European Commission

It will contribute to a better understanding of how Europe can benefit from the more effective mainstreaming of the gender dimension in research, innovation and scientific systems. The results of the consultation will be published and discussed at the first European Gender Summit on 8-9 November 2011 in Brussels.

Together with the discussions at the Summit, the consultation responses will feed into a Policy Manifesto on "Integrated Action on the Gender Dimension in Research" to be presented to the European Commission and other key policy players.

Further Information and Access to the Consultation

The United States continues to be the biggest overall spender on research and development (R&D), forking out US$400 billion on in-country projects in 2008. It is followed by China, which has one third the budget of the United States. Japan comes in a close third. The European Union as a whole spent about US$300 billion in 2009. However, Israel has the highest R&D intensity, spending over 4% of its gross domestic product on research.

The quality of patents has fallen sharply over the past two decades, the scoreboard reports. Patent quality dropped by around 20% between 1990 and 2010. Patent quality is an indicator of the technological the economic value of innovations, and is measured by indicators such as patent citations, claims and patent renewals. Patents from inventors in the United States, Germany and Japan are the most highly cited, suggesting “they are true innovations being used by many firms in their products to generate further innovations”, it says.

Source: Nature.com – 20 September 2011: http://blogs.nature.com/news/2011/09/oecd_publishes_updated_researc.html
The OECD website has a 15-page summary of the 128 report, as well as a number of videos highlighting specific OECD findings. One of these offers an explanation of the report's new patent quality index and how that index demonstrates that patent quality is declining in OECD countries.

. The Commission Communication draws on first experience from pilot projects and outlines steps that will lead to more, and more effective, public-private and public-public partnerships.

The Commission Communication suggests that when EU-level Partnerships are identified as necessary and useful, there is a need to make administrative arrangements simpler and more flexible. Bottlenecks and barriers to cross-border research need to be removed and all partners, including EU Member States and the private sector, need to make long-term financial commitments to the projects.

Research and innovation offer solutions to major societal challenges such as an aging population, the effects of climate change, reduced availability of resources, and major new growth opportunities. However, the issues are often too big for one Member State or one company to solve on their own, particularly given the current squeeze on public sector budgets. Proposals building on the approach outlined in the Communication will form part of the Commission's Horizon 2020 package later this year.

The Commission's Communication on "Partnering in Research and Innovation"

The Commission's Communication on creating an "Innovation Union" (see IP/10/1288) and MEMO/10/473)

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He took office on 1 September this year and his term lasts until December 2013. Professor Dingwell is a prominent geoscientist currently heading the Department for Earth and Environmental Sciences at Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich, Germany. Originally from Canada, he holds dual citizenship (German and Canadian). Professor Dingwell's track record includes scientific distinctions such as the Bunsen Medal of the European Geoscience Union (2008) and he is a Distinguished Lecturer of the Mineralogical Society of America (2008/09). He was also awarded an ERC Advanced Grant in 2009. Professor Dingwell takes over after the previous Secretary General, Professor Andreu Mas-Colell, who returned to his academic position one year ago as Professor at Pompeu Fabra University, Barcelona. Since then the post has been vacant.

The ERC Secretary General is the Scientific Council's permanent representative in Brussels with a key role to ensure an effective liaison between the Scientific Council, the ERC Executive Agency and the European Commission. Set up in 2007 by the EU, the European Research Council (ERC) is the first pan-European funding organization for frontier research. It aims to stimulate scientific excellence in Europe by encouraging competition for funding between the very best, creative researchers of any nationality and age. The ERC also strives to attract top researchers from anywhere in the world to come to Europe. The ERC, which is the newest pioneering component of the EU's Seventh Research Framework Program ('Ideas' Specific Program), has a total budget of €7.5 billion from 2007 to 2013. The ERC Scientific Council is currently chaired by Professor Helga Nowotny and is composed of 22 eminent scientists and scholars, including a number of Nobel Prize winners.

The report titled “Examining Quality Culture Part II: Processes and Tools - Participation, Ownership and Bureaucracy” is the result of European University Association’s EC-supported project “Examining Quality Culture (EQC)”, which has been carried out in collaboration with the German Rectors’ Conference (HRK) and QAA Scotland.

The term “quality culture” in the title refers to the creation of a shared set of values and commitments to monitoring quality within universities. The report argues that establishing a quality culture is the most effective and meaningful way for universities to ensure that quality assurance (QA) mechanisms improve quality and support change within universities. This culture can be promoted through the creation of a space for debate and discussions about quality mechanisms and thus encourage their broad ownership. The report also stresses the need to clarify lines of responsibility and accountability in order to ensure that internal quality assurance mechanisms improve quality levels.

At a launch event in Brussels on the 16 September, co-organized by the Polish Presidency of the EU, report author Andrée Sursock presented the study findings to an audience of European HE stakeholders. Her presentation was followed by a panel discussion with representatives from universities, a student body and a QA agency.

“This report highlights that the vitality and sustainability of a quality culture depend upon both internal and external factors,” she explains. “It has shown that universities with effective quality cultures are generally located in an open environment which avoids over-regulation and enjoys high levels of public trust. These universities do not limit themselves to the definition of quality processes as set by their national QA agencies”.“This report highlights that the vitality and sustainability of a quality culture depend upon both internal and external factors,” she explains. “It has shown that universities with effective quality cultures are generally located in an open environment which avoids over-regulation and enjoys high levels of public trust. These universities do not limit themselves to the definition of quality processes as set by their national QA agencies”.

The first part of the EQC study (published last year), based on a survey questionnaire, showed that universities had made remarkable progress in developing quality mechanisms. The second phase, which was based on 59 interviews with 10 European universities, examined in greater depth the extent to which these mechanisms and processes have resulted in quality cultures.

The full report can be downloaded here.

More information about the EQC project is available here.

The Communication says: "Europe does lack an open and transparent internal labor market for researchers. There are no comparable research career structures. The researchers' labor market is fragmented nationally and there is segregation between careers in academia, industry and other sectors. There is cross-country and cross-sector mobility, but many barriers remain. Career choices are often irreversible as it can be very difficult to move between sectors. Research careers frequently lack a clear and transparent prospective; early career researchers may not be aware of the range of opportunities across employment sectors. Employers are not always clear of the competences that researchers possess and the benefits they could bring to their company."

As a way to address this fragmentation, a European Framework for Research Careers is proposed by the Commission which would describe the generality of the research career in commonly understood terms. It is hoped that the Career Framework could help to establish "comparable research career structures" and help to remove obstacles to inter-sectoral mobility and international cooperation in research. A starting point for the proposed Framework was the Frascati Manual definition of researcher: "Researchers are professionals engaged in the conception or creation of new knowledge, products, processes, methods and systems and also in the management of the projects concerned."

Four broad profiles/categories are being put forward under the Framework, with the following working titles:

• R1 First Stage Researcher (up to the point of PhD)
• R2 Recognized Researcher (PhD holders or equivalent who are not yet fully independent)
• R3 Established Researcher (researchers who have developed a level of independence.)
• R4 Leading Researcher ( researchers leading their research area or field)

The Framework is "sector-neutral", which means that the proposed categories will apply to all researchers, independent of where they work in the private or public sector: in companies, NGOs, research institutes, research universities or universities of applied sciences. Regardless of any particular profession one can outline broad profiles that describe the different characteristics researchers may possess.

The above Framework is intended to serve as a voluntary transparency instrument to make research careers generally comparable across employment sectors and countries. It is hoped that the new Framework will provide a common language to a variety of actors across Europe and beyond, helping researchers, employers, public authorities, as well as the European Research Area and society in general. There are no central rules on how to apply those profiles or how to use the Framework within particular institutional contexts. It will be monitored and accordingly re-adapted every 2 years.

The Framework has been introduced on the EURAXESS Jobs portal to help categorize research job opportunities that are posted in its database.

Read more

ERC Science Officers and other representatives will be present at the booth and available to provide information about ERC and their funding mechanisms, the Starting and Advanced Grants. The EURAXESS team will also be present.

Nearly 32,000 attendees, including 26,397 scientific registrants, were at Neuroscience 2010 and we’re expecting even more attendees for Neuroscience 2011 this year in Washington, DC.

A joint session co-organized by the German Research Foundation,  European Research Council, and Canadian Institutes of Health Research is planned on Tuesday, November 15 from 9:00-12:00 PM in room 146B of the Washington Convention Center:

http://www.sfn.org/am2011/events/sessions.aspx?type=workshop

http://www.sfn.org/am2011/

This major event will gather more than 1200 participants involved in the innovation chain, including high-level policy makers, leading CEOs, deans of universities and research centers, bankers, venture capitalists, top researchers and innovators.

http://ec.europa.eu/research/index.cfm?pg=conferences&eventcode=94605FF6-EBC0-A850-D5E9283516C75767

A session titled "European Research Council: Funding Opportunities" will be held on 5 December 2011 from 6:15 PM to 7:15 PM in TH15E.

http://sites.agu.org/fallmeeting/

Opening Reception January 18, 2012

The Annual University Startups Conference will take place January 18-20, 2012 at the Washington Convention Center, Washington, DC beginning with an Opening Reception on January 18, 2012.

The Conference is organized annually by the National Council of Entrepreneurial Tech Transfer (NCET2.org). The Government Co-Hosts are the National Science Foundation (Division of Industrial Innovation and Partnership) and National Institutes of Health (Office of Tech Transfer). The Venture Capital Sponsors are the National Venture Captial Association (NVCA) and the National Association of Seed and Venture Funds (NASVF).

The University Startups Conference is a unique conference series dedicated exclusively to creating and funding globally competitive, venture-backable university startups. It encourages universities creating startups to come together with the VCs, angel investors, SBIR program managers and Fortune 500 technology scouts funding them. The conference also includes NSF, NIH, NIST, DOD, DOE, DHS and other government agencies working on improving the Innovation Economy by increasing the quality and quantity of startups coming out of universities.

For more information please visit: http://ncet2.org/UpcomingEvents/UnivStartupConf12/

The 2011 Fair was visited by over 5500 job seekers and featured exhibitions by 122 companies.

Last year’s Career Fair website 

More information will be provided in the forthcoming issues of the newsletter.

http://www.aaas.org/meetings/

CES welcomes proposals for panels, roundtables, book discussions and individual papers on the study of Europe broadly defined, and encourages submissions in the widest range of disciplines and with configurations that transcend disciplinary, national and generational boundaries. More

Awardees have the opportunity to:

• Conduct independent research in an area compatible with the interest of the sponsoring laboratory;
• Devote full-time effort to research and publication;
• Access the excellent and often unique facilities of the federal research enterprise;
• Collaborate with leading scientists and engineers at federal research laboratories.

Awards are available for scientists and engineers at all stages of their careers. Applicants should hold, or anticipate receiving, an earned doctorate in science or engineering. Degrees from universities abroad should be equivalent in training and research experience to a degree from U.S. institutions. Most awards are open to foreign nationals as well as to U.S. citizens.

Applications for awards are reviewed by panels of distinguished scientists and engineers four times a year. Most sponsoring programs participate in all reviews.

Awards are initially for 12 months with a renewal for a second or third year determined by evaluations of the Associate’s progress and the need to continue the research. Senior awards may be for shorter periods. Summer Faculty awards are for 8-14 weeks, renewable for up to 3 successive summers. Research is conducted in collaboration with an Adviser who is a member of the senior professional staff at the laboratory. Research Advisers provide guidance, advice, and support for the Associate during their tenure.

Stipend and Benefits

The Award covers an annual stipend, health insurance, relocation benefits and an allowance for professional travel. The host laboratory provides research facilities, equipment and funding for supplies to support the Associate’s research.

Detailed information, including application deadlines and instructions on how to apply, is available at: www.national-academies.org/rap

2011 November Review:

Application period opens September 1
Submission deadline is November 1 (5:00 PM EST)
Support document deadline is November 15 (5:00 PM EST)

These awards are granted through three innovative research programs supported by the NIH Common Fund: the NIH Director's Pioneer, New Innovator, and Transformative Research Projects Awards. The Common Fund, enacted into law by Congress through the 2006 NIH Reform Act, supports trans-NIH programs with a particular emphasis on innovation and risk taking. The NIH expects to make competing awards of approximately $10.4 million to Pioneer awardees, $117.5 million to New Innovators, and $15.9 million to Transformative Research Projects awardees in Fiscal Year 2011.

Eligibility:
Non-US nationals are eligible to apply for the Pioneer and New Innovator Awards, as long as they are affiliated with a U.S. institution.
Non-US nationals are eligible to apply for the Transformative Research Projects Award, including applicants who are affiliated with US- based and non-US institutions.

For more information on:
- The Pioneer Award: http://commonfund.nih.gov/pioneer  
- The New Innovator Award: http://commonfund.nih.gov/newinnovator
- The Transformative Research Projects Award is at http://commonfund.nih.gov/T-R01

The National Institute of Health (NIH) press release: http://www.nih.gov/news/health/sep2011/od-20.htm

This program is open to Croatian and foreign researchers with two to five years of postdoctoral experience in Croatia or abroad with proven institutional support. Successful applicants will receive up to 350.000,00 Kuna annually (around 46.000 Euros) for three years. Candidates within biomedicine, natural, technological and biotechnical sciences may receive up to 350.000,00 Kuna annually. Candidates within the social sciences and humanities may receive 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.

This program offers personal grants to Croatian postdoctoral students from Croatian research institutions as well as foreign postdoctoral students coming to Croatia in order to carry out research projects over stays lasting from three to twelve months. The monthly budget per grant is 9.750,00 Kuna, i.e. around 1300 Euros. The call is open until October 2011. Find out more on the Croatian Science Foundation website.

The purpose of the scheme is to improve the research standard and quality of doctoral studies and to promote the international mobility of young researchers during their doctoral studies. This call for proposal is open until October 2011. Access further details on the Croatian Science Foundation website.

Open to all fields of research, including Social Sciences and Humanities, it will help emerging talent to pursue innovative ideas at the frontiers of knowledge. The total budget for this call amounts to €730 million, which is an increase of just over 10% from last year. The call will fund 500 to 600 researchers.

The ERC Starting Grant scheme helps filling Europe's funding deficit for the best up-and- coming researchers and enables them to get early scientific and professional independence. With up to €2 million per grant for up to five years, the scheme targets researchers having between two to twelve years of post-doctoral experience. The only selection criterion is scientific excellence. To date, 1,300 scientists have been awarded Starting Grants, including some coming from outside Europe. ERC grants are indeed one of the main EU instruments to address the "brain drain" and to attract and retain the best researchers of any nationality.

Proposals have to be submitted via a Host Institution (university, public or private research centre), based in one of the 27 EU Members State or one of the 13 countries associated to the seventh EU Framework Program for Research. The selection of proposals is performed by highly recognized international peer review panels, including scientists from all over the world. Last year, the success rate of Starting Grants proposals was around 15%.
The call has the following three domain deadlines:
- Physical Sciences and Engineering: 12 October 2011
- Life Sciences: 9 November 2011
- Social Sciences and Humanities: 24 November 2011

The full announcement with complete background information and contact links is available at: http://erc.europa.eu/pdf/ERC_Press_release_Starting_Grants_call(2012).pdf

• 19 postdoctoral positions
• 6 senior researchers

Deadlines: Various. Further Information: JRC

It covers 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. The deadline for submitting applications is 25 October 2011.

More details on the EUI website.

and hosted by the European University Institute in Florence where the research community of professors, researchers and fellows provides an excellent environment for the Program. The Program is open to all nationalities and designed for junior post-docs in the early stages of their academic careers or who have received a doctorate within the last 5 years in economics, law, history, social and political sciences, or a related field, and who want to advance in their research and academic training in an active multidisciplinary environment before entering the international job market.

The Max Weber Program 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. Please note that between 25 October 2011 and 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 Program. More details on the EUI website.

Fellowships last for up to ten months in one of the EUI's four Departments which in turn invite fellows to participate in departmental activities (seminars, workshops, colloquia, etc.). The annual deadlines for applications are 30 March and 30 September, but the Department of Law considers applications only for the 30 March deadline. More details on the EUI website.

and research institutes may propose FiDiPro Professors and FiDiPro Fellows from all disciplines. Further information: TEKES

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 research focus 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.

Deadline: 15 October. Further Information: FNP

The monthly scholarship varies according to the different type of beneficiaries as follows:
- University students: 280 euro
- PhD students: 480 euro
- Researchers without PhD degree and less than 4 years work experience: 670 euro
- Researchers with PhD degree or more than 4 years work experience: 850 euro
- Researchers 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.

The visits can last between one week and three months and are limited to one person (the visiting fellow) going to one institute (the host institute). Both the visiting fellow and one person from the host institute (the host) are co-applicants of the proposal.

The main aim of this funding instrument, which is open to all fields of research, is to initiate or to consolidate international collaborations. To reach this aim, short research projects between the host institute and the visiting fellow should be carried out during the stay. There should be an exchange of knowledge that is beneficial to both co-applicants and their institutions.

The attendance of congresses, conferences, workshops or seminars is not foreseen. Salaries for researchers on scientific sabbaticals are also not funded.

The International Short Visits have no geographical limitations. Swiss researchers can go to any other country or researchers from any country can come to Switzerland.

More information: http://www.snf.ch/E/international/worldwide/international-short-visits/Pages/default.aspx

The workshops can last between two and five days. Up to 30 participants from different institutions can participate. However, the SNSF will fund a maximum of ten researchers. The seminar is to take place in Switzerland but exceptions can be granted if justified.

The aim of this funding instrument, which is open to all fields of research, is to allow researchers working on a similar question to meet and advance their knowledge on the issue. Typically, the workshop should bring together scientists with different backgrounds that might bring new insights to a theme by sharing their knowledge and actively working together for a few days. An interdisciplinary approach is therefore encouraged. Furthermore, it is strongly advised to have a balance of established researchers and young promising scientists among the participants.

Although the call for this funding instrument is always open, there are three cut-off dates per year when the evaluation process begins. The next cut-off dates are: 14 October, 2011; 14 March, 2012; 20 June, 2012; 17 October, 2012.

More information: http://www.snf.ch/E/international/worldwide/international-exploratory-workshops/Pages/default.aspx

http://ec.europa.eu/research/dgs/tenders/open_en.cfm

The following calls for proposals are currently open under the People program:

The following calls are currently open under the Ideas program.

The following calls are open under the Cooperation program:

• Health / 3 open calls
• Information and Communication Technologies / 5 open calls
• Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials and new Production Technologies - NMP / 8  open calls
• Energy / 6 open calls
• Environment (including Climate Change) / 4 open calls
• Transport (including Aeronautics) / 8 open calls
• Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, and Biotechnology / 2 open calls
• General Activities / 1 open calls
• Socio-economic sciences and Humanities / 3 open calls
• Space / 1 open calls
• Security / 1 open calls
• Joint Technology Initiatives (Annex IV-SP1) / 2 open calls

Participants from the United States are eligible to join research proposals under the Cooperation scheme. These programs require at least three partners in three different EU or associated countries plus a partner in the United States. With the exception of Health proposals, there is no funding from the European Union for U.S.-based partners unless the participation of the U.S. partner is deemed necessary for the success of the program. Cooperation schemes in the area of Health provide for full funding of the U.S.-based partners.

The following calls are open under the Capacities program.

• Research Infrastructures / 1 open calls
• Research for the benefit of SMEs / 1 open calls
• Regions of Knowledge / 1 open calls
• Research Potential / 1 open calls
• Science in Society / 1 open calls
• Support for the coherent development of research policies / 1 open calls
• Activities of International Cooperation / 2 open

To access a full list of currently open calls for proposals launched by the European Commission and for full details of the calls, go to: http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/page/calls

of the Executive Agency, to the European Parliament, to the Council and to the Court of Auditors. Call deadline: 14 October 2011 16:00

Access the call

 There are 3 options:

• Do you want to upload your CV? Login into your account MyEURAXESS:
  http://ec.europa.eu/euraxess/index.cfm/res/index
• Did you forget your password? Recover it with a simple click:
  http://ec.europa.eu/euraxess/index.cfm/jobs/passwordRecovery
• Do you want to delete your account? Click here:
  http://ec.europa.eu/euraxess/index.cfm/res/deleteAccount

http://ec.europa.eu/eures/home.jsp?lang=en

The Chronicle of Higher Education Careers Service: http://chronicle.com/jobs/
Find A Postdoc: http://www.findapostdoc.com/
Career.edu: http://www.career.edu/index.php
Nature.jobs: http://www.nature.com/naturejobs/index.html
Jobs.ac.uk: www.jobs.ac.uk
Research Jobs in the Netherlands: http://www.academictransfer.org/org/
Brainpower Austria: http://www.brainpower-austria.at/webfiles/home.asp
Euro Science Jobs: http://www.eurosciencejobs.com/
Elsevier Jobs: http://www.recruitment.elsevier.com/register/default.aspx
Academics.com job search: http://www.research-in-germany.de/research-career-in-germany/jobs/29640/academics-com-i-frame.html
Talent Scotland: www.talentscotland.com

The social dimension concerns the process of widening access to higher education to as large a proportion of the population as possible. The study takes the reference year 2009/10 and covers 31 countries (all EU Member States, plus Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway and Turkey).

The full study, in English, as well as highlights, can be downloaded here.

the enhancement and development of Science & Technology Partnerships, is available here.

This year’s calls make available nearly 7 billion Euro for joint research projects covering a vast range of scientific disciplines, public policy areas and commercial sectors. This funding shall contribute to advance scientific boundaries, increase European competitiveness and help solve global societal challenges such as: climate change, energy and food security, health and an ageing population.

The Seventh EU Framework Program is open to organizations from outside Europe, and this year’s calls for proposals have a particular focus on stimulating cooperation with the U.S. Currently open FP7 calls (filtered by research themes) specifically targeting research cooperation between EU and the U.S. can be found here: http://www.euussciencetechnology.eu/uploads/docs/InternationalCooperationBetweenEU&USA_2012_BILAT-USA.pdf

For more information about the calls and the rules of participation, please go to the BILAT-USA program website: http://www.euussciencetechnology.eu/news/show?id=197

If so, contact the Link2US Helpdesk on Tuesdays and Thursdays from approximately 2:00pm – 4:30pm Central European time to speak to helpdesk staff (+1 202 326 6663), or email them at link2us@aaas.org