Workshops

Widening implementation

Speakers: Karen Slavin, Karina Firkaviciaute, Stefan Weiers, Ronald De Bruin, Adeline Kroll

Speakers from the European Commission and partner organisations will inform participants about new opportunities with renewed and innovative widening actions to be launched with the first Horizon Europe work programme 2021-2022.

The guiding questions for the session will be:

1. How will the new actions improve the impact of the widening programme?

2. How can we achieve better synergies with other MFF programmes in practice, notably the ERDF?

3. What improvements will be made for R&I management?

4. How will the widening programme boost excellence?

5. What new services will Horizon Europe offer to applicants from widening countries to improve their chances of success?

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A social innovation marketplace: Matching needs and solutions for transition and recovery

More information to follow.

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In the spotlight: The voice of EIT’s young pioneers

Speakers: Eva Kaili, Themis Christophidou, Gary Lewis, Cristina Aleixendri Muñoz, Kristaps Krafte

Innovation is the cornerstone of the EU’s efforts to tackle major socio-economic and environmental challenges, while leading Europe to its post-pandemic era.

The EIT, dedicated to delivering concrete results to major EU policy priorities, wants to empower the new generation of innovators to not only maximise their potential, but to be an actual part of the EU’s response to those challenges.

The session will put the spotlight on the European Institute of Innovation & Technology (EIT)’s young pioneers in order to hear their personal experiences of how they realised their projects, as well as their thoughts on the impact the pandemic had in the field of Research &Innovation and their activities. Furthermore, the session will highlight EIT’s unique ability in creating fully-fledged innovation ecosystems and providing innovative Europeans the tools necessary to kickstart companies with world-leading aspirations.

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The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions: Developing talents, advancing research

Speakers: Antoaneta Angelova-Krasteva, Stephane Berghmans, Mostafa Moonir Shawrav, Maria Fatima Lucas

The Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA), the EU flagship programme for researchers’ mobility, training and doctoral education, enables excellence in research by equipping researchers with new knowledge and skills through mobility across borders and exposure to different sectors and disciplines. It contributes to increasing the attractiveness and visibility of organisations involved in the programme.

The workshop will focus on key dimensions of the programme, notably international, cross-sectoral and interdisciplinary mobility. It will also highlight novelties such as the promotion of sustainable behaviours and policies, the support of policy and decision-making, and the reinforced synergies within Horizon Europe and other EU funding programmes such as Erasmus+, with a view to stress how the MSCA will continue under Horizon Europe to further shape highly skilled research-based human capital.

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In conversation with the ERC’s Scientific Council

Speakers: Anthony Lockett, Jean-Pierre Bourguignon, Eveline Crone

Created in 2007, the European Research Council (ERC) awards grants which allow scientists to pursue frontier research. With a budget of €16 billion for 2021-2027, the ERC is a key component of the Horizon Europe programme.

The ERC’s unique “bottom-up” approach achieves results: around 80% of completed ERC projects led to scientific advances. ERC grants have supported over 200 000 scientific publications, including more than 6 100 articles which are among the 1% most cited publications internationally. ERC funding has generated over 2 200 patents, IP right applications and some 300 new companies, as well as funding more than 10 000 grantees.

The ERC is governed by an independent Scientific Council that oversees its operations and represents the scientific community in Europe. In this session, the ERC’s interim President Prof. Bourguignon and Vice-President, Prof. Crone, will discuss the ERC’s achievements to date and outline the Scientific Council’s priorities for the coming year.

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Transformative R&I policy post-COVID: ESIR’s deep dive on building forward better

Speakers: Andrea Renda, Julien Guerrier, Darja Isaksson, Andrew Morlet, Niklas Johansson

The twin transitions –the intention of becoming the world’s first climate-neutral and competitive continent, and the need to prepare for future crises – are objectives that call for a renewed and transformative European Research and Innovation policy that will contribute to a sustainable, competitive and resilient future.

The Commission’s high-level expert group on the Economic and Societal Impact of Research and Innovation (ESIR) has been at the core of this endeavour. This high-level expert group provides evidence-based policy advice to the Commission on how to develop a forward-looking and transformative Research and Innovation policy. The important work of ESIR in this context, as manifested in a number of thought-provoking products, will be the basis for the debates at this event.

The panel will set the stage for a high-level policy debate on the transformative power of ‘Industry 5.0’ in a post-pandemic world to enable and accelerate the economic transformations facing Europe.

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R&I funding goes digital: the Funding and Tenders portal

Speakers: Matthias Will, Peter Härtwich, Tomasz Kaminski, Linda Piálek

In this session, the functionalities of the Funding & Tenders Portal for participants in Horizon Europe will be presented, including search for funding opportunities, preparation and submission of proposals, managing grants, registering as an expert, looking for results of past Research and Innovation programmes, searching for partners for new proposals or for exploiting the results of grants.

The session panel will consist of Commission experts and representatives of stakeholder organisations.

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Equality in R&I: from data to action

Speakers: Anthony Giannoumis, Jean-Eric Paquet, Rebecca Saive, Michaela Brchnelova, Jutta Allmendinger

Based on the upcoming She Figures 2021 publication, this session will highlight the journey of women scientists at different stages of their career, discussing their ambitions, the challenges they encountered and what is needed from institutions and decision-makers to overcome barriers to gender equality.

These testimonials will be accompanied by insights into the latest She Figures data, presented by Jean-Eric Paquet, Director-General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD). Key findings cover data on gender-parity at doctoral graduate level, self-employment in tech-oriented occupations, and obtaining grade-A (equivalent for full professorship) and decision-making positions. As an example of concrete action to support women innovators, the upcoming Women TechEU scheme will be presented.

The session will allow attendees to provide feedback and policy recommendations for organisations and Member States to ensure sustainable change towards gender equality in Research and Innovation.

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Metrology for a globalised, digital and green society

Speakers: Anne Trumpfheller, Peter Dröll, Jörn Stenger, Riikka Virkkunen, Emma Woolliams

Reliable measurements are essential for innovation in economies and societies: metrology - the science of measurement - is vital for scientific research, trade and industry. In this session, the panellists will discuss the role of metrology as a building block for an industrialised and increasingly globalised and digital society, supporting innovation and tackling some of Europe’s biggest challenges, from healthcare to climate change.

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Room for a deliberative and participatory EU? Reflections on the future

Speakers: Katja Reppel, Pierangelo Isernia, Kalli Giannelos, Ismael Peña-López

In an age of political polarisation, participatory and deliberative democracy have emerged as tools to renew democracy and trust in governance. But will they stand the test of permacrisis? Can they adapt to a multi-level, multi-lingual space the size of a continent?

This workshop will be a conversation on what is driving participatory and deliberative democracy in Europe today, and what we should be doing in the future to meet the challenges of the day. Speakers from academia, civil society, and government will give their view, and participants will also be invited to weigh in.

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Synergies implementation

Speakers: Magda De Carli, Bernhard Von Wendland, Monika Zsigri

Following the session on “Working hand in hand with and for Cohesion in the new ERA”, the workshop will briefly present the new opportunities for synergies between cohesion policy and Horizon Europe, followed by the opportunity to discuss specific issues and reply to questions.

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A Creativity and Culture driven European Innovation ecosystem - This is how we get there!

Speakers: Jean-Eric Paquet, Christian Ehler, Catherine Magnant, Carsten Dreher, Laeticia Roche-Grenet, Päivi Tahkokallio

The European cultural and creative industries (CCIs) are simultaneously one of the key strengths of Europe and one of its most vulnerable sectors.It generates more employment than the automotive industry and a similar trade surplus as food, drinks and tobacco combined. It contributes to social cohesion and wellbeing, and projects European values across the globe. At the same time, it is also among the sectors hit hardest by the pandemic, which has seen large parts of the sector come to a nearly total standstill.

In this workshop we will discuss the future vision for the sector: Being the engine of a creativity and culture driven innovation ecosystem, that contributes decisively to Europe’s prosperity, wellbeing, social and cultural cohesion as well as environmental sustainability. Which are the steps we should take to get there? Join us in the discussion!

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Researchers’ skills and competences

Speakers: Gareth O'Neill, Gordon Dalton, Maxime Cerutti, Lisa Müller

The research profession has gained significance in the European labour market due to increased investments in doctoral training and an increase in the stock and flow of researchers. However, these changes are not yet fully visible in the European Skills/Competences, Qualifications and Occupations (ESCO) classification: the recognition of the research component is missing in many occupations, and the skills researchers are expected to have in order to carry out their job are often incomplete or missing, and do not take into consideration skills related to the new reality, such as Open Science.

The development of a European Competence Framework for Researchers, and updates to the ESCO classification supported by new labour market insights, are a necessary step towards making the research profession more visible and providing targeted training. The work on ESCO will be transposed at national level through EURES, and the database used by Europass for all the services provided.

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Research infrastructures – hubs of excellence, knowledge creation and innovation

Speakers: Apostolia Karamali, Anton Zensus, Nicolas Pade, Anton Ussi

We will explore the practical side of Research Infrastructures (RIs): their impact on science, society, economy, and their more general impact on our lives. Speakers will present their RIs with an eye on results and why they are so important to address global challenges. The session will create awareness on the work of RIs with the objective of supporting new synergies with other sectors in Research and Innovation and industrial actors. Finally, the session will touch upon the policy side with the novelties of Horizon Europe on Research and Innovation and, more specifically, on the RI part of the programme.

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Systemic approaches towards sustainability transitions: the circular economy as a transversal need

Speakers: Eeva Primmer, Jean-Eric Paquet, J.T. (Hans) Mommaas, Dominique Darmendrail, Ander Elgorriaga Kunze, Dirk Messner, Hans Bruyninckx

Have your say! Following the preceding high-level session about systemic approaches towards sustainability transitions, this workshop invites new speakers and attendees to discuss how to collaborate in the science-policy dialogue towards sustainability transitions, taking the example of the circular economy as a transversal, cross-cutting need to future-proof Europe.

This prospect will be debated by interest groups working on the interface between research/science and knowledge for policy and practice, taking priority areas for collaborative programmes, projects and initiatives into account. Realistic yet substantial co-design processes and applications will be explored. How can we create applicable knowledge and use it effectively when combined with real world experiences (e.g. of companies, citizen groups, policy makers)?

The role of critical actors and actions in the European Research and Innovation area and the promising strategies to achieve systemic change will be our focus.

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Highlight the European Year of Rail

Speakers: Carlo Borghini, Katarzyna Szyszko, Antonella Trombetta, Leyre Merle Carrera, Constanze Bannholzer

2021 is the European Year of Rail, shining a light on the most sustainable major transport mode we have. Climate change has put rail transport back in the spotlight because rail is largely electrified and accounts for only 0.4% of greenhouse gas emissions from EU transport, while all EU transport accounts for 25% of the EU’s total emissions.

The rail sector needs to innovate rapidly in the coming years in order to meet expectations for more capacity and more attractive and affordable rail transport options for both passengers and freight. In order to achieve this, the sector has joined forces at European level in the form of the current Shift2Rail and future Europe’s Rail joint undertakings.

This session will promote the activities of the European Year of Rail, with a particular focus on Research and Innovation related activities. Examples of some the most promising innovations coming out of the Shift2Rail joint undertaking will be shown with a focus on a non-specialist audience.

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Africa initiative in Horizon Europe

Speakers: Daan du Toit, Maria Cristina Russo, Mahama Ouedraogo, Abdelouahid Ezzarfi, Anne Wacera Wambugu, Nienke Buisman

As a strategic partner, the EU seeks to enhance cooperation with Africa to promote actions targeted at finding locally adapted solutions to challenges that are global in nature, but which often hit Africa hardest. The Horizon Europe work programme 2021-2022 will include an ambitious number of topics under calls for proposals that are particularly relevant for cooperation with Africa.

The Africa Initiative under Horizon Europe is a result of the first ever EU-AU Research and Innovation Ministerial (July 2020) and will further strengthen long-term cooperation in finding solutions to the human health and socio-economic impacts of, and recovery from, the COVID-19 crisis. The Africa Initiative under Horizon Europe responds to four joint priorities: Public Health, Green Transition, Technology and Innovation, and Capacities for Science.

This session will promote and explain the Africa Initiative under Horizon Europe to interested European and African Research and Innovation stakeholders.

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