Research & Technology in the EU

Latest news about research and innovation policy in the European Union.

Gender imbalance in science 'a waste of opportunity and talent' - SHE figures 2009 — 26 November 2009, 17:26 CET

Despite a rise in their numbers, female scientific researchers remain a minority, accounting for just 30% of all scientific researchers in Europe. Furthermore, the more senior positions in science and research are still heavily dominated by men. These are some of the main findings in the latest 'She Figures', statistics on women in science in Europe which are produced every three years by the European Commission and the Helsinki Group on Women and Science.

She Figures 2009 - major findings and trends — 26 November 2009, 17:21 CET

The number of female researchers increased in Europe in all economic sectors: the Higher Education Sector, the Government Sector and the Business Enterprise Sector. In the former, the proportion of female researchers grew from 34% in 2000 to 37% in 2006. It is important to remember however that we are measuring the countries of the European Union, with a population that changed between 2001 and 2006 in size and number of countries concerned. The female researchers' population grew even more considerably in the Government sector, going from 31% in 2000 to 39% in 2006. Regarding private sector researchers, 15% in 2000 were women and 19% in 2006.

Challenges of education and innovation (Berlin, from 13 January 2010, 00:00 CET to 14 January 2010, 00:00 CET) —

A conference on the 'Challenges of education and innovation' will take place on 13 and 14 January 2010 in Berlin, Germany.

Climate change impacts in Europe. Final report of the PESETA research project — 25 November 2009, 16:13 CET

The PESETA research project integrates a set of high-resolution climate change projections and physical models into an economic modelling framework to quantify the impacts of climate change on vulnerable aspects of Europe. Four market impact categories are considered (agriculture, river floods, coastal systems, and tourism) and one non-market category (human health). Considering the market impacts, without public adaptation and if the climate of the 2080s occurred today, the EU annual welfare loss would be in the range of 0.2% to 1%, depending on the climate scenario. However, there is large variation across different climate futures, EU regions and impact categories. Scenarios with warmer temperatures and higher sea level rise result in more severe economic damage for the EU. Southern Europe, the British Isles and Central Europe North appear to be the most sensitive regions to climate change. Northern Europe is the only region with net economic benefits, mainly driven by the positive effects in agriculture. Concerning the contribution to the overall effects, coastal systems, agriculture and river flooding are the most important ones.

EU gets tough on climate change, intensifies energy investment — 08 October 2009, 22:48 CET

Growing concerns on climate change, energy supply and competitiveness weigh heavily on the minds of Europeans. The European Commission is determined to fight this escalating problem and has called on public officials, industry and researchers to pool their resources and develop key technologies that would address this nagging issue. The target date is 2020.

SETIS - the Information System of the European Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET-Plan) — 08 October 2009, 22:37 CET

This website contains data and methodologies supporting decision-making on the SET Plan. They relate to energy technologies identified as key to moving towards a low-carbon future in Europe. SETIS's purpose is to efficiently collect, harmonise, validate, analyse and disseminate information on the priority energy technologies identified by the SET Plan, across the EU. The goal is to provide undisputed and transparent data and methodologies to support the strategic planning, monitoring and evaluation of the European Energy Technology policy. SETIS is managed by the European Commission, with its Joint Research Centre (JRC) at the heart, assuring the neutrality and objectivity of the data.

SETIS (SET-Plan Information System) - briefing — 08 October 2009, 22:44 CET

The European Commission has launched "SETIS", the online Strategic Energy Technologies (SET-Plan) Information System, which provides the latest research results on the status, forecasts and R&D investment figures for low-carbon technologies. It underpins the effective strategic planning, conception and implementation of EU energy technology policy and serves notably to the implementation of the Strategic Energy Technology Plan (SET Plan). SETIS assesses and monitors those technologies that have a significant potential to help Europe meet its energy and climate change targets, such as wind power, solar power, CCS or bioenergy. The Information System offers interactive tools to compare the maximum potential and energy production costs foreseen for the different technologies over time.

EGNOS, the European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service — 01 October 2009, 16:51 CET

The European Geostationary Navigation Overlay Service (EGNOS) is a satellite-based augmentation system that improves the accuracy of satellite navigation signals over Europe. The accuracy of current GPS signals is improved from about ten metres to two metres. EGNOS is Europe’s first venture into satellite navigation.

Need to Promote Cord Blood Stem Cells - Europe is behind the United States and Asian Pacific countries — 01 October 2009, 16:33 CET

Cord Blood Europe calls for better education and understanding about the value of cord blood stem cells among parents-to-be.

Competitiveness Council — 25 September 2009, 23:06 CET

The creation of the Competitiveness Council in June 2002, through the merging of three previous configurations (Internal Market, Industry and Research) was a response to the perceived need for a more coherent and better coordinated handling of these matters related to the European Union's competitiveness. Depending on the items on the agenda, this Council is composed of European Affairs Ministers, Industry Ministers, Research Ministers, etc. It meets about five or six times a year.

SMEs in EU Health Research — 08 September 2009, 16:10 CET

Research-intensive small and medium-sized enterprises - SMEs are the main economic drivers of healthcare, biotechnology and medical technologies. High-tech SMEs in the health and biotechnology sectors are expected to play a prominent role in FP7 Health theme funded projects.

The EU's Seventh Research Framework Programme (FP7) — 08 September 2009, 16:12 CET

The objective of health research under the European Union's FP7 programme is to improve the health of European citizens and boost the competitiveness of health-related industries and businesses, as well as address global health issues.

Conference on the deployment of innovative broadband networks (Brussels, from 09 October 2009, 00:00 CET to 09 October 2009, 00:00 CET) —

A conference dedicated to 'Improving the deployment of innovative broadband networks in European regions' will be held on 9 October in Brussels, Belgium.

Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme — 07 August 2009, 23:05 CET

The European Commission's Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme is one of the specific programmes under the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP). With this programme, the Commission seeks to support innovation and SMEs in the EU.

ICT Policy Support Programme — 08 July 2009, 18:17 CET

The ICT Policy Support Programme (or ICT PSP) aims at stimulating innovation and competitiveness through the wider uptake and best use of ICT by citizens, governments and businesses.

Future direction of EU policy: innovation — 09 July 2009, 15:53 CET

Research and development (R&D) in life sciences is a precondition to pharmaceutical innovation. The Commission recognises the key role pharmaceutical R&D plays. Consequently, it is currently implementing various sector-specific initiatives to restore Europe's leading role as the natural home for pharmaceutical innovation.

Action against Cancer: A European Partnership - briefing — 24 June 2009, 22:25 CET

The European Commission on 24 June set up a European Partnership for Action against Cancer, reinforcing its long-term commitment to the fight against cancer. The partnership will focus on actions that can be taken at EU level to more effectively prevent and control cancer across Europe. In Europe, one in three people will develop cancer in their lifetime. This translates to 3.2 million people being diagnosed with the disease every year. Cancer is not equally distributed in Europe and the chances of surviving cancer differ greatly between countries. By bringing together all relevant organisations working on cancer, the intention is to identify gaps, address needs and learn from each other.

European Partnership Action Against Cancer: contribution of EU-funded research — 24 June 2009, 22:17 CET

On 24 June, the European Commission adopted the Communication, 'Action Against Cancer: European Partnership', to support the Member States in their efforts to tackle this major health challenge. One of the four proposed areas for action within this Partnership is the coordination of cancer research. This background note provides further information on the European Union's commitment to cancer research and its coordination in Europe.

GÉANT academic internet links to Black Sea region - briefing — 18 March 2009, 23:34 CET

The Commission on 17 March increased the internet capacity available across the Black Sea to researchers in the South Caucasus (Armenia, Azerbaijan and Georgia) by switching on the region's largest computer network for research and education. The EU-funded regional research and education network Black Sea Interconnection (BSI) links the South Caucasus countries and connects them to the high bandwidth, world-leading, pan-European GÉANT network that already serves 30 million researchers. This new connection will enable researchers and students to collaborate with their European peers in 40 countries, by sharing large amounts of data over the network.

ICT use for a greener Europe - briefing — 12 March 2009, 23:49 CET

As part of its effort to combat climate change and drive economic recovery, the European Commission today called on EU Member States and industry to use information and communications technologies (ICT) to improve energy efficiency. These technologies are expected to reduce total carbon emissions in Europe by up to 15 per cent by 2020. ICT can not only improve monitoring and management of energy use in factories, offices and in public spaces but above all help make people more aware of how they use energy. With smart metering in their homes, for example, consumers have been found to reduce their energy consumption by as much as 10 per cent.

Intelligent Transport Systems Action Plan - briefing — 16 December 2008, 19:33 CET

The European Commission on 16 December took a major step towards the deployment and use of Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) in road transport. ITS can significantly contribute to a cleaner, safer and more efficient transport system. The action plan adopted puts forward a set of concrete measures and a Directive laying down the framework for their implementation.

Cordis Open Energy call topics — 05 November 2008, 18:13 CET

CORDIS, the European Community Research and Development Information Service, has launched a new Energy Open Topics service. The web page lists all calls for proposals published under the Energy Theme of the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7).

Europeans launch Fuel Cell and Hydrogen JTI in Brussels — 16 October 2008, 00:43 CET

Representatives of industry, the research community and the European institutions launched the EUR 1 billion Fuel Cell and Hydrogen Joint Technology Initiative (JTI) at an event in Brussels, Belgium on 14 October.

Information Technology Agreement (ITA) — 15 September 2008, 21:21 CET

The European Commission presented on 15 September at the World Trade Organisation (WTO) its proposal to update and expand the Information Technology Agreement (ITA), an existing trade deal between some of the world's biggest trade powers that lowers the cost of IT products. The proposal would take account of new products that have entered the market since the agreement was originally concluded in 1996, eliminating customs duties for these goods. Further points considered are tackling non-tariff barriers "behind the border", as well as the problems caused by the non-functioning of some of the mechanisms and procedures provided for in the current ITA. The Commission hopes that other WTO members will engage in discussions in the near future.

Sustainable products and technologies - guide — 20 July 2008, 16:07 CET

Improving the environmental performance and in particular the energy efficiency of products and stimulating their market uptake are the core objectives of a package put forward by the European Commission on 16 July. It sets out a series of voluntary and obligatory actions to support a coherent and dynamic policy in the EU and internationally, helping to define eco-friendly products, informing the consumer through improved labelling and supporting their purchase through public procurement and fiscal incentives.