Overview   EU countries

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.

The BREATHE project (co-funded by the AAL programme) aims to design and develop an intelligent monitoring system for AAL environments, by employing cameras and other types of binary sensors. In order to ensure the privacy of user data and information, BREATHE follows a privacy-by-design approach.

SmartCare aims to define a common set of standard functional specifications for an open ICT platform enabling the delivery of integrated care to older European citizens. A total of 23 regions and their key stakeholders are defining a comprehensive set of integration building blocks around the challenges of data-sharing, coordination and communication.

By 1 December 2014 the first 100 calls had closed. What can we tell about the popularity of the programme, the success of SMEs, the degree to which the programme has attracted newcomers - both as participants and as expert evaluators - the proportion of women experts and the speed with which contracts have been signed? See this new page to find out more!

The ambition of this report edveloped by the H2020 expert group on climate services is to offer a framework for discussion to the relevant actors and to the stakeholders. It paves the way to shared solutions and pathways facilitating the development of a market for climate services that provides benefits to society. The report offers an essential contribution to achieving the EU objectives of an Energy Union with a forward looking climate policy.

Without change, the EU will inevitably become less competitive, less attractive and less economically viable. Making changes now and into the future to a more circular, resource efficient economic model is not without risk. However, as the developing world continues along linear growth path, the EU and its Member States have the opportunity to reinvent their economies and make them globally competitive. And systemic eco-innovation is at the heart of the paradigm shift which is needed.

Nature-based solutions simultaneously provide environmental, social and economic benefits by bringing more nature and natural features and processes into cities, landscapes and seascapes. This report presents the main findings of the Horizon 2020 Expert Group on ‘Nature-Based Solutions and Re-Naturing Cities’.

In the Report 'Getting cultural heritage to work for Europe' the Horizon 2020 Expert Group on Cultural Heritage aims to promote cultural heritage as a production factor and an investment opportunity for the economy as well as a catalyser for social cohesion and environmental sustainability. The report is both an agenda and a roadmap, outlining the future directions of the EU Research & Innovation Policy in Cultural Heritage until 2020.

Latest news on Future and Emerging Technologies research: funding opportunities, latest Project news, reporting on workshops & conferences, future events.

The second edition of the European Tertiary Education Register (ETER) has been published today. ETER offers a comprehensive compilation of information on more than 2 200 European higher education institutions.

Being able to maintain personal hygiene plays a crucial factor for independent living in old age. Loosing this ability means needing support for these activities, often resulting into a move in a nursing care home. I-SUPPORT is a three-year Horizon 2020 European research project launched in March 2015. Its goal is to develop a robotic shower system in order to enable independent living for a long period and thus, improve the quality of life of frail citizens.

€50 million EU funding available for transport research projects

In 2016-17, over €100 million for research and innovation in the field of cultural heritage will be available under Horizon 2020, the EU's research funding programme. This increase in funding recognises cultural heritage as an investment opportunity where research and innovation can make a difference.

Challenges faced by farming systems today, such as climate change, food security, emerging diseases or rural transitions need a long-term strategy. The European Commission kicks-off the discussion on how this strategy could be elaborated at a workshop in Milan that can be followed on-line.

Latest news on Future and Emerging Technologies research: funding opportunities, latest Project news, reporting on workshops & conferences, future events.

Launched in October 2013,the EU funded Graphene Flagship has now been sailing for a little over a year. Much has been achieved in this short time, yet we are only a tenth of the way on a voyage that we hope will take graphene and related materials from academic laboratories into society. The following pages highlight some of the flagship’s science and technology achievements to date.

75 research and innovation projects under the Transport Challenge of Horizon 2020 will receive €484 million EU funding to turn European air, rail, road and waterborne transport into a greener, safer, more competitive and integrated system.

The first ten projects of the new Bio-Based Industries Joint Undertaking (BBI JU), a partnership between the EU and industry, will get underway with a total of €50 million from Horizon 2020, the EU's research funding programme, and a further €28 million from the industry. This is thanks to the signature of the grant agreements finalised today (15 June 2015).

The event offers the opportunity to learn about the state of the art on demand-side innovation policy after a decade of experience and about what companies want the European Union to deliver in the coming years to make markets more innovation-friendly.

Conference attendees will come away with informed outlooks on future innovation policies in the light of the evidence and the context of the current policy orientation in the EU.

This webinar will explain the role of standardization in innovation, and provide you with tools and tips on how to correctly address standards in your project proposal.

We will include concrete case studies of successful research projects which have addressed standardization. A detailed programme will be added closer to the date.

To register your interest please email us at research@cencenelec.eu, with the subject line