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Commissioner’s monthly update
February 2023
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Follow us
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Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth
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Good morning,
Many of us make good resolutions for a new year. If your resolution is learning new skills, I have good news for you. On 10 January, I announced the new EIT Campus, an online platform for easy access to over 60 courses of the European Institute for Technology and its nine Knowledge and Innovation Communities. They tackle different themes from climate, to food, health and raw materials, while keeping an eye on innovation and entrepreneurship. More courses will be added over time to cover themes such as energy, digital, agriculture, manufacturing, urban mobility, culture and creativity, always with an eye on innovation and entrepreneurship. The EIT has invested more than €350 million in its education offer between 2018 and 2022 alone and created interesting educational and skills development opportunities for pupils, students and professionals. The Campus is not to be missed, and I invite all of you to make use of its offer, mostly all free of charge!
Innovation was under the spotlight in Davos at the World Economic Forum on 18 January when I invited business and public actors to ensure the rapid and effective implementation of the New European Innovation Agenda. To be at the forefront of the new wave of deep tech innovation and startups, and ensure a resilient recovery and strong competitiveness business environment I promoted two new initiatives: the Coalition of the Willing and the European Sounding Board for Innovation. Through the Coalition, public and private organisations are proposing concrete initiatives to co-implement the New European Innovation Agenda’s flagships. The goal here is two-fold: to give visibility to best practices and to facilitate collaboration. While, to make sure the Innovation Agenda is adapted to the rapidly changing global environment, the Sounding Board will be intellectually focused, soliciting ideas and recommendations from the business, scientific and academic communities.
Work is going on to address climate change as well. On 24 January, the European Commission published the new European Research Area (ERA) industrial technology roadmap for circular technologies and business models. This new roadmap identifies key circular technologies and innovation needs for the textile, construction and energy-intensive industries. In today’s world, where the impact of climate change is tangible, I believe the transition to a circular economy is not an option but a necessity. This roadmap calls for a comprehensive approach to develop and adopt circular technologies at all stages of the materials and products life cycle, contributing to reducing pressure on natural resources and to the EU's climate neutrality target for 2050.
Furthermore, in an unprecedented effort to unite and align pan-European, regional and national investments for marine and maritime research and innovation, the Sustainable Blue Economy Partnership kicked off on 25 January in Rome. With the ambition to transform the blue economy – the blue arm of the Green Deal - it spans all sea basins (Mediterranean, Black Sea, Baltic and North Sea and Atlantic Ocean). The EU Partnership will contribute to the goals of the EU Mission Ocean & Waters by boosting the transformation towards a climate-neutral, sustainable, productive and competitive blue economy by 2030, while creating and supporting the conditions for a healthy ocean for all by 2050. It will pool research and innovation investments of €450 million over 7 years for a just and inclusive transition to a blue economy in harmony with nature. The EU Partnership will allow shaping the profound economic and social transformation, for the benefit of all EU citizens. Six co-funded calls will be launched over the seven-year timeframe, with the first one coming this month.
Europe is set to be a worldwide leader in the next wave of deep-tech innovation thanks to its unique talents, intellectual assets, and industrial capabilities. And together, we can establish a truly pan-European innovation ecosystem where no one is left behind. That’s why, on 26 January, I launched the first European Innovation Ecosystems projects to support the Commission's New European Innovation Agenda. Under the Horizon Europe programme, the projects will contribute to three flagships of the Agenda: scaling up deep-tech innovative companies; enabling innovation through experimentation spaces and innovative public procurement; and strengthening innovation ecosystems across the EU and addressing the innovation divide.
The sky is the limit for our ambitions. On 24 January, I delivered the closing speech at the European Space Conference together with the Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti, the first female European commander at the International Space Station. I highlighted the role of the New European Innovation Agenda in enhancing Europe's strategic autonomy and explained how the space programme under Horizon Europe can address our major societal challenges. At the same time, the world's most accurate positioning service, Galileo's High Accuracy Service became operational. The Joint Research Centre of the European Commission contributed to the definition, testing and validation of this service.
As education and the ambition to realise a European Education Area by 2025 is a priority in my agenda, on 31 January, I had the pleasure to meet again the 44 rectors of the European Universities alliances to discuss current achievements and future opportunities. We have a brilliant vision for the future of European higher education, and I am delighted by how far we have come already. And we have kicked off the process to make the next two milestones of our vision a reality. I announced the selection of ten Erasmus+ pilot projects to test a joint European degree label and a legal status for university alliances. Both initiatives will contribute to strengthening the European dimension and cooperation in the field of higher education. I am very much looking forward to the results these projects will present us in a year time.
With very best wishes for the month ahead,
Mariya Gabriel
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My portfolio updates
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European Capital of Culture 2023
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With the new year, the prestigious title of European Capital of Culture went to three new cities: Elefsina (Greece), Timisoara (Romania) and Veszprém (Hungary). This title provides an opportunity to promote sustainable tourism and foster development through culture, and has positive long-term social and economic effects on both the city and surrounding areas. To be elected, the cities had to set up a cultural program with a strong European dimension and encourage active participation of their residents and communities. Events, exhibitions and performances will celebrate the cultural diversity and richness of selected cities all throughout the year.
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DiscoverEU
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On 10 January, the DiscoverEU October 2022 round participants received their application results, meaning that 47,700 young people aged 18 are receiving a travel pass to explore Europe by rail and visit Cyprus, Malta, Iceland, or Ireland by plane. This year, a discount card for cultural activities was added to the DiscoverEU package and thematic culture routes were published on the European Youth Portal. The next application round will open in spring 2023, and specific dates will be announced at a later point in time.
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Music Moves Europe Awards
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To celebrate rising European artists from pop and contemporary music genres, the 2023 Music Moves Europe Awards took place on 19 January. The Prize is implemented by Eurosonic Noorderslag (ESNS) in partnership with Reeperbahn Festival and co-funded by the Creative Europe programme. It gets the support of a unique alliance of European music industry partners.
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Erasmus+ Sport Info Day 2023
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On 30 January, The European Commission and the European Education and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA) organised the Erasmus+ Sport Info Day. Participants could find out more about the political context, future programme and funding opportunities in 2023 at the event. Speakers discussed policies and shared advice on preparing and submitting proposals, and on the financial aspects of funding.
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First EIC Accelerator 2023 cut-off - continued high demand for blended finance
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The European Innovation Council received 476 full applications from start-ups and SMEs for the EIC Accelerator 11 January cut-off. Blended finance continues to be in high demand - 290 companies (61% of total applicants) requested grants combined with equity investments. 80 companies asked for grants only and 103 companies applied for grants first, with a possibility of equity investments at a later stage.
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The European Union recognised as innovation champion by the Consumer Technology Association
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Jean-David Malo, Director of the European Innovation Council and SMEs Executive Agency, received the innovation award on behalf of Commissioner Mariya Gabriel from the President of the Consumer Technology Association CTA, Gary J. Shapiro during the Consumer Electronic Show (CES), the biggest world tech event taking place on 5-8 January 2023 in Las Vegas (US).
The new ranking produced by the CTA, the largest technology trade association in North America, rates for the first time the European Union at their top score: “Global Innovation Champions”, confirming the improvement since the last score published in 2019.
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European Innovation Council Fund injects €291 million of equity into European deep-tech companies
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The European Innovation Council Fund (EIC Fund) has taken 36 new investment decisions into deep-tech companies for a total of €291 million since the last announcement in November 2022. Nine companies have already signed their investment agreements. This marks a significant progress and demonstrates that the EIC Fund is now fully operational. Since the appointment of an external fund manager on 28 September 2022, the EIC Fund has taken a total of 71 investment decisions for deep-tech companies, worth over €481 million.
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Frontier research spurs patented inventions
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There is now even stronger evidence that frontier research stimulates innovation. A new analysis finds that more than 40% of projects funded by the European Research Council generated research that was subsequently cited in patents.
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ERC Consolidator Grants
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Congratulations to 321 mid-career researchers who won ERC Consolidator Grants worth in total over 650 million euro. Plenty of inspiring scientific ideas! Good luck to the new grantees and their teams!
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New European Bauhaus funding to be scaled up further
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The Commission is presenting the first New European Bauhaus (NEB) Progress Report taking stock of the achievements in the initiative's first two years as well as the first assessment tool for NEB project: the NEB Compass. The New European Bauhaus has created a broad community of organisations and citizens all around Europe working around a common vision combining sustainability, inclusion, and aesthetics. Key NEB activities – including the NEB Prizes, the first Festival, the NEB Lab – are delivering on their aims and have built a bottom-up transnational network. Thanks to over €100 million in European funding already allocated, small and large-scale NEB projects are now underway all-around Europe. The Commission will also scale up funding with a further €106 million in dedicated Horizon Europe funds alone for 2023-24. "I am particularly pleased that education will be in the spotlight with a special category for the NEB Prizes and with ad hoc trainings on sustainable topics thanks to the NEB Academy", Commissioner Gabriel said.
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Climate Adaptation Mission Community of Practice launch
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Visit to Bulgaria
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On 19 January and in Bulgaria, Commissioner Gabriel participated in a meeting of the Academic Council of the Technical University of Sofia. This university is Bulgaria’s most prominent and foremost academic establishment for higher engineering education and therefore holds great importance for the country. The Technical University of Sofia is also one of the eight partners in the European University of Technology (EUT+) alliance. And on the following day, 20 January, Commissioner Gabriel had the pleasure of visiting the 7th Secondary School Kuzman Shapkarev in Blagoevgrad, Bulgaria, and meeting education staff as well as pupils. In a beautiful and highly symbolic moment, she planted a tree on the premises of the school together with the Director of the Erasmus+ National Agency Mr Mihail Balabanov as they launched the Three Billion Trees initiative in Bulgaria. And later on the same day, she discussed mobility within the European Education Area with students from the secondary language school Academic Lyudmil Stoyanov and the South-West University Neofit Rilski, both in Blagoevgrad, which closed a very inspiring and enriching visit.
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Calls and collaborations
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European Stories
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If you know a special story about European cultural heritage that you would like to share, or if you are doing exciting work with heritage in your community, share your story! Help us to encourage people to engage with Europe’s cultural heritage, to reinforce a sense of belonging to the European common space, and to share insights into how the European dimension of local heritage is understood throughout Europe. Participate in the currently open call for European Heritage Days Stories, which is open to European Heritage Days communities from participating countries, European Heritage Label sites, and EU Prize for Cultural Heritage/Europa Nostra Award winners. More information is available online, and the call will remain open until 28 February.
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Culture Moves Europe
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As part of Creative Europe’s Culture strand, the rolling call for individual mobility of artists and cultural professionals under Culture Moves Europe, our scheme that supports the mobility of artists, creators and cultural professionals, remains open until 31 May 2023. Seven sectors are eligible: music, literary translation, architecture, performing arts, visual arts, design and fashion design, as well as cultural heritage, and more information is available online.
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Horizon Europe: new calls under Missions
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The European Commission has launched a set of new calls for 2023 worth over €600 million to support research and innovation under EU Missions. The calls span a hugely diverse range of topics, and the investment is expected to: help better prepare local and regional authorities to face climate-related risks; optimise minimally-invasive diagnostic cancer interventions; restore at least 25,000km of free-flowing rivers; provide 100 cities with Climate City Contracts; and roll out soil monitoring programmes. Most of the calls close on 20 September, with some closing in April. We look forward to receiving your proposals!
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EU Mission: A soil deal for Europe
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CINEA Horizon Europe
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Climate sciences and responses: HORIZON-CL5-2023-D1-01 | EUR 107.5 M in total available | 11 Topics | Deadline: 18.04.2023
Climate sciences and responses: HORIZON-CL5-2023-D1-02 | EUR 10 M in total available | 2 Topics | Deadline : 18.04.2023
Cross-sectoral solutions for the climate transition: HORIZON-CL5-2023-D2-01 | EUR 128 M in total available | 8 topics | Deadline : 18.04.2023
Sustainable, secure and competitive energy supply: HORIZON-CL5-2023-D3-01 | EUR 420.6 M in total available | 18 topics | Deadline : 30.03.2023
Efficient, sustainable and inclusive energy use: HORIZON-CL5-2023-D4-01 | EUR 78 M in total available | 6 topics | Deadline : 20.04.2023
Clean and competitive solutions for all transport modes: HORIZON-CL5-2023-D5-01 | EUR 217 M in total available | 19 topics | Deadline : 20.04.2023
Climate-neutral and Smart Cities Mission: HORIZON-MISS-2023-CIT-01 | EUR 70 M in total available | 2 topics | Deadline: 27.04.2023
Adaptation to Climate Change and Cities Missions: HORIZON-MISS-2023-CLIMA-CITIES-01 | EUR 40 M in total available | 1 topic | 27.04.2023
Testing and demonstrating transformative solutions to build resilience towards health risks caused by effects of climate change: HORIZON-MISS-2023-CLIMA-01 | EUR 83 M in total available | 3 topics | 20.09.2023
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Upcoming calls and events
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Science is Wonderful!
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Registrations for Science is Wonderful!, the annual science fair for pupils from primary and secondary school, opened on 18 January. School classes and families are all welcome at the event on 16 and 17 March in Brussels, which is a unique chance to meet researchers and innovators, and participate in their experiments, games and quizzes. Participation is free of charge.
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Online Information Day: Partnerships for Innovation – Forward-Looking Projects 2023
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Forward-Looking Projects are large-scale projects that aim to identify, develop, test and/or assess innovative (policy) approaches that have the potential to become mainstreamed, thus improving education and training systems. The three lots call are digital education, vocational education and training and adult learning. Join the online information day on 2 February 2023 and find out more about the Partnerships for Innovation calls.
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Explore the new Research & Innovation Exhibition on the EU
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Have you checked the R&I Exhibition yet? This year’s European Research and Innovation Exhibition showcases 45 projects that are paving the way to achieve the EU Missions’ goals. Five panoramas highlights projects working towards achieving each of the EU’s five Missions (Climate, Cancer, Ocean, Cities, Soil).
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Advances in energy conversion will make Europe’s energy sector more sustainable
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Catalytic reactions are crucial for energy conversion and the production of chemicals, but their operation is limited by slow heat transfer. The EU-funded INTENT project developed new reactor designs with improved potential for heat transfer. The research and results will help in the transition of Europe’s energy sector away from fossil fuels.
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1st Mission Forum: Mission Restore our Ocean and Waters
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Have you registered for the 1st ever Annual Forum of the EU Mission “Restore our Ocean and Waters by 2030”? Come and learn about the first set of projects and initiatives driving the Mission forward and join the frontrunners charting the way ahead!
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Green Deal Projects support office newsletter
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The Green Deal Projects Support Office is helping the Green Deal Call projects by facilitating their collaboration, sharing best practices among themselves but also other more mature projects, and offering them tailor-made support in order to increase their impact. You can read the first edition of its newsletter here and visit its website to find out more.
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New Research Fund for Coal and Steel calls
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On 2 February, two new Big Tickets calls open as part of the Research Fund for Coal and Steel (RFCS) programme. The Big Tickets Call for Steel has a budget of EUR 130 million. It covers pilots and demonstrators for breakthroughs in clean steel making technologies such as carbon capture storage and usage, process intensification, and CO2 neutral iron ore reduction. The Big Tickets Call for Coal has a budget of EUR 34.5 million. It includes pilots and demonstrators supporting the re-purposing of closed coal mines such as mine, water or land monitoring. Also covered are the treatment and restoration of waste and spoil, the energy recovery and the monitoring of methane emissions, and materials recycling, including recovery of critical raw materials.
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