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 «Brussels in Brief - Interface Europe’s Newsletter» - May 2012

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  General EU Information

  • European Parliament

    2012-05-09 - 2012-05-10 - Plenary Session - Brussels

    President Schulz condemned the growing intimidation of human rights activists in Bahrain and Egypt, and paid a posthumous tribute to journalist and MEP Miguel Portas, in his opening address at the Brussels mini-session on Wednesday.

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    2012-05-21 - 2012-05-24 - Plenary Session - Strasbourg

    Parliament's contempt for the perpetrators of the brutal bombing of a school in Brindisi, and its sympathy for the victims and their families, was voiced by President Martin Schulz in his opening of the May session on Monday. Mr Schulz also conveyed Parliament's sympathy to victims of the Emilia-Romagna earthquake.

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  EU policies and funding programmes for Research, Innovation, Training and Competitiveness

  • Research Policy

    • General points

      2012-05-03 - Europe's most innovative inventors up for European Inventor Award: nominations announced

      Recognising the great minds behind the new inventions that drive the Innovation Union is the aim of the European Patent Office's (EPO's) annual European Inventor Award (EIA) competition, and the nominations for the accolade have just been announced. The aim of the award is to acknowledge the contribution inventors make to technological, social and economic progress. An international jury, made up of leading personalities from industry, science, politics and the media, whittled down nearly 200 inventors and entrepreneurs to 15 finalists who are up for awards in 5 categories: Industry, Research, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs), Non-European countries, and Lifetime achievement.

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    • European Research and Innovation projects

      • ICT

        2012-05-21 - Wireless communication: EARTH project scoops Future Internet Award!

        With the carbon footprint of the mobile communications sector set to triple by 2020, making the way we communicate greener is a key priority of the European Commission's Digital Agenda strategy. And an EU-funded project that set out to do just that has just scooped the 2012 Future Internet Award for developing unprecedented energy efficiency solutions for wireless communication networks. The researchers from the EARTH ('Energy aware radio and network technologies') project successfully optimised the energy use of 4G LTE (Long-Term Evolution)-based stations, which account for the highest energy consumption in the mobile network.

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        2012-05-23 - Android vulnerability neutralised

        Smart phones and tablet computers - once the latest must-have devices for technology geeks - are becoming increasingly more popular with the mainstream. The Android platform is now one of the most popular platforms with over 300 million Android devices in use since February and 700 000 devices being activated with each passing day. One of its main attractions is the open source software that allows a huge community of program developers to write applications. But with so many people contributing to this innovation, the operating system is open to bugs and security holes. In a new study, however, researchers in Italy may have neutralised any potential problems. Their study was funded in part by the SPACIOS ('Secure provision and consumption in the Internet of services') project, which is backed with EUR 3.35 million under the 'Information and communication technologies' (ICT) Theme of the EU's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7).

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        2012-05-25 - Gender stereotyping and ICT: a fresh perspective

        Men have traditionally dominated the information and communications technology (ICT) sector; much work has been carried out over the last decade to reduce this gender gap by examining the barriers that keep women out of the field. But now, researchers have presented findings based on EU-funded research that has shifted focus: from factors excluding women from ICT to those that include and motivate them. The large-scale project SIGIS ('Strategies of inclusion: gender and the information society'), which received almost EUR 1 million of funding under the 'User-friendly information society' Thematic area of the EU's Fifth Framework Programme (FP5), was the basis for this new work. It was carried out by Knut Holtan Sørensen from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Wendy Faulkner from the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom and Els Rommes of Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands.

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        2012-05-30 - Innovative device gives visually impaired big boost

        Researchers at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid (UC3M) in Spain have developed an innovative device that allows people with moderate visual impairment to be better aware of obstacles that lie in their path. 'This device is aimed at people who would bump into everything that they fail to see because of their loss of visual field, caused by glaucoma, retinal pathologies, etc.,' said Professor Ricardo Vergaz from the Department of Electronics Technology at UC3M. The team created the prototype by utilising a head-mounted display (HMD) device, which is a virtual reality helmet equipped with two cameras. A tiny computer is attached to the cameras, processing all the images it receives.

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      • Health

        2012-05-03 - Scientists find link between biological processes and young breast cancer patients

        Breast cancer in young women is linked to age-related biological processes, a new study shows. Because it is a biologically unique disease, it calls for tailor-made management strategies, researchers reported at the IMPAKT Breast Cancer Conference in Brussels, Belgium from 3 to 5 May. The findings, presented in the journal Annals of Oncology, could impact potential treatment methods, especially because breast cancer in young women is often aggressive and diagnosed at an advanced stage. The prognosis for young patients is not good. Led by the Institut Jules Bordet in Belgium, the researchers discovered that breast cancer in women aged 45 years or younger is enriched with the aggressive basal-like tumours. These women are also at greater risk of relapse independent of stage, histological grade, breast cancer molecular subtypes and treatment received.

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        2012-05-04 - Jog and give your life a boost

        Have you been mulling over ways to increase your life expectancy but have not yet determined how? Researchers in Denmark say jogging is the answer. The findings of their Copenhagen City Heart study were presented at the recent EuroPRevent 2012 meeting in Dublin, Ireland. Researchers at the Bispebjerg University Hospital in Denmark say embarking on a regular jogging route could increase life expectancy by 5.6 years for women and 6.2 years for men.

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        2012-05-07 - Can curry help fight cancer? Researchers launch trial to find out

        European researchers are investigating whether compounds found in curry can improve drug response among bowel cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. The team, from the University of Leicester in the United Kingdom and Cancer Research UK, wants to find out if the effects of curcumin can improve patients' responses to chemotherapy. They will investigate whether tablets containing curcumin, which is found in the spice turmeric, can be safely added to the standard treatment for bowel cancer that has spread to other parts of the body. This work will build on previous studies showing that curcumin can enhance the ability of chemotherapy to kill bowel cancer cells in the lab.

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        2012-05-08 - Multiple thought channels secret to avoiding brain congestion, researchers report

        EU-funded researchers from Germany and the United States report that brain networks may avoid traffic jams at their busiest junctions by communicating on different frequencies, according to findings in a new paper published in the journal Nature Neuroscience. The work was boosted by the BRAINSYNC ('Large scale interactions in brain networks and their breakdown in brain diseases') project which was funded under the 'Health' Theme of the EU's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) to the tune of EUR 2,978,242.

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        2012-05-08 - Insulin may influence body weight gain in former smokers

        It is probably safe to say that smokers refuse to give up their vice because they believe their waistlines will only get bigger. And while most researchers have long speculated that a metabolic link exists between butting out cigarettes and gaining weight, no study has been able to substantiate this... until now. A research team in Austria has found a link between insulin secretion and weight gain after smoking cessation. Speaking to delegates at the 15th International Congress of Endocrinology (ICE) and the 14th European Congress of Endocrinology (ECE) in Florence, Italy on 8 May, Dr Marietta Stadler from the Hietzing Hospital in Vienna, Austria said she and her team have found that changes in insulin secretion could be related to weight gain after a person stops smoking.

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        2012-05-08 - Scientists probe diabetes in Slovaks

        Monogenic diabetes is triggered by mutations of a small number of genes, resulting in disrupted insulin production. Around half of the patients suffering from monogenic diabetes seem to carry a mutation in the glucokinase (GCK) gene. To date, more than 600 GCK mutations have surfaced, and around 65% of these are missense, what experts define as a genetic change resulting in the substitution of one amino acid in a protein for another. Researchers in Slovakia and the United Kingdom have identified the minimum prevalence of GCK-monogenic diabetes among Slovaks. They sequenced GCK in 100 Slovaks with a phenotype consistent with GCK-monogenic diabetes. The team also investigated, through family and functional studies, how identified variants can cause disease. Presented in the journal PLoS ONE, the study was backed by the CEED3 ('Collaborative European effort to develop diabetes diagnostics') project, which has clinched EUR 3 million under the Health Theme of the EU's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7).

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        2012-05-09 - Scientists uncover link between genes and bone disease

        An international team of researchers has discovered 32 previously unidentified genetic regions linked with osteoporosis and fracture. Presented in the journal Nature Genetics, the study identified that variations in the deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) sequences in these regions confer either risk or protection from the disease that weakens bone. Most regions encode proteins involved in pathways that concern the health of bone. The study was funded in part by the GEFOS ('Genetic factors for osteoporosis') project, which has received almost EUR 3 million under the Health Theme of the EU's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). Osteoporosis is generated from the combined contributions of dozens, if not hundreds, of genes, according to the researchers. The findings also point to potential new methods for development of anti-osteoporosis treatments.

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        2012-05-10 - Study probes how organisms evolved diverse mechanisms

        Scientists have long investigated how organisms fight disease. They have also tried to mitigate the burden of disease. In a paper presented in the journal PLoS Biology, a two-man research team from the United Kingdom and the United States evaluate how Konrad et al. present an example of fungus-specific immune responses in social ants that cause the active immunisation of nest mates by infected individuals. The results provide fresh insight into our understanding of how organisms evolved diverse mechanisms that fulfil various functions, including the transfer of immunity between related individuals and the discrimination between pathogens. Researchers from the Institute of Immunology and Infection Research at the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom and from Stanford University in the United States put the spotlight on Lasius neglectus ants. Once covered with lethal doses of the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae, the ants were permitted to interact with their nest mates.

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        2012-05-15 - Sex chromosomes won't become extinct after all, say researchers

        Scientists have refuted recent claims that sex-linked chromosomes such as the male Y chromosome could become extinct. The new claims have been made in a genetic study into the sex chromosomes of chickens, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). The team, who hail from Sweden and the United Kingdom, looked at how genes on sex-linked chromosomes are passed down through generations and linked to fertility, using the specific example of the W chromosome in female chickens. W chromosomes in female chickens are akin to Y chromosomes in men in that they are sex-limited and do not re-combine when males and females reproduce, as the other regions of the genome do. This means that any studies on chickens are relevant for humans too.

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        2012-05-22 - Bacterial injection needle structure decoded

        Scientists in Germany and the United States have decoded the structure of bacterial injection needles at atomic resolution. Presented in the journal Nature, the results of the study could help researchers create tailor-made drugs and develop strategies that specifically prevent the process of infection. Bacteria-triggered diseases are dangerous because their host is infected via an injection apparatus. The study was funded in part by the BIO-NMR ('Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) for structural biology') project, which has secured almost EUR 9 million under Research Infrastructures of the EU's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7).

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        2012-05-22 - New study results show which pollen is the most aggressive

        As summer approaches, those unlucky enough to suffer from pollen allergies will be putting together their annual defence strategies in preparation, and a new EU-funded study that has revealed which pollens are more of a threat than others could help them plan more tactfully. Researchers from 13 partner institutes across Austria, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, Lithuania, Poland, Portugal, Spain, Turkey and the United Kingdom came together to conduct the 3-year HIALINE ('Health Impacts of Airborne Allergen Information Network') study, which received EUR 599,429 of funding under the EU's Executive Agency for Health and Consumers' Health Programme.

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        2012-05-25 - Czech scientists uncover déjà vu mystery

        In a groundbreaking study, researchers from the Czech Republic and the United Kingdom have discovered a link between the déjà vu phenomenon and structures in the human brain, effectively confirming the neurological origin of this phenomenon. Despite past studies investigating this phenomenon in healthy individuals, no concrete evidence had ever emerged ... until now. The study, presented in the journal Cortex, was funded in part by the EU. Led by the Central European Institute of Technology, Masaryk University (CEITEC MU) and Masaryk University's Faculty of Medicine in the Czech Republic, researchers discovered that specific brain structures have a direct impact on the déjà vu experience. The findings of their study showed that the size of these structures are considerably smaller in the brains of the people experiencing déjà vu, compared with individuals who had no personal experience with déjà vu.

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      • Environment

        2012-05-04 - Portholes into the past: building energy-efficient windows for heritage sites

        An international team of experts is working on an EU-funded project that hopes to make historic buildings more energy efficient by reducing the amount of energy that is lost through windows. While we often seek ways to make our homes and public buildings more energy efficient, it is less often we spare a thought for the energy lost at badly insulated historical sites. The project 3ENCULT ('Efficient energy for EU cultural heritage') wants to change all that. 3ENCULT, which received almost EUR 5 million of funding from the 'Environment' Theme of the EU's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), brings together researchers from Belgium, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Spain, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Austria and the United Kingdom.

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        2012-05-04 - Learning from the past to protect the future

        Scientists in France, the United Kingdom and the United States have found that modern man can learn a lot about land management by taking a look at what happened in the past. The study, presented in the journal PNAS, put the spotlight on the Amazonian area, indicating that its earliest inhabitants managed their farmland sustainably. The data suggest that indigenous people who lived in the savannas around the Amazonian forest farmed without the use of fire. Led by the College of Humanities at the University of Exeter in the United Kingdom, researchers from the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS) and the University of Montpellier in France, the University of Edinburgh in the United Kingdom and the University of Utah in the United States said their findings could shed fresh light into the sustainable use and conservation of one of the planet's most important ecosystems. Researchers around the globe are studying ways to save these ecosystems that are being destroyed quite rapidly. With respect to the Amazonian savannas, the land is being targeted for industrial agriculture and cattle ranching.

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        2012-05-07 - Biodiversity loss a major threat to plant growth, researchers warn

        If you thought that climate change and pollution are the only factors that affect our planet's ecosystems, think again. A new international research study suggests that the loss of biodiversity is also one of the triggers. The findings, presented in the journal Nature, underline the need for more action to be taken on the local, national and international fronts for safeguarding biodiversity. Researchers from Canada, Sweden and the United States launched this first-of-a-kind study comparing the effects of biological diversity loss on the anticipated effects of other anthropogenic environmental changes.

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        2012-05-10 - Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf under threat from climate change after all: EU-funded climate scientists report

        The Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf, a major Antarctic ice shelf in the Weddell Sea, may start to melt rapidly and cease to act as a barrier for ice streams draining the West Antarctic Ice Sheet. This is the new stark warning from a group of EU-funded climate researchers. Using various model calculations, the team successfully demonstrated that rising air temperatures above the south-eastern Weddell Sea could trigger large ice masses to slide into the ocean within the next six decades. The research is supported by the ICE2SEA ('Estimating the future contribution of continental ice to sea-level rise') project, which is backed by nearly EUR 10 million under the 'Environment' Theme of the EU's Seventh Framework programme (FP7).

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        2012-05-14 - Chimp shows cunning way to get target

        The Furuvik Zoo in Sweden is home to Santino, the chimpanzee known for gathering stones and making concrete projectiles to throw at anyone visiting the zoo in 2009. But stone-throwing is not all that Santino does. A new study has found that the infamous chimp finds innovative ways to fool the visitors. Presented in the journal PLoS ONE, the findings suggest that chimps can represent the future behaviours and actions of others while those others are not present, effectively producing a future event instead of merely preparing for an event. The results might indicate that chimps recombine episodic memories in perceptual simulations. Researchers from Lund University in Sweden investigated the ability a chimp has to carry out complex planning. They observed that chimps, which experts believe are the closest relatives from the animal kingdom to humans, have the capacity to fool others cunningly and skilfully.

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        2012-05-15 - Scientists shed light on giant manta ray movements

        An international team of researchers provides insight into the movement of the giant manta ray, the world's largest ray measuring up to 25 feet (around 7 metres) in width. Presented in the journal PLoS ONE, the study used satellite telemetry to track the open-ocean journeys of this marine traveller that is listed as 'vulnerable' by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Led by the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in the United States, conservationists attached satellite transmitters to 6 manta rays (4 females, 1 male and 1 juvenile) off the coast of Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula for 13 days. They say manta rays (Manta birostris, or devil fish) are known to be affected by direct and incidental capture, thus affecting their numbers negatively. In their study, they found that satellite-tracked manta rays made short-range shuttling movements, foraging along and between them.

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        2012-05-21 - Sophisticated simulations predict future warming

        The chances of our planet being hit by a global warming of 3 degrees Celsius by 2050 is as likely as it being hit by an increase of 1.4 degrees, new research shows. Presented in the journal Nature Geoscience, the British study ran close to 10 000 climate simulations on home computers via a sophisticated climate model to get the results, which suggest that failure to stop emissions will force Earth to cross the two-degree barrier before this century ends. The study was funded in part by the WATCH and ENSEMBLE projects. Both WATCH ('Water and global change') and ENSEMBLE ('Ensemble-based predictions of climate changes and their impacts') were backed under the 'Life sciences, genomics and biotechnology for health' Thematic area of the EU's Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) to the tune of almost EUR 10 million and EUR 15 million, respectively. If the model is correct in its prediction, that is if the warming of temperatures is up to three degrees (above the 1961-1900 average) within the next 38 years, it will be the fastest rate of warming ever.

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        2012-05-24 - Looking out for the Myanmar snub-nosed monkey

        A new genetic study has shed light on how the newly discovered Myanmar snub-nosed monkey evolved. The study, published in the journal PLoS One, brought together researchers from Burma/Myanmar, China, Germany, Switzerland, the United States and Vietnam, and was funded by the EU's 'Non-state actors and local authorities in development' programme. It presents findings from genetic studies on all five snub-nosed monkey species, providing crucial information for the conservation of these rare primates.

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        2012-05-24 - Study finds greenhouse gas emissions reduction possible

        We can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by around 4.5 million tonnes each year from housing, passenger transport and food between now and 2020, if we make some necessary changes. This is the message from a new Finnish study that examined whether the possibility of slashing emissions levels exists. Researchers from the Finnish Environment Institute (SYKE), the National Consumer Research Centre, and the Government Institute for Economic Research (VATT) say the biggest reduction in housing could be triggered by changes related to energy. Saving heat and electricity, as well as promoting consumer choice in favour of energy-efficient appliances, are the other means to ensure reductions.

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        2012-05-25 - Chain reaction proves fatal for corals

        Coral reefs, diverse ecosystems often described as 'rainforests of the sea', are feeling the effects of human activity, and the prognosis is not good. A new study led by the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology in Germany has found that industrialisation, deforestation and intensive farming in coastal areas are playing havoc with the conditions of life below the surface. The findings show that oxygen depletion and acidification of the environment trigger a chain reaction that results in coral death. Coral reefs are found in tropical shallow coastal regions on both sides of the equator. Coral polyps build the carbonate skeletons that create the fascinating, colourful reefs over hundreds to thousands of years. Photosynthesis of the symbiotic algae inside the polyps generates oxygen and carbohydrates from carbon dioxide and water. This in turn makes polyps grow.

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        2012-05-29 - Fashion industry certainly colourful, but is it green? EU-funded project helps it clean up its act

        By the time a new fashion season comes round, a flood of new fabrics in a seemingly endless amount of colours fills the catwalks and fashion blogs: a bona fide feast for the fashion hungry. But amid all this ocular pleasure, the reality is that producing these multi-coloured textiles comes at a prime cost to the environment as heavy polluting dyes find their way into the textile industry's wastewater. However, a new water clean-up technology developed as part of an EU-funded project could help the fashion industry clean up its act. Developed as part of the project INNOWATECH ('Innovative and integrated technologies for the treatment of industrial wastewater'), which received EUR 2,750,000 of funding under the 'Sustainable Development, Global Change and Ecosystems' Thematic area of the EU's Sixth Framework Programme (FP6), the new Sequencing Batch Biofilter Granular Reactor (SBBGR) helps remove the most polluting textile dyes components - so-called recalcitrant organic compounds - by breaking them down using ozone treatment before applying an innovative wastewater bio-filtering technique.

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        2012-05-29 - GPS satellite helping scientists track endangered Asian elephants

        Developers and poachers know no limits when it comes to the Asian elephant. This gargantuan mammal has been losing ground in its fight to survive. Not only is this creature prized for its tusks, but it has lost its natural habitat as new settlements, roads and crops increasingly pop up. Making things even worse is the fact that this elephant has been listed as endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) since 1986. A team of British and Malaysian researchers is currently tracking some of the remaining elephants roaming the Asian state to evaluate the effectiveness of the Malaysian government's elephant conservation and management practices.

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        2012-05-29 - Let the sun shine and the plants will follow

        Leonardo da Vinci, the Italian Renaissance scientist and artist extraordinaire, in the 15th century was the first to record his observation that some plants appeared to follow the Sun, and he was not the last. How this was scientifically achieved and why this occurred, however, remained a mystery to him and everyone that followed. But a European team of researchers may have come one step closer to solving this mystery. The answer, they say, lies with auxin - a class of plant hormone. The findings of their study were published in the journal Nature.

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        2012-05-31 - Evolutionary trait of dinosaurs discovered

        Perhaps the most famous of all dinosaurs is the Tyrannosaurus rex; this large carnivorous dinosaur with its huge teeth would have cut a fearsome figure. If it came to boxing however - with its disproportionately, almost comical, small arms - it would have come up short. However, the Tyrannosaurus wasn't the only dinosaur to have such small arms; a whole family of dinosaurs known as the abelisaurids also shared this trait, and according to new discoveries, may have actually began with them. Fossil material of the abelisaurid family of dinosaurs discovered in the southern-most tip of South America, Patagonia, is showing a timeline of the evolution of this characteristic. The specimen in particular dates from the Jurassic age and is 40 million years older than any other known abelisaurid. It clearly shows that arm reduction began at an early stage in the group's evolutionary history.

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        2012-05-31 - Study reveals chewing ability of ancient lizard

        Researchers in the United Kingdom have discovered that the tuatara of New Zealand has a distinctive way of chewing its food, using a 'steak-knife' sawing motion to break down the prey it consumes. The results of the study, presented in The Anatomical Record journal, may help shed light on how this creature has evolved over more than 200 million years, challenging the theory that a strong connection exists between the lizard's complex chewing ability and high metabolism. No other terrestrial animals chew like the tuatara. Scientists at University College London and the University of Hull used a state-of-the-art computer model to show the creatures' steak-knife chewing ability. Dr Neil Curtis of the University of Hull, one of the authors of the study, says the virtual model helped the team develop the most detailed musculoskeletal model of a skull ever developed. 'It allows us to investigate movements within skulls that would be impossible to monitor in a live animal without using harmful X-rays, which is not an option for protected species like the tuatara,' he says.

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        2012-05-31 - Some fungi are no fun for plants and wildlife

        One of the world's largest growing threats to endangered animals and plants is coming from a very small source: fungus. The discovery was made by researchers in the United Kingdom and the United States. Presented in the journal Nature, the study was funded in part by the BIODIVERSA2 (Cooperation and shared strategies for biodiversity research programmes in Europe) project, which received EUR 2 million in funding under the Environment Theme of the EU's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). The results suggest that in 70% of instances where an infectious disease caused the extinction of a type of animal or plant, the culprit was a nascent species of fungus.

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      • Agriculture

        2012-05-16 - EU-funded food technology project to help alleviate poverty by preventing food losses

        Millions of the world's poorest people in some of the most deprived regions could soon be helped by a new EU-funded food technology project that brings together researchers from Europe, sub-Saharan Africa and Asia. The 3-year project GRATITUDE ('Gains from losses of root and tuber crops') brings together 16 project partners from Ghana, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Portugal, Thailand, the United Kingdom and Vietnam. It received close to EUR 3 million of funding from the 'Food, agriculture and fisheries, and biotechnology' Theme of the EU's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7).

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        2012-05-21 - The gene that boosts sugar beet yields

        A European team of researchers has discovered a gene with the potential to increase sugar beet yields. Presented in the journal Current Biology, the findings of the study show how the long-sought bolting gene B in the sugar beet crop could help seed producers boost cultivation efficiency by mitigating yield-reducing contaminations, and could also support breeders in their efforts to create new cultivars with larger beets. Led by researchers from Kiel University in Germany and the Umeå Plant Science Centre in Sweden, the team identified that the gene, known as BvBTC1, determines if and when a beet plant will flower. The problem with early flowering is that it stops the root growth of the beet, which in turn shrinks global sugar beet yields. This only causes trouble for farmers.

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      • Nanosciences

        2012-05-15 - EU-funded researchers get up close to double ionisation

        Normally, when an intense laser pulse interacts with an atom it generates agitation on the micro-scale and this interaction produces a single ionisation, where one electron is ejected from the atom. Sometimes, however, two electrons can be removed from the atom at the same time, which results in the more complex process of double ionisation. Now researchers from Germany and the United States have observed this process at attosecond time scales (an attosecond being a billionth of a billionth of a second), and they present their findings in a new study published in the journal Nature Communications. The study was supported by the ATTOFEL ('Ultrafast Dynamics using ATTosecond and XUV Free Electron Laser Sources') project which was funded by a EUR 3,601,028 Marie Curie Initial Training network (ITN) grant under the 'People' Theme of the EU's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) and the Laserlab-Europe ('The Integrated Initiative of European Laser Research Infrastructures') project, a European Consortium of major Laser Research Infrastructures, funded in part by EUR 8,650,000 under the Integrated Infrastructure Initiative of the FP7's 'Capacities' Theme.

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        2012-05-22 - Cheaper plaster on the cards

        Researchers in Spain and the United Kingdom have identified the stages of gypsum crystals formation - a mystery that boggled the minds of many over the years. A mineral that occurs naturally, gypsum is usually used in industrial processes. If left untouched for thousands of years, gypsum can develop into large, over 10-metre tall and translucent crystals. The study was funded in part by the MIN-GRO ('Mineral nucleation and growth kinetics: generating a general, fundamental model by integrating atomic, macro- and field-scale investigations') project, which received a Marie Curie Research Training Networks grant worth EUR 3 million under the EU's Sixth Framework Programme (FP6). The results were published in the journal Science.

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        2012-05-24 - Networking for nanotechnology

        Europe has long been the source for many technological innovations but many challenges need to be overcome so as to bridge the gap from research to industry, and from there to market. The growth industry of nanotechnology is no different. In particular, the development of new applications based on nanoimprinting techniques (NIL) is evolving at a rapid pace. This is where the NAPANIL ('Nanopatterning, production and applications based on nanoimprinting lithography') project comes in. The recent NAPANIL Industrial Day addressed these issues and found solutions. NAPANIL has received EUR 11.8 million under the 'Nanosciences, nanotechnologies, materials and new production technologies' (NMP) Theme of the EU's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7).

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        2012-05-30 - Europeans push the bionanotechnology envelope

        Researchers in Germany have once again made a major breakthrough in bionanotechnology, this time in the area of solid-state nanopore sensors, enhancing their capabilities by fitting them with cover plates made of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA). This major advance was made in part thanks to the DNA ORIGAMI DEVICES ('Single-molecule studies of protein-protein-DNA interactions, enabled by DNA origami') project, which has clinched a European Research Council (ERC) grant worth EUR 1.5 million under the EU's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). This project has opened up novel opportunities for a systematic study of macromolecular interactions in biology and is likely to deepen our understanding of regulatory processes in biology. The findings of this latest study were presented in the journal Angewandte Chemie International Edition.

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      • Space

        2012-05-10 - European researchers deliver vital component of next-gen telescope

        European researchers are once again making sure that their mark will be made, even when it comes to the farthest reaches of space. They have completed the MIRI or the Mid InfraRed Instrument - a pioneering camera and spectrograph so sensitive, that it will be able to see a candle on one of Jupiter's moons. This achievement was commemorated at a special handover ceremony - from the European consortium that constructed the device to the European Space Agency (ESA) - at the Institute of Engineering and Technology in London on 9 May. MIRI will form an integral component of the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST), set to take over duties from the Hubble Space Telescope in 2018. Named after the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) administrator who was a major advocate of scientific research in space, the JWST will orbit the Sun at a distance of about 1 500 000 kilometres. From this point, known as the L2 Lagrange point, it will be able to orbit the Sun in synchrony with the Earth.

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        2012-05-11 - Spot the difference? Super-cool brown dwarf helps distinguish dwarfs and giant planets

        An international team of EU-funded astronomers has just discovered a brown dwarf that is more than 99% hydrogen and helium. With a temperature of just 400 degrees Celsius, its discovery could be crucial to helping astronomers distinguish between brown dwarfs and giant planets. When astronomers carry out searches for planets around other stars, they often spot many possible planets through the gravitational pull of the candidate objects on the stars they orbit. It can be tricky to distinguish between compact brown dwarfs and giant planets, as they share many characteristics. Writing in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, the team explains how they made the observation using data from the Wide-field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) satellite, the United Kingdom Infra-Red Telescope (UKIRT) in Hawaii and the Visible and Infrared Survey Telescope for Astronomy (VISTA) in Chile.

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        2012-05-14 - Researchers investigate how nature helps to shape stars

        German researchers have used state-of-the-art computer simulations to find the first evidence that the way in which stars form depends on their birth environment. Until now, it appeared that stars formed in the same manner everywhere. Stars are thought to form in interstellar space from dark clouds of gas and dust, and their properties are expected to depend on the conditions of their dusty birth environment, something this new study provides the evidence to support. Writing in the journal Monthly Notices of the Royal Astronomical Society, the team describes how they discovered that the mass distribution of stars does indeed depend on the environment in which they form.

        Further information
        2012-05-30 - Don't miss the transit of Venus - you'll have to wait until 2117 for the next one!

        Astronomers and space-gazers worldwide will be getting up extra early on Wednesday 6 June to make sure they catch the final transit of Venus of the 21st century. The transit, which occurs when Venus passes directly between the Earth and the Sun, was last recorded in 2004. There won't be another one until the year 2117, with not many of us likely to be able to witness it then. This transit only takes place on the rare occasions when the Sun, Venus and Earth are almost exactly in line; on average, it only happens every 80 years. Before the last transit, on 8 June 2004, no living person had seen a transit of Venus - the previous one was on 6 December 1882.

        Further information

      • Energy

        2012-05-11 - Europeans kick-start solar cell production project

        Development of more efficient and cost-effective solar cells is high on the EU agenda. Helping drive this effort is the SCALENANO ('Development and scale-up of nanostructured-based materials and processes for low-cost high-efficiency chalcogenide-based photovoltaics') project, which has clinched more than EUR 7.5 million under the 'Energy' Theme of the EU's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) to make efficient and cheaper solar cells a reality. Led by the Catalonia Institute for Energy Research in Spain, the SCALENANO project partners are developing and scaling up new processes based on nanostructured materials to generate high efficiency and cheaper photovoltaic devices and modules that comply with mass production requirements. The SCALENANO team comprises experts from France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, Switzerland and the United Kingdom.

        Further information

      • Socio-economic sciences and Humanities

        2012-05-09 - Study finds link between languages and high biodiversity regions

        Earth is home to some of the most linguistically diverse regions, which are found specifically in hot spots and high biodiversity wilderness areas, new British-American research shows. Presented in the journal PNAS, the findings suggest that around 70% of all languages have found a niche in these regions. The study will help shed light on the lives of people who reside in these areas, and provide insights into the conservation of biodiversity. Conservationists from the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom and Pennsylvania State University (Penn State) in the United States say the languages in question are for the most part unique to particular regions and could be potentially wiped out.

        Further information
        2012-05-23 - Slum tourism: researching a controversial new holiday activity

        An EU-funded researcher is about to embark on a project investigating whether the growing phenomenon of slum tourism is merely a twisted form of entertainment for rich tourists or whether it can help to tackle global inequalities and injustices. Dr Frenzel, a lecturer in the Political Economy of Organisation at the School of Management, University of Leicester has been awarded a Marie Curie post-doctoral Fellowship to carry out research at the University of Potsdam in Germany, the leading German study centre for research on tourism in areas of urban poverty.

        Further information

    • Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Development 2007- 2013 (FP7)

      • European Technology Platforms

        Advanced Engineering Materials and Technologies (EuMaT)

        No events planned

        Further information
        Advisory Council for Aeronautics Research in Europe (ACARE)

        No events planned

        Further information
        European Technology Platform for Wind Energy (TPWind)

        No events planned

        Further information
        European Technology Platform on Smart Systems Integration (EPoSS)

        8-10 May 2013, Dublin - Future Internet Assembly 2013
        14-16 May 2013, Nuremberg - Sensor+Test 2013
        15-17 May 2013, Cambridge - Applied Bioinformatics & Public Health Microbiology 2013
        19-20 May 2013, Copenhagen - Third International Conference on Environment and Industrial Innovation (ICEII 2013)
        3-24 May 2013, Bassel - Swiss NanoConvention 2013
        29 May 2013, Brussels - Mission Growth Conference: Innovation for the Competitiveness of European Industry
        2-7 June 2013, Chemnitz - Graphene week 2013
        5-7 June 2013, Cork - WIRE IV
        6-8 June 2013, Gdansk - 6th International Conference on Human System Interaction 2013
        12 June 2013, Geneva - The Microtechnics Alliance meets at EPMT Fair
        16-19 June 2013, Helsinki - 2013 SPIM Conference – Innovating in Global Markets: Challenges for Sustainable Growth
        16-20 June 2013, Helsinki - IoT Week 2013
        17-18 June 2013, Berlin - AMAA 2013 - "Smart Systems for Safe and Green Vehicles"
        18-20 June 2013, Dublin - EuroNanoForum 2013
        18-20 June 2013, Bucharest - ECOSUD 2013
        26-28 June 2013, Tallinn - pHealth 2013
        1-3 July 2013, Postdam - MEMSWAVE 2013
        3-5 July 2013, Lisbon - FuNeMS 2013
        18-19 July 2013, Athens - Ninth International Conference on Intelligent Environment (IE'13)
        29-31 July 2013, Reykjavík - 10th International Conference on Wireless Information Networks and Systems (WINSYS 2013)
        25-28 August 2013, Enschede - COMS 2013 - 18th edition of the annual international conference on commercializing micro- and nanotechnology
        8-11 September 2013, Krakow - Federated Conference on Computer Science and Information Systems (FedCSIS) 2013
        8-13 September 2013, Sevilla - European Congress and Exhibition on Advanced Materials and Processes (EUROMAT 2013)
        24-27 September 2013, Cork - Joint event MNBS 2013 & EPOSS Annual Forum 2013
        7-10 October 2013, Calgary - Workshop on Smart Materials and Structures, SHM1
        4-16 October 2013, Aachen - Microsystemtechnik-Kongress
        16-18 October 2013, Tampere - ITST 2013
        27-31 October 2013, Freiburg - MicroTAS 2013 - 17th International Conference on Miniaturized Systems for Chemistry and Life Sciences
        6-8 November 2013, Vilnius - ICT 2013 - Create, Connect, Grow
        2-4 July 2014, Brenen - SysInt 2014 - 2nd International Conference on System-Integrated Intelligence: New Challenges for Product and Production Engineering

        Further information
        European Technology Platform Food for Life (Food)

        19-20 June 2013, Lille - NutrEvent

        Further information
        Forest Based Sector Technology Platform (Forestry)

        6-8 May 2013, Hannover - LIGNA 2013
        15-16 May 2013, Riga - Invest in Forest
        16-21 May 2013, Estoril - 3rd International Congress on Planted Forests
        3-6 June 2013, Copenhagen - 21st European Biomass Conference & Exhibition
        4-6 June 2013, Brussels - Green Week 2013
        18-20 June 2013, Dublin - EuroNanoForum 2013 & FTP wood nanotechnology workshop
        23-26 September 2013, Gerardmer - 5th Forest Engineering Conference
        23-24 September 2013, Biarritz - 6th International Wood Fibre Polymer Composites Symposium
        30 September-2 October 2013, Brussels - EFIB 2013
        30 September-3 October 2013, Brussels - 5th European Innovation Summit
        3-4 October 2013, Aarhus - 5th European Innovation Summit
        23 October 2013, Brussels - Workshop - 21st Century Design and Construction
        9-13 December 2013, Rovaniemi - European Forest Week
        9-13 December 2013, Rovaniemi - Metsä 2013 Joint session of the ECE Timber Committee

        Further information
        Embedded Computing Systems (ARTEMIS)

        14-17 May 2013, Berlin - 9th International nanotechnology Conference on Communication and cooperation
        11-12 June 2013, Madrid - ARTEMIS Summer Camp 2013
        16-20 June 2013, Budva - The 2013 Mediterranean Conference Event: Embedded and Cyber-physical Systems
        18-20 June 2013, Dublin - EuroNanoForum 2013
        24 June 2013, Budapest - 2nd Workshop on Open Resilient human-aware Cyber-physical Systems (WORKS 2013)
        26 September 2013, Paris - European Microelectronics Summit
        26-27 September 2013, Messecenter Graz - JTI Electronics In Horizon 2020
        1-2 October 2013, Brussels - JTI Event
        6-8 November 2013, Vilnius - ICT 2013: Create, Connect, Grow
        8-10 November 2013, Dresden - SEMICON Europa 2013
        27-28 November 2013, Barcelona - European Nanoelectronics Forum (ENIAC)
        4-5 December 2013, Stockholm - Co-summit 2013

        Further information
        Nanoelectronics Technologies 2020 (ENIAC)

        14-17 May 2013, Berlin - INC9
        24 May 2013, Brussels - 7th SEMI Brussels Forum
        18-20 June 2013, Dublin - EuroNanoForum
        15-19 July 2013, Otsu - 13th International Forum on Embedded MPSoC and Multicore
        16-20 September 2013, - ESSDERC-ESSCIRC Conference Series
        18-20 September 2013, Roma - Nanoforum
        8-10 October 2013, Dresden - SEMICON Europa 2013
        6-8 November 2013, Vilnius - ICT 2013: Create, Connect, Grow
        27-28 November 2013, Barcelona - European Nanoelectronics Forum

        Further information
        European Rail Research Advisory Council (ERRAC)

        No events planned

        Further information
        European Road Transport Research Advisory Council (ERTRAC)

        14 May 2013, Brussels - ERTRAC 2nd Steering Group
        6 June 2013, Brussels - ERTRAC 2nd Plenary meeting 2013
        24 September 2013, Brussels - ERTRAC Steering Group
        22 October 2013, Brussels - ERTRAC Plenary

        Further information
        European Space Technology Platform (ESTP)

        No events planned

        Further information
        European Steel Technology Platform (ESTEP)

        16 May 2013, Brussels - European Steel Day

        Further information
        European Technology Platform for the Electricity Networks of the Future (SmartGrids)

        16 May 2013, Brussels - Joint workshop organised by STARGRID and ETP SmartGrids

        Further information
        Future Manufacturing Technologies (MANUFUTURE)

        16-17 September 2013, Hannover - VDMA Congress: "Producing more intelligently"

        Further information
        European Technology Platform for the Future of Textiles and Clothing (Euratex)

        27-28 May 2013, Brussels -PROsumer.NET project final conference
        23-23 October 2013, Brussels - 1st European Textile Flagships Conference

        Further information
        Fuel Cells and Hydrogen (FCH)

        9 September 2013, Brussels - The 5th International Conference on Hydrogen Safety

        Further information
        Industrial Safety ETP (IndustrialSafety)

        21-22 May 2013, Stuttgart - 5Th INTeg-Risk Conference 2013

        Further information
        Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI)

        13 May 2013, Brussels - IMI Stakeholder Forum 2013

        Further information
        Integral Satcom Initiative (ISI)

        No events planned

        Further information
        Mobile and Wireless Communications (eMobility)

        8-10 May 2013, Dublin - FIA Event 2013
        31 May 2013, Ghent - ONIT 2013
        9-13 June 2013, Budapest - IEEE International Conference on Communications
        19-20 June 2013, Bogota - Dinero Movil LatAm (Mobile Money LatAm 2013)
        3-5 July 2013, Lisbon - Future Networks and Mobile Summit 2013

        Further information
        Nanotechnologies for Medical Applications (NanoMedicine)

        15 May 2013, London - Nano4Life 2013
        18 June 2013, Dublin - EuroNanoForum 2013
        23 June 2013, Basel - European Summit on Clinical Nanomedecine (CLINAM 2013)
        25-28 June 2013, Porto - Advanced Summer School Interrogations at the Biointerface
        26-28 June 2013, Tallinn - pHealth 2013 Conference
        18-20 June 2013, Dublin - EuroNanoForum 2013
        23-26 June 2013, Basel - European Summit on Clinical Nanomedicine (CLINAM 2013)
        6-13 July 2013, Thessaloniki - ISSON 2013
        9 July 2013, Thessaloniki - 10th International Conference on Nanoscience & Nanotechnologies (NN13)
        8-11 October 2013, Faenza - MiMe - Materials in Medicine International Conference
        4-6 November 2013, Vienna - Bio-Europe 2013
        3-5 March 2014, Amsterdam - International Congress on Targeted Anticancer Therapies - TAT2014

        Further information
        Networked and Electronic Media (NEM)

        8-10 May 2013, Dublin - Future Internet Assembly
        27-31 May 2013, Ghent - IM 2013 - The 13th IFIP/IEEE Symposium on Integrated Network and Service Management
        27 May-1 June 2013, Valencia - CONTENT 2013
        2 June 2013, Dresden - 3rd International Workshop on Self-Organizing Networks (IWSON)
        9-13 June 2013, Budapest - Context-aware Personalization Systems
        10-12 June 2013, Seoul - 11th IEEE IVMSP Workshop on "3D Image/Video Technologies and Applications"
        23-28 June 2013, Rome - Eighth International Conference on Internet and Web Applications and Services
        3-5 July 2013, Lisbon - Future Network and Mobile Summit - FuNeMS2013
        8-11 September 2013, Berlin - The 3rd IEEE International Conference on Consumer Electronics(IEEE 2013)
        28-30 October 2013, Nantes - NEM Summit 2013
        6-8 November 2013, Vilnius - ICT Event 2013: Create, Connect,Grow
        12-13 December 2013, Bayonne - 8th International Workshop on Semantic and Social Media Adaptation and Personalization

        Further information
        Networked European Software and Services Initiative (NESSI)

        8-10 May 2013, Dublin - Future Internet Assembly 2013
        16 May 2013, Brussels - The 2013 European Cyber Security Conference
        11-12 June 2013, Dublin - SMEs and Europe: with innovation out of the crisis
        26-27 June 2013, London - Cloud World Forum 2013
        1-5 July 2013, Montpellier - European Conference on Software Architecture, ECSA 2013
        3-5 July 2013, Lisbon - Future Network & Mobile Summit 2013
        29-31 July 2013, Reykjavik - 8th International Joint Conference on Software Technologies
        10-13 September 2013, Wrexham - Fifth International Conference on Internet Technologies & Applications

        Further information
        Photonics21 (Photonics)

        12-16 May 2013, Munich - 3rd EOS Conference on Manufacturing of Optical Components (EOSMOC 2013)
        12-16 May 2013, Munich - 2nd EOS Conference on Optofluidics (EOSOF 2013)
        13-16 May 2013, Munich - Laser World of Photonics (13 - 16 May 2013) & World of Photonics Congress (12 - 16 May 2013)
        27-28 May 2013, Frankfurt am Main - Trends in Bioanalytical Imaging - Analytics and Applications
        9-14 June 2013, San Jose - CLEO
        11-13 June 2013, Munich - LOPE-C 2013
        16-21 June 2013, Whistler - Optical Interferings Coatings
        14-19 July 2013, Rio Grande - Advanced Photonics
        14-19 July 2013, Orlanda - Frontiers in Optics
        22-26 July 2013, Porto - 8th Iberoamerican Optics Meeting / 11th Latinamerican Meeting on Optics, Lasers and Applications
        23-26 July 2013, Porto - ETOP 2013 - 12th International Conference on Education and Training in Optics and Photonics
        29-31 July 2013, Reykjavik - OPTICS 2013- International Conference on Optical Communication Systems
        25-29 August 2013, San Diego - SPIE Optics + Photonics 2013
        26-31 August 2013, Riga - Biophotonics Riga 1st International Conference
        10-13 September 2013, Almaty - FOAN2013 - 4th International Work Shop on Fiber Optics in Access Networks
        23-26 September 2013, Dresden - SPIE Security+Defence 2013 & SPIE Remote Sensing 2013
        23-25 September 2013, London - ECOC 2013
        14-17 October 2013, New York - SPIE Optifab 2013
        16-17 October 2013, Coventry - Photonex, UK's Premier Photonics Event
        27 October-1 November 2013, Paris - Advanced Solid Stae Lasers

        Further information
        Photovoltaics (PV Platform)

        No events planned

        Further information
        Plants for the Future (Plants)

        13-14 May 2013, London - Plant Genomics Congress
        14-16 May 2013, Calabria - 31st New Phytologist Symposia on Orchid symbioses-models for evolutionary ecology
        3-7 June 2013, Copenhagen - 21st European Biomass Conference and Exhibition
        9-16 June 2013, Athens - SAHYOG Summer School
        9-13 June 2013, University of Norway - Essential and Detrimental Trace Elements entering the Food Chain via Plants
        23-27 June 2013, Gargnano - SUMMER SCHOOL on Biomchemical and genetic dissection of control of plant mineral nutrition
        24-28 June 2013, Sydney - International Arabidopsis Conference
        30 June-6 July 2013, Szeged - EPPN Summer School on Plant Phenotyping
        2-5 July 2013, Zurich - 13th International Fire Blight Workshop
        4-6 July 2013,Evry - Plant signalling in a changing environment
        8-19 July 2013, Barcelona - 2nd Summer biotechnology course
        16-19 July 2013, Warsaw - 11th International Conference on Reactive Oxygen and Nitrogen Species in Plants
        26-30 July 2013, Helsinki - Plant Vascular Biology Meeting
        28 July-2 August 2013,Hong Kong - Gordon Conference on "Post-Translational Modification Networks
        11-15 August 2013,Helsingor - 25th SPPS Congress
        20-23 August 2013, Eindiedeln - Science & Policy Summer School: Governing the Transition to a Bio-based Economy
        26-28 August 2013, Utrecht - 7th International Utrecht PhD Summer School
        1-4 September 2013, Greece, - 7th EPSO Conference
        5 September 2013, Porto Heli, Plant Phenotyping Workshop of the European Plant Phenotying Network
        8-10 September 2013,Amsterdam - 2nd Current Opinion Conference on Plant Genome Evolution
        17-20 September 2013, Madrid - 2nd International APLE-APLF Congress on Pollen Biotechnology, Diversity and Function in a Changing Environment
        25-27 September 2013, Norwich - AAB Conference International Advances in Plant Virology
        14-18 October 2013, Versailles - 6th Workshop on Leaf Senescence
        10-14 November 2013, Antalya - International Plant Breeding Congress
        20-23 November 2013 Buenos Aires - 32nd New Phytologist Symposium on Plant interactions with other organisms (molecules, ecology and evolution)
        4-6 December 2013, Nantes - Conference on Biopolymer Assemblies for Material Design
        22-26 June 2014, Dublin - Plant Biology Europe FESPB/EPSO 2014 Congress

        Further information
        Robotics (EUROP)

        6-10 May 2013, Karlsruhe - 2013 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation (ICRA 2013)
        24-30 June 2013, Eindhoven - WK RoboCup International Robot Tournament (RoboCup 2013)
        26-28 June 2013, Porto - FAIM 2013 - Workshop on Robotics in Smart Manufacturing
        27-28 June 2013, Berlin - Robotics: Science and Systems (RSS 2013)
        29-31 July 2013, Reykjavík - 10th International Conference on Informatics in Control, Automation and Robotics (ICINCO 2013)
        29-31 July 2013, Reykjavík - The 3rd International Conference on Simulation and Modeling Methodologies, Technologies and Applications (SIMULTECH 2013)
        11-15 August 2013, Montreal - The 30th International Symposium on Automation and Robotics in Construction and Mining (ISARC 2013)

        Further information
        European Technology Platform for Sustainable Chemistry (SusChem)

        14 May 2013, Brussels - F3 Factory session at Suschem stakeholder
        3-7 June 2013, Copenhagen - 21th European Biomass conference and exhibition
        5-6 June 2013, Budapest - Smart Cities Annual Conference
        18-20 June 2013, Dublin - EuroNano Forum 2013
        19-20 June 2013, Frankfurt - Biochemicals & Bioplastics
        8-13 September 2013, Sevilla - Annual Congress and exhibition on advanced materials and processes

        Further information
        Sustainable Nuclear Energy Technology Platform (SNE-TP)

        21-24 May 2013, Prague - 1st ARCHER EUROCOURSE
        1-5 July 2013, Saclay - MATTER International School on DEsign Rules for gen IV reactors and INnovative reactors (DERIVIN)
        17-19 July 2013,Karlsruhe - EURACT-NMR workshop
        21-26 July 2013, Karlsruhe - ACTINIDES 2013 Conference
        8–12 September 2013, Brussels - 21st International Conference on Environmental Remediation and Radioactive Waste Management Economy 2013
        9–12 September 2013, Bled - 22nd International Conference Nuclear Energy for New Europe
        1–3 October 2013, Cannes - 10th International Conference on Non Destructive Evaluation
        2–4 October 2013, Avignon - ERMSAR 2013
        14-16 October 2013, Vilnius - FISA & EURADWASTE 2013
        27-31 October 2013, Paris - 2 nd SNA & MC 2013 - Joint International Conference on Supercomputing in Nuclear Applications + Monte Carlo

        Further information
        Water Supply and Sanitation Platform (WSSTP)

        No events planned.

        Further information
        Waterborne ETP (Waterborne)

        21 May 2013, La Valletta Malta - SG47+MIRROR GROUP + GA
        26 September 2013, Brussels - SG48 + MG
        21 November 2013, Brussels - SG49 + MG

        Further information
        Zero Emission Fossil Fuel Power Plants Technology Platform (ETP ZEP)

        No events planned

        Further information
        European Technology Platform on Renewable Heating & Cooling (RHC)

        22 May 2013, Brussels - Board Meeting of the RHC-Platform
        9 October 2013, Brussels - Steering Committee meeting of the Solar Thermal Technology Panel

        Further information

      • Joint Technology Initiatives

        Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI)

        13 May 2013, Brussels - IMI Stakeholder Forum 2013

        Further information
        Embedded Computing Systems (ARTEMISA)

        14-17 May 2013, Berlin - 9th International nanotechnology Conference on Communication and cooperation
        11-12 June 2013, Madrid - ARTEMIS Summer Camp 2013
        16-20 June 2013, Budva - The 2013 Mediterranean Conference Event: Embedded and Cyber-physical Systems
        18-20 June 2013, Dublin - EuroNanoForum 2013
        24 June 2013, Budapest - 2nd Workshop on Open Resilient human-aware Cyber-physical Systems (WORCS-2013)
        26 September 2013, Paris - European Microelectronics Summit
        26-27 September 2013, Messencenter Graz - JTI Electronics in Horizon 2020
        1-2 October 2013, Brussels - JTI Event
        6-8 November 2013, Vilnius - ICT 2013: Create, Connect, Grow
        8-10 November 2013, Dresden - SEMICON Europa 2013
        27-28 November 2013, Barcelona - European Nanoelectronics Forum (ENIAC)
        4-5 December 2013, Stockholm - Co-summit 2013

        Further information
        Nanoelectronics Technologies 2020 (ENIAC)

        14-17 May 2013, Berlin - INC9
        24 May 2013, Brussels - 7th SEMI Brussels Forum
        18-20 June 2013, Dublin - EuroNanoForum
        15-19 July 2013, Otsu - 13th International Forum on Embedded MPSoC and Multicore
        16-20 September 2013, - ESSDERC-ESSCIRC Conference Series
        18-20 September 2013, Roma - Nanoforum
        8-10 October 2013, Dresden - SEMICON Europa 2013
        6-8 November 2013, Vilnius - ICT 2013: Create, Connect, Grow
        27-28 November 2013, Barcelona - European Nanoelectronics Forum

        Further information
        Aeronautics and Air Transport (Clean Sky)

        30 May 2013, Brussels - Clean Sky SME Day
        17-23 June 2013, Paris - International Paris Air Show 2013
        1-5 July 2013, Munich - EUCASS 2013: Fifth European Aerospace Conference

        Further information
        Fuel Cells and Hydrogen (FCH)

        9 September 2013, Brussels - The 5th International Conference on Hydrogen Safety

        Further information

  • Innovation policy

    2012-05-29 - Public consultation: Keeping our industry as a driver of sustainable growth and jobs

    Europe needs new ideas to boost its growth potential. Industrial innovation is one of the key drivers to improve our competitiveness. This is why the Commission is launching today a new public consultation, which is meant to provide input for the mid-term review of the industrial policy communication planned for September 2012. This review will focus on developing a limited number of new initiatives that can deliver substantial results in the short- to medium-term. Moreover new policy initiatives should have a demonstrable and significant impact on competitiveness, growth and jobs. The European Commission draws the attention to this important component of its economic growth strategy on the occasion of today's Conference "Mission Growth: Europe at the Lead of the New Industrial Revolution".

    Further information

  • Education policy

    2012-05-08 - The Erasmus programme in 2010-11: the figures explained

    The European Commission has today published new figures on the number of students, teachers and other staff in higher education who benefitted from the Erasmus programme in the 2010-11 academic year (IP/12/454). 231 410 European students and 42 813 staff in higher education received Erasmus funding to go abroad for studies, job placements, teaching or training.

    Further information
• 

  Other EU Policies and funding programmes supporting the Lisbon Strategy

  • Employment and social affairs

    2012-05-21 - Employment: Commission launches 'Your First EURES job' pilot project to help young people find jobs

    A pilot project to help young people find a job in another EU country has been launched by the European Commission. In its initial phase 'Your first EURES job' will aim to improve cross-border mobility for 5,000 people. It will also serve as a testing ground for transforming EURES - the network of Member States' employment services – towards a pan-European employment service.

    Further information

  • Environment

    2012-05-08 - Environment: €34.8 million in new funding to bring environmental solutions to market

    The European Commission is launching a €34.8 million call for eco-innovation projects. Businesses and entrepreneurs from across Europe can apply for funding to help bring novel environmental projects to the market. The call is open to eco-innovative products, techniques, services and processes that aim to prevent or reduce environmental impacts, or which contribute to the optimal use of resources. The call for applications is open until 6 September 2012, and around 50 projects will be selected for funding.

    Further information

    2012-05-15 - Emissions trading: annual compliance round-up shows declining emissions in 2011

    Emissions of greenhouse gases from installations participating in the EU Emissions Trading System (EU ETS) decreased by more than 2% last year, according to the information provided by Member State registries. Climate Action Commissioner Connie Hedegaard said: "ETS Emissions decreased by more than 2% in 2011 despite an expanding economy recovery. This good result shows that the ETS is delivering cost-effective emissions reductions. It also emphasizes why the ETS remains the engine to drive low-carbon growth in Europe. However, there is still a growing buffer of unused allowances. This is why the Commission, as announced last month, is now reviewing the time profile of phase 3 auctions with a view to reducing the number of allowances for auction in the early years of phase 3".

    Further information

    2012-05-21 - Environment: Celebrating 20 years of EU nature protection

    Today is the 20th anniversary of two key instruments for the conservation and sustainable use of nature in the EU: the Habitats Directive and LIFE, the EU financing programme for the environment. Twenty years ago, EU Member States unanimously adopted the Habitats Directive to safeguard the most threatened species and habitats across Europe. This was in response to concerns over rapidly declining wildlife and loss of natural habitats, resulting from land-use changes, pollution and urban sprawl. To give species and habitats space to recover, the Directive set up the Natura 2000 network of protected areas and the LIFE financial instrument has provided strategic support to its development.

    Further information

    2012-05-22 - Environment: Wise up your water use with Water Maniac Walter

    The European Commission launched a new viral clip today as part of the "Generation Awake!" campaign, which alerts consumers to the dangers of unsustainable patterns of consumption. The clip features Water Maniac Walter, a neurotic bucket who addresses the theme of excessive water use. The clip links to the Generation Awake website, a multilingual site intended to get citizens thinking about their consumption habits, and help them change their behaviour so as to live more sustainably.

    Further information

    2012-05-31 - Environment: A new approach to assessing toxic chemical mixtures

    The Commission undertakes to address potential risks associated with chemical mixtures are properly understood and assessed. Every day, we are exposed to mixtures of chemical substances, and these combinations may affect us in ways that the individual substances do not. EU laws set strict limits for the amounts of particular chemicals allowed in food, water, air and manufactured products, but the potentially toxic effects of these chemicals in combination are rarely examined. Under the new approach, the Commission will identify priority mixtures to be assessed, ensure that the different strands of EU legislation deliver consistent risk assessments for such priority mixtures, and fill in gaps in the scientific knowledge needed to assess the mixtures.

    Further information

  • Health

    2012-05-07 - Better use of health data will transform the healthcare landscape, says expert report

    A high-level group of experts today warned that Europeans will only be able to benefit from the affordable, less intrusive and more personalised healthcare which Information & Communication Technologies (ICT) can bring if agreement is reached on how to use health data. The group, headed by the President of Estonia, Toomas Hendrik Ilves, delivered this and other recommendations for redesigning health in Europe to Vice President Neelie Kroes and Commissioner John Dalli at eHealth Week 2012 in Copenhagen, Denmark. The eHealth Task Force was established a year ago (see IP/11/551) to advise the Commission on how to unlock the potential of eHealth for safer, better and more efficient healthcare in Europe.

    Further information

  • Agriculture and fisheries

    2012-05-16 - Food: Commission adopts landmark list of permitted health claims

    Health claims on food labelling and in advertising, for example on the role of calcium and bone health or vitamin C and the immune system, have become vital marketing tools to attract consumers' attention. Therefore EU consumers expect accurate information on products they buy, in particular on the health claims the products may put forward.

    Further information

  • Energy

    2012-05-15 - Digital Agenda: EU research breakthrough will cut 4G / LTE mobile network energy use in half

    In coming years, internet access will be dominated by wireless devices such as mobile phones and tablets. Today there are 1.2 billion mobile broadband users, and the figure is growing by hundreds of millions each year. Mobile video and other data services consume much more energy than calls and SMS. This creates additional costs for mobile operators – ultimately passed onto consumers – and means the carbon footprint of mobile communications could almost triple from 2007 to 2020, an increase equivalent to the annual carbon emissions of Luxembourg.

    Further information

  • Maritime Affairs

    2012-05-14 - Environment: Commission to address water challenges via innovation partnership

    The European Commission today proposed to boost innovation to deal with water related challenges by creating a European Innovation Partnership (EIP) on Water. The partnership will bring together all relevant actors across borders and sectors, such as the water sector, small and medium sized enterprises, the research community, local governments, water-using industries, and the financial sector to accelerate the development and uptake of innovative solutions to water challenges. A Strategic Implementation Plan will be developed with key stakeholders to define the priority areas for action. The EIP on Water will seek to align the activities and outcomes of existing European, national and regional activities.

    Further information
• 

  Research, Innovation, Training and Competitiveness related EU events

  • List of opened calls for proposals launched by the European Commission

    To consult our updated table of calls, click on our dedicated webpage below

    Further information

Special chapter on training opportunities

Next Sessions in English in Brussels

Prochaines sessions en français à Paris et Bruxelles

Próximas sesiones en español a Madrid