Week 14

Sunday, 31 March 2013

• Horizon 2020 - video testimonials
  • Sanne Biesmans (BE): What are your main concerns for the future?
    Currently, I'm concerned with the economic crisis that hits Europe and the whole world. And I think one of the impacts of it is that people become more and more individualistic, it's a trend that's been set a while back but I think this insecurity that it is causing makes people trying to stick to their own economic security and making them more individual than solidair.

Week 13

Saturday, 30 March 2013

• Horizon 2020 - video testimonials
  • Philip Weiss (DE): What is needed to exit the crisis and help Europe's economy to grow?
    I think it's because we're facing so many fundamental changes in the way our society functions, so many technological innovations, so many new things that have taken everybody by surprise: the financial crisis, the Arab spring...What we need is a new way of interpreting these changes and, basically, be much more inovative in how we actually tackle these, so what we need is to actually learn creativity, because what we need is to invent new solutions to the problems that we'll be facing tomorrow, we need to be much more open to experimentation, open to change and much more willing to take risks. And I think that's one of the fundamental problems of Europe and the culture that dominates a lot of the institutions, is that people are afraid of change and afraid to do things differently. So I think what is needed most importantly is a change of mindset.

Friday, 29 March 2013

• Horizon 2020 - video testimonials
  • Peter Jansen (CA): How do you see research and innovation making a difference for a better future?
    Research and Innovation are absolutely at the key of making a better future in that we are constantly developping new technologies, constantly developping more research that we can from a technomic standpoint sell to people, which keeps an economy rolling, but also just it gives us a better quality of life, helps generate new technologies, better medicines, helps invent science, It's.... ball: once you've started rolling it you have to keep it rolling in order for things to roll out. If you reduce the amount of science funding, then you really slow the ball down and it has trickle effects 20 years, 30 years later where no new things have been developped and it takes forever to get that ball rolling and so it's critical to maintain a lot of scientific funding.

Thursday, 28 March 2013

• Horizon 2020 - video testimonials
  • Jacqueline Monash (HT): What is needed to exit the crisis and help Europe's economy to grow?
    Don't get stuck in the old patterns, look for ways...to work together and go forward solutions are there…

Wednesday, 27 March 2013

• Horizon 2020 - video testimonials
  • John Fass (GB): How do you see research and innovation making a difference for a better future?
    The research that I do, is where science or technology meets human behaviour. So, I'm interested in, if you like, the humanization of technology: where it meets everyday life, and that means everyday emotions, everyday experiences... that means how you behave at work, how you behave at home. The barriers between those two things are also disolving: we do work at home we do also leisure activity at work, so maybe it's a bit about thinking how technology can help us to be more human with each other.

• Research Headlines
  • Long-legged lizard challenges Darwinian evolution
    Survival of the fittest, according to Darwin's theory of evolution, is a slow biological process that takes place in a species over many generations. But Spanish researcher Marta López Darias and colleagues had a different idea. Her EU-funded research contributes to the growing body of evidence pointing to "rapid evolution in action".

• Success Stories
  • Car body parts that store electricity
    Powering a car with batteries is basically a question of numbers. The more you have, the further you can expect it to go. However, larger batteries do not necessarily bring more mileage. Their sheer weight and size can cancel out power gains and limit performance; a battery in a 1200 kg Tesla Roadster weighs in at a hefty 450 kg.

• Building up instead of cutting out: reducing resource waste
  The production of advanced high-tech components for aircraft and other aerospace applications is an expensive and time-intensive process involving design, prototyping and then machining of parts often using costly high strength-to-weight materials such as titanium. A new production approach developed under the European Union (EU) -funded RAPOLAC project (Rapid Production of Large Aerospace Components) can bypass the prototyping stage and build a new part in a fraction of the time with production costs reduced by as much as 40%.

Tuesday, 26 March 2013

• Events
  • Course 'Decision Aid Approaches for Risk Management' - 22-26 April 2013, Stuttgart, Germany
    

    Decision making is a process where multiple factors interact to shape the final outcome. Those factors can be technical, informational, emotional/psychological, cultural. Nevertheless, the limited rationality of economic operators makes the decision exercise more and more difficult in a more and more complex world. Safety management requires short, mid and long term decisions that may highly influence the ability of the organization to cope with its risks.

• Horizon 2020 - video testimonials
  • Bruno Zamborlin (IT): What are your main concerns for the future?
    Big companies gathering too much power and gathering all information and forcing us to pass through them actually, to accompish any task we want to. So we can't do anything if we don't have an Apple iPhone or another device and if we can't access to google search in every three seconds, we can't do tasks nowadays. So this is a concern: it's the fact that, what was really a wide democratic space, the Internet, is becoming now the most capitalistic space ever.

• Innovation Union
  • State of the Innovation Union 2012
    The Europe 2020 strategy and its ʻflagshipʼ initiatives focus on investments in education, research and innovation as the key to achieving smart, sustainable and inclusive growth. The Innovation Union flagship in particular is about creating a vibrant, innovation-based economy fuelled by ideas and creativity, capable of linking into global value chains, seizing opportunities, capturing new markets and creating high-quality jobs. This communication summarises progress at Member State and European levels towards achieving an Innovation Union in 2012, and concludes by outlining areas where action is still needed.

• Research Headlines
  • Making sustainable use of Europe's marine wealth
    Health-care products, cosmetics and infant formulas are just a few everyday products that use molecules derived from marine organisms. A ground-breaking EU project has discovered several new sources of these compounds and developed a new method of sustainably manufacturing them. The benefits for Europe, from major pharmaceuticals to regional development, could be immense.

• Success Stories
  • Robots assist human inspectors
    For huge cargo vessels that carry millions of litres of oil, thousands of shipping containers, or tens of thousands of tonnes of coal or steel, safety is paramount. These ships must comply with rising safety standards that require time-consuming inspections by surveyors, who in turn risk their own safety by climbing inside massive cargo areas and on scaffolding constructed around ships.

• Containers get a redesign to pack more in: Tellibox
  Used all over the world to ship goods stamped with "Made in …", containers are at the very heart of global trade. They have been around since the 1950s and have literally revolutionised the way we manufacture, trade and consume goods.

• The next generation of cockpit displays
  With its all-around touchscreens, futuristic design, and dazzling interactive displays, it looks more like a flight deck from the Star Wars or Star Trek movies than anything in use today. Yet the ODICIS concept is a vision for a very real application: a cockpit that airplane or helicopter pilots might use within a decade from now.

• New tools to help maintain Earth's biodiversity
  Human well-being is strongly linked to the biodiversity and functioning of the Earth's ecosystems. To maintain biodiversity and enable future generations to derive the same benefits our planet now provides us with, consolidated policy and management efforts are needed. The findings of the EcoChange project could be instrumental in this endeavour.

Monday, 25 March 2013

• Events
  • Destination Europe - focus on health research - 11 April 2013, Washington DC
    

    Destination Europe

• Horizon 2020 - video testimonials
  • Irene Van Peer (NL): What is needed to exit the crisis and help Europe's economy to grow?
    Well, you can focus on what's wrong but I'de rather be on the positive side and look at what's right and I think there's a great bunch of people who are ready to put energy in it and trust to build this new kind of economy. So, but then you need to be able to trust that everyone will fight for it.

• Research Headlines
  • Using simpler synthesis and greener chemistry to improve medicines
    An estimated 170 million people worldwide are infected with hepatitis C, which kills more than 350,000 every year from related illnesses like liver cancer. There is no vaccine for it, and treatments are costly thanks to the complicated chemistry used to make the drugs. However, if a way was found to simplify and speed up the manufacture of hepatitis C drugs, it could slash the costs of treatment and at a stroke promise to wipe out the insidious killer disease.

Sunday, 24 March 2013

• Horizon 2020 - video testimonials
  • Steve Wozniak (US): How do you see research and innovation making a difference for a better future?
    One thing I like about though: for me personally, it is still fun. It is fun to explore, to see how it works, to try this out, to show it to a friend, to use it for communication, to play games... So much of my enjoyment life comes from that. I used to take my young children to the carnival. And I would pay a hundred dollars for them to throw balls and get bigger stuffed animals and i would pay 50 dollars for ping-pong balls to win a goldfish and now I get an app for free, an app for free, an app for free...an app for 2 dollars, an app for one dollar...And I have all the fun in the world so we are in the fun era for adult. We get to buy our little affordable smartphones and play with them, and play with them and ... Wow what a toy man! We've got something really new! And when they change it is like a new toy, cars don't seem to change as much you know but uh.. maybe in the earliest days, the cars, they did.

Week 12

Saturday, 23 March 2013

• Horizon 2020 - video testimonials
  • Roger Pagny (FR): What is needed to exit the crisis and help Europe's economy to grow?
    I'm not a specialist at all. My understanding is that it's a financial crisis mainly and now it's an economic crisis financials are very linked to economic activities in a second step. I don't know what we have to do with the financial sector, but I think that the position that has been taken after so many meetings between presidents and ministers and officials in Europe, are going in the right direction: we have to put this banking system aligned with the economic affairs.

Friday, 22 March 2013

• Events
  • 5th Annual Workshop "The Output of R&D activities: Harnessing the Power of Patents Data" - 19-20 September 2013, Seville, Spain
    

    The 5th Annual International Workshop on Harnessing the Power of Patents Data will cover the relation between patents (and other Intellectual Property Rights) and Research & Development and Innovation (RDI) and the factors affecting such relations. Based on the abstracts received from the Open Call for Papers, it will focus on the institutional aspects of patent systems, the methodological aspects of collecting and analysing data and the research outputs of patent analysis.

• ProMine Final Conference with Mineral Marketplace - 23-24 April 2013, Levi, Kittilä, Finland
  

  The major results of FP7 ProMine project (Nano-particle products from new mineral resources in Europe) achieved during 4 years of intensive research and development work will be presented in the conference and in the related Mineral Marketplace. These include developing new methods in extracting nano-materials from mining waste, creation of a fully integrated database of European mineral deposits and mining waste repositories, development of 4D models of mineralized belts and new ecoefficient mineral processing options....

• Horizon 2020 - video testimonials
  • Tanja Kessel (DE): In your experience what are the benefits of participating in EU research projects?
    I think it helps to share resources and it helps to shere knowledge. My topic is car-to-x, car-to-car and car-to-infrastructure communication, and here you need joined efforts, because there's a new technology there's a new solution to improve traffic safety and traffic efficiency and to get these advantages, you need collaboration across industry and not only across car makers or suppliers, all across Europe, to have a successful implementation. So here, Europe really helps, also with these joined research activities, to get a common understanding, to get inter-operability of the system and to foster deployment. I think this is extremely helpful here.

• Research Headlines
  • An innovative production platform for micro-products
    Micro-products have become increasingly important in the medical, biotechnology, consumer and automotive sectors. However, products in these sectors such as innovative display solutions and light emitting panels require the integration of different functionalities and demand new mass manufacturing methods and technologies.

• Research Infrastructures
  • Online map: maximising the use of research infrastructures in Europe
    It is now possible to see on an interactive map the location of about 800 research infrastructures that open their doors to all researchers in Europe. The map shows the location of some 800 research infrastructures funded under the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) that provide transnational access to researchers. The facilities are located in over 40 countries.

• Success Stories
  • Predicting the future of sea level rise
    While the global increase of temperature due to our emissions of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere is more or less undisputed among climate researchers, the consequences of the global warming are less clear. Sea-level will rise, but whether we look at half a meter or one and a half meters at the end of the century, is not yet predictable. In terms of impacts on coast and its cities around the globe, these figures correspond to "severe" and "devastating", respectively.

• Success stories - special collections
  • World Water Day 2013: World Water Day: EU Water-related Research
    With global population growth, urbanisation, pollution, over-exploitation and climate change all placing pressure on our water resources, especially in developing countries, it is more important than ever to recognise the interconnectedness of the world’s water systems. To mark World Water Day 2013, here is a little of what the EU is doing in the field of water-related research.

Thursday, 21 March 2013

• Events
  • First ERC BIOMIM MEETING: At the Frontier between Materials and Biology - 10-12 April 2013, Grenoble, France
    

    This workshop provides an opportunity for researchers and students working in the field of (bio)materials/tissue engineering, physical chemistry, microtechnologies and cell biology to meet and exchange on exciting topics at the interface of materials science, microtechnologies and cell biology. All these aspects are important for designing the new generation of biomaterials and to elaborate platforms for in vitro diagnosis....

• Horizon 2020 - video testimonials
  • Susanne Planath (SE): How do you see research and innovation making a difference for a better future?
    I think we need to be more creative in research and innovation and also my personal view is that research projects have a tendency to be recycled and recycled and not really focusing on the concrete results and effects. So we need to be more precise in what our research project really should come up with and have a plan for how it can come to a concrete implementation.

• Research Headlines
  • Sex role reversal: male shorebirds looking after offspring
    A century old mystery as to why, for some animals, it's the father rather than the mother that takes care of their young has been cracked by researchers at the University of Sheffield.

• Success Stories
  • Uncovering ancient history in the laboratory
    The world of archaeology has changed considerably since the days when wealthy enthusiasts such as Heinrich Schliemann excavated the site he believed was ancient Troy while Arthur Evans unearthed the spectacular Minoan palace of Knossos in Crete. While the shovel and the trowel are still important tools for finding ancient structures and artefacts, many of the exciting discoveries and breakthroughs are today being made in laboratories - a long way from the ancient remains.

Wednesday, 20 March 2013

• Horizon 2020 - video testimonials
  • Risto Kulmala (FI): How do you see research and innovation making a difference for a better future?
    I'm a firm believer in technology and science because I think the mankind has a long history of technological innovation and how that has solved a lot of problems and made our lives a lot better.

• Research Headlines
  • New safeguards foster innovation in nanomaterials
    Measuring between 1 and 100 billionth of a metre, nanomaterials may be tiny and invisible to the eye but what they lack in size, they make up for in impact. Engineered nanomaterials are already widely used in technologies and consumer products ranging from toothpaste to paints.

Tuesday, 19 March 2013

• Horizon 2020 - video testimonials
  • Rafael Alexandrian (US): How do you see research and innovation making a difference for a better future?
    That's what I think that innovation can bring to society: disperse the growth, disperse the creativity and the economic engine for growth. Because ultimately, the purpose of our existence is to make our lives easier to make our future more prosperous... And the way that we do it is by refining our technology, and refining our theories and views of the world.

• Research Headlines
  • Footwear gets a 21st century refit
    Faced with tough competition from low-wage countries and economic strife at home, European shoemakers are interested in clever and efficient solutions to design and customise stylish shoes that meet every customer's needs. But is ‘mass customisation’ like this a contradiction in terms? Not according to EU-funded researchers.

Monday, 18 March 2013

• Horizon 2020 - video testimonials
  • Sheryl Greene (US): What is needed to exit the crisis and help Europe's economy to grow?
    I think one of the thoughest things about economy in Europe and in the US is a lack of cooperation: that there's so many interests that are competing and that don't give intake. And we have to learn, to look beyond our own interest, for the good of all.

• Success Stories
  • Uniting European and Russian expertise in shared nanotechnology research
    The goal of enhanced integration between the European Union and the Russian Federation was significantly advanced by a series of three linked EU-Russian research projects.

Sunday, 17 March 2013

• Horizon 2020 - video testimonials
  • Monte Stettin (US): What is needed to exit the crisis and help Europe's economy to grow?
    I believe that there's going to be a strong need for a renovation of small entrepreneurship and independent entrepreneurship and a focus on creating small business and reinvigorating the middle class which is always the economic motor of every society. I think that, without being able to do that Europe will languish a bit.

• Research Headlines
  • Ireland: at the heart of European ICT
    Ireland may sit on the geographic edge of the EU, but when it comes to ICT, the country is at the very heart of Europe's digital industry. According to the industry association ICT Ireland, the ICT sector is a thriving and growing industry; 9 of the top 10 global companies maintains a presence in Ireland. Could this be the country's foundation for economic recovery?

Week 11

Saturday, 16 March 2013

• Horizon 2020 - video testimonials
  • Eric Sampson (GB): What is needed to exit the crisis and help Europe's economy to grow?
    We need one strategy, rather than 27 strategies...plus the World Bank, plus the something bank, plus the something else, plus somebody else...We need to get agreement, as fast as possible, on what is A single European strategy and somehow, to get some confidence back. Again, talking simply for the UK, banks are not short of money but they're not lending it and business wants cash to invest, to expand but everyone is lacking confidence, so it's the classic stalemate, people sit and look at each other and say: well you go first no, you go first...

Friday, 15 March 2013

• Events
  • Graphene Week 2013 - 2-7 June 2013, Chemnitz, Germany
    

    The 7th International Conference on the Fundamental Science of Graphene and Applications of Graphene-Based Devices (Graphene Week 2013) is devoted to the science and technology of graphene (atomically thin graphitic films – monolayers, bilayers, trilayers), investigation of its physical properties, advances in its growth and chemical processing, manufacturing graphene-based devices, and emerging applications of this new material. ...

• 4th AEBIOM Bioenergy Conference - 17-19 June 2013, Brussels
  

  The AEBIOM Bioenergy Conference organized by the European Biomass Association is the forth edition of the growing series. The annual conference has grown ever since its first edition in 2010 and has quickly become Europe´s major occasion for discussion and networking amongst important industry leaders and policy makers. Bioenergy is the largest renewable energy source in Europe and we expect around 300 industry representatives to be present at this event which is one of the leading bioenergy conferences in Europe. ...

• Horizon 2020 - video testimonials
  • Marinella Tabet (RU): What is needed to exit the crisis and help Europe's economy to grow?
    Well, I think that the problem in not a problem of Europe, that it's a problem worldwide. And I think that the only way to find a solution is to work together to cooperate, to find a possibility of spending better, resources and money, which are all over the world...and find solutions especially for the emerging countries - excluding Russia of course - which have very much more troubles than we have, really.

• Research Headlines
  • High power fibre lasers with unprecedented accuracy
    Over the last ten years, high power fibre lasers have moved quickly from the research laboratory into production. In stark contrast to traditional lasers, fibre lasers now offer near perfect beam quality ensuring optimal focus even in long distances. In addition, high efficiency, low operating costs and virtually no maintenance allow for a simple integration into industrial, automated production processes.

Thursday, 14 March 2013

• Horizon 2020 - video testimonials
  • Coen Bresser (NL): What is needed to exit the crisis and help Europe's economy to grow?
    Education is the start of everything. So we should have very good educated people in Europe. I think some countries are doing really well, some ere doing less...but I think that's a start, because if you have the knowledge, you have the tools available to get out of the crisis.

Wednesday, 13 March 2013

• Horizon 2020 - video testimonials
  • Andrew Nash (US): In your experience what are the benefits of participating in EU research projects?
    The biggest benefit that I see in the European research programs is the ability for people from different countries to get to know each other and work together on projects, because learning what is going on in other places and being exposed to other thoughts is really important and I think here Europe has a real advantage, because the culture that's developed in these different places means people think a little bit differently from one another and if they can learn to talk together and develop products together, innovations together, there's a true added value here that I don't see in more homogenous societies.

• Research Headlines
  • Turning the volume down in Europe's cities
    Millions of European city dwellers endure urban noise pollution every day. Apart from its nuisance value, noise in Europe has health risks with stress and cardiovascular issues being particular concerns, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). The social costs of traffic noise in Europe have been estimated to 0.4% of total economic output, mainly from road transport.

• Success Stories
  • Pioneering research shows how living organisms are affecting weather and climate
    A university Chair funded under the European Commission's Marie Curie Actions (MCAs) has pioneered ground-breaking research into the chemical transformation of organic compounds which take place high in the sky - an area where the biological dimension is traditionally ignored.

• 15 leading European research groups explore the spin transfer effect
  The phenomenon of the spin transfer effect has received much attention due to its promise for the electronics industry. In the phenomenon, a current can give a jolt to thin magnetic layers sandwiched between non-magnetic materials. This jolt can be used to excite oscillations or even flip the orientation of the magnet.

• New career horizons opened up by research on sustainable businesses
  Research fellow Dr Renato J. Orsato published a book entitled 'Sustainability Strategies: when does it pay to be green?' as part of a European Union (EU)-funded Marie Curie Action (MCA), specifically a research fellowship called Strategic Environmental Management at European and Australian Industries (SEMEAI). His fellowship was part of the Marie Curie programme designed to support mobility and attract talented young researchers to the EU.

• Network of researchers helps making drivers more aware of road safety
  In Europe over 41,000 people die and 1.6 million are injured in traffic accidents every year. However, there are striking regional differences. In Southern Europe the number of traffic deaths is as much as two to three times higher for the same number of vehicles. The project SAFEAST, Towards Safer Road Traffic in the Eastern Mediterranean Region, was set up to examine the reasons behind these differences in October 2004. Universities from Sweden, the United Kingdom, Finland, and Greece participated in the four-year project.

• The research network devising ways to diagnose powertrains
  As the group of components that generates power for a locomotive, the powertrain – which includes the transmission, drive shafts, and differentials – is the motor of the railways. It needs to be watched and maintained carefully to ensure every aspect is safe and in proper working order. But this is a tough task: there are few diagnostic tools available to check the reliability of powertrains, so maintenance is either done after a component fails (with all the associated risks to the service), or through a systematic yet indiscriminate replacement of key parts.

Tuesday, 12 March 2013

• Events
  • International Workshop on Organic Matter Spectroscopy 2013 (WOMS 2013) - 16-19 July 2013, La Garde, France
    

    WOMS 2013 invites new contributions about the characterization of DOM in marine and inland waters using spectroscopic techniques, particularly fluorescence spectroscopy, coupled with advanced signal and image processing tools, among which improved data analysis, detection, clustering, separation, reconstruction, tracking and real-time monitoring.

• Stimulating Innovation in Plant Genetic Resources: A role for the EIP on Agriculture - 23 April 2013, Brussels
  

  Representing the whole plant breeding innovation chain from fundamental research to crop production and food processing, the European Technology Platform ‘Plants for the Future’ (Plant ETP) is a major stakeholder of the agricultural sector and is committed to stimulating research and innovation in plant genetic resources to the benefit of the grower and final consumer. As the European Commission steps up its plans to implement the EIP for Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability, Plant ETP is organising a high profile event on "Stimulating Innovation in Plant Genetic Resources: A role for the EIP for Agricultural Productivity and Sustainability".

• Horizon 2020 - video testimonials
  • Maria Goleva (BG): In your experience what are the benefits of participating in EU research projects?
    As a company, we get connected to other industry partners, but also research institutes and universities. And really, it is quite the whole community that comes together and works on the topics together.

• Success Stories
  • Research project opens new career opportunities for French physicist
    The revolutionary medical research project PHeLINet has not only created openings for doctors to better diagnose cancer, asthma, cystic fibrosis and other lung diseases, but it has expanded the professional horizons for budding scientists like Guilhem Collier.

• European-Russian scientific collaboration to support environmental safeguards
  A Marie Curie Action (MCA) was a key step in attracting a talented Russian physicist to Europe and stimulating an important strand of co-operation between European and Russian scientists and research institutes whose work could play an important role in advancing environmental monitoring and safety capabilities for the direct benefit of society.

• How European researchers are building biofuels with bacteria
  Most people associate bacteria with disease and contamination, leaving the microorganisms with few saving graces. Yet their reputation could be about to change over the next few years: researchers are engineering bacteria to provide alternative energy sources to replace fossil fuels. And if they succeed, it will be thanks to projects like MicroGen, a European Union (EU) research project looking at new ways to generate renewable fuels from microorganisms.

• The visionary tools helping myopia researchers see further
  Professor Frank Schaeffel has spent a quarter of a century studying myopia, the phenomenon of how the eye often grows too long and becomes short-sighted. Schaeffel, who is the Head of the Section of Neurobiology of the Eye at the Institute for Ophthalmic Research in Tübingen, Germany, has scored some crucial breakthroughs, yet for much of his career he has felt like a lone explorer in myopia research.

Monday, 11 March 2013

• Horizon 2020 - video testimonials
  • Maider Larburu (ES): What is needed to exit the crisis and help Europe's economy to grow?
    In my personal opinion, I think one big problem that we have is how the politicians are trying to save us from the crisis and also I think that, I'm a researcher, but I think as well that if we use more money to improve our research and if we try to find something new to move the market it could be a solution...And forget about giving money to the banks... totally!

Sunday, 10 March 2013

• Horizon 2020 - video testimonials
  • André Perpey (FR): What is needed to exit the crisis and help Europe's economy to grow?
    As a developper, or technician I would say that it's...uh what we need is that the politicians listen a bit more to the technicians or to developpers when they put in place the different programs research programs or competitivity programs for next years. Because I think we know what we have to do sell better products in Europe and other countries in the world and I think they don't take the time to really listen to our solutions.

Week 10

Saturday, 09 March 2013

• Horizon 2020 - video testimonials
  • Maartje Stam (NL): How do you see research and innovation making a difference for a better future?
    I think it si very important - certainly at this moment - that Research & Development is, in a way, dealing with practical issues. so, in some cases, research is, in my opinion, a bit far away from daily problems: dealing with societal problems, where, I think, individual change is much more easy and...I think... better to do stepwise. So research should focus on people in the end.

Friday, 08 March 2013

• Events
  • Fifth International Conference on Environmental, Industrial and Applied Microbiology - BioMicroWorld2013 - 2-4 October 2013, Madrid
    

    BioMicroWorld2013 will bring together researchers, engineers and scientists in the fields of industrial microbiology, biotechnology, environmental sciences, agriculture, food and medical microbiology, and other related fields, to communicate current research priorities and progress in those fields, and to identify new research approaches.

• Instruct Biennial Structural Biology Meeting - 22-23 May 2013, Heidelberg, Germany
  

  The first Instruct Biennial Structural Biology Meeting at EMBL Heidelberg Advance Training Centre, 22-24 May 2013, will showcase integrative structural biology and its impact on biological research.

• CONCORDi-2013: 4th European Conference on Corporate R&D and Innovation - 26-27 September 2013, Seville
  

  The 4th European Conference on Corporate R&D and Innovation (CONCORDi-2013) will focus on "Financing R&D and innovation for corporate growth in the EU: Strategies, drivers and barriers". It will take place from 26 to 27 September 2013 at the premises of the JRC’s Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (JRC-IPTS) in Seville, Spain. The two-day programme will address the financial challenges affecting the link between innovation and growth of European companies.

• Global challenges in PPP : cross-sectoral and cross-disciplinary solutions ? - 6-7 November 2013
  

  This conference is organised by the Dpt of Transport and Regional Economics, the Research Unit on Public Administration & Management (Department of Political Science), the Law Faculty of the University of Antwerp, the Antwerp Management School, COST-Action TU1001 ‘PPP in Transport: Trends and Theory'.

• Enhancing trust in the sustainability of our food chains - 13 March 2013, Brussels
  

  Sustainability with SENSE: - Building harmonised methods for environmental footprint - Validating key environmental indicators to evaluate food product sustainability
  
  

• Horizon 2020 - video testimonials
  • Urban Wass (SE): How do you see research and innovation making a difference for a better future?
    I mean Science is the basis for what we are going to do. You cannot develop advanced products, unless you have a scientific background. So we need Science, we need demonstration products and we need implementation. But all these areas could actually be supported by Horizon 2020. That is why Horizon 2020 is so important, not only for the industry, but also for the people of Europe.

• Research Headlines
  • The impact of chemical pollution on male reproductive health
    We are encouraged to eat more fruit and vegetables as part of a healthy lifestyle but this advice could in fact be damaging our health. With ever more commercial food production, research shows that traces of pesticides used on crops can make their way into our food system and into our bodies where they can disrupt hormone function.

Thursday, 07 March 2013

• Events
  • ERANET ROAD 2010 "Effective Asset Management Meeting Future Challenges" - 22-23 May 2013, Copenhagen, Denmark
    

    The ERANET ROAD 2010 call "Effective Asset Management Meeting Future Challenges" is organising its final event in Copenhagen, at which the results of the programme will be shared.

• 3rd International EASN Association Workshop, on Aerostructures - 9-11 October 2013, Milano, Italy
  

  In the frame of EASN knowledge and innovation dissemination activities, this Workshop organized by the EASN Association offers the Aeronautics community a forum to present, discuss and give an updated state of the art of the research in Aerostructures in Europe and also to present new ideas and innovative concepts for future research and projects. The Workshop is co-organized by Politecnico di Milano and will take place in the Bovisa Campus of the Politecnico di Milano.

• ZeroWIN - dissemination of project results - 4-6 November 2013, Budapest
  

  During the Green Electronics workshop on Resource Efficiency in the Electric and Electronics Industry participants will learn about the approach of the FP7 ZeroWIN project and its achieved results over the past 4 years, and have the opportunity to influence the ZeroWIN policy recommendations to the European Commission. Keynote speakers will discuss the challenge facing industry to eliminate waste and become resource efficient.

• Horizon 2020 - video testimonials
  • Jenny Haack (DE): What is needed to exit the crisis and help Europe's economy to grow?
    I think we have to look at it more generally and not as fragment and in terms of the research and the innovation that happens, the knowledge that we have, and not see it as the North against the South, or somebody has to be something more general that not...And if we put all the data together, I think that ultimately it's gonna give us the best outcome.

Wednesday, 06 March 2013

• Horizon 2020 - video testimonials
  • Thierry Ernst (FR): How do you see research and innovation making a difference for a better future?
    We need to take care about the need of the people, of course that's very important. we need to listen to what the people need, but not necessarily what they needfor -let's say- infotainment, but maybe what are their real concerns, like better way of moving better way of working etc. Today the technology is focused too much on the leisure and maybe not enough on what we really need.

• Press Centre
  • Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn shocked by fire at Città della Scienza in Naples, Italy
    Following the fire that destroyed the Città della Scienza complex, in Naples, Italy on 5 March, European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, sent the following message of support:

    "The Città della Scienza has played a leading role in the communication of culture, science and technology in Italy and at international level, and has been a valuable partner in EU research projects. It has also contributed to the promotion of socio-economic development in Naples. This is terrible news for the science, research and innovation community.  I send my best wishes and support to all involved in the Città della Scienza and I hope they can restart their activities very soon. We at the European Commission will offer whatever support we can."

• Research Headlines
  • European initiative helps local communities preserve biodiversity
    When you think of species conservation, the first thing that probably enters your mind is big projects like animal breeding programmes and nature reserves. But how often do you consider the species in your garden, in your city park, or on your farm? These environments are also crucial places for preserving biodiversity according to a recent €1.8 million EU-funded research project, which examined ways to better coordinate conservation efforts between local and national governments.

• Success Stories
  • Researchers help develop next-generation bio-plastic materials
    The Dutch company Avantium is leading the way in replacing plastic PET bottles and other oil-based products, with 'green' versions made from sugar derivatives – starch, protein and cellulose. Success in making the technology break-through has been partly achieved by the technological expertise brought to the company through the European Commission's Marie Curie Actions (MCAs) mobility support scheme.

Tuesday, 05 March 2013

• Horizon 2020 - video testimonials
  • Ioanna Mesogiti (GR): What is needed to exit the crisis and help Europe's economy to grow?
    What is lacking is mainly a vision, both from the southern countries and the northern ones...and the central European ones...and besides that, the willingness of all countries to be part of a Union.

Monday, 04 March 2013

• Events
  • A European Research Strategy on Intermodal Transport - 17-18 April 2013, Las Palmas (Spain)
    

    The objective of the conference is to contribute to the optimization of research and innovation transport policies by defining a targeted research strategy for intermodality to be implemented in the new programming period 2014-2020.

• Horizon 2020 - video testimonials
  • Mitch Altman (US): How do you see research and innovation making a difference for a better future?
    I think it's critical. if people aren't exploring in any means possible, including science, we're gonna be going backwards and not forwards. Right now, education is failing us and I think it's because people are learning in ways that were appropriate for a century or two ago and not for our modern times... and again, if people are learning what they want and need, to learn, to live the lives they want and need to live then people will be sp... on to do who knows what in their own creative way.

• Research Headlines
  • European nano-warriors tackle a big killer ... cancer
    European researchers are waging war on cancer, a major medical and societal challenge today. Thanks to progress in nanotechnology and strong leadership by Trinity College Dublin, teams from diverse scientific fields are developing sensitive portable devices to diagnose cancer much earlier and to better monitor treatment when and where it is needed.

Sunday, 03 March 2013

• Horizon 2020 - video testimonials
  • Henar Vega (ES): In your experience what are the benefits of participating in EU research projects?
    First of all, I would say, the multidisciplinarity of the teams: you learn a lot from other countries other cultures and other ways of doing research. That's one of the main points, and for me, I think, it's the most interesting thing. Apart from that, you are able to perform some research that, maybe in other situations, you wouldn't be able to. You have funding for new researches and that's a big advantage.

Week 9

Saturday, 02 March 2013

• Horizon 2020 - video testimonials
  • Maxim Nohroudi (DE): In your experience what are the benefits of participating in EU research projects?
    Through this project, we get to know many other places, within Europe, that was very good. I don't think that projects that come from one country, would, without this kind of support, see what's going on in other member states. So...understanding what's going on in Italy, from Scandinavia, was a lot easier with this kind of support than it could have been without. Yet! There is of course, through certain standard procedures for smaller companies, a big hindering to participate. So...most of these projects apply to larger corporations.

Friday, 01 March 2013

• Horizon 2020 - video testimonials
  • Heleen Wilmink (NL): What are your main concerns for the future?
    Concerning traffic, I think my main concern is this great heart attack of all traffic and when you're looking at these evolving countries and these big megacity regions that are just growing and growing, there's just to many cars then for the infrastructure and the infrastructure is growing slower than the cars are coming up, so I think that's a challenge for a lot of big cities, yeah!

• Research Headlines
  • Making the scientific link between the natural environment and good human health
    For centuries, common wisdom has held that spending time in nature - walking through forests, strolling along the beach, breathing fresh air - can be good for one's body, mind and spirit. Seeking to support this belief with fact, researchers are working to better understand the science behind the medicinal and therapeutic properties of the natural environment.

• Social Sciences and Humanities
  • ACCEPT PLURALISM final conference, Brussels, 6-7 March 2013
    The conference is being organized within the framework of the project Tolerance, Pluralism and Social Cohesion: Responding to the Challenges of the 21st Century in Europe. The conference will discuss findings of ACCEPT Pluralism research project with policy and decision makers at EU level, as well as reflect on ways of combating intolerance and promoting practices of tolerance and/ or acceptance of cultural diversity.