The members of the European Chemical Society’s Executive Board met online on 1 June to discuss the future of, and the immediate issues concerning the activities of the organisation.
Decisions regarding EuChemS’ activities and governance were made in light of recent global events.
All the major conclusions made during this meeting will be communicated over the course of the following months, through different channels, such as on our website, social media channels as well as in our Brussels News Updates and Chemistry in Europe newsletters.
The next Executive Board meeting is expected to be held in October 2022.
The findings of the Research Excellence Framework demonstrate that the United Kingdom’s chemical research is outstandingly high quality – 45% of the UK’s academic contributions are rated ‘internationally excellent’ while 49% of them can be considered ‘world-leading’ – based on evaluations of research output impact and research environment. The area of chemistry performed slightly better than the overall average where ‘internationally excellent’ and ‘world leading’ research was 43% and 41% respectively. Tom Welton, president of the Royal society of Chemistry welcomed these results.
The bright results of the research, carried out by academics and research users, however, were overshadowed by a new UK graduate visa scheme that does not bode well for academic cooperation between the UK and the European Union. The controversial scheme allows ‘high potential individuals’ – graduates from top ranked global universities – to move to the UK even if they lack a job offer. However, it relies on metrics that “offer no meaningful measures of teaching quality” – according to Declaration on Research Assessment chair Stephen Curry. As a consequence of this, there is an overrepresentation of United States universities in the scheme, while there are only three European universities present – LMU Munich, Paris Sciences et Lettres University, and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. In addition to minimising research traffic between Europe and UK, the new visa scheme is said to exclude the global south as well.
Scientific cooperation between European countries and Great Britain is patchy since the latter’s departure from the European Union. Amongst other issues such as the one above, one of the key challenges is dealing with the difficulties regarding the UK’s ascension into Horizon Europe – ‘Stick to Science’, an initiative that calls EU institutions to accelerate this process garnered traction in earlier this year.
Laurence Moreau is the new director of the European Research Council (ERC)’s executive agency. She holds a doctoral degree in veterinary medicine from the University of Nantes. Her previous experience involves working at the Commission’s Directorate General for Research and Innovation, the Research Executive Agency, and the Directorate General for Health and Consumer Affairs. She also has 6 years of experience at the ERC, and since the retirement of previous director Waldemar Kütt in January of this year, she is the acting director of the Executive Agency.
The Executive Agency is the implementing arm of the ERC, which means it is responsible for organisational, financial, peer-review evaluation- and strategy-implementation related matters – while the institution itself is governed by an independent scientific council which outlines said strategy.
Alongside the director, the executive agency is also managed by a 6-member steering committee, which supervises the Executive Agency’s operation. Both the director and the steering committee is appointed by the Commission, the former for a 4-year period, while the latter for 2 years.
Maria Leptin, President of the European Research Council, participated in a discussion about maintaining global scientific collaboration at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, where she made comments highlighting that international scientific cooperation must remain reciprocal.
In her comments, she indicated that countries which undermine this reciprocity and trust by sending large amounts of graduate students to other countries, while not give research and knowledge by similar means in return risk being cut off from global scientific cooperation.
The role of science as a geopolitical soft power tool became increasingly evident in the last few months, after numerous countries and institutions cut ties with Russia following the invasion of Ukraine. ERC president Leptin’s words echo the importance of science in global politics.
However, despite the strong comments, the ERC remains committed to international research cooperation, as Leptin’s participation in and contributions at last month’s “From a European to a Global Green Deal” conference, co-organised by the STOA panel and the STS forum, show. During this international conference, she encouraged colleagues around the globe to cooperate with the ERC while emphasizing the importance of fundamental research.
Eurostat’s report is generally favourable, as it states that in the last 5 years, progress was made towards most goals. However, it still shows that there is room for improvement and notes the influence of the energy usage reduction caused by the COVID-19 pandemic on the favourable indicators of the past two years. It also points out that progress is significant with SDGs that parallel key EU policy areas, such as the Green Deal.
The report by the committees DEVE and ENVI emphasises that, in order to meet the goals outlined in the Paris agreement, it is crucial to follow sustainable development goals as well. Therefore, it calls for a unified, high level EU strategy for the implementation of SDGs by 2030.
In addition to the SDGs, plastic pollution is also on the ENVI committee’s agenda. On 14 June, an exchange of views with Ms Inger Andersen, the Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) was held. The exchange centred around the ambition outlined at the fifth United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA-5), aiming to complete a legally binding agreement for tackling plastic pollution by 2024.
However, the Commission also faces some criticism on the sustainability front. A recently released special report from the European Court of Auditors states that 20% of the €216 billion climate spending was ‘unduly recorded’.
The European Parliament’s Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) held a structured dialogue with the Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Mariya Gabriel at its 13 June meeting. The meeting covered Horizon Europe’s history and achievements since its launch in 2021, with emphasis on the role of the Horizon programme as a tool to support Ukrainian scientists.
Commissioner Gabriel began her presentation by announcing Ukraine’s ratification as a member of the Horizon Europe programme, as well as Euratom, and explained other research-related support opportunities granted by the EU, such as ERA4Ukraine.
She continued by talking about the future of Horizon Europe. She confirmed an increased budget for the programme this year, mentioning that the additional funding will also support the efforts towards helping researchers in Ukraine. New programmes, such as one supporting women in technology start-ups, were also announced. She reported that expanding international partnerships beyond the borders of the EU is also amongst the future plans of the Horizon programme.
Lastly, she acknowledged the importance of academic freedom in the European Union and outlined setting up a European programme to evaluate academic freedom in the European Research Area. Following this presentation, she listened to the comments, and responded to the questions of the ITRE committee members.
The European Commission facilitated a lengthy consultation process, involving more than 300 stakeholders (out of which 20 research organisations were part of the core group debating the details), including ISE – Initiative for Science Europe, through which EuChemS also contributed. Following the consultation, the agreement was drafted by European University Association (EUA) and Science Europe representatives, as well as former chemistry researcher Karen Stroobants.
The key points of the research assessment reform draft, according to Science/Business, entail 4 commitments: the recognition of diversity of research careers; qualitative peer-evaluation based assessment; refraining from “inappropriate uses” of publication metrics as well as refraining from relying on international rankings of research organisations in research assessment. This is to result in a widened scope of assessment, involving more than a restrictive set of qualitative metrics.
The consensus came soon after German Research Foundation (DFG) expressed its disapproval towards the centralised nature of the proposed reforms in a position paper, emphasising that reforms should stem from the institutions instead. However, after the drafting team stated that these concerns were properly addressed, and research ministers stood behind the Commission’s adoption of this reform draft, it is likely that the reforms will be underway soon.
In addition, a range of Restriction proposals, Testing proposals and Harmonised classification and labelling consultations are also available – we invite you to take a look at them here.
EuChemS is an official accredited stakeholder of the European Chemicals Agency (ECHA).
EuChemS continues to carry out its policy activities by contributing to the high-level European Commission initiatives it was invited to.
On 25 April, EuChemS Secretary-General Nineta Hrastelj represented the organisation on the second meeting of the Zero Pollution Stakeholder Platform. This platform aims to gather stakeholders from various areas to assist in achieving the Commission’s Zero Pollution Ambition. The meeting consisted of a discussion between Commision Directorate General for Health & Food Safety (DG SANTE), Directorate-General for Environment (DG ENV), the European Committee of the Regions (ECR) and the representatives of the platform.
On 18 May, EuChemS president Floris Rutjes will take part in the 3rd meeting of the High Level Roundtable on the implementation of the Chemicals Strategy for Sustainability on behalf of EuChemS. This roundtable is focused on exchanging views between different stakeholders, and drafting policy recommendations to achieve a toxic-free environment. The meeting is planned to revolve around the draft report “Research and Innovation for the transition to safe and sustainable chemicals” – hence it will likely be attended and co-chaired by Joanna Drake, Deputy Director General DG Research and Innovation, alongside Patrick Child – however, the agenda is still subject to change at the time of writing.
You can find all information about past and present EuChemS policy advisory activities here.
A versatile group of experts from a wide range of backgrounds from academia to industry discussed sustainable agriculture and ammonia production during the most recent EuChemS policy workshop “The Nitrogen Element – Sustainable food production?” The event, held on 26 April, had a significant turnout, with participants attending from all around the world.
The workshop was chaired by Alessandra Quadrelli, and was opened by EuChemS president Floris Rutjes. In the morning session, Nicola Armaroli introduced the EuChemS periodic table, Nina Buchmann talked about the nitrogen cycle’s role in planetary boundaries, and Thoa Thi Minh Nguyen from Topsoe brought up the topic of a sustainable future in agriculture. In the afternoon, we heard much about innovative solutions, such as renewable fertilizers, from Rune Ingels, CTO of N2Applied, precision agriculture using drones from Wouter Maes, and the use of Annamox bacteria from Mike Jetten. Hydrocarbons, Earth System Sciences, and the UN environment committee’s policies in relation to nitrogen were also discussed by Bill David, Sarah Cornell and Mark Sutton respectively. Both the morning and afternoon sessions were concluded with enlightening panel discussions, polls and responses to the audience’s questions.
The recording of the event will soon be available on the EuChemS YouTube channel. Until then, you can refresh your memory by taking a look at the twitter thread recapping the events.
Prestigious EuChemS awardees will talk at the 8thEuChemS Chemistry Congress (ECC8) late this August in Lisbon. Awardees of the European Gold Medal Dame Carol Robinson (2022 awardee) and Michele Parrinello (2020 awardee) will hold plenary speeches during the opening ceremony of the congress. You will also be able to listen to the speeches of the recipients of the EuChemS Lecture Awards, and last, but not least, EuChemS Service Awards winners will receive their honours at the event as well.
Alongside the award ceremonies, EuChemS is organising thematic sessions. On 30 August, a panel of high-profile participants from the Royal Chemistry Society, American Chemistry Society, GDCh, and EuChemS will discuss the contributions of chemistry to the Sustainable Development Goals during the discussion titled “Chemists’ contributions to the global approach for tackling pollution”. Later that day you will also be able to hear about chemistry – and natural sciences in general – from a different perspective: the following EuChemS session will be about the unique culture of the scientific community, and the effect this has on public policy.
In addition to events and ceremonies, you will be able to approach EuChemS representatives in the exhibition hall during the entire congress. In the EuChemS expo booth, you can learn about ongoing projects and initiatives. Keep an eye on updates about the stand in the next month’s Brussels News Update, as well as on the ECC8 website.
The ECC8 will be held from 28 August to 1 September, 2022 and we are very much looking forward to meeting you there. You can find deadlines, registration information and preliminary programmes at https://euchems2022.eu/ – and you can also follow the event on Twitter. Be sure to check back regularly to remain up to date with the events.
The European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities (ALLEA) have published a statement on the relations of the intellectual property (IP) law and open science in April. The statement concludes that, while the IP law provides a framework in which open science can operate, the patent law is not up to the standards of open science, therefore ALLEA calls for its modernisation.
The report states that, in order to align with open science principles, greater clarity about non-commercial knowledge use and the introduction of “grace periods” of at least one year allowing open publication are needed. In addition, ALLEA states that public funding should not be substituted by patent income, and only used as a potentially useful supplement. Lastly, the statement criticises the use of patent activity as an evaluation method. It argues that using it as such may incentivise collecting non-performing patents, the prioritisation of which brings no benefits, and wastes resources.
On 28 April, applications for the European research Council (ERC) Advanced grants were closed. The ERC Scientific council allocated an approximate 555 million euros to these projects altogether, although this number may still be subject to change. This could fund 223 advanced grants, the selection of which has recently begun. Results are expected to be announced in April 2023. The total funding pool is lower than last year’s 624.6 million euros, which funded 253 researchers, as the ERC recently published when announcing the winners of the 2021 Advanced Grants.
The 2021 grantees are coming from 21 EU Member States and associated countries. It’s estimated that these grants will lead to the creation of 2300 new jobs in the field of research. Details and figures of the awarded 2021 grants can be found here.
ERC released preliminary data on this year’s applications, which showed that the total number of proposals were lower than 2021. The gender balance increased slightly: compared to last year, when 20,8% of the applications were made by women (although they received more than 25% of the total grants), in 2022 this number climbed to 23%. However, this still means that less than a quarter of the applications were made by women, which certainly leaves room for improvement. Regarding subjects, the number of applications for physical sciences and engineering was the highest by a significant margin. Social science and humanities took the second place, closely followed by life sciences.
Science and Technology in Society forum (STS forum) and the European Parliament’s Panel for the Future of Science and Technology (STOA) jointly organised the high-level conference “From a European to a Global Green Deal”. Introductory remarks were made by STOA Chair Christian Ehler and STS chairman Hiroshi Komiyama.
Amongst the numerous high-profile speakers of the first panel were Paula Abreu Marques, Deputy Director of DG Energy who outlined the European policy landscape and briefly mentioned energy policy proposals to be published soon, as well as European Research Council president Maria Leptin, who pointed out the importance of Fundamental research and Transnational contribution. She also encouraged colleagues across the globe to collaborate with ERC. The second panel further promoted reaching beyond the borders of Europe when establishing scientific partnerships to address global challenges. Moderated by Ismail Serageldin, Founding Director Emeritus of The Library of Alexandria, Egypt, this panel was consisting of speakers from Japan, Thailand and Europe.
The European Union’s strict stance on genetically engineered crops may loosen after a consultation opened on the 29 April. These developments were brought forward due to the increasing need for ensuring food security and keeping the agriculture business competitive in light of the long-term changes caused by global warming as well as the immediate effects of the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the food market.
Health and food safety commissioner Stella Kyriakides supports deregulation as she emphasises new genomic techniques (NGTs) potential to build a more resilient and sustainable agri-food system. Her statement is in line with the results demonstrated by the Commission’s recently released fact sheet.
The Greens/EFA group however retains its staunch anti-GMO stance, arguing that long-term risks are still unknown, and that deregulation may give GMO patent holders unfair market advantages. Renew Europe group supports “proportionate” regulation for NGTs, as they expressed in their position paper. This would also support the change of laws on genetically engineered crops which are currently one of the strictest in the world.
You can read the details and the background on the EU’s GMO policy here. You can contribute to the consultation as well, which you will also find in the Consultations & Roadmaps section of our Brussels News Updates.
29 April marks the 25th anniversary of the Chemical Weapons Convention (CWC) – on this occasion, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) called all CWC members and signatories – including EuChemS – to reaffirm their commitment to make the world free of chemical weaponry. Major international and European institutions acknowledged the anniversary and emphasised the importance of the convention, including, but not limited to the European Council, the EEEA, and the United Nations. EuChemS also expressed its support of CWC. The extensive list of those who reiterated their support can be found here.
Since its entry into force in 1997, the CWC made significant strides towards chemical weapon disarmament: 193 states are participants, making 98% of the world population safe from chemical weapons. Under the aegis of the convention, 99% of chemical weapons stockpiles and 74 out of 97 declared production facilities were destroyed. 23 other sites were converted for peaceful purposes. The OPCW carried out 4939 inspections, and possesses 24 environmental, and 20 medical sites.
More info and news can be found on the official OPCW webpage.
