

                - a two-month German language course (if desired).

The 2012 call for application was launched on 9 January and will close on 20 March, 2012.

Further details available on the DAAD website.

The Irish Research Council for Humanities and Social Sciences has launched the 2012-2013 round of its Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Fellowships.

For leading-edge research in the Humanities and Social Sciences, including Law and Business Studies, IRCHSS is offering two types of fellowship:

- 1 year fellowship:  Preparation of a doctoral dissertation for publication through a variety of appropriate, feasible and clear published outputs.

- 2 years fellowship: To develop a new research project which is a significant development from the subject of the doctorate through a variety of appropriate, feasible and clear published outputs.

Applicants may only apply for either Fellowship 1 or 2.

The deadline for applications to this scheme is 4pm (GMT) 17th February 2012. All electronic applications must be received by this deadline.

To be eligible to apply to the scheme, applicants must have been awarded their doctoral degree within the five-year period before 17th February 2012.

Access the call on the IRCHSS website.

This scheme provides the implementation of research projects carried out by world-class Lithuanian and foreign scientists and other researchers.

Purposes of the programme are to stimulate international-class research conducted by Lithuanian and foreign researchers at research and higher education institutions ofLithuania.

The research projects could be funded from 57 924,00 up to 463 392,03 EUR. The project implementation period may not be less than 24 months, but it should not exceed 48 months.

The second call uner this programme was launched on 28 December, 2011 and will close on 5 March, 2012.

Further details available here.

The Innovational Research Incentives Scheme has been set up in 2000 by NWO, KNAW and the universities jointly. The aim is to promote innovation in the academic research field.

The scheme is directed at providing encouragement for individual researchers and gives talented, creative researchers of all nationalities the opportunity to conduct their own research programme independently and promote talented researchers to enter and remain committed to the scientific profession.

Three different kinds of grants can be applied for:

• Veni open for application for researchers who have recently taken their PhD, to allow them to continue to develop their ideas; a maximum of 250,000 euro.
• Vidi for researchers who want to develop their own innovative line of research and appoint one or more researchers; a maximum of 800,000 euro.
• Vici for senior researchers to build their own research group; a maximum of 1,500,000 euro.

The call for applications for the Vici grant is currently open and the deadline to submit pre-proposals is 29 March, 2012.

Further information available on the NWO website

The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) are long-term partners in international research cooperation. In 2009, NWO and NSFC decided to expand their existing agreement focusing on exchange of researchers with an additional component focusing on funding joint research projects.

The 2012 Call for Proposals addresses the research topic 'The Application of Operations Research in Urban Transport'.

A budget of up to M€ 1,9 is available for the 2012 Call on the Dutch side. This budget covers funding for up to eight joint projects. NSFC will provide a fund of up to 800,000 RMB for each approved project.

The deadline for application is 25 April, 2012.

More information available on the NWO website. Chinese applicants should consult this NSFC webpage.

The objective of the programme is to encourage young Polish scholars abroad to return toPoland. The programme is also open to young PhDs who are citizens of other countries but interested in spending a postdoctoral fellowship inPoland.

The programme is directed to persons who hold at least a doctorate and are in the early stage of their academic career (up to 4 years after obtaining the doctorate). Applicants should have been abroad for an uninterrupted period of at least 9 months (conducting research, on a postdoctoral fellowship, or preparing a doctoral dissertation) and intend to come to Poland within 6 months after the application deadline, or returning to Poland no earlier than 12 months prior to the application deadline.

The nest deadline for applications is 15 March, 2012.

Find out more on the Foundation for Polish Science website.

Starting this month, the Swedish Research Council will make available a new form of grant — the International Postdoc. The aim is to provide young researchers with an attractive international start. The International Postdoc replaces the current postdoctoral support, which was made available for the last time last July 2011.

The new funding scheme is intended for researchers who have just received their doctorates and who want to conduct research at a foreign university or research institute. Researchers in all fields of study will be able to apply.

The grant is similar to the current postdoctoral fellowship, as it deals with supporting international researcher mobility. One of the differences is that the new grant is not a scholarship, but is rather based on the researcher being employed at a Swedish higher education institution during the entire grant period, even when the researcher is abroad. This means that the researcher has complete social protection in the form of parental allowance, sickness allowance, and pension over the entire grant period.

The new International Postdoc Grant replaces the current form of grants: Grant for Postdoctoral Position inSwedenand Postdoctoral Fellowship with Homecoming Grant.  

The call for applications will be held twice a year. The first call for applications will open in January, with a last application date of 23 February. In the first week of July, the second call for applications will be published, with a last application date of 30 August.

If you intend to apply for an International Postdoc, you should now begin preparing, as an invitation from the relevant foreign university must be annexed to your application.

For questions, please contact: Janet Eltebo

More details can be found on the Swedish Research Council website.

Initiation grants are given by the Swedish Foundation for International Cooperation in Research and Higher Education (STINT) for the implementation of short-term projects targeting the building of new and strategically interesting international relationships. The programme is open for applications within all scientific areas. Candidates shall be active at a university or college inSwedenand have defended their doctorates and the principal collaborating party shall be outside the EU/EEA area. 

The applied amount shall not exceed 150 000 SEK. The amount shall include overhead of maximum 17,5 per cent for projects involving foreign visitors and 2 per cent for those involving only foreign stays. Scholarships are not associated with overhead.

Several calls are opened every year. For 2012, the first deadline for application is 31^st of January. The four other ones will be 17^th of April, 12^th of June, 11^th of September and 27^th of November. 

More details on the STINT website.

Fellows are normally nationals of the Member States of CERN. There also exist a limited number of places for Fellows from non-Member States wishing to apply for a standard fellowship. There are two levels of Fellowship within the programme:

• The Senior Fellowship Programme, addressed to people with a Ph.D. or at least four years of experience after the degree which gives access to doctoral programmes. In both cases, a maximum of ten years of experience after the degree which gives access to doctoral programmes applies.
• The Junior Fellowship Programme, for holders of at least a Technical Engineer degree (or equivalent) and at most a M.Sc. degree (or equivalent) with not more than 4 years of experience.

 Fellowships are granted for one year initially and are normally extended for a second year. Extensions for part or all of a third year are granted only in exceptional circumstances.

Deadline for application is 1 March, 2012.

Further details available on the CERN website.

In 2009, CERN introduced a new ‘Graduate Engineering Training (GET)’ scheme. GET is addressed to recent graduates at Bachelor level with no more than 4 years of relevant professional experience or to people with a M.Sc. qualification or above with no more than 10 years of professional experience. Successful applicants are assigned to a project with a supervisor determined in advance. Candidates should apply through the standard Fellowship programme. Engineers selected under the GET scheme would benefit from the same conditions as all other Fellows.

Deadline for application is 1 March, 2012.

More details available here.

Travel and research grants in the fields of Natural Sciences, Engineering and Technology, Medical Sciences, Agricultural Sciences, Social Sciences and Humanities are awarded to highly qualified students who are intending to complete their PhD studies inTurkey.

The new entrants to the PhD programmes and PhD students who have registered at most one year ago can apply to this scholarship program.

The first deadline for 2012 applications is 27 February.

For further details please check the Tubitak (Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey) website.

Travel and research grants in the fields of Natural Sciences, Engineering and Technological Sciences, Medical Sciences, Agricultural Sciences, Social Sciences and Humanities will be awarded to highly qualified PhD students and young post-doctoral researchers to perform part of their research inTurkey.

The first deadline for 2012 applications is 2 March.

For further details please check the Tubitak (Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey) website.

The British Medical Research Council (MRC) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China invites proposals to the UK-China Stem Cell partnership development initiative from high quality research teams based in theUKandChina.

The partnership development initiative aims to provide opportunities for scientists fromChinaand theUKto develop enduring collaborative links in the area of stem cell research. The immediate objective of the partnership scheme is to provide funding to connect research groups to undertake small scale collaborative research as a basis for future and joint activity.

Projects funded under this scheme should have scientific outcomes of relevance to the longer term development of therapies for human disease and disorders. Research will be focussed on basic stem cell biology and preclinical research.

MRC will provide funding for theUKapplicants. Up to £400,000 is available to fund 10 to 12 partnership projects. The grants will cover 100% of theUKresearchers’ costs for travel and consumables.

NSFC will provide funding for the Chinese applicants and a total of 3,000,000 RMB is available.

The projects should last 12 months but the funding profile for theUKportion of funding will have a degree of flexibility and can be extended beyond 12 months if necessary.

Deadline for application is 17 April, 2012. More information is available on the MRC website and on the NSFC website.

The Research Councils UK Energy Programme wishes to develop collaborative projects between the UKand Chinain partnership with the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) in the field of 'Smart Grids' under the following themes:

-       Integration of large Scale Renewables, including HVDC

-       Distribution Network Operation and Planning

-       Scalable flexible power systems operation and control, including risk and uncertainty

Consortia should consider how their proposal makes the best use of available expertise in theUK, how it networks theUKcommunity and how it positionsUKactivities against other international opportunities.

Up to £3M is available across the theme areas from the Energy Programme with matched equivalent resources from NSFC (up to 3M RMB per project). It is expected that between three and four proposals will be funded.

Proposals should include leadingUKresearchers wishing to develop contacts with leading researchers from NSFC institutes inChina.

Deadline for application is 29 March, 2012.

Further details available on the EPSRC website.

The EMBO Long-Term Fellowships are awarded for a period of up to two years and support post-doctoral research visits to laboratories throughoutEuropeand the world. International exchange is a key feature in the application process. All fellowships must involve movement between countries and one of those countries must be anEMBCMemberState.

Stipend and travel costs for the fellow and his/her family are provided. Fellowships must be started within one calendar year from the relevant closing date for applications.

Applications can be submitted online during two periods each year (1 January to 15 February and 1 July to 15 August). The next deadline is 15 February, 2012.

 Find out more on the EMBO website.

Founded in 1972, the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA) is an international research organization that conducts policy-oriented research into problems that are too large or too complex to be solved by a single country or academic discipline.

IIASA provides full funding for two postdoctoral researchers each year. Scholars are expected to conduct their own research within one of IIASA's research programs or special projects on topics closely related to IIASA's agenda.

The goals of the IIASA Postdoctoral Program are:
- to encourage and promote the development of young researchers and offer them the opportunity to further their careers by gaining hands-on professional research experience in a highly international scientific environment; and
- to enrich IIASA’s intellectual environment and help achieve research program goals.

As well as the special prestige attached to a postdoctoral award at IIASA, recipients enjoy a substantial number of professional benefits as well as a competitive remuneration package.

The closing date of the 2012 application procedure is 24 February, 2012. More information available on the IIASA website.

Last December 7, the EU Delegation to China S&T section and EURAXESS Links China organized a meeting bring major stakeholders and numerous European researchers based in China together to discuss how to increase the number of researchers coming to China from Europe. The one afternoon meeting proved to be an interesting forum as many views and experiences were shared in a constructive fashion.

The report now available on the EURAXESS Links China website sums up the main views and recommendations formulated during the event.

The EURAXESS Links China website also features the two publications that were officially launched during the December 7 event: the Funding Guide for European Researchers in China and the IPR in China: Guidance for Researchers brochure.

The Science, Technology and Environment section, Delegation of the EU to China, in collaboration with EURAXESS Links China, would like to bring together Europeans involved in research and innovation cooperation with China on urbanization-related issues.

The aim is to learn about each other’s activities, inform the participants about the forthcoming EU-China Partnership on Urbanization (to be endorsed during the upcoming EU-China Summit) and to discuss how this might impact their activities and how to feed the research component of the Partnership.

To this aim, a one-morning meeting will be organized at the EU Delegation in Beijing on Tuesday morning, February 21. A more detailed agenda of the meeting will be sent early February. Download the agenda of the meeting

The theme of 'urbanisation' covers the following topics:
- Energy efficiency, low carbon development, air quality;
- Transport, Mobility;
- Water and waste management;
- Urban planning, Integrated urban-rural policy planning.

Registration is done by emailing to Jacques.desoyres@euraxess.net and filling out this table before 14 February, 2012.

The aim of the Blanc International programme is to provide a significant stimulus to ambitious scientific projects that are competitive on an international level, are highly original and break away from traditional research paths.

Thus, to facilitate and encourage the setting up, deployment and cofinancing of the bilateral transnational projects proposed by French and foreign teams, the ANR has concluded specific cooperation agreements with several foreign funding agencies.

A collaboration agreement was signed between the ANR and the Natural Sciences Foundation of China (NSFC) in order to facilitate the setting-up and implementation of scientific projects of quality jointly proposed by French and Chinese research teams, in the framework of the ANR’s Blanc Programme and the NSFC’s International Joint Research Projects.

The aim is to finance innovative and collaborative research projects of high quality between the best French and Chinese teams. The partners shall ensure that the scientific contributions of French and Chinese partners are equitably balanced.

The French part of the call for proposals is managed and evaluated in the framework of the ANR's Blanc International II Programme. It is therefore crucial to read the Blanc International II call text.

Priority will be given to projects falling within the scope of the following areas:

 Information and Communication Technologies
 Green chemistry or Sustainable chemistry

In the framework of this call for proposals, applicants are invited to present projects justifying ANR funding of 100 k€ to 200 k€ in average, including for fundamental research projects. This does not exclude that some projects with higher amounts of funding might be selected.

Deadline for submission is 21 March, 2012. Find out more on the ANR website.

The Chinese part of the call is managed by the NSFC.

Created by the Chinese Ministry of Education and the French Ministries of Foreign and European Affairs and of Higher Education and Research, the Cai YuanPei program aims at fostering the exchanges of PhD students and their supervisors and related post-docs between the 2 countries. Research cooperation projects between French and Chinese research teams will be selected and financial supports for the travels and stays in the partner country will be provided for 2 full years. Each project should involve 8 people (4 on each side) including one or two PhD works and students on each side. All the disciplinary fields are eligible, including Human and Social Sciences. About 20 new projects are expected to be supported each year.

In the 2012 edition of the programme, projects meeting at least one of the 3 following conditions will be favourably considered:

1- Projects related to one of the following topics:
- sustainable development, biodiversity, water management;
- chemistry and green technology;
- ICT and smart cities.

2- Projects relying on an already existing or planned joint research structure;

3- Projects to be carried out in the framework of a Sino-French cooperation of excellence.

Deadline for application is 20 March, 2012. More details available on the Egide website.

The goal of the Xu Guangqi programme is to develop collaborations between Chinese and French researchers working in laboratories of both countries by supporting them in their initial phase of launching and development. Mobility of young researchers within the collaborations is particularly appreciated.

In the 2012 edition of the programme, projects meeting at least one of the 3 following conditions will be favourably considered:

1- Projects related to one of the following topics:
- sustainable development, biodiversity, water management;
- chemistry and green technology;
- ICT and smart cities.

2- Projects relying on an already existing or planned joint research structure;

3- Projects to be carried out in the framework of a Sino-French cooperation of excellence.

Deadline for application is 6 March, 2012. More details available on the Egide website.

The China-Netherlands Joint Scientific Thematic Research Programme (JSTP) aims at stimulating sustainable research collaboration. Research teams of Dutch and Chinese researchers, with a senior Principal Investigator on both the Chinese and the Dutch side can apply for funding for Joint research projects over a period of 3 to 4 years.

Thematic calls for proposals will be published annually, featuring different thematic priorities each year.

New joint research projects and seminars between China and the Netherlands will now be funded under the second phase of the Joint Scientific Thematic Research Programme (JSTP). After a three year pilot, the second phase of JSTP was launched earlier this year during a festive reception in Beijing which was opened by Mr. Halbe Zijlstra, State Secretary of Education, Culture and Science of the Netherlands. The second phase will allow another three joint research calls in different annual themes.

For the 2011-2012 Call, Dutch and Chinese research groups are invited to submit proposals for joint projects related to the research topic ‘Agriculture & Food: How to Feed the World?’. Alongside this thematic Call, a joint Call for Proposals for Dialogue Seminars is also launched which is open to all disciplines. This Call will fund joint scientific seminars aimed at networking and identifying future research topics for China and the Netherlands.

The annual budget for the JSTP Calls is €1.6 mln on the Dutch side and will be matched by the Chinese counterparts.

Closing date for submitting Expressions of Interest is 16 January, 2012 and closing date for submitting Joint Research Projects proposals will be 10 April, 2012.

Further details available here.

The Commission has adopted the 2011 State of the Innovation Union report. Learn more about the good progress made in implementing the Innovation Union flagship initiative on the Key Documents page of the European Commission Innovation Union website.

The China Links Meeting on Mobility of European Researchers to China held on December 7 brought around 90 European researchers, representatives of European and Chinese research and funding institutions together for a very rich exchange of views and experiences.

Participants appreciated the quality of the discussions, the comprehensive coverage of the various issues linked to coming to and doing research in China and the opportunity to share their personal experiences with fellow European researchers as well as with Chinese key stakeholders in the research system.

The meeting was followed with a buffet dinner for all participants, which provided a convivial networking occasion.

The report of this meeting will soon be released on EURAXESS Links China.

This funding guide is intended to be used as a stand alone document to introduce the various schemes that exist to support mobility, research collaboration, research exchange and relations between Europe and China, enabling researchers to scan the range of schemes and quickly be able to grasp the key essentials of each programme. For each programme, a web-link allows to access more detailed information and application documents.

Using this guide, we aim to provide comprehensive information that will be of interest to:

• Researchers wishing to travel to China from Europe,
• Researchers wishing to return to or visit Europe from China,
• Researchers looking to locate funding opportunities in China,
• Researchers seeking to collaborate with partners either in Europe or China.

The information contained in the booklet is mainly targeted at those in graduate school or who are working as a researcher, at postdoctoral or senior levels. The information should also be of interest to those in universities or research institutions responsible for international relations or careers.

In addition to the European Commission Marie Curie grants, the document also lists national, European and Chinese funding schemes, and those offered by other foundations or research bodies.

The funding guide can be downloaded in pdf version here.

European research cooperation with China has seen a marked increase in recent years. Though the scale and substance of collaborations certainly varies, in all cases, a basic understanding of intellectual property rights (IPR) within the Chinese context may help to maximize the success of joint cooperation.

This brochure aims to provide European researchers with an introduction to the basic aspects of intellectual property and what this means in China. It signposts useful sources of further information and explains where to seek advice and guidance through the different contact points available.

The brochure can be downloaded online here.

The Niels Bohr Professorship program seeks to attract strong international research capacities at the senior level that are able to significantly advance the internationalization of a specific area of research in Denmark with a lasting, long term effect.

The DNRF welcomes proposals where the Niels Bohr Professor stays in Denmark for the entire 5 year funding period. However, other models in which the professor remains in Denmark for shorter or longer visits are also welcomed. The time spent in Denmark is expected to correspond to 50-100 % of a fulltime equivalent.

The Niels Bohr professor may start up a new research group or enter into an existing one. It is possible to bring along junior researchers to Denmark.

Deadline for application through Danish universities is 2 December, 2011.

More details about his call available here.

Initiation grants are given for the implementation of short-term projects targeting the building of new and strategically interesting international relationships.

Candidates shall be active at a university or college in Sweden and have defended their doctorates and the principal collaborating party shall be outside the EU/EEA area.

The applied amount shall not exceed 150 000 SEK. The amount shall include overhead of maximum 17,5 per cent for projects involving foreign visitors and 2 per cent for those involving only foreign stays. Scholarships are not associated with overhead.

Next deadline is 26 November, 2011.

Further details available here.

This afternoon meeting aims to exchange views on the practicalities of how to increase in volume and improve in quality the mobility of EU researchers to China.

All participants will have the opportunity to share their experiences and views about coming to China, adapting to the Chinese research environment and valorizing their stay in China in their career.

Lead speakers from different backgrounds will initiate what we hope to be constructive discussions with all participants.

EU researchers, those in charge of mobility funding programmes and other stakeholders on this topic are all invited to attend and share experiences and ideas.

This event will also mark the 2nd anniversary of the launch of EURAXESS Links China providing a good opportunity to share a convivial moment in the company of HE Markus Ederer, EU Ambassador to China, and a buffet dinner offered by the EU Delegation to China.

As the number of seats is limited, we now encourage you to register as soon as possible to jacques.desoyres@euraxess.net and indicate if you would like to attend both the conference and the dinner.

Download the event’s agenda here.

The Science, Technology and Environment Section of the Delegation of the European Union to China is looking for an intern to work on and science and technology (S&T) issues for a duration of 6 months.

The intern will contribute to the work of the section by monitoring research and innovation-related developments in China. In particular, this will involve researching and analysing the EU and the Member States’- level innovation policies and projects with China.

S/he will conduct research via the internet, reports and other publications, and through contacts with Embassies and European research and innovation organisations based in Beijing. He/She will produce briefings and short reports on European innovation activities in China as a contribution to the development of an EU research and innovation strategy in relation to China.

Profile
- A European Union or Chinese National;
- Fluent in English;
- Must have completed a university degree, (preferably at Masters level).

Main Tasks
- Analyse EU and EU Member States cooperation activities in China in the fields of Science, Technology and Innovation
- Prepare briefings and reports
- Participate in meetings and prepare minutes;
- Liaise with EU Member State contacts in China and Chinese authorities;
- Assist in the preparation and implementation of workshops, meetings and events.

Internship
- Position is based at the EU Delegation in Beijing;
- The internship is expected to start from January 2012;
- Internship is for six months;
- The position is unpaid;
- All costs related to travel, accommodation, visa, health and accident insurance,
 etc. for the time in China are borne by the intern;
- A candidate with a previous internship from a European Institution will not be
        eligible.

Please send a cover letter and your CV by November 15th 2011 to Philippe Vialatte and Jessica Mitchell, delegation-china-scitech@eeas.europa.eu

Currently several of the Freie Universität Berlin graduate schools have published calls for
application for PhD scholarships starting in fall 2012:

Berlin Mathematical School: http://www.fu-berlin.org.cn/news/news73.html

Graduate School of North American Studies:
http://www.fu-berlin.org.cn/news/Ausschreibung_GSNAS_2012.html

Graduate School of the Cluster "Languages of Emotion:
http://www.fu-berlin.org.cn/news/Ausschreibung_LoE_2012.html

The ERC has launched a new grant scheme - the 'Synergy Grant ' -  to fund research carried out by small groups of principal investigators and their teams. 

The Synergy grants aim to support proposals that demonstrate the complementarity and added-value of joint research leading to breakthroughs that would not necessarily be possible to achieve without the proposed group configuration. Groups of between two to four researchers can apply for a maximum grant of € 15 Mio for a period of up to six years.

The total funding of the first pilot 'Synergy Grant' call is € 150 Mio, representing approximately 10% of the 2012 ERC budget for calls. No more than 10 to 15 'Synergy Grants' will be awarded in 2012, and only exceptional proposals are likely to be funded.

The first call for proposals for Synergy Grants opened on 25 October. Deadline for submission is 25 January, 2012.

Access the call and related documentation here.

This afternoon meeting aims to exchange views on the practicalities of how to increase in volume and improve in quality the mobility of EU researchers to China.

After a brief introduction, the meeting will be divided into three sessions of one hour each, addressing the different stages and related issues of mobility of EU Researchers between Europe and China. Discussions will be led by key-stakeholders and open to all participants. Download the draft agenda.

EU researchers, those in charge of mobility funding programmes, etc. are all invited to attend and share experiences and ideas.

This event will also mark the 2nd anniversary of the launch of EURAXESS Links China providing a good opportunity to share a convivial moment in the company of HE Markus Ederer, EU Ambassador to China, and a buffet dinner offered by the EU Delegation to China.

For registering to this event please write to jacquesdesoyres@euraxess.net and indicate if you would like to attend both the conference and the dinner.

Applications are invited for a postdoctoral position at the Laboratory of Experimental Medicine at the Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium for a project recently funded by the JDRF international and entitled Mining splice variants to identify novel targets for beta cell imaging. The research group studies novel biomarkers for beta cell imaging and molecular mechanisms of pancreatic beta-cell dysfunction and death in diabetes mellitus. An overview of its research lines is outlined in Eizirik DL et al. Nature Rev Endocrinol. 5, 219–226 (2009); Gurzov EN and Eizirik, Trends Cell Biol 21:424-31, 2011 and Bouckenooghe T et al. Curr Pharm Des, 16:1609-1618, 2010.

A good background in molecular and cell biology is required, and experience with diabetes research is considered a plus. This 2-year postdoctoral position starts in December 2011 (starting date can be negotiated) and the position will remain open until a suitable candidate is found.

Please email a letter of interest, curriculum vitae (including publication list), and the name of 2-3 reference persons to Prof. Decio L. Eizirik, deizirik@ulb.ac.be, Laboratory of Experimental Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Universite Libre de Bruxelles, Brussels, Belgium.

The joint conference “Horizons of Futures Research and Education – Theories, Methods, Applications“ of Fudan University (China), Kungliga tekniskahögskolan (Sweden) and University of Turku (Finland) will take place on 20.-21.10.2011 in Shanghai.
All those interested in exploring long-time futures and/or seeking for
co-operation with Nordic countries in the field are warmly invited to attend.

Closing date for free registration is October 15.

More details about the event and the registration process here.

This conference will present the results of a three-year research project, co-funded by the EU’s Seventh Framework Programme, to pursue a comprehensive understanding of how different segments of Chinese society view the EU. It will provide new insights into EU-China relations, and help EU stakeholders develop more effective strategies for achieving productive relations with China.

This is an academic conference aimed at scholars and policy-makers. The project is being conducted by a six-member consortium led by the China Policy Institute of the University of Nottingham and which includes the Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, the organiser of this conference, and also Renmin University, Leiden University of the Netherlands, Jacobs University in Bremen, Germany, and the Royal Institute of International Affairs at Chatham House in London.

Participation is free of charge but as seating is limited places will be confirmed on a first-come first-served basis. Simultaneous interpretation of the Chinese presentations into English will be provided.

Download the conference’s agenda. Those interested in attending should register asap (first-come, first-served) by writing to Prof. Dong LiSheng at dongls@cass.org.cn.

The ChinaAccess4EU project is proud to announce the organisation of a series of workshops to take place in China at the beginning of November 2011. The ChinaAccess4EU project is financed by the European Commission and its main aim is to promote opportunities for European researchers and research organizations to participate in Chinese national research and innovation programmes.

The 3 Workshops (Beijing, Chengdu and Hangzhou) will give participants an overview of the project’s success stories to date and will serve as a platform to form further effective collaborations between European researchers, research organizations, innovation practitioners and their counterparts in Chinese national research and innovation programmes.

The events will feature both presentations from key stakeholders and a networking/match making element which will enable European and Chinese researchers, research organisations and other stakeholders to progress potential collaborative opportunities.

Save the dates:
Beijing, Tuesday 1st November, co-organised by the International Technology Transfer Center, Tsinghua University
Chengdu, Thursday 3rd November, co-organised by EUPIC, EU Project Innovation Centre Chengdu
Hangzhou, Tuesday 8th November, co-organised by Zhejiang University

Registration will be free of charge.
A full agenda for each workshop will be sent out soon.

Contact: For more details, please feel free to contact Mr Bruce Wei (Mobile:+86-1880-113-2724, email: brucewei@spi-china.cn)

To help leading scientists with two to five years of postdoctoral experience to set up their research in Croatia and rapidly establish a reputation in the European scientific community, this programme is open to Croatian and foreign researchers with two to five years of postdoctoral experience in Croatia or abroad with proved institutional support.

Successful applicants will receive from up to 350.000,00 Kuna annually (around 46.000 euros), for three years. Within biomedicine, natural, technological and biotechnical sciences candidates may receive up to 350.000,00 Kuna annually and within social sciences and humanities up to 250.000,00 Kuna (around 33.000 euros) annually.

Application deadline is 28 October, 2011.

Further information can be found on this webpage.

Primarily directed to outstanding young academics with two to three years of experience in research who have attracted attention through their work in an innovative field and who would now like to advance their field further, the offer is also open to scholars who obtained their PhD several years ago and who meet even higher demands regarding their personal qualifications and the focus of research in the framework of the professorship. Candidates for these professorships should preferably be returning or coming to Germany from abroad.

Initially, a five-year period of funding is envisaged (can be prolonged to reach up to 8 years) with an amount of €0.8 to €1.5m per professorship.

The deadline for application is 1 November, 2011.

Find out more here.

Offers fellowships to post-docs at an early stage of their academic career for research in the following areas: Institutions, Governance, and Democracy; Migration; Economic and Monetary Policy; Competition Policy and Market Regulation; Energy Policy; and International and Transnational Relations.

The basic stipend is € 2,000 per month.

The professorship is awarded for a period of one or two years for the selected researchers to conduct research at the Robert Schuman Centre for Advanced Studies (RSCAS) of the European University Institute located in Italy.

Deadline for submitting application is 25 October, 2011.

More details on the EUI website.

The Max Weber Programme is Europe’s largest postdoctoral programme in the social sciences and humanities. It is funded by the European Commission (DG Education and Culture) and hosted by the European University Institute in Florence where the research community of professors, researchers and fellows provides an excellent environment for the Programme.

The Programme, open to all nationalities, is designed for junior post-docs who have received a doctorate in economics, law, history, social and political sciences, or a related field, within the last 5 years and who want to advance in their research and academic training, in an active multidisciplinary environment before entering the international job market, or in the early stages of their academic careers.

The Max Weber Programme offers 1- and 2-year fellowships. Two year fellowships involve additional academic activities in the EUI departments, such as limited graduate teaching.

The annual deadline for applications for these Max Weber Fellowships is 25 October but please note that, after 25 October 2011 and up to 25 March 2012, applications for self-funded fellowships are considered on a first-come basis for as long as there is capacity in the Max Weber Programme.

More details on the EUI website.

The National Scholarship Programme of the Slovak Republic is intended to support mobility of foreign students, PhD students, university teachers and researchers to stay at Slovak universities and research organization for a period of 1 to 12 months.

The monthly scholarship varies according to the different type of beneficiaries as follows:

• University students: 280 euro
• PhD student: 480 euro
• Researcher without PhD degree and less than 4 years work experience: 670 euro
• Researcher with PhD degree or more than 4 years work experience: 850 euro
• Researcher with PhD degree and at least 10 years work experience: 1000 euro

Deadline for summer semester of the academic year 2011/2012 is 31 October, 2011. More details here.

This fellowship programme is in the fields of Astronomy, Solar and Planetary Science, Particle Physics, Particle Astrophysics, Nuclear Physics, Development of STFC Neutron, Laser and Synchrotron and is open to researchers of any nationality.

The Ernest Rutherford Fellowship scheme was announced on 29 March 2011. The Fellowships will enable early career researchers with clear leadership potential to establish a strong, independent research programme. They will encourage talented researchers in UK universities to remain in the country and at the same time attract outstanding overseas researchers to the UK. This new scheme replaces and builds on STFC's Advanced Fellowship programme.

Each Fellowship will last for five years, with 12 being offered annually. Fellows will receive support for their salary and be able to bid for significant additional funds to support their research.

Proposals must be submitted by 12 October 2011.

More details available here.

The main purpose of the study is to assess the evolution of the science, technology and innovation (STI) performance of China and analyse its economic impact on Chinese productivity and competitiveness, taking into account the differences between different science and technology fields, economic sectors and types of actors involved. The insight gained should help inform and develop STI strategies for the EU taking into account the emerging role of China as a competitor as well as a partner of the EU.

The call deadline is 30 September, 2011 and the deadline for requesting documents is 23 September, 2011.
More details available here.

The Ministry of Education and Research and the Estonian Science Foundation announced that they welcome applications for top researcher grants for the researcher mobility programme MOBILITAS.
Through the researcher mobility programme Mobilitas postdoctoral researchers and top researchers can apply for a grant to carry out a research in Estonia or abroad.

The programme Mobilitas will last for eight years (2008-2015), with the total budget of 20.3 million euros, of which up to 85% is granted by the European Social Fund.

The target group comprises top researchers who come from abroad to work in an Estonian R&D institution to create their own research group and do research in the first priority area of the Estonian Research and Development and Innovation Strategy 2007-2013 (information and communication technology, material technology, biotechnology, energy, environment technology, and health), and postdoctoral researchers who come from abroad to work in an Estonian R&D institution. It is also possible to be awarded a grant for going from Estonia to a R&D institution of a foreign state as well as an inter-Estonian grant.

The duration of the top researcher grant is no less than 3 years while the duration of the postdoctoral grant is 2 or 3 years.

Grant application has to be submitted electronically via the Estonian Research Portal (ETIS) by 15 September, 2011.

More details available here.

The goal of this new programme launched by the S&T service of the French Embassy in China, is to give the opportunity to young (less than 40 years of age) French researchers and engineers to learn about the research being done in China in their respective fields and to identify potential partners.

A one-week long stay in China, that includes general information sessions, meetings on innovation issues and research institutes visits, is funded and organized by the S&T service in partnership with CAS. In 2011, seven candidates will be selected in the ‘sustainable development and biodiversity’ field. The visit is scheduled to take place from 19 to 27 November, 2011.

The call was launched on 15 July and will close on 16 September, 2011.
Find out more details and how to apply to this new programme here (French).

The UK Economic & Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Research Grants Council (RGC) invite applications for the Fourth Round of the ESRC/ RGC Joint Research Scheme. Launched in 2007, the Scheme aims to foster collaboration between social scientists in the UK and Hong Kong. 

Full-time academic staff members of the University Grants Committee (UGC)-funded institutions who meet the prevailing eligibility requirements for the General Research Fund (GRF) of the RGC may apply.
The funding limit set for the UK and Hong Kong of each funded project is £99,999 and HK$350,000 (excluding 15% on-costs) respectively.

Maximum duration of each project is three years.
The deadline for application is 20 September 2011.
More information on this scheme and the application procedure available here.

The next session of Young China Watchers, on September 14th, 7.00pm, will feature Stephen Green, Standard Chartered, who will lead a discussion on 'Down on the Farm with StanChart: How Land Reform is Changing Rural China'.

Stephen is Head of Greater China Research at Standard Chartered Bank. Prior to StanChart, Stephen was Head of the Asia Programme at London’s Chatham House. Stephen has a Ph.D. from LSE and completed undergraduate studies at Cambridge University. He has been a visiting researcher at Fudan University and at the Shenzhen Stock Exchange. He will give a 20-minute presentation, to be followed by a lively moderated discussion for 20-minutes.

The session will take place at Face Bar, 26 Dongcaoyuan, Gongti Nanlu, Chaoyang, Beijing, 6551 6788 (between Chaoyangmen and Hujialou Subway).
RSVP necessary  to youngchinawatchers@gmail.com.

The 'Urban Strategies Against Climate Change: Eco-Cities, Low Carbon Cities or Green Cities?‘ conference is meant as a closing event of a five-year research project on megacities financed by the German ministry for education and research and implemented by the University of Duisburg-Essen in Shanghai.

The conference will first offer an overview of the current developments in China – eco-cities, low carbon development zones, green cities – as well as the challenges they face. Then the key issues of urban development will be discussed through three moderated panels. This international event should offer an opportunity to leading experts from different countries, walks of life and specialties to come together and find synergies and cooperation possibilities.

Architects, desing institutes, developers, cities authorities, scientists, students and researchers are all welcome to join in the conference.

Those interested should register with Ms Sun XiaoKang at sun.xiaokkang@econet-china.com before August 15.

This seminar aims to raise awareness among all China-based stakeholders about the opportunities for research and innovation cooperation with Europe, including the researcher mobility schemes. A key aspect of the event will be the new round of EU research calls for proposals in which China may participate. Presentations given by both the EU Delegation and some EU Member States cover a range of thematic areas, including on energy. This half-day event will also provide an excellent opportunity for discussion and networking.
Researchers, research managers, as well as government or research funding agency representatives are warmly invited to attend.

To participate, please register by 26 August, by email to: Delegation-China-Scitech@eeas.europa.eu. Registrations will be dealt with on a first-come, first-served basis.
Access the agenda of the meeting and venue map here.

This half-day workshop will take place at the China National Exhibition Center in Beijing on Thursday, 8 September, 2011 and will be followed by a lunch for all participants.

The seminar aims to share experiences and good practices of EU-China cooperation in the ITS field. At the seminar, the Viajeo activities and achievements of EU-China cooperation will be presented. Good practice and experiences on EU-China cooperation in technologies will be shared. The seminar will bring together speakers with many years of experience in EU-China cooperation. Participants will also discuss future opportunities and strategies.

EURAXESS Links China members are welcome to join and to register before 1 September, 2011. Find out how and more about this event here.

The Viajeo project, co-funded by the European Commission DG Research under the 7th Framework Programme (FP7). aims at designing, demonstrating and validating an open platform which will facilitate data sharing and exchange from different sources and provide data processing and management to support a variety of services with the main goal of enhancing efficiency of overall urban mobility.

The project will integrate the open platform with local components and demonstrate its applications in four cities: Athens, São Paulo, Beijing and Shanghai.

The Functional Genomics & Proteomics of Chemical Ecology Division of the Shandong Academy of Agricultural Sciences is currently looking for candidates to fill 3 postdoc positions in Microbiology (click here for details), Chemical Ecology (click here for details) and Biochemistry (click here for details).

These positions are open to Chinese nationals but international researchers are strongly invited to apply. Chinese language knowledge is not required. Assistance will be provided for foreign applicant. Salary conditions shall be about 4000-5000 RMB/month including housing.

Deadline for application is end of August, 2011.

For further details on application for internationals, please contact jfpicimbon@gmail.com.

EURAXESS Links China partner Axelera informs us that the Shanghai Chemical Industry China Council will hold an international conference: “Automotive Industry & Petrochemical Industry: Hand in Hand for Future” to be held in Shanghai on 17-18 November, 2011. The conference will be divided in sub-conferences on the following topics: Engineering Plastics, Elastomers (including rubbers, thermoplastic elastomers), Adhesives and Coatings.

The aim is to build up a communication and cooperation platform for automotive industry & petrochemical industry and to improve the application, innovation and industrial upgrading between the two industries.

The conference will be held in Chinese and English and participants are expected to include government officials, experts and scholars from multinational corporations, large-scale and medium-scale enterprises, universities, institutes and financial sector. This Symposium is officially approved by the Shanghai Commission of Science and Technology.
EURAXESS Links China members are welcome to register by contacting: Shi Yong, 021-64380676, scicc.qbs@163.com.

More details available here (English) and here (Chinese).

Journal of Science and Technology Policy in China is co-launched by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Emerald Group in UK.

The journal has published a new issue recently including Dr.Kharbanda's paper on Impact of globalization on science and technology policies in China and India and other articles related to S&T in China.

Find out more on the journal website http://www.emeraldinsight.com/jstpc.htm

Freie Universitaet Berlin has just published a call for two new scholarship programs for international postdocs.

This is the first call for application for the two new research fellowship programs,  called “COFUND” and “POINT”, established by the Dahlem Research School at Freie Universitaet Berlin. The purpose of both programs is to reinforce the international dimension of junior researchers by supporting highly-qualified postdocs from abroad.

The program COFUND is co-funded by the Marie Curie CoFund program of the European Commission. 

Fellowship holders will be enabled to carry out their own research project in one of Freie Universitaet’s Excellence Programs.

For this purpose, Dahlem Research School offers a number of Postdoctoral Research Fellowships. Starting in January 2012, each research fellowship is awarded for fifteen months.

The second new research fellowship program launched by Dahlem Research School at Freie Universitaet Berlin is called “POINT”, which stands for Postdoc International.

Dahlem Research School offers 5 Postdoctoral Fellowships. Starting in November 2011, each research fellowship is awarded for twelve-months to support postdocs conducting research on one of the topics open for application of Freie Universität’s Research Focus Areas.

Application deadline for both programs is 31 August 2011.

Find out more on the university website.

Among the new FP7 calls for proposals published last 20 July is the European Research Council’s Starting Grant, with a budget of €730 million this year. The call has the following three domain deadlines:

1. Physical Sciences and Engineering: 12 October 2011
2. Life Sciences: 9 November 2011
3. Social Sciences and Humanities: 24 November 2011

More details available here.

New calls for proposals under Europe’s Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development, FP7 have been published today, with deadlines for submission from autumn 2011.

Nearly €7 billion will be available for joint research projects covering a vast range of scientific disciplines, public policy areas, and commercial sectors.

The calls include those in the FP7 ‘Cooperation’ programme support research in areas such as health, ICT, transport, energy, environment, food, agriculture, fisheries and biotechnology, material and social sciences, etc.

To apply, please consult the ‘Work Programme 2012’ for each thematic area.

Guides for applicants and submission, as well as other key documentation should be consulted.

You can find them on-line at: http://ec.europa.eu/research/fp7/index_en.cfm

In most cases, proposals must include at least three different EU member states or FP7 associated countries to be eligible.

As a general rule, Chinese teams may join European consortia in addition to this requirement. Specific topics may also target Chinese participation.

FP7 advice, support and partner searches:

China-European Union Science & Technology Cooperation Promotion Office (CECO) http://www.ceco.org.cn/
National Contact Points across Europe: http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/get-support_en.html

The figure set out for research and innovation for 2014-2020 is € 80.2 billion.

Comparing like-for-like, that is 46 per cent more than under the current seven–year programme.

Learn more about the new EU budget proposal, the EU budget in general, some misconceptions about it and, finally, the part of it allocated to Research and Innovation.

Given the high demand for the participation in the 4-week summer school which will take place in Beijing from July 11 to August 6, the Department of Public, Civil Procedure, International and European Law (DIRPPIE) of the University of Milan, together with the Peking University School of Government, has decided to present a second summer school session from August 6 to August 20. This second session will include the same program of the first one but with fewer lectures per day, being two-weeks long.

The sixth edition of summer schools in China includes two curricula: the “Summer Institute on Climate Change and Environmental Protection” (SICCEP) and the “Summer Institute on Intellectual Property Rights and China ” (IP-China).

It is a particularly innovative multidisciplinary program which takes into account the demands of law firms, international organizations and companies as far as the training of professionals involved in these issues is concerned.

The program is open to undergraduate and graduate students with a background in law, political sciences, languages, philosophy, economics, engineering, environmental sciences, physics, chemistry as well as professionals from all those sectors dealing with the topics of the program.

This program is organized in partnership with the University of Turin Faculty of Law and the University of Eastern Piedmont Faculty of Economics in Italy, Lund University Faculty of Political Sciences in Sweden , University of Provence Aix Marseille I - CNRS Centre of Comparative Epistemology and Ergology in France , and in cooperation with University of Pavia , Faculty of Law.

The admission period will go on until no more seats are available.

Applications shall be sent to the following email address: summerlawinstitutesuzhou@unimi.it
Find out more details about the programme of this summer institute in this document as well as in this flyer.

The 750-page report provides an exhaustive factual and statistical analysis of what needs to be done to close Europe's innovation gap - the gap between where we are now and achieving the Innovation Union we need in Europe. The report analyses the strengths and weaknesses of national research and innovation systems and provides solid facts on which to base national policy choices. It builds on the Innovation Union Scoreboard.

It includes a factsheet detailing each country's research and innovation performance. The report highlights the fact that the EU's innovation performance needs major improvements in many areas if the Europe 2020 strategy is to deliver smart sustainable growth, and that Europe needs more and 'smarter' investment in both public and private research and development – not only to boost growth in the medium-term, but also to produce a counter-cyclical effect in times of crisis.

The European Research Council (ERC), held an information session at the EU Delegation to China in June, with the aim of enticing researchers based in China to pursue scientific research grant opportunities in Europe.

Though the program has been in existence since 2007 and is open to applicants from anywhere in the world, only four grantees have come from mainland China; a trend the ERC hopes to reverse through greater outreach and propagation directed towards the Chinese research community.

ERC also recently advocated in favour of an increase of its budget.

A draft version of the Work Programme 2012 is now online. It outlines the funding priorities for transport research under the FP7 programme for the year 2012. The main focus is on eco-innovation, safe and seamless mobility, and competitiveness through innovation.

Calls for research proposals that are in line with this Programme will be launched on 20 July 2011. Researchers, universities, SMEs, large companies and research institutes are welcome to submit their proposals.

This publication presents a synthesis of European and national forward-looking exercises in the fields of science, technology and innovation. The document provides a fresh insight on the main current trends and expected perspectives on the European Research Area and Innovation Union including citizens’ visions about science and technology.

The symposium, which is organised by the upcoming Polish Presidency of the European Union and the European Commission, will celebrate the 15th anniversary of the Marie Curie Actions and the 100th anniversary of Maria Skłodowska-Curie’s Nobel Prize in chemistry. 

The event will gather politicians, stakeholders and about 300 Marie Curie researchers. The symposium will include poster sessions and a contest of the most innovative ways of promoting science.

In order to stay in touch with Marie Curie fellows, the European Commission will launch a Marie Curie Alumni platform.
Learn more about this event here.

The Research Foundation – Flanders (FWO) is about to launch a new programme called “Pegasus”, intended to attract experienced researchers to Flanders, offering them an excellent research environment and ample career development opportunities. This programme is cofunded by the European Commission under the Marie Curie Programme (FP7, People). See the attached brochure for more information. The first call will be launched with a networking event on Thursday the 27th of October 2011, in the University Foundation in Brussels.

The seminar took place at the South China University of Technology (SCUT) from 11 to 13 May. Jointly organized by the Dutch and French consulates in Guangzhou this was the second edition of such a Sino-French-Dutch (SFD) seminar, the first having taken place in the Netherlands and resulted in several trilateral collaborations.

Researchers and industry representatives from the three countries and different sectors (nuclear, aeronautics, construction) gathered together to discuss ongoing activities and future collaboration opportunities, in particular topics of mutual interest for which joint proposals for funding at the European and Chinese levels could be made. In this perspective, the topic of wind energy appeared to be of particular interest to many participants. More details available here (French and Chinese).

An official ceremony to celebrate the start of the construction of China’s first P4 high biosafety lab was held in Wuhan on 30 June. China’s health minister Chen Zhu, CAS president Bai Chunli and French Ambassador Sylvie Bermann, among other personalities, attended the ceremony.

Result of a Sino-French cooperation within the framework of the inter-governmental agreement on the fight against emerging infectious diseases signed in 2004 by the Chinese and French governments, the lab, which is expected to be completed in 2 about years, will aim at becoming a major centre to fight infectious diseases and to complement the Pasteur Institute in Shanghai, also set up within the framework of this inter-governmental agreement.

More details on the French embassy website (French) and on the CAS website (Chinese).

Six months after the signature of a first convention with the Wuhan Center for Disease Control to fight against multidrug-resistant tuberculosis, French clinical company BioMérieux signed a new agreement with the Tongji Hospital of Wuhan in order to establish a lab on microbiology.

BioMérieux will provide equipment as well as ‘training for trainers’ while Tongji hospital will provide its research capacity and experience. BioMérieux hence strengthen its presence in the Hubei province while Wuhan confirms its position as the centre of the Sino-French cooperation in the field of infectious diseases.

Further information here (French, Chinese).

The call launched in December 2010 attracted 53 proposals, among which 41 were deemed eligible by the French and Chinese sides. 16 joint projects have finally been selected, to be added to the 21 projects currently ongoing and selected after the first call of the programme last year.

The 16 projects cover various fields including mathematics (2 projects), earth and universe sciences (3), chemistry (3), biology (2), human and social sciences (2), engineering sciences (1), ICT (3) and agronomy (2).

The Cai Yuan Pei programme funds mobility of researchers within joint projects built around one or several Ph.D. thesis, preferably co-supervised by both the French and the Chinese sides.

Click here for more details.

A delegation of the Academy of Finland headed by Mrs. Riitta Tirronen, in charge of press relations and communication, will give a presentation on how the AF established its English website.

The goal of the conference is to enhance CAS staff ability in communicating and managing a website in English.

The conference will take place at the Computer Network Information Center of CAS in Beijing on July 13.

NSFC-DFG-AF: 14 projects have been shortlisted among 23 proposals for joint funding by the NSFC, German Science Foundation (DFG) and the Academy of Finland (AF) in the field of immunology.
The projects are to be funded jointly with the Academy of Finland (AF) and the German Research Foundation (DFG) on a bilateral or trilateral basis. Projects to be funded will last three years from 1 January 2012 to 31 December 2014.

NSFC-FWF: 6 projects have been shortlisted for joint funding by the NSFC and the Austrian Science Fund in the field of bio-medicine.

NSFC-ANR: 58 projects have been shortlisted for joint funding by the NSFC and the French National Research Agency in various fields (material science, engineering science, ICT).

NSFC-NWO: 12 projects have been shortlisted for joint funding by the NSFC and the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research in the field of plant developmental biology.

Based on the bilateral cooperation agreement signed by the NSFC and the ESRC, the two institutions are to jointly fund Sino-British one-year projects in the fields of Economic Restructuring；High Education；Skill, Labour Migration and Infrastructure Provision over a period starting on 1 April 2011 and finishing on 31 March 2012.
The list of the 3 projects finally selected can be accessed on the NSFC website.

11 International Young Scientists grantees have been offered a grant extension of 200,000 RMB by the NSFC for the year 2011. The list of grantees can be accessed on the NSFC website.

European Physical Society, in cooperation with three physical societies from Poland, Germany and France is organising "Asia-Europe Physics Summit". The conference will be held on 26-29 October, 2011 in Wroclaw, Poland. Wroclaw Research Centre EIT+ is an organizational partner of the event.

The First Asia-Europe Physics Summit (ASEPS) was held in Tsukuba, March 24-26, 2010. More than 200 participants from 30 countries attended. 100 posters and more than 50 talks and addresses were presented.
Registration period for the 2011 edition opened on 4 June and will close on 30 September.

More details about his event and how to register on the ASEPS website.

Einstein Professorship Programme is a key initiative of CAS. Each year, it is awarded to around 20 distinguished international scientists who are active at the frontiers of science and technology, for conducting lecture-tours to China of one to two weeks. It is open to scientists around the world in all disciplines. In exchange, each Einstein Professor is expected to receive one or two young CAS researchers from the host institute or institutes to work in their laboratories for one to three months, with fund fully provided by CAS. Application for the Professorship is made by CAS host institutes.

The grant covers:

• The cost of accommodation, and transportation in China
• A round-trip international airfare between the airport located nearest to the visitor's home and that nearest to the host institute
• An honorarium of USD 1,500 for presenting a lecture  

All applications and supporting documents should be submitted by the inviting CAS institutes to the Bureau of International Cooperation, CAS, before 15 August, 2011.
More details available on CAS website (Chinese).

Joint Projects: The aim of Novo Nordisk-Chinese Academy of Sciences Research Foundation is to fund or co-fund activities of common interest within the fields of Biopharmaceuticals & Diabetes including related disciplines and technologies such as protein chemistry, immunology, inflammation, endocrinology, diabetes, pharmacology and drug delivery.

Any scientist with a PhD degree (or equivalent) and with formal employment at CAS (applicants must hold associate professorship or above) or NN may apply. The above scientist can also apply on behalf of a PhD student or a young PhD working in his/her laboratory for a PhD or a post-doc fellowship. Applications should preferably be jointly submitted by a scientist from CAS and one from NN R&D. Other parties, e.g. universities in Denmark and Sweden, may be partners in selected projects but will then need to fund their own participation.
NN-CAS Foundation invites relevant partners to submit applications to both CAS and NN.

Next deadline is 31 October 2011.

The applications must be submitted in one e-mail to Ms. WANG Dongyao at dywang@cashq.ac.cn, Professor Wang Ming-Wei at wangmw@mail.shcnc.ac.cn, and Dr. WANG Baoping at baop@novonordisk.com.
Great Wall Professorship (for Chinese researchers): This donation is intended to support >10 young professors recruited through the "Thousand People Plan" and "Hundred Talent Plan" of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Each of the chosen Great Wall Professors will now receive 400.000 RMB to improve employment conditions at a CAS institute that will provide additional support for a period of 3 years. The overall goal of the professorships is to stimulate cooperation in the field of science, innovation and education between scientists at Novo Nordisk, Chinese Academy of Sciences and Danish or Nordic Universities.

Applications must be submitted no later than October 31, 2011 to Ms. WANG Dongyao, Bureau of International Cooperation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, dywang@cashq.ac.cn.

The “Clean Product Challenge” (CPC) was initiated by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and is part of the “Research in Germany” priority campaign “Green Production Technologies”.

The aim of the Challenge is to develop a vision for a resource-efficient production of solar cells. During the multi-day workshop, German and international junior researchers are expected to identify together innovative research approaches, which make it possible to reduce the costs of electricity from photovoltaic (PV)-systems in such a way that this electricity will become competitive in many regions of the world.

A total of 20 junior researchers from German research institutions/ universities as well as from partner universities or institutions in the campaign’s target regions (CIS, China, Southeast Asia, MENA) are expected to deal with these questions. You are kindly asked to nominate competent junior researchers for this Challenge.

Please submit your nomination with the Curriculum Vitae of the candidate’s scientific career at the BMBF’s International Bureau by 25th July 2011 at the latest. Costs for participation, journey and accommodation will be born.

More information on the DAAD website.

The aim of the Rubicon programme is to encourage talented researchers at Dutch universities and research institutes run by KNAW and NWO to dedicate themselves to a career in postdoctoral research. Rubicon offers researchers who have completed their doctorates in the past year the chance to gain experience at a top research institution outside the Netherlands (maximum of two years).

The Rubicon programme also offers talented researchers from abroad the opportunity to obtain grants to spend a maximum of two years in the Netherlands to conduct research.

The next closing date will be 1 September 2011.
More details on the KNAW website.

The China Exchange Programme supports cooperation between Chinese (MOE, MOST, CAS or CASS) and Dutch researchers by subsidising exchanges of senior researchers and joint research projects. The programme offers grants for individual senior researchers who wish to lecture or conduct research in China.

The intention of the visit should be to establish long-term cooperation in the form of a joint research project. The programme also provides financial support for Dutch universities, research institutes, laboratories, or research groups wishing to carry out a joint research project with Chinese counterparts.

This programme is open for application year round and the annual deadline, including for this year, is 15 September.

More details on the KNAW website.

The goal of the Finland Distinguished Professor (FiDiPro) funding programme is to strengthen scientific knowledge and know-how in Finland, add a more international element to the Finnish research system, bring added value into the national innovation system and support the research driven profiling of universities and research institutes.

This scheme offers, over a 2 to 5 years period, grants covering FiDiPro Professor's or FiDiPro Fellow's salary and travel expenses, research costs and related expenses of accompanying family members for talented international researchers past their postdoctoral stage to come to Finland. Expatriate Finnish scientists who have worked outside Finland for a long time are also eligible.

The Academy of Finland's next call for FiDiPro-programme opens in September 2011 (applications can be submitted in the online services during 6-30 September).

The application guidelines are found in these pages in How to apply/FiDiPro funding from Academy of Finland.

Tubitak, the Turkish research agency, will support applications in the following programmes over coming months:

• PhD fellowships for foreign citizens, in which travel and research grants in the fields of Natural Sciences, Engineering and Technology, Medical Sciences, Agricultural Sciences, Social Sciences and Humanities are awarded to highly qualified students who are intending to complete their PhD studies in Turkey. Deadline is 16 September.
• International Research Fellowship Programme, in which PhD students who are registered in PhD programmes in Natural Sciences, Medical Sciences, Social Sciences and Humanities and Engineering and Technological Sciences at universities or research centres in Turkey are supported to perform research abroad. Deadline is 23 September.

Co-funded by the European Commission FP7, European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) Fellowships fund and support young scientists in their pursuit of both pre- and post-doctoral research. The EMBO Long-Term Fellowships are awarded for a period of up to two years and support post-doctoral research visits to laboratories throughout Europe and the world.

Applicants must hold a doctorate degree or equivalent before the start of the fellowship but not necessarily when applying. All applications must involve movement between countries. The laboratory of origin or the receiving institute or the applicant’s nationality must be from one of the EMBC Member States.

Next deadline for application is August 15.
More details available here.

ERCIM, the European Research Consortium for Informatics and Mathematics, offers fellowships for PhD holders from all over the world to work on a challenging problem as Fellows of leading European research centres.

This programme is supported by the Marie Curie Co-funding of Regional, National and International Programmes (COFUND) of the European Commission".
The next deadline for application is 30 September.

More details and online application here.

The ESF Research Conferences Scheme provides the opportunity for leading scientists and young researchers to meet for discussions on the most recent developments in their fields of research. It acts as a catalyst for creating new synergistic contacts throughout Europe and the rest of the world.

The European Science Foundation invites researchers to submit proposals for high-level research conferences to take place in 2013 within the framework of its Research Conferences Scheme in the following scientific domains:

1. Molecular Biology+
2. Physics/Biophysics and Environmental Sciences
3. Social Sciences and Humanities

Deadline for submitting application is 15 September, 2011. Find out more on the ESF website.

This programme enables researchers with Swedish or non-Swedish doctorates (PhDs or equivalent) to work for a period of 6 to 24 months at Swedish higher education institutions or research establishments by covering salary costs.

The 2nd deadline for application in 2011 is 25 August.
Further information on the Swedish Research Council website.

The grant aims to help strengthen Norwegian research groups by offering visiting foreign researchers (postdoctorate level or higher) the opportunity to perform research in Norway.
Successful candidates complete stays of up to 12 months in Norway. Applications should be submitted from a Norwegian research institution.

Deadline for application is 31 August.
Further information on the Research Council of Norway website.

The Understanding Science seminars go on this summer with the next one about another very fascinating topic on Tuesday, July 5 from 19h30 to 20h30 (at the Bridge café, Wudaokou in Beijing).

This 7^th lecture, entitled “Are humans really that different from insects?” will be presented by Professor Jeremy N. McNeil from the University of Western Ontario (Canada), who will present a series of comparisons on varied topics such as agriculture, houses, solar panels, communication and sexual behaviour to argue that we might want to reassess just how Homo sapiens stacks up against the insect world.

Download the flyer and the leaflet for more details about this open event.

Kate Westgarth, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, will lead a discussion on 'The Men Behind the Masks - Elite Politics in China Today'.

Kate is a career diplomat, and has spent over ten years in China. She is Team Leader for the China Coordination Team at the UK Foreign Office, and a Visiting Scholar at the Academy of Marxism, under the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

She will give a 20 minute presentation, to be followed by a lively moderated discussion for 20 minutes. The session will start at 7 pm at the Nola Café.

RSVPs to youngchinawatchers@gmail.com. Please include your name and affiliation with your RSVP.

The Swedish Research Council awards funding for basic research of the highest scientific quality and aims to promote research collaboration and exchange of experiences.

This Project Research Grant is intended to support needs-driven research addressing civil society and to expand knowledge about civil society and its development, organisations, and interactions with the other sectors of society.

Applicants for Project Research Grant are doctorate degree or equivalent degree holders who serve as the project leader and have the scientific responsibility for the project. The project leader must dedicate at least 20% of his/her time to the project. The grants are awarded for a maximum of 3 years and are normally administered by a Swedish university or higher education institution, or another public organisation in Sweden engaged in research.

The deadline for application is 9 August, 2011.
Mode details can be found on the Swedish Research Council website

The Senior Fellowship Programme is addressed to people with a Ph.D. or at least four years of experience after the degree which gives access to doctoral programmes. In both cases, a maximum of ten years of experience after the degree which gives access to doctoral programmes applies. The Junior Fellowship Programme is for holders of at least a Technical Engineer degree (or equivalent) and at most a M.Sc. degree (or equivalent) with not more than 4 years of experience.

The Fellowship Programme awards approximately 90 Fellowships per year. Around half are for research work (experimental or theoretical physics) under a Senior Fellowship and half are for advanced development work and related research in a broad range of applied science, computing and engineering either under a Junior or a Senior Fellowship depending on the qualifications and experience of the individual.

Fellowships are granted for one year initially and are normally extended for a second year.
Deadline for 2011 call for applications is 7 August. A limited number of places for Fellows from CERN's non-Member States are also available in the field of theoretical physics.

Further information on the CERN website.

The session aims to raise awareness of the European Research Council (ERC) and present its structure, implementation of the grants, international strategy and to provide the real-life experience of a successful Chinese grantee. The ERC receives its funding from the European research programme, known as Framework Programme 7 (FP7).

The ERC welcomes applications for grants from first-rate researchers from China willing to come to Europe, whether they are at the beginning of their careers (Starting Grants; 2-12 years post-PhD) or more senior (Advanced grants).

Over 2000 top researchers have to date been selected for funding in the ERC's peer-reviewed grant competitions to perform their innovative "blue sky" research throughout Europe. Further details on the website: http://erc.europa.eu/

Programme:

• Welcome and opening remarks by the EU Ambassador and Head of Delegation, HE Markus Ederer
  
• 'ERC strategy, management, implementation, and methodologies' by Prof. Alain Peyraube, Member of the ERC Scientific Council
  
• 'ERC Grant schemes - presentation by Cecile Menetrey-Monchau, Scientific Officer
  
• ‘ERC Communication activities’ presentation by Samantha Christey, Communication Officer
  
• 'Experiences of a Chinese ERC Grantee' by Prof. Yiya Chen, ERC Starting Grantee, University of Leiden, the Netherlands
• Discussion, Q&A
  

Time: 14.30-16.00
Location: EU Delegation, South Wing, Galileo Room, 15 Dongzhimenwai Dajie, Beijing 100600
Who should attend? S&T counsellors, representatives of funding agencies, researchers, academics, research managers, etc.
Those interested in attending this meeting are invited to confirm their participation to jessica.mitchell@eeas.europa.eu asap.

The first curriculum is called “Summer Institute on Climate Change and Environmental Protection” (SICCEP) or more precisely Law, Policy, Economics and Technology on Climate Change and Environmental issues: European and Chinese Perspectives. It addresses issues such as energy policies, environment law and sustainable development, intellectual property and technology innovation. The second curriculum is called “Summer Institute on Intellectual Property Rights and China” (IP-China). The participants who will enroll in all the scheduled courses and seminars will receive the certificates for both curricula.

This program is multidisciplinary and is aimed at students, young graduates and senior professionals with a background in law, political sciences, international relations, philosophy, economics, environmental sciences, engineering and any other relevant discipline that can be related to the topics of the program. Professionals can justify their interest into the program based on their working experience.  

This program is organized by University of Milan Faculty of Law in partnership with the University of Turin Faculty of Law and University of Eastern Piedmont Faculty of Economics in Italy, Lund University Faculty of Political Sciences in Sweden, University of Provence Aix Marseille I - CNRS Centre of Comparative Epistemology and Ergology in France.

Each curriculum is characterized by 60 hours of lectures (from Monday to Thursday), meaning that if one should attend both, that would be around 100 hours globally.
On Fridays, round tables take place, with professionals and experts from different fields and nationalities.   

The summer course will include the following topics: 

1. Introduction to Chinese Law, Institutions & Politics (20h) SICCEP and IP-CHINA
   
2. Global Environmental Governance (13-15h) SICCEP
   
3. Environment, Science and Society: a Philosophical Introduction (13-15h) SICCEP
   
4. Law, Policy and Economics on Climate Change (13-15) SICCEP
   
5. Introduction to Chinese Intellectual Property Law and Technology Transfer (20h) IP-CHINA
   
6. European American and Chinese Approaches to Intellectual Property Rights and Competition Policy (20h) IP-CHINA    
   

In addition to traditional lectures, all summer schools provide a number of presentations involving different experts  (Fridays round table)

Download the call for applications.

The three-day show, CPhI China 2011, starting on June 21, is a big event for 1,500 pharmaceutical enterprises from more than 20 countries and regions to display new medicines and pharmaceutical technologies. The exhibition will cover an area of 8,000 square meters to display various kinds of exhibits from about 300 well-known firms. Seminars will be held at the show to discuss ways of how to push forward the development of the pharmaceutical industry.
Find out more here.

This programme offers fellowships for excellent international young researchers to work for six or twelve months in a Chinese university or research institute. All candidates are recommended by the Chinese host organisation. They must have obtained a PhD, have more than three years of basic research or post-doctoral experience, and must be aged under 35 as at 1 January of the year of application.

The first round of the application review process for the 2011 research fund for international young scientists has been completed, with 40 researchers granted.

According to the agenda, the second round this year will start from June with the following timetable:
Recommendation Deadline: June 30, 2011.  Only proposals recommended by Chinese Academy of Sciences and Ministry of Education will be accepted by NSFC.
Notice for Acceptance Deadline: July 5, 2011. Applicants whose proposals are accepted will be announced on NSFC's website.
Full Proposal Deadline:  August 15, 2011. All applications should be submitted via NSFC's Internet-based Science Information System (ISIS). The host institution is supposed to allocate the user name & password to the applicants in advance to ensure the access to ISIS.

The panel review will be conducted in the middle of October, 2011.
Further details on the NSFC website.
NSFC also published a notice for grantees seeking the extension of their fellowship.

Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) have opened calls for Postdoctoral and doctoral grants at Portuguese or overseas institutions. Post Doctoral Grants (BPD) are intended for individuals who have already completed a doctoral degree, preferably within the last five years, for the purpose of carrying out advanced research in Portuguese or foreign scientific institutes of recognized merit.

Doctoral Grants (BD) target holders of a university degree who are accepted as doctoral students in a Portuguese or foreign university.
Deadline for application is 27 June.
Further Information available on the FCT website.

KTH School of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) seeks a key person to their cooperation research center “Joint Research Center in Photonics” (JORCEP) at Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China.
JORCEP was established 2003 to act as a center of excellence in photonics for both its parent universities, the Royal Institute of Technology (Sweden) and Zhejiang University and establishing joint research, cooperating in PhD education and jointly running an international Master of Science program in Photonics. Presently the Center consists of three universities including also Lund University.

Post-doctoral Fellowship is available in nanophotonics alternatively in optical communications devices and systems at KTH with placement at Zhejiang University in Hangzhou, China. The appointment is for 70% of research and 30% of administrative work as a Deputy Director for our Joint Research Center of Photonics (JORCEP) of the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Zhejiang University (ZJU) and Lund University (LU).
The candidates should have a PhD degree in physics, photonics or electrical engineering with a pertinent background.

Deadline for application is June 28, 2011.
More details about this announcement and many more offers on the EURAXESS Job portal.

Greenpeace Research Laboratories has expertise across a range of disciplines from toxicology to biochemistry. Its work is regularly reported in scientific journals and it has an extensive database of literature, built up since 1986. With those resources behind you, your role will be to advise and support Greenpeace's East Asian campaigns.

Focusing on issues relating to chemical and heavy metal pollution, you’ll plan and execute fieldwork, and produce reports and presentations. At the same time, you’ll help increase Greenpeace's credibility and connection to the scientific community in China, which means being right up-to-date with current thinking in both English and Chinese literature.

Requirements: PhD or equivalent in a relevant subject, fluent in Mandarin and English, with excellent written Chinese. You will be based at the University of Exeter. Frequent travel is an integral part of the job.
Closing date is 1 July, 2011.

More details about this announcement and many more offers on the EURAXESS Job portal.

The programme of this 2 days conference previously announced in the April edition of this newsletter, is now availalable. EURAXESS Links China members active in the environmental field are warmly invited to participate in the open meeting of this conference co-organised by the SPRING project and the China Ministry of Science and Technology.

The focus will be on recent large-scale collaborative projects in the environment sector that tackle big issues and the benefits and problems associated with international collaboration. A scenario-building exercise will identify opportunities for new and effective research directions that make the best of EU and China resources.

For participating China and European researchers, this is a dissemination opportunity to showcase the best of environment research, share experiences of the large-scale collaboration projects, gain an understanding of the EU and China environment research sectors, participate in a foresight study and build new networks.

Invited speakers from the FP7 research programme include Professor Geoffery Gooch from the LIVEDIVERSE project (Sustainable livelihoods and biodiversity in developing countries), Professor Juan Puigdefábregas Tomás from the DeSURVEY Project (A surveillance system for assessing and monitoring desertification) and Dr Menno Keuken from the TRANSPHORM Project (Transport related air pollution and health impacts).

For more details and to register for the event, please visit the SPRING project website http://www.springproject.eu/ or e-mail Dr Patricia Xavier e: p.xavier@surrey.ac.uk / t: +441483 686625.
Deadline for registration is 17 June, 2011.

The conference will be given by Professor Yan Xuetong, Institute of International Studies, Tsinghua University, on Monday 13 June, 7 PM, at The Bridge Café, Rm 8, Bldg 12, Chengfu Lu (010-82867026). This session of ThinkIN China will be followed by a ‘ThinkIN China goodbye summer party’ nearby, at the EATALIA, Chengfu Lu HuaQingJia Yuan 10/12. This is an open event.

For more details, download this document and the supporting material
Download the flyer

The next YCW session is going to be in Shanghai at an event co-hosted with the Australia China Young Professionals Initiative (ACYPI). The speaker is going to be the former President and CEO of BHP Billiton China and current Executive Chairman Caledonia Asia, Clinton Dines. The event is going to take place on June 20 at 7pm at Camel Bar.

Please feel free to RSVP per the attached flyer

The „Promote Innovation and Research in Germany“ initiative supports the scientific dialogue between Germany and China and invites young scientists to join a career workshop. Besides presenting up-to-date chemical science itself, the workshop aims to show the advantages and add-ons of international co-operations and experiences with respect to the personal development and career of young scientists. Due to Germany‘s broad and excellent research activities as well as long-term industrial experience in the field of chemistry, Germany would be an ideal partner for such a co-operation.

Apart from the lecture program, the audience will have the opportunity to meet the speakers and representatives of German funding agencies personally at an informal lunch. In addition, one-to one counseling sessions are offered, where interested young scientists can receive further information on how to build their career internationally.

More details on the workshop’s flyer.
For online registration go to: http://www.research-in-germany.de/china-careerws-2011

Supported by the Excellence Initiative, the Bielefeld Graduate School in History and Sociology (BGHS) has been established as a joint institution of the Department of History and the Faculty of Sociology at Bielefeld University, Germany.

The Graduate School is offering 1 - 2 Short-Term Grants for international doctoral candidates for a research stay at the Graduate School. The scholarships will be awarded for the Winter term 2011/12 (1 October 2011 until 29 February 2012) and include a stipend of 800 Euro per month.

Applications are invited from international doctoral candidates who work on a thesis in history, sociology, political science or social anthropology.

All applications should reach the Bielefeld Graduate School in History and Sociology via Email (bghs@uni-bielefeld.de) by 15 June 2011.

If you have any questions, please contact BGHS at bghs@uni-bielefeld.de.
Bielefeld Graduate School in History and Sociology
Further details available here.

This session took place on 30 May 2011, in Paris and was opened by Mr. Wan Gang, Chinese minister for Science and Technology, and Mrs Valérie Pécresse, French minister for higher education and research.

Both sides expressed their satisfaction over the sharp increase in the number of joint public research structures (from 17 at the end of 2007 up to 32 in May 2011).

Both sides also defined six priority areas for collaboration:

• Sustainable development and water management;
• Chemistry and green technologies;
• Energy;
• Life sciences including infectious and emerging diseases;
• Information sciences and technologies, smart cities;
• Advanced materials.

A bilateral seminar will be organized on each of these topics during the course of 2011 in order to decide on the joint projects to carry out in these strategic fields until May 2014. The next session of the Sino-French S&T commission should take place in China in May 2013.

Further details available here (French and Chinese).

Following the visit of Mr. YU Zhengsheng (CPC Secretary of Shanghai) to France, a Memorandum of understanding has been signed on 2 June in Shanghai by Mr. Eric Lameignère, director of ‘Genopole Entreprises’ (a French Biotech park) and Mrs.  Huang Ying, director of the Shanghai Biomedecine center of Technology and Industry (SBCTI).

The event organized by the Shanghai S&T commission at the occasion of this signature brought together four French biotech companies (DNA Therapeutics, NOKAD, Xentech, Genewave), Chinese companies and directors of hospitals, who could learn more about each other. With this first step, Genopole aims at positioning itself as an access platform for Chinese companies wishing to enter the European market.

From left to right : Mr. FU Guoqing, director for International relations of the Shanghai S&T commission, Mrs. XU Zuxin, Vice director of the S&T commission,  Mr. Eric Lameignère, directorof Genopole Entreprises, Mrs. HUANG Ying, Director of SBCTI.

Further details in source. (French and Chinese)

The program Chairs of Excellence has been created to attract talented researchers to Grenoble (France) to develop a research project in emerging fields of nanosciences in one of the network's laboratories. The Chairs of Excellence are open to both junior and senior scientists, available for full time or part time position in Grenoble; the contract duration can vary from 9 months (which might be split over three years) to 3 years.

The award package includes an internationally competitive salary, social security, travel expenses and   research support for hiring a PhD student and a post-doc and additional fund for operating costs to reinforce the successful candidate’s research activities.

The hosting period may start from January 2012.

Deadline for online submission is 1 September, 2011.
More details available here.

A one-day conference will be held in Shanghai on June 16th under the auspices of the EU-China Year of Youth 2011 on "What World Have They Left Us? A discussion about generations between Chinese and European youth".

The purpose of the day is to try to stimulate an interesting conversation between a group of 30-40 Chinese and European youths (half of each) to discuss the issues of generation gaps and the questions raised by the fact that older generations in Europe are enjoying a life and benefits that younger generations are unlikely to be able to enjoy. This is not the same in China, where younger generations may be enjoying benefits their elders did not enjoy, but that next generations might miss out on.

Aside from creating a new set of contacts between young Chinese and Europeans, the event is going to hopefully generate some new ideas for policy makers in Brussels and Beijing as to how they might address these growing problems. The final results to emerge from the conference will be published in the Chinese and European press and we will actively encourage and support participants who want to publish ideas that emerge from the conference.

Chinese and European countries nationals with at least a master’s degree and confidence in speaking in English are invited to apply.

In order to apply, please send your CV and a short cover letter expressing why you want to participate to shanghaiyearofyouth@yahoo.com.

Deadline for applications is June 10, 2011.
Find out more here.

The main speaker will be Nicola Horsburgh,vDepartment of International Relations at the University of Oxford, St. Antony’s College
The session will start at 7PM at The Bridge Cafe, Rm 8, Bldg 12, Chengfu Lu, 12(010-82867026)
This is an open event.

Download the flyer.

The first curriculum is called “Summer Institute on Climate Change and Environmental Protection” (SICCEP) or more precisely Law, Policy, Economics and Technology on Climate Change and Environmental issues: European and Chinese Perspectives. It addresses issues such as energy policies, environment law and sustainable development, intellectual property and technology innovation. The second curriculum is called “Summer Institute on Intellectual Property Rights and China” (IP-China). The participants who will enroll in all the scheduled courses and seminars will receive the certificates for both curricula.

This program is multidisciplinary and is aimed at students, young graduates and senior professionals with a background in law, political sciences, international relations, philosophy, economics, environmental sciences, engineering and any other relevant discipline that can be related to the topics of the program. Professionals can justify their interest into the program based on their working experience.
 
This program is organized by University of Milan Faculty of Law in partnership with the University of Turin Faculty of Law and University of Eastern Piedmont Faculty of Economics in Italy, Lund University Faculty of Political Sciences in Sweden, University of Provence Aix Marseille I - CNRS Centre of Comparative Epistemology and Ergology in France.

Each curriculum is characterized by 60 hours of lectures (from Monday to Thursday), meaning that if one should attend both, that would be around 100 hours globally.
On Fridays, round tables take place, with professionals and experts from different fields and nationalities.  
 
The summer course will include the following topics:
 
1) Introduction to Chinese Law, Institutions & Politics (20h) SICCEP and IP-CHINA
2) Global Environmental Governance (13-15h) SICCEP
3) Environment, Science and Society: a Philosophical Introduction (13-15h) SICCEP
4) Law, Policy and Economics on Climate Change (13-15) SICCEP
5) Introduction to Chinese Intellectual Property Law and Technology Transfer (20h) IP-CHINA
6) European American and Chinese Approaches to Intellectual Property Rights and
Competition Policy (20h) IP-CHINA
   
In addition to traditional lectures, all summer schools provide a number of presentations involving different experts  (Fridays round table)

Download the call for applications.

The S&T service of the French embassy is organizing its 10th ‘Café des Sciences’ at the French cultural center (Institut Français, Guangcai International Mansion 18 Gongtixilu, Chaoyang District which will be animated this time by Prof.

Olivier Martineau-Huynh for the National Institute of nuclear physics and particle physics (IN2P3) who will talk about the on-going studies on cosmic rays carried out in the TianShan mountain range.
This is an open event.

More details on the French S&T service website (French and Chinese).

This workshop organized by the Joint Research Center for Advanced Environmental Technology recently founded by Tsinghua University and Veolia Environnement intends to review and discuss with leading international scientists, the status of knowledge regarding the risks of Endocrine disruptor compounds and pharmaceutical compounds as well as available or future monitoring and treatment solutions for the water sector.

The Symposium will be hosted in the Sino-Italian Environment and Energy-efficient Building, located in the southeast of the campus of Tsinghua University, Beijing.

Download the symposium’s agenda for more details.
Those interested in attending are invited to register by writing asap to gaoxiaojuan@tsinghua.edu.cn.

Becoming more and more popular, the next Understanding Science will be about a very fascinating topic on Monday, May 16 from 19h to 20h (at the Bridge café, Wudaokou in Beijing).

This 6th seminar, entitled “French Kiss and Pheromones” will be presented by Professor Jean-François PICIMBON from Shandong Academy Agricultural Sciences (Jinan), who will address some troubling questions like “Is French kiss associated to the recognition of specific pheromones?” using many funny and amazing illustrations from insect and animal behaviours/biology.

Come and join us to learn many things, as for instance that the boar pheromone is secreted by human sweat! The conference ends by odours and flavours in degustation: recognition of different perfumes and shampoos; evaluation of differences between boys and girls, men and women, yé and lăo; Europe and China…

Download the flyer and leaflet of this session and contact the Understanding Science Beijing Team for more details.

On November 2003, the French Ministries of Foreign and European Affairs and Higher Education and Research launched a regional program entitled ICT-Asia aiming at creating and reinforcing high-level collaborations and networks involved in research and development in the filed of ICT in Asia.

In the framework of the ICT-Asia program, the 8th Regional Conference will be held at the Sun Yat Sen University in Guangzhou on June 1-3, 2011. The S&T office at the French consulate general in Guangzhou is in charge of the organization.

The symposium will give the opportunity, inter alia, to follow up results of the projects selected under the 7th call for proposals and to discuss new avenues for cooperation between France and Asia. It will include a presentation of the ICT Asia programme, thematic sessions of scientific presentations, “poster sessions” and discussions on the terms of the next call for proposals.

The topics proposed for the presentations are the following: computer networks, multimedia applications, telecommunications, internet of things, robotics, computer science, nanotechnologies, engineering and others.

The detailed program of the conference will be communicated once all the registrations (deadline is 9th May 2011, online registration at http://www.ict-asia-france.org/) and proposals for presentations have been received.

More information available here (French and Chinese).

The first Joint Chinese-European Summer School Matchmaking Event on Technology-Enhanced Learning will take place from Friday, July 8th to Tuesday, July 12th in Shanghai, China. It is jointly organized by the e-learning lab of Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the European Network of Excellence STELLAR.

The Summer School Matchmaking Event aims at bringing together PhD students from China and Europe to foster international cooperation, identifying common research questions and broadening the perspectives by becoming aware of cultural differences and similarities. Several internationally renowned experts in TEL will introduce participants into the current state-of-the-art and help them to gain an understanding of the challenges of TEL from multi-cultural perspectives.

The participants will perform matchmaking with their Chinese/European counterparts and jointly work and discuss on their topics. Check out the complete call for participation at the Summer School Matchmaking Event and the application form at http://www.dlc.sjtu.edu.cn/chineseeuropean...learning or http://goo.gl/yoZze.

This session will take place as usual in Beijing's Haidian district (Bridge Café) at 7PM. Zhang Qingmin, China's Foreign Policy, U.S. Foreign Policy Professor, Center for International & Strategic Studies, Beijing University, will be the main speaker of this session.

This in an open event. Download the flyer.

The European Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai is holding a half-day 'R&D in China 2011 Conference: Opportunities and Challenges' where experts in the field will share insights and debate on some of the key opportunities and challenges facing the field of R&D in China today. The conference starts at 8:00 am at The Longemont Hotel, 1116 Yan An West Road, Shanghai.

Entry fee: 500 RMB for members of the Chamber, 750 RMB for non-members.

More details available on this webpage: http://www.europeanchamber.com.cn/view/events/fullview?eid=3556

The Understanding Science team is happy to invite you to its 5th conference for the general public on Tuesday, April the 19th at 7.30 pm (at the Bridge café, Wudaokou in Beijing), entitled “We are surrounded by Software, so what?"”.

This event will consist on a 20-minute long presentation (popularization talk) by Dr Franck CHAUVEL from Peking University, who will address the technical and ethical issues related to software utilization. We are also please to welcome  Ms Di WU, from the Beijing University of Science and Technology as the moderator for the following discussion/questions in the relaxed atmosphere of the Bridge Café.

Download the flyer and the leaflet.

Organizers are always recruiting new speakers.
Find out more.

ParisTech coordinates a consortium of 9 partners (6 European and 3 Chinese) and has been awarded by the External Cooperation Programme of the European Commission, to create an Institute for Clean And Renewable Energy (ICARE) in the Hubei Province in China (Wuhan City).

ParisTech is looking for the Co-Dean of ICARE which is a full-time position based in Wuhan.
The co-dean will be co-responsible with his Chinese counterpart for the daily administration of the Institute, namely a master programme, a vocational training center, a research platform and the relationship with universities (logistics, students, teachers and administrative services).

The European co-dean will act as a support and namely as an intermediary between the Chinese and the coordination office in Paris.

Please send a CV and a cover letter to guillaume.macaux@paristech.fr before April 30th 2011.
More details about this announcement and many more offers on the EURAXESS Job portal.

‘Leibniz – DAAD Research Fellowships’ is a new programme implemented by the ‘Leibniz Association’ and the ‘German Academic Exchange Service’ (DAAD). The fellowships offer highly-qualified recent foreign postdocs (meaning that Chinese and non-German European postdocs both qualify for this programme) the opportunity to conduct special research at institutes of the Leibniz-Association in Germany.

Leibniz-DAAD Research Fellows can do their research at one of the Leibniz-Institutes in the fields of humanities and social siences, life sciences, natural sciences, mathematics, engineering and environmental sciences.
At the time of their application, applicants for a Leibniz-DAAD Research Fellowship should have completed their studies with a PhD or equivalent degree no more than 2 years ago. An excellent level of English is requested and knowledge of German is appreciated.

Grants for postdoc studies can be awarded for up to a maximum of 12 months.
Closing date for applications is 20 June 2011.
More information on the DAAD website.

This scheme is for scientists in the UK who want to undertake a collaboration with scientists overseas through either a one-off visit or a bilateral travel. The International Exchanges Scheme is available for travel to all countries outside of the UK.

Both the UK applicant and overseas applicant must:

1. have a PhD, or be likely to have a PhD by the time the funding starts
2. hold a fixed or permanent contract at an eligible organisation for the duration of the project (ineligible organisations include industrial, private and commercial organisations, university spin-out companies,  government bodies and research institutes and research councils)
3. be based in the respective countries at the time of the application

Depending on which country your collaboration is with proposals can be considered as a cost share application.  This entails the UK applicant submitting a proposal to the Royal Society for up to £12,000 AND the overseas applicant simultaneously submitting a proposal for an additional amount up to/equivalent to £12,000 to a partner organisation, with whom the Royal Society has a funding agreement.

Deadline for application is 30 June 2011.
More details on the Royal Society website.

The China Links Thematic Meeting on CO2 valorisation and Bio-resources conversion into energy and materials, organized by the EU Delegation to China Science, Technology and Environment section in collaboration with EURAXESS Links China, the environmental chemistry competitiveness cluster Axelera, University of Fudan and University of Lyon, was held at Fudan University on Monday, March 28.
Over 40 people attended the morning session on CO2 Valorisation, and more than 50 the afternoon one on conversion of bio-resources into energy and materials.

The meeting provided an opportunity to European and Chinese representatives of research institutions and companies to get to know each other, learn about ongoing research projects and business developments, and discuss opportunities for further developments and collaborations in the fields of CO2 valorisation and bio-resources conversion into energy and materials.

From left to right:
Dr. P. Vialatte (EU Delegation to China),
Mr J. de Soyres (EURAXESS Links China),
Mr P. Ricklin (Axelera), Dr. S. Chanfreau

While the need for the identification of new economically sustainable CO2 valorisation technological processes in order to absorb the huge volume of CO2 emissions came out of the morning session as one of the possible drivers for cooperation, the afternoon session illustrated the broad array of bio-resources conversion technologies being developed in research institutions and heavily invested in by both European and Chinese companies, sometimes already through multilateral collaborations. Propositions for collaborations on new technology developments were made and it is hoped that further contacts between the participants beyond this meeting will enable some of these propositions to materialize. The meeting hence proved to be a useful networking occasion in order to foster EU-China research cooperation in green chemistry.

On the following day (29 March), 15 participants of the thematic meeting visited the joint lab « Ecodesigned Processes for Ecoefficient Products » located within the Shanghai R&D center of the French chemical company Rhodia. The participants of the visit could learn about the aims and structure of this new international laboratory established by Rhodia, the CNRS, the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon and the East China Normal University, and about the possibilities to join its consortium.

A special file enclosing the program of the event, the presentations given and the list of participating institutions can be downloaded from the EURAXESS Links China website.

For more details about this event or about possible thematic meetings in other fields, please contact the EURAXESS Links China Officer at Jacques.desoyres@euraxess.net.

29 The Catalan Institute of Climate Sciences (www.ic3.cat) located in Barcelona – Spain, is looking for candidates interested in applying for ICREA Senior Call.
Please find more details about the call: icrea

Minimum requirements:
1.    A Ph.D. degree obtained before 2007
2.    Four years of international exposure at pre-doctoral and/or post-doctoral level.
3.    Experienced in Climate Sciences.

Only very strong candidates with an outstanding research record and excellent leadership capabilities will be considered. 
Please send before April 8th 2011 a CV and a statement on research interests to jobs@ic3.cat

The JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND FORESTRY (JHF) is a multidisciplinary peer-reviewed journal published that will be monthly by Academic Journals (http://www.academicjournals.org/JHF). JHF is dedicated to increasing the depth of the subject across disciplines with the ultimate aim of expanding knowledge of the subject.

Call for Papers

JHF will cover all areas of the subject. The journal welcomes the submission of manuscripts that meet the general criteria of significance and scientific excellence, and will publish:

• Original articles in basic and applied research
• Case studies
• Critical reviews, surveys, opinions, commentaries and essays

We invite you to submit your manuscript(s) to jhf@acadjourn.org for publication. Our objective is to inform authors of the decision on their manuscript(s) within four weeks of submission.

Following acceptance, a paper will normally be published in the next issue.

Instruction for authors and other details are available on our website: http://www.academicjournals.org/JHF/Instruction.htm

JHF is an Open Access Journal.

Several calls for proposals have been launched under the PEOPLE program, among them are the calls for the Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship (IIF) and International Outgoing Fellowship (IOF).

International Incoming Fellowship (IIF) aims at encouraging top class researchers from third countries, and European researchers who have been active in research in a third country (e.g., United States) for at least three years, to work on research projects in Europe. Eligible to apply are researchers with at least four years full-time postgraduate research experience or a doctoral degree.

International Outgoing Fellowship (IOF) offers European researchers the opportunity to be trained and to acquire new knowledge in a third country high-level research organization, and subsequently return to an organization in a Member State or Associated Country. Eligible to apply are researchers from a Member State or Associated Country in possession of a doctoral degree or at least four years full-time equivalent research experience after obtaining the degree allowing them to embark on a doctorate (it is however expected that researchers will have more experience).  

Proposals from all areas of scientific and technological research of interest to the European Community are welcome. The calls were launched on 16 March 2011, and applications are due on 11 August 2011.

To access full details of the calls, including Applicant Guides, go to: http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/calls/ and select PEOPLE.

To access a full list of currently open calls for proposals launched by the European Commission, and full details of the calls, go to: http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/calls/

29 March 2011, 14.00 – 15.30
European Chamber, Shanghai

The European Commission has launched a consultation on the green paper on a ‘Common Strategic Framework for EU research and innovation funding, with a deadline 20 May 2011. Input is sought from all stakeholders, in particular interested individuals, companies, research institutes and citizens. Member states, the Parliament and other countries are invited to promote debate on the paper.

Innovation is a major aspect of the paper. China’s rising living standards and growing capabilities open new markets for European products and services and create new opportunities for collaboration. A stronger involvement of third countries in the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme (CIP) would offer opportunities to capture the benefits of knowledge produced outside the EU.

The main question concerning international cooperation is ‘How should international cooperation with non-EU countries be supported e.g. in terms of priority areas of strategic interest, instruments, reciprocity or cooperation with Member States?’. In addition to this, the European Research Council, mobility of researchers, the Marie Curie schemes which offer training, transfer of knowledge, and innovative skills, come into the spotlight as do intellectual property rules.

Programme: Philippe Vialatte (Counsellor for S&T) and Jessica Mitchell (Attache for S&T) from the Science, Technology and Environment Section, EU Delegation to China will present the following:

• EU-China cooperation in research and innovation (20 mins)
• Towards a Common Strategic Framework for EU Research and Innovation Funding (Green Paper consultation) (30 mins)
• Q&A and discussion (~30 mins)

Green paper consultation: http://ec.europa.eu/research/csfri/index_en.cfm

Location: European Chamber, Unit 2204, Shui On Plaza, 333 Huai Hai Zhong Road, Shanghai, 200021, P.R. China 3332204
Contact number: +86(21) 6385 2023

Registration: Please register your participation to Ms Samantha Zhou at jzhou@euccc.com.cn by 28th March COB.

The China Links Thematic Meeting on Bio-resources conversion into energy/materials and CO₂ valorisation is organized by the EU Delegation Science, Technology and Environment section in collaboration with EURAXESS Links China, the environmental chemistry competitiveness cluster Axelera, University of Fudan and University of Lyon.

The meeting will bring together European and Chinese representatives of research institutions and companies active in the fields of bio-resources conversion and CO₂ valorisation in order to discuss ongoing projects, market trends and opportunities for collaborations.

Major labs and companies of the sector have already registered for this event. The event will take place on Monday, March 28, on the campus of Fudan University. Meetings and visits of labs in Shanghai will be facilitated the following day (March 29).

Access the invitation and agenda document here. A map of the venue is also available.

If you would like to attend please write to Jacques.desoyres@euraxess.net.

Visiting Professorship for Senior International Scientists provides funds to accomplished researchers with PhD degrees with senior academic positions who are either currently or was previously working in renowned universities, research institutes or multi-national corporations to participate in research in CAS for 2-12 months.

The grant covers:

• Salary, daily living allowance and health insurance, from 400,000 to 500,000 RMB (pre-tax) per year
• A round-trip (economy-class) international airfare between the airport located nearest to the visitor's home and that nearest to the host institute

Fellowship for Young International Scientists supports academic exchanges and cooperation between CAS institutes and international institutes and universities, and development of talented scientists by attracting young international scientists to conduct cooperative research at CAS institutes for 12 months.

The fellowship provides for visits of 12 months duration and may be extended by agreement for a further period of up to 12 months. Grant covers:

• Salary, daily living allowance and health insurance, between 150,000 and 250,000 RMB (pre-tax) per year
• A round-trip (economy-class) international airfare between the airport located nearest to the visitor's home and that nearest to the host institute.

Applications to both schemes can be submitted by a CAS host institute or by a foreign partner institute of CAS during 2 periods each year. The first application period for 2011 runs from 1 March to 31 March.

Application has to be done online. More details on CAS website (Chinese).

The 1st STF Conference on EU-China Research: A New Approach. The two-day conference will be held on March 17 and 18, 2011 at the Marriott Hotel Northeast in Beijing.

The conference will look at the achievements made in their research by the STF Fellows of the 1st Intake. There will be five Plenary Sessions about Engineering, Physical Sciences, Biology & Medicine, Humanities & Social Sciences and Roundtable discussion on STF and EU–China Cooperation during the conference. Four senior academics, Prof. DAI Bingran (Jean Monnet Chair in Economics, Honorary Director of Centre for European Studies, Fudan University, Shanghai, China), Prof. Lynn Gladden (Pro-Vice Chancellor for Research at Cambridge University, UK), Prof. Ole FeJerskov (Head of the Institute of Anatomy, Faculty of Health Sciences, Århus University, Denmark) and Prof. Zhang Xi (Chair of the Department of Chemistry, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China) from China and EU countries will give keynote speeches during the event.

The Plenary Sessions are open to all researchers who would like to participate. Should you have any enquiries about the event, please contact Mr. Kenny DONG at kenny.dong@euchinastf.eu or visit STF website: www.euchinastf.eu.

The Understanding Science team is happy to invite you to its 4th conference for the general public on March 16th (Wednesday) in Beijing (7.00 pm at the Bridge café, Wudaokou), entitled “Humans share half of their DNA with bananas”. This event will consist on a 15-minute long presentation (popularization talk) by Dr. Sofia Dos Santos Mendes, from the Beijing Genomics Institute (BGI, Shenzhen), who will address the basic concepts of DNA, mutations and DNA sequencing, trying to arouse your interest for this extremely up to date science subject. We are also pleased to welcome Ms. Ye-Yang SU, also from the BGI (Beijing) as moderator for the following discussion/questions in the relaxed atmosphere of the venue.
Important: Please note that the venue has changed to another bar (20 meters away than the previous one), the time is also 30 minutes earlier than usual.

Download the flyer and the leaflet

Organizers are always recruiting new speakers.
Find out more.

The official opening ceremony for the 2011 EU-China Year of Youth was held on Wednesday 23rd February in Beijing. The event, co-hosted by the All-China Youth Federation (AYFC) and the European Commission, involved addresses from the EU's Ambassador to China, Mr Markus Ederer, and China's Premier, Wen Jiabao. In addition, the ceremony included music, dance performance and a fashion show.

The Year of Youth was first designated by EU President Jose Manuel Barroso and Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao in 2009 at the 12th China-EU summit in Nanjing. It is aimed at promoting inter-cultural dialogue and mutual understanding between Chinese and European youth.   

More details in the Delegation of the EU to China Newsletter.

Based on the previous European Innovation Scoreboard, this new tool is meant to help monitor the implementation of the Innovation Union by providing a comparative assessment of the innovation performance of the EU27 Member States and the relative strengths and weaknesses of their research and innovation systems.

To mark the launch of the Innovation Union Flagship Initiative, which is put up for adoption this week by the February Council, EuroNews has just launched its new magazine 'Innovation' that puts the spotlight on exciting success stories in European Research and Innovation. 'Innovation' will be in a short, fast-paced, highly visual, 3-minute format, produced in HD, with dynamic interviews of scientists and innovators.

In addition to television distribution by Euronews, "Innovation" magazines will be available in web streaming on a number of sites, including

Europa: http://ec.europa.eu/research/innovation-union/videos/
Euronews: http://www.euronews.net/sci-tech/innovation
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/video/?id=130524243634087

More details

The China Netherlands Joint Scientific Thematic Research Programme (JSTP) aims at stimulating sustainable research collaboration by funding joint research projects and thematic dialogue seminars.

Research teams of Dutch and Chinese researchers, with a senior Principal Investigator on both the Chinese and the Dutch side can apply for funding for Thematic dialogue seminarsandJoint research projects.

The 2011 calls for both Thematic dialogues seminars (to identify topics of research for future joint research) and Joint research projects (on the topic of Medical devices for an ageing society) have been published on the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) website.

Closing date for submitting Expressions of Interest (for Joint Research Projects) is 15 March 2011.
Closing date for submitting full proposals (for Joint Research Projects) is 29 April 2011.
Closing date for submitting Thematic Dialogue Seminars proposals is 29 April 2011.

The Commission has on 9 February adopted a Green Paper 'From Challenges to Opportunities: Towards a Common Strategic Framework for EU research and innovation funding' (COM(2011)48), which proposes major changes to EU research and innovation funding to make participation easier, increase scientific and economic impact and provide better value for money. The changes, to be introduced in the next EU budget after 2013, would bring together the current Framework Programme for research, the Competitiveness and Innovation Programme, and the European Institute of Innovation and Technology.

This Green Paper launches a public consultation on the key issues to be taken into account for future EU research and innovation funding programmes. The outcome of the consultation will subsequently feed into the preparation of the Commission's formal proposals for these programmes, which are due to be adopted before the end of 2011.

The Commission is seeking the views of all interested individuals and organisations on these proposed changes and on the specific questions set out in the Green Paper.
The consultation website is available at: http://ec.europa.eu/research/csfri/index_en.cfm. Submissions can be made until 20 May 2011.

In parallel, a competition for the name of the Common Strategic Framework is being organised.

The recently built Europe-China Clean Energy Centre (EC2) situated on the grounds of Beijing’s Tsinghua University, was host to two key seminars in January regarding new ideas for energy efficiency within the building sector.

The initial seminar, on 20th January, concerned low emission technology options whilst the second, taking place over the 21st and 22nd, was a training seminar titled “Rules for energy performance in the Building Sector”.

Both events were attended by Chinese and international specialists alongside Chinese and EU government officials. In the spirit of cooperation and information sharing between the two sides, high level experts from Europe and China were invited to present their ideas and experiences on improving energy efficiency in buildings.

On 31 March 2011, the second ChinaAccess4EU project dissemination/training workshop will be held in Grenoble, France.

The workshop will cover topics including Chinese programmes fostering and supporting science and technology, potential opportunities and obstacles, success stories in participating in Chinese funded S&T programmes, and important points of contact in China and Europe for researchers interested in international collaboration.

If you are interested in attending this event, please register online here. Spaces will be limited for this event.
For more information please contact the coordinator of the project Mrs Sara Medina at saramedina@spi.pt.

ITTN aims at bringing together world innovation resources together and to promote international technology transfer. Supported by the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology, guided and sponsored by the Beijing Municipal Science and Technology Commission, 45 technology transfer institutions from 15 different countries have been involved in the creation of ITTN.

The official launching ceremony of this network was held in Beijing on 26 January, 2011 and attended by over 200 people from over 70 countries.

Find out more on the ITTN website.
The first International Technology Transfer Beijing Conference 2011 will be held on 14 and 15 April, 2011.

The National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and the Royal Society of Edinburgh jointly selected 7 joint research proposals for funding in 2011.

Find the list of selected projects on NSFC website (Chinese).

The list features 74 young international researchers of whom 28 are from EU Member states or associated countries.

NSFC released those guidelines for projects to be funded jointly with the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research – NWO (7 projects max in the field of Plant developmental biology, application deadline is 28 April, 2011), and with the French Research Agency – ANR (15 projects max in the fields of Material science & engineering science, Information & communication science and technology, application deadline is 14 April, 2011).

NSFC has released the 2 Sino-French proposals selected for the joint Mathematics Summer Institute project to be implemented during Summer 2011.

The Section for Sustainable Biotechnology’s integrated research approach (SSB, located at University Campus Ballerup (UB), Aalborg University, Copenhagen (AAU Cph)) is combining fundamental biotechnology with bioprocess engineering. The overall aim is to develop biomass conversion systems for the sustainable production of chemicals, fuels and materials (including feed and food). Research is mainly focused on the biochemical conversion of biomass into bioenergy and valuable by-products in biorefinery systems.

SSB is now proud to offer a Master Program in Sustainable Biotechnology (autumn semester) as well as Ph.d Courses in Biorefineries and Anaerobic Digestion. Teaching is according to the inter-disciplinary, problem-oriented “Aalborg University model”.

This master programme is free (no tuitions fees) for all European Citizens and all  courses on the education are given in English.

Find out more about this master education here.

The Sino-Swiss Science and Technology Cooperation (SSSTC) program was established in 2003, after the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between the Swiss State Secretariat for Education and Research (SER) and the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST). The SSSTC program encourages long term partnership and aims to provide opportunities for collaboration between Swiss and Chinese research institutions.

The current phase of the SSSTC (2008-2011) intends to reach beyond the MOST and to include the Ministry of Education (MOE) and Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) in the program as well. ETH Zürich remains the leading house (LH) for the program, and University of Zürich has been selected as the associated leading house (ALH) for the SSSTC 2008-2011.

The SSSTC funding instruments are:

• Joint Research Projects (JRP)
• Institutional Partnerships (IP)
• Faculty/Research Staff Exchange Grants (FE)
• Student Exchange Grants (SE)

The following Joint Research Project Call for Proposal is now published for 2011 (projects to start in 2012). The targeted research fields are Renewable Energy & Cleantech and Material Sciences & Nanotechnologies (proposals outside of the priority areas will not be accepted).

Both sides will contribute toward the cost of research projects. The Swiss participants will be supported by the SSSTC, and the Chinese participants will be supported by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). Chinese university participants who are not CAS members will have to secure their own funding from a Chinese source.

Deadline for proposal submission: April 30th, 2011.
More details here (English) and here (Chinese).

This programme is open to young French researchers and foreign researchers having done their PhD. in France, and currently based outside of France. It provides funding for a period up to three years for them to come back and do research in France. The selection is being made by a call for projects in all scientific fields.

Deadline is 17 March, 2011.
More information here on the ANR website (French). 

The Estonian Research Mobility Scheme (ERMOS) provides funding for a period of up to 3 years to PhD. holders seeking a postdoctoral position in Estonia.

The call opened in January and will close on 2 March, 2011. Applicants should apply through their prospective host supervisor.

More information available on the Estonian Science Foundation website.

This scheme from the German Alexander von Humboldt Foundation, offers 5 awards per year (up to 250,000 euro per award) for excellent researchers in social sciences and humanities to perform research in Germany.
Nominations for the research award can be made for researchers from abroad.

Award winners are expected to spend a period of up to five years cooperating on a long-term research project with the nominator and / or specialist colleagues at a research institution in Germany.
More details here.

This call is directed at top foreign or German junior researchers, 2 - 6 years after they have been conferred their doctorate (child-rearing periods will be taken into consideration) who would like to participate in a Helmholtz programme. The candidates must have completed a continuous 6-month research period abroad during a doctorate or a post-doctorate phase. The most important selection criterion is the outstanding quality of the applicants.

20 Young Investors Group will be sponsored for 5 years with funding up to 250,000 euro per year.
Targeted research fields are: Energy, Earth and Environment, Health, Key technologies, Structure of matter, and Aeronautics, Space and Transport.

Applicants should contact the Helmholtz Centres directly via the given contact persons. Applications may only be submitted via the Centres' boards to the Helmholtz Association's Head Office.

Deadline is 31st March 2011.

More details here

The DFG Research Training Group at the Institute of East-Asian Studies, University Duisburg-Essen invites applications to its English-language doctoral programme from candidates with advanced Chinese or Japanese language skills and a strong MA (or equivalent) degree in Economics, Political Science, Sociology and Geography or in social scientific East Asian Regional Studies. Seven doctoral fellowships of 1000 Euro/month for a duration of three years, contingent on successful completion of the first year, will be awarded in 2011.

To support field research in East Asia and early entry into the European scientific community, support is also provided for travel and research in either Japan or China, and for a range of workshops and independent conference participation in Europe, especially with the UK Partner White Rose East Asian Centre at the Universities of Leeds and Sheffield.

Application deadline is 15 March, 2011 for admission in October 2011.

More details on University Duisburg-Essen website

The President of Ireland Young Researcher Award (PIYRA) is Science Foundation Ireland's most prestigious award to recruit young researchers currently based around the world to carry out their research in third level institutions in Ireland.

Awardees will be selected on the basis of exceptional accomplishments in science and engineering that underpin Biotechnology, Information and Communications technology, and Energy, and on the basis of creative research plans that are built on work that has attracted international attention. The programme also intends to encourage entrepreneurial efforts that couple the Research Body and Irish-based industry in appropriate ways.
Funding up to 1 million euro for direct costs will be provided over a period of 5 years.

Applicants should have been awarded their PhD or MD within the last eight years and have completed a minimum of 36 months active post-doctoral research.

This is a rolling call with applications accepted from 14 February, 2011.

More details on the Science Foundation Ireland website.

The Newton International Fellowships are funded by the British Academy and the Royal Society and aims to attract the most promising early-career post-doctoral researchers from overseas in the field of social sciences and humanities, natural and physical sciences.

The fellowships enable researchers to work for two years at a UK research institution with the aim of fostering long-term international collaborations. The scheme is open to postdoctoral (and equivalent) early-career researchers working outside the UK who do not hold UK citizenship.

Deadline for application is 4 April, 2011.

More information on the Royal Society website.

This programme aims to speed up the development of scientific innovative research, to enhance China’s international competitiveness in basic research and to consolidate the cooperative relationship between NSFC and overseas scientific institutions.
It is composed of different sub-schemes:

1. International research exchanges, funding mainly exchanges of people (but not the international transportation costs of foreign researchers);
2. International joint research, funding  both major joint research programme on strategic topics and joint research projects in the framework of cooperation agreements that NSFC has passed with other foreign research funding organizations;
3. International scientific conferences, funding those conferences held in China;
4. International Young Scientists Fellowship, for those young scientists to perform research in China. (2011 Calls Calendar)

Individual applications are not accepted by NSFC. Both the electronic version and the stamped hard copy of the application proposal should be submitted through the Chinese partner or host institution. Interested European applicants should contact their Chinese partners as early as possible. Application period runs from 1 March, 2011 to 20 March, 2011.

More information (Chinese)

The Understanding Science team is happy to invite you to its third conference for the general public on Tuesday February 22nd in Beijing (7.30 pm at Laowai’s Lounge, Wudaokou), entitled “Blood flow in color”. This event will consist on a 10-15 minutes talk (popularization) by Dr Aurélien F. Stalder who will introduce the amazing technique of live 3D blood flow imaging using Magnetic Nuclear Resonance (MRI).  We are also please to welcome Pr. KunCheng LI as moderator for the following discussion/questions in the relaxed atmosphere of the venue.
Download the flyer.
Organizers are always recruiting new speakers. Find out more.

Nokia China recently posted an announcement on the EURAXESS Job portal, looking for a senior researcher in the field of telecommunications technology.

Nokia's Senior researchers are expected to work as independent, reliable and solid contributors in a research project. They may also act as project managers. They should be experienced in their own technology area and may have broad knowledge of related technology areas.

The announcement was published on January 20. More details on EURAXESS Job portal.

An EU-funded international team of researchers is working to inform the public about the safety and efficacy of TCM, which focuses on a tailor-made, holistic approach to treat patients. The GP-TCM ('Good practice in traditional Chinese medicine research in the post-genomic era') project is funded under the EU's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) to the tune of EUR 995 100.

The researchers from 13 EU Member States, Australia, Canada, China, Norway, Thailand and the US are assessing the current status of TCM, as well as identifying issues and providing answers on quality control, extraction and analysis of Chinese herbal medicines through 10 Work Packages that have been developed for the project.

Launched in 2009 and due to end in 2012, GP-TCM will create and maintain the European Society of Chinese Medicine Research, thus ensuring the guidance and coordination of EU-China cooperation in TCM research.

More details

The European Commission published the 2011 call for proposals for the Erasmus Mundus programme.
Erasmus Mundus (2009-2013) is a cooperation and mobility programme in the field of higher education.

The program supports joint masters and doctoral degrees as well as mobility partnerships between European and non-European higher education institutions (HEI), including Chinese HEIs. In this framework, it offers scholarships for students and doctoral candidates from all over the world.

5 mobility partnerships projects exclusively targeted at China have been selected for the whole 2009-2013 period and 4 joint degrees programs (2 masters and 2 doctorates) including Chinese HEIs have already been selected to be supported. You can find a list of joint degree programmes supported through Ersmus Mundus, including those with Chinese participation, in this compendium.

Other calls for proposals not exclusively targeting China but nonetheless open to partnerships with China are published on a regular yearly basis, the last one being this 2011 call for proposals. Deadline is 29 April 2011.

The Innovational Research Incentives Scheme has been set up in 2000 by NWO, KNAW and the universities jointly. The aim is to promote innovation in the academic research field. The scheme targets researchers at different stages of their career:

• Veni for researchers who have recently taken their PhD, to allow them to continue to develop their ideas;
  a maximum of 250,000 euro.
• Vidi for researchers who want to develop their own innovative line of research and appoint one or more researchers; a maximum of 800,000 euro.
• Vici for senior researchers to build their own research group; a maximum of 1,500,000 euro.

The Vici granting scheme is currently open for application.

This form of grant is directed at senior researchers who have shown that they have the ability successfully to develop their own innovative lines of research and to act as coaches for young researchers. They will be enabled to build up their own research teams, often in advance of a regular professorial appointment. Their lines of research should be given a structural place within the research institution.

Who can apply

Researchers who have completed their doctorate with a maximum of 15 years (calculated from the date on which the doctorate was formally awarded to the deadline for the relevant round of Vici grant applications).
Researchers from abroad may apply.

What can be applied for

The maximum amount of grant will be € 1,500,000 for a period of five years.

When can be applied

• Closing date for submitting preliminary proposals is 31 March 2011
• Closing date for submitting full proposals based on the preliminary proposals is 30 August 2011

More details

In the frame of the promotion of the European Research Area, the Belgian Federal Science Policy Office has launched a programme of return grants. These grants are aimed to promote the reintegration of highly qualified Belgian researchers working since at least 2 years in a foreign country. Eligible candidates must be Belgian nationals OR having spent at least 3 years in Belgium for R&D or higher education purposes, before their post-doctoral stay abroad.

There is no difference between a stay inside the EU and outside the EU, but the stay abroad must be post-doctoral. These mandates are granted for 24 months and on a full-time base. Concerned researchers may propose a research project to be performed in a Belgian research unit, in a research team related a.o. to Interuniversity attraction poles (IAP) or other research programmes financed by the Federal Authority.

Deadline is 14 March, 2011. More details available here.

The European Molecular Biology Organisation has opened calls for its Long-Term Fellowships. These fellowships are awarded for a period of up to two years and support post-doctoral research visits to laboratories throughout Europe and the world. All fellowships must involve movement between countries and one of those countries must be an EMBC Member State.

Deadline for the currently open calls is 15 February, 2011.
Further information here.

The ATTRACT programme is designed for researchers not yet established in Luxembourg; it offers them the opportunity to set up a research team within a public-sector research institution in Luxembourg that is willing to host them. Research proposals should be submitted jointly by the candidate and the host institution.

Projects submitted should be innovative and of high scientific quality. Candidates must be able to show that they have gained a minimum of two and a maximum of eight years’ professional experience since successful completion of doctoral studies. Projects selected under the ATTRACT Programme have a lifespan of five years and the financial contribution by the FNR will be up to EUR 1,500,000. The 2011 application period is open. Deadline is 7 February, 2011.

More information on the FNR website.

The Science, Technology and Environment Section of the Delegation of the European Union to China is looking for an intern to work on science and technology issues for a duration of up to 6 months.

The intern will contribute to the work of the section by monitoring research and innovation-related developments in China. In particular, he/she will carry out a specific project on the current scope of EU-China research and innovation activities. This will involve researching and summarising the EU and the Member States’- level innovation programmes and policies with China.

He/She will conduct research via the internet, reports and other publications, and through contacts with embassies and European research and innovation organisations based in Beijing. He/She will produce a report on European innovation activities with China. This will serve to contribute to discussions on developing an EU research and innovation strategy in relation to China.

Profile

•  A European or Chinese National;
• Fluent in English;
• Must have completed a university degree, preferably at Masters level.
  

Main Tasks

• Prepare a report on European research and innovation cooperation with China;
• Liaise with EU Member State contacts in China and Chinese authorities and help prepare briefings and minutes;
  
• Assist in the preparation and implementation of meetings and events.

Internship

• Position is based at the EU Delegation in Beijing;
• The internship is expected to start ideally in February/March 2011;
• Internship should ideally be for six months, but for no less than three months;
• The position is unpaid;
• All costs related to travel, accommodation, visa, health and accident insurance, etc. for the time in China are borne by the intern;
  
• A candidate with a previous internship from a European Institution will not be eligible.

Please send your application (cover letter and CV) to Philippe.Vialatte@eeas.europa.eu and Jessica.Mitchell@eeas.europa.eu by January 28th 2011.

The next session of Young China Watchers will take place on January 27th, 7.00pm. Stephanie Kleine-Ahlbrandt, Northeast Asia Project Director and China Advisor, International Crisis Group,  will lead a discussion on "China and DPRK: The Risks of War in the Yellow Sea". Stephanie's areas of expertise include the international politics of East Asia, China’s foreign policy, US-China relations, and Sub-Saharan Africa.

From 2006-2007, she was an International Affairs Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations. Prior to that she worked for the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva where she was responsible for human rights and rule of law technical cooperation with the Government of the People's Republic of China. She will give a 25 minute presentation, to be followed by a lively moderated discussion for 25 minutes.

Contact youngchinawatchers@gmail.com for checking availabilities and learning more about Young China Watchers.

The Communication "Energy 2020 - A strategy for competitive, sustainable and secure energy" recognised the need to strengthen the external dimension of the EU energy policy as one of the key priorities in the coming years.
A public consultation was launched on 21st December with the deadline for submission of the 21 February to seek interested parties' views (inside and outside EU) on possible priorities and possible new initiatives in the field of external energy policy. "Research and Innovation" is one of the important aspects to be addressed in this context. 

http://ec.europa.eu/energy/international/consultations/20110221_external_dimension_en.htm

Access to the consultation is also available in the What's new and the Consultations pages below:
http://ec.europa.eu/energy/whatsnew/index_en.htm
http://ec.europa.eu/energy/consultations/index_en.htm

Androulla Vassiliou, Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth and Wang Xiao, President of the All-China Youth Federation, have opened the EU-China Year of Youth in Brussels, in the presence of 200 young people from the EU and China. They included the EU-China youth ambassador, Britta Heidemann, Germany's 2008 Olympic fencing champion in Beijing. Commissioner Vassiliou and Mr Wang Xiao signed a joint declaration establishing a policy dialogue in youth affairs. The EU-China Year of Youth aims to strengthen and expand people-to-people contacts, intercultural dialogue, mutual understanding and cooperation. It offers opportunities for young Europeans and Chinese to meet, exchange and learn from each other during 2011 and beyond.

A € 3 million call for proposals for international youth projects within the EU Youth in Action programme will be published in February 2011. The EU-China Year of Youth is the start of a series of themed years in EU-China relations. 2012 has been designated as the EU-China Year of Intercultural Dialogue.

To find out more:

EU-China Year of Youth: http://ec.europa.eu/youth/focus/focus1864_en.htm

Joint Action Plan for the EU-China Year of Youth: http://ec.europa.eu/youth/news/doc/euchina.pdf

Youth in Action Programme: http://ec.europa.eu/youth/index_en.htm

All-China Youth Federation: http://www.acyf.org.cn/index.htm

Contacts: Dennis Abbott: +32.2.295.92.58, Dina Avraam: +32 (0)2.295.96.67