Under the Horizon Europe Programme, the European Research Council (ERC) has awarded 397 Starting Grants to early-career researchers around Europe. An average of €1.5 million will be granted to each young researcher to launch their projects, raising the total investment to €619 million.
The selected proposals, covering all areas of research, were allocated in three major panels: Physical Sciences and Engineering, Life Sciences and Social Sciences and Humanities. The candidates will carry out their projects at European universities, associated universities and research centres, mostly in Germany (72 projects), France (53), the UK (46) and the Netherlands (44). Switzerland is considered a non-associated third country, but as the negotiations between the EU and Switzerland were not closed before the closing of this call, the proposals from Swiss host institutions selected for funding will remain eligible if the host institution is replaced with an alternative institution form an eligible country by the time of signing the grant agreement. Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, stated that this was a big opportunity for researchers who had left the European Union to research overseas, to come back to do science in Europe, making sure Europe remains a worldwide scientific powerhouse.
Chemistry projects fall within the Physical Sciences and Engineering panel, including different topics, from Physical and Analytical Chemical Sciences to Synthetic Chemistry and Materials or Products and Processes Engineering, among others. One of the outstanding selected projects includes the research project from Dr Sarah Guerin, focusing on the development of biomolecular crystals as a new type of organic, low-cost, high-performance piezoelectric sensors leading to the phasing-out of inorganic device components – with dramatically reduced environmental impact.
The full list of available projects is available here.
One of the important topics on the European Parliament’s 2022 agenda will be to debate and vote on legislative files to achieve carbon neutrality by 2050, as part of the Fit for 55 package legislative train schedule under the European Green Deal. Discussions will revolve around emissions targets, renewable energy, and sustainable fuels. Furthermore, as a follow up to the European Commission’s proposal to modernise EU legislation on batteries, the Parliament will also work on regulations for batteries’ sustainable production, as well as waste management of all batteries placed on the EU market.
The Conference on the Future of Europe has entered its final and decisive phase: the panels’ recommendations will be published into the final Conference report in the first semester of 2022, which will be prepared by the executive board of the Conference (i.e. representatives of the European Parliament, the Council and the Commission, as well as observers from all Conference stakeholders).
As 2022 has been declared the ‘Year of European Youth’, the Parliament is expected to actively shape and take part in the many activities scheduled throughout the year.
Did you know that you can watch meetings of various Committees of the European Parliament live? The next Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) and the Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Safety (ENVI) meetings will take place on Wednesday 26 January and Thursday 27 January 2022. For details, please click on the above links.
We will keep you informed about the 2022 European Parliament activities related to R&I and climate issues in our Brussels News Updates (BNU) newsletter, starting in the February BNU with the election of the President and Vice-Presidents. Consider subscribing to stay updated!
On 1 January 2022, France took over the Presidency of the Council of the European Union from Slovenia, thus starting a new trio Presidency composed of France, Czech Republic, and Sweden. By choosing the motto ‘Recovery, Strength and a Sense of Belonging’, France conveys its hope to unite EU citizens and to strengthen Europe’s global response to current challenges.
The French Presidency has identified three strategic priorities to guide its six-month programme for higher education, research, and innovation:
to stimulate cooperation between higher education, research, innovation, and services to society by promoting an EU knowledge policy;
to shape the international dimension of European higher education, research, and innovation policies, to offer appealing academic career opportunities in the EU and to set up major European university campuses;
to nurture a sense of belonging in Europe.
If there is one key word that could define the French 6-month strategy for R&I, it would be ‘cooperation’. France takes a broad view by aiming to increase and improve scientific cooperation not only within the EU, but also internationally. As a reaction to some significant 2021 drawbacks for EU’s openness to science cooperation – Switzerland was denied access to Horizon Europe and the UK’s participation as an associated country is yet to be announced – France expressed its ambition to promote balanced R&I cooperation with non-EU countries. One of the main events of the Presidency will be the ‘Conference on International Cooperation for a Global Europe in the Field of Research, Higher Education and Innovation’ in Marseille on 8 and 9 March 2022.
In addition, France presented an ambitious model for economic growth, based on technology sovereignty. In its Presidency programme, they announced backing the building of a European Innovation Area. As a concrete steps towards establishing Europe’s technological sovereignty, the Presidency will organise a conference on ‘Europe as a leader in breakthrough innovation’ on 11 May 2022. The implementation of various European and national instruments at the regional and territorial level will also be addressed during this conference.
Horizon Europe remains a high priority on France’s agenda as the Presidency will ensure the success of its missions by coordinating them at European, national, and local levels. A ‘High-level Conference on Civic Engagement in EU Missions’ will be organised on 21 March 2022 to discuss solutions to current global challenges via the EU Missions of the Horizon Europe programme. In addition, the French Presidency has set as an objective the launch of private-public partnerships under Horizon Europe to take effect during the first six months of 2022.
As a supporter of nuclear power energy, France will extend ongoing initiatives to maintain and develop skills in the field, especially through the Euratom programme.
France will also be committed to pursue the strengthening of the European Research Area (ERA) as further political pledges are needed to achieve its full implementation.
You can have a look at the official website of the French Presidency here.
On the occasion of the Global Women’s Breakfast 2022 #GWB2022, an IUPAC initiative, the European Chemical Society (EuChemS) is pleased to invite you to join its own online breakfast on Wednesday 16 February 2021, from 10:00 to 11:30 CET.
Speakers from the European Chemistry community will address the necessity to have women in senior positions in STEM. The webinar will be chaired by Pilar Goya, EuChemS Vice-President and Chair of the EuChemS Task Group on Inclusion and Diversity – initiator of this breakfast.
We kindly invite you to register for the event ➡️ HERE
Earlier this month, EuChemS released the fourth and last edition for the year 2021 of its newsletter Chemistry in Europe (CiE).
This issue includes the editorial from Ehud Keinan, IUPAC President-elect for the 2024-2025 biennium and former EuChemS Executive Board member, who discusses the challenges and opportunities to come for the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry.
We kindly invite you to discover other topics of this issue of the Chemistry in Europe newsletter here.
About Chemistry in Europe
Chemistry in Europe is a EuChemS quarterly publication. Its objective is to inform about research in Europe, to provide updates from EuChemS Member Organisations, and to look into policy-related developments.
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Considering the ongoing digitalisation and transition to green energies in Europe, members of the European Parliament highlighted the European Union’s dependence on imports of resources and called for more recycling of Critical Raw Materials (CRMs), finding alternative solutions to them and domestic sourcing during a plenary session of the European Parliament Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE committee) held in Strasbourg on 24 November.
Extremely glad about the huge majority of colleagues (543:52:94) who supported my strategic initiative report on #criticalrawmaterials. It shows that colleagues care about the fact that we need a resilient industrial base for the Green Deal and the twin transformation, … (1/3)
The increasing use of technologies led to a higher demand for CRMs. By highlighting the need to boost the EU’s strategic autonomy in CRMs, MEPs propose to work towards the EU resilience and securing strategic value chains for a green and digital Europe. MEPs’ recommendations include, amongst others, the diversification of CRMs sources, better funds for CRM projects under the National Recovery Plans and the Taxonomy Regulation, and stronger controls of EU exports of CRM waste products.
For more details, please read the ITRE Committee press release.
On 26 November, the Council of the European Union adopted conclusions on the governance of the European Research Area (ERA) and a Pact for Research and Innovation (R&I) in Europe.
The ERA policy agenda for the 2022-2024 period establishes 20 priorities and a governance framework for the ERA. The actions listed in the ERA policy agenda include the promotion of attractive and sustainable research careers, bringing science closer to citizens, and improving EU-wide access to excellence. This document is conceived as a political guide for creating a single market for research in Europe.
EU research ministers also agreed on the Pact for R&I, one of the main tools in the implementation of the new ERA. Under the Pact, the EU member states commit to the following:
a set of common EU principles and values for R&I;
shared priority areas for action;
investments and reforms;
a simplified policy coordination and monitoring process.
However, the Pact is a non-binding agreement: member states will implement it on a voluntary basis. These conclusions are the result of the deep reform of the ERA, which started in 2020.
For more details, please read the press release of the Council of the EU.
Following the adoption of the conclusions of the Council of the EU, the European Parliament Committee on Industry, Research and Energy, the ITRE committee, held a public hearing on the “New ERA for Research and Innovation” on 6 December. During this meeting, many topics were covered, including the prioritisation of investments and reforms in R&I towards the green and digital transition, supporting Europe’s recovery, increasing cooperation among member states, strengthening mobility of researchers, boosting market uptake of R&I results, and improving access to excellence for researchers across the EU.
#COMPET | Another successful day & great news for European science and innovation. 🎉@EUCouncil endorsed the Conclusions on the future of the European Research Area (#ERA), which allow for a more inclusive participation of @HorizonEU countries.
On 1 July 2021, Slovenia took over the Council of the EU’s Presidency from co-member state Portugal. During its 6-month term, the Slovenian Presidency has committed to fulfil the previously agreed on common priorities while narrowing their action down to specific guidelines in line with its motto “Together. Resilient. Europe”.
Slovenia is concluding its Presidency with the successful Ljubljana Declaration on Gender Equality in Research and Innovation: Simona Kustec, Slovenian Minister for Education, Science and Sport, presented the declaration at the Competitiveness Council meeting in Brussels on 26 November which was signed by 37 parties. This declaration aims to rectify imbalance in research and innovation by:
ensuring fair, open, inclusive and gender equal career paths in research;
evaluating intersectional perspectives on gender inequalities;
facilitating mutual learning opportunities through form-follows-function robust governance;
employing existing and newly developed tools, such as Gender Equality Plans, to facilitate systemic institutional change and remove institutional barriers;
addressing and counteracting gender-based violence;
supporting active monitoring and evaluation to ensure continuous improvement.
Signatories of this declaration commit to achieve these goals by 2025. It will be supported through joint actions of the European Research Area (ERA) – the conclusions on the governance for a renewed and more inclusive ERA were adopted by the Council in November, together with the Pact for Research and Innovation.
In addition, fostering EU private-public partnerships to maximise excellence in research outcomes remained an important item on Slovenia’s agenda. Slovenia completed negotiations on public-private (9) and public-public (1) partnerships under Horizon Europe. The European Parliament approved the €10 billion budget for these partnerships, which now entered into their set-up and implementation phase. They aim to drive European competitiveness in the sectors of healthcare, clean energy, and transport. These partnerships will be key in the realisation of the EU green and digital transition and to solving other important societal challenges.
The Council addressed climate related issues by welcoming the Fit for 55 package, an initiative expected to provide the EU with tools to meet the Green Deal’s objectives of reducing by 55% the EU’s greenhouse gas emission by 2030. Slovenian Minister of Environment and Spatial Planning, Andrej Vizjak, enhanced the debate by organising a meeting on this topic during the COP26 in Glasgow with EU ministers and representatives.
Slovenia will pass the Presidency over to France on 1 January 2022 – opening member state of the next Trio Presidency, composed of Czechia and Sweden. We will write about the new Trio Presidency priorities related to R&I in the January 2022 issue of the BNU newsletter. In the meantime, you can find out more about the upcoming French Presidency here.
