The power to innovate: winners of EIT Awards 2018 announced. The European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT) rewards Europe’s top entrepreneurs Simone Accornero (Italy), Ioannis Tamanas (Greece), Bieke Van Gorp (Belgium), Isabel Hoffmann (Canada) and Laura Soucek (Italy) for innovations in the fields of energy, health and food. Press release in EN, DE, EL, ES, FR, HU, IT, NL
Bulgaria, Sofia, 18 April 2018 – innovators in Bulgaria are set for new innovation cooperation opportunities. These are being discussed today during an Awareness Day in Sofia, organised by the Bulgarian Ministry of Education and Science and European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) in the Sofia Tech Park.
Today, the European Commission awarded the 2017 European Capital of Innovation (iCapital) prize of €1,000,000 to Paris. The award, granted under the EU's research and innovation programme Horizon 2020, recognises Paris for its inclusive innovation strategy. Tel Aviv and Tallinn were selected as runners-up, and were both awarded €100,000.
Spanning seven years (2014 - 2020) and with a budget of €77 billion, Horizon 2020 is the biggest EU research and innovation funding programme ever. It is implemented via multi-annual work programmes.
In the face of this ongoing epidemic that has already claimed too many lives, and for which there is still no cure, the Commission remains at the forefront in the fight against HIV/AIDS. This is done for example through funding research and innovation via Horizon 2020 where € 73 million have already been invested during the first two years of the programme.
The ERC has today opened the next competition for its Consolidator Grants. More than €600 million is earmarked for an estimated 335 grants. The deadline for submission of research proposals is 2 February 2016.
Carlos Moedas, Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation said: "Research and innovation are the engines of Europe's progress and vital to addressing today's new pressing challenges like immigration, climate change, clean energy and healthy societies. Over the next two years, €16 billion from Horizon 2020 will support Europe's top scientific efforts, making the difference to citizens' lives."
The European Commission adopted yesterday the ERC Work Programme 2016. The programme foresees €1.67 billion for grants to top researchers. Within the new series of competitions, the ERC has opened today the first one, the call for Starting Grants 2016, with a budget of €485 million and deadline of 17 November 2015. This scheme is open to researchers with 2 to 7 years of experience since completion of PhD and a promising scientific track record.
Researchers, businesses and innovators from Ukraine will now be able to fully participate in Horizon 2020, the European Union's research and innovation funding programme, on equal terms with EU Member States and other associated countries.
The European Research Council (ERC) is today announcing the 372 winners of its second Consolidator Grant competition. These excellent mid-career scientists are awarded a total of €713 million, as part of the European Union Research and Innovation programme Horizon 2020. Grants are worth up to €2.75 million each, with an average of €1.91 million per grant. The funding will enable them to consolidate their research teams and to develop their most innovative ideas.
With the support of the European Research Council (ERC) "Proof of Concept" grants, 59 researchers in Europe will now get the chance to turn their inventions into viable products.
The European Commission is today announcing eight research projects into Ebola that will be funded with a total of €215 million. These projects will develop vaccines and rapid diagnostic tests, which are key to overcoming the current Ebola crisis.
The projects are run under the new Ebola+ programme of the Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) and funded jointly by the European Commission and the European pharmaceutical industry.
Today the European Commission is announcing new support for innovative companies around Europe through two initiatives. One of these is a new, €200 million, "Fast Track to Innovation" initiative launched today by the Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation Carlos Moedas. This instrument will promote innovation by reducing the time it takes to bring innovative ideas to market.
A new European Union loan guarantee facility for innovative small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) has been launched in Portugal. The European Investment Fund (EIF) and the Portuguese bank Banco BPI today signed the first "InnovFin SME Guarantee" agreement in the country.
The European Research Council (ERC) has selected 328 first class scientists to receive its prestigious Starting Grants, worth up to €2 million each. The awarded €485 million contributes to supporting a new generation of top scientists in Europe developing so-called "blue sky research": ambitious high-risk, high-gain research projects in any field.
The collaboration of telescopes around the globe, involved in measuring celestial objects at radio frequencies, will now be easier and more efficient. The European Commission decided today (12 December 2014) to allow them to form a consortium.
Today (5 December 2014) the European Union and Switzerland signed a comprehensive international agreement associating Switzerland to parts of Horizon 2020, Research and Training Programme of Euratom and the ITER project. This will see Switzerland participate in project consortia in eligible programmes on an equal footing with EU Member States, while financially contributing to these programmes with an estimated €400 million until the end of 2016.
The two ambitious EU science and technology Flagships (@FETFlagships) will have a great impact on various sectors in the next 10 years.
The European Commission published today a report on its ambitious science and technology Flagships. The report draws the lessons from setting up the first two such Flagships, Graphene and the Human Brain Project, each representing an investment of EUR 1 billion. It also sets out the future working arrangements for the two Flagships underway.
The European Commission and the European Investment Bank Group (EIB) launched a new generation of EU financial instruments and advisory services to help innovative firms access finance more easily.
