All the press releases

Thursday, 09 February 2012

• EU research funding to fight diabetes
  Four first-class research projects kicked off today to defuse the "ticking time bomb" of diabetes and obesity. A total of €16 million is being invested in the four projects, EPI-MIGRANT, MEDIGENE, RODAM and GIFTS, which bring together 50 leading European and international research organisations. €12 million will come from the EU's 7th Research Framework Programme.

Wednesday, 08 February 2012

• Press invitation: Diabesity - A World-Wide Challenge, 9 February 2012
  This event will bring together some 200 leading scientists, funding agencies, policy-makers and other key players from Europe, Australia, Canada, China, India, Mexico, South Africa, United States, and other countries. It will present the research landscape and explore opportunities for greater international cooperation and new research partnerships to defuse the 'ticking time bomb' of diabetes and obesity.

Tuesday, 07 February 2012

• Enterprises must boost innovation as global competition becomes stronger
  Almost all Member States have improved their innovation performance according to the Innovation Union Scoreboard 2011. However, innovation performance growth is slowing down and the EU is not closing the persistent gap with global innovation leaders US, Japan and South Korea. The largest gap for the EU27 remains in terms of private sector innovation. The EU still maintains a clear lead over the emerging economies of China, Brazil, India, Russia, and South Africa. However, China is improving its innovation performance and is catching up progressively. Within the EU, Sweden confirms its position at the top of the overall ranking, followed closely by Denmark, Germany and Finland (see complete ranking below). Firms' innovation activities stand out as an important factor to achieve top positions at EU and international level.

Wednesday, 01 February 2012

• EU research funding reaches 15% target for SMEs
  Latest figures show that the European Commission is keeping its promises on research funding for Small- and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). SMEs will receive 15.3% (€2.4 billion) of the Cooperation Programme budget of €16.3 billion committed so far under the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). This surpasses the goal set by the European Parliament and European Council for FP7. €2.4 billion has already been allocated to almost 8.900 SMEs by 1 January 2012. SME funding under the Cooperation Programme is estimated to remain above 15% for the rest of the period of FP7, thereby meeting the commitment taken by the European Commission.

Monday, 30 January 2012

• Consultation on ERA finds opportunities and challenges for EU research landscape
  Making Europe more attractive for top scientists and globally-mobile private R&D investment; increasing transnationally-coordinated research; achieving higher scientific excellence; moving, working and co-operating freely across borders or tackling global challenges. These are some of the key themes resulting from a public consultation on the European Research Area (ERA), which ended on 30 November 2011. The Commission will now decide which issues should be addressed as priorities when finalising the ERA Framework, to be tabled in June 2012 with a view to completing ERA by 2014. The findings were presented today by Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn at the 'ERA conference 2012, Fostering Efficiency, Excellence and Growth' in Brussels.

Monday, 12 December 2011

• Consultation on the future members of the ERC Scientific Council
  The research community in Europe is being consulted on potential candidates for membership of the Scientific Council of the European Research Council (ERC). Scientific Council members are appointed by the European Commission on the recommendation of an independent Identification Committee, which is conducting the consultation exercise. The consultation contributes to the upcoming renewal of the Scientific Council, at the end of the term of office of a number of serving members.

Monday, 05 December 2011

• President Barroso and Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn launch the first Innovation Convention in Brussels
  The first ever Innovation Convention, convened by European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, was officially opened this afternoon by European Commission President, José Manuel Barroso. Both of them, along with Vice President Antonio Tajani, presented the first EU Women Innovators Prize.

• European Commission, EIB and EIF launch new scheme to help SMEs get loans for research and innovation
  Today the European Commission and the European Investment Bank Group launch a new guarantee facility for innovative small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to help them access finance from banks. This builds on the success of the Risk-Sharing Finance Facility (RSFF), launched in 2007, that has so far helped 75 companies benefit from over €7 billion in EIB loans to projects enhancing European growth and competitiveness. The new risk-sharing instrument for SMEs will be managed by the European Investment Fund (EIF). In addition, the EIB and the European Commission are to provide extra resources for research infrastructures.

Thursday, 01 December 2011

• EU-funded project manufactures plant-derived anti-HIV antibody safe for humans
  The EU-funded project Pharma-Planta has succeeded in producing an anti-HIV antibody in plants and has tested it in humans, with a positive result. This antibody could one day become an inexpensive component used to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS. The 'Phase I' clinical trial was launched at the University of Surrey Clinical Research Centre (UK) in June and has just been completed. Further clinical testing will be required to assess the new drug's effectiveness. The Pharma-Planta project has delivered not only a clinical product tested on humans but also a production platform and facility that can be used to produce other protein-based pharmaceuticals.