According to a Joint Research Council (JRC) report, research performance-based funding (RPBF) systems continue to improve research output, yet no formula for linking funding with performance exists.
Some of the best performing nations without RPBF systems do, however, have alternatives in place wherein resources can be concentrated. Such alternatives can include binary university systems where education is provided in both research and applied science universities. Furthermore, any lack of research improvement and incentives in these countries can be explained in part by relative underfunding.
In helping to identify relevant practices, the JRC report analyses methods used across the Union and further afield in some associated countries. Through this analysis, the report finds that RPBF systems target the relevant publications with a higher-impact, showing that the implementation of the RPBF system should include a cost/benefit assessment. Experts recommend stakeholder decisions should also be included so as to mitigate any institutional resistance in the establishment of an RPBF system where no additional funding is foreseen.
Good practice, the report continues, is the gradual introduction of RPBF to enable a smooth transition that allows for strategic long-term planning.
The JRC report aims to complement the Mutual Learning Exercise on performance-based funding of public research organisations under the 2016 Horizon 2020 Policy Support Facility. This purpose of this application is to advise EU member states and associated nations of their funding allocation systems for public research organisations.
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Projeler
EuropaBio, the European Association for Bioindustries, has invited applications for the 7th ‘Most Innovative European Biotech SME Award’ in recognition of biotechnological innovation.
European Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) can apply in the categories of healthcare, agriculture or industrial biotechnology.
Biotech epitomises how scientific innovations can act as a potential solution to current health and societal problems such as the obesity epidemic. New therapies can address unmet medical needs and help to eradicate rare diseases. Other areas where biotech is hoped to have an impact are within industrial and agricultural processes such as the development of drought-resistant crops.
According to a statement by the European Commission, SMEs are “the backbone of Europe’s economy. They represent 90% of all businesses in the EU. In the past five years, they have created around 85% of new jobs and provided two-thirds of the total private sector employment in the EU”.
The panel of experts who will judge prize includes chair of the EuropaBio SME platform and board member of Arecor Ltd. Tom Saylor; secretary general of EuropaBio Nathalie Moll; Welsh MEP Kay Swinburne; and Belgian secretary of state and former MEP Philippe De Backer.
Winners will receive a cheque for €10,000 as well as two years membership of EuropaBio and significant market exposure.
The event will take place in Brussels, Belgium, on 27 September and applications must be submitted online before 27 June 2016. Click here for more information.
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The European Space Agency (ESA) has announced the delay of its second ExoMars mission, which will move to 2020.
The ExoMars programme is the first collaboration between the ESA and Roscosmos, the Russian federal space agency, with the first rover expected to reach Mars in October 2016. The second was due to launch in 2018, but officials have warned since March that the landing platform and other new hardware may not be ready in time. Now, the ESA has officially announced that the launch will move to July 2020.
Rolf de Groot, head of ESA’s robotic exploration co-ordination office, told Space News that, given the need to push back the launch, the new date offered the best available option: “We looked at launch windows later in 2018 and also early in 2019. For some of them we would have arrived even later than the 2020 date we have now agreed to. But they would add significantly more requirements to the spacecraft because of radiation and other issues.”
De Groot emphasised that, although the delay would lead to increased costs, it was necessary for the success of the mission: “The decision was supported on all sides. This mission is very important for both agencies’ exploration programmes. The responsible thing to do now is to make a good mission and a good schedule for 2020.” He denied that budget cuts at Roscosmos are responsible for the delay, and stressed that the ExoMars mission remained a priority for both the Russian and European space agencies.
Read the full interview with Rolf de Groot here.
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The European Union and Canada are set to combine scientific efforts for better understanding and protection of the Atlantic Ocean.
Having invested €120m under the Horizon 2020 framework programme, EU projects such as PrimeFish, ClimeFish and AquaSpace, which involve stakeholders from both continents, are underway with the aim of improving the sustainability of the ocean’s fisheries and aquaculture sectors.
The European commissioner for research, science and innovation, Carlos Moedas, alongside the Canadian minister of fisheries, oceans and the canadian coast guard Hunter Tootoo, have agreed to pool resources for further research projects.
Speaking in Brussels last week, Moedas said: “We rely on oceans to regulate the climate and weather and to provide us with food and other important marine resources. But coral reefs, fish stocks and marine mammals are declining at alarming rates as we push these vital marine ecosystems to the brink. Canada and the EU are committed to harnessing the societal and economic value of our oceans responsibly, while working together to protect the vital marine ecosystems that produce those resources. The better we understand the Atlantic Ocean through shared international research, the quicker we can adjust and adapt how we use and conserve these life-giving waters.”
The pooling of resources represents a vast accomplishment for EU-Canada-United States collaborative projects, and both Moedas and Tootoo welcomed the results. Included in this accomplishment is the advanced mapping of the seabed, observation systems, aquaculture, ocean literacy and ocean health.
Tootoo added: “By sharing knowledge and resources and by working together on research and monitoring programmes, we can make significant progress in understanding the ocean we share. The information collected by our scientists will contribute to a better understanding of the Atlantic Ocean’s complex ecosystem and will help us collectively improve its sustainable management.”
This year will see the fourth joint expedition on-board the Canadian Coast Guard vessel Louis St. Laurent.
The three nations make up the Atlantic Ocean Research Alliance, which was founded in 2013.
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European research commissioner Carlos Moedas and Georgian minister for education and science Tamar Sanikidze will meet in Brussels, Belgium, today to sign an agreement enabling Georgia’s inclusion in Horizon 2020.
The agreement will allow the former Soviet repulic’s researchers and innovators to participate in the framework programme under the same conditions as EU member states and other associated nations, which include Albania, Faroe Islands and fellow former Soviet state Ukraine.
Speaking ahead of the agreement signature, Moedas said: “I am very pleased to be welcoming Georgia into Horizon 2020, the world’s largest public funding programme for research and innovation. EU research, science and innovation is open to the world for collaboration and we value working together with our partners to invest in knowledge and innovation for the future. Georgia’s association will bring a diversity of expertise and ideas, enriching our international research cooperation.”
European commissioner for the EU neighbourhood Johannes Hahn added: “The full association of Georgia into Horizon 2020 will allow its enterprises and research institutions to become even more competitive and resilient. Georgia is an important partner for the EU and a frontrunner of the Eastern Partnership: extending Horizon 2020 to Georgia is a further, concrete sign of our commitment to closer political association and economic integration with the country.”
Sanikidze was in San Diego, California, USA, earlier this week to attend a seminar aimed at promoting science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects for women.
A press release from the European Commission is expected to appear this afternoon via its audiovisual service, here.
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The ITER Council convened in Paris, France, to acknowledge and validate the continuous progress of the ITER Project, commending its achievement of ten from its 29 targets for 2016-17.
The following key findings were noted by the ITER Council whilst reviewing the ITER Council Independent Review Group’s (ICRG) report: major restructuring has contributed to “substantial improvement in project performance, a high degree of motivation, and considerable progress during the past 12 months”; additional integration work optimises the schedule and its associated resources, resulting in “better focus on the successful achievement of First Plasma”; and the “ITER Organisation’s risk management approach, organisation, and processes are maturing at a good pace”.
Improvements were also noted in the collaborative functions between the ITER Organisation and domestic agencies, stating that “further strengthening” of these relationships in a “culture of collaboration” was visible.
The ITER Council charged the director general with the refinement of the schedule and its associated resources and have recommended that the ICRG report be immediately released for governmental use.
ITER was designed to demonstrate the scientific and technological feasibility of fusion power. Fusion is the process by which the Sun and other stars acquire their energy through the fusion of light atomic nuclei to form heavier ones. Fusion research is aimed at developing a safe, abundant and environmentally responsible energy source.
European contributions, including funding from Horizon 2020, cover almost half of the construction costs, while the other six members of the international research project include China, India, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Russia and the USA).
The ITER Project is under construction in Saint-Paul-lès-Durance, France. For more information about the ITER Project, click here.
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Within the European Union buildings are responsible for 40% of energy consumption and 36% of CO2 emissions.1 Heating and cooling stand for a majority of this consumption. In order to achieve the energy reduction targets for 2020, it is obvious that an improvement in this field is required in Europe.
Many activities are ongoing when it comes to energy savings and, piece by piece, they add up to a sustainable energy infrastructure. However, digitalisation is a crucial cornerstone to make this happen, and we believe this is the most important one.
On several markets in Europe, district heating is the major technology for heating and cooling (DHC). On some markets the penetration is low and so they are picking up speed. Regardless of the market penetration, you will find a common ground for these grids – under the right conditions district heating is clearly a sustainable and environmentally friendly technology, but there are improvement areas where digitalisation will play the most important role. If this is done with a sustainable mindset and long-term thinking it will lead to the world’s most environmentally friendly technology for heating and cooling.
Digitalisation will not only decrease the consumption in buildings, it will also optimise the production and distribution systems. In addition, a great amount of useful data will be gathered for further improvements. During the coming years we will see a big leap in this area, which will lead to a sustainable energy infrastructure.
Of course there are challenges to overcome and those differ between grids. Fossil fuel needs to be reduced, production prices need to stay competitive, new pipes to be placed, new buildings (i.e. new customers) must be connected and old peak load oil or gas burners must be phased out.
Is it possible to handle all this through the digitalisation of district heating systems and buildings?
The answer is Yes. For a couple of years there has been a hidden environmental revolution going on. Digitalisation of heating systems creates the needed link between production, distribution, property owners and consumers. A connected building means access to data, much data. The data is analysed in real time with surrounding data points such as weather forecasts, etc. All this is processed through custom, self-learning and algorithms. The calculation tells us how much of the energy storage that can be used to, for example, reduce the use of peak load burners within the grid.
When going from analogue to digital you also go from a supply focus to a demand focus . The energy is released and used when and where it’s better needed. In fact, this is already happening on the market today without any big investments in hardware.
Let’s take a basic example.
Normally the indoor temperature in a building is decided by the outdoor temperature. The problem is that the outside temperature can be -5 degrees if it’s a grey and windy morning or if it’s a sunny afternoon without any wind. The indoor temperature will of course be affected by this. This is the basic problem, or opportunity, if you prefer. During a sunny day the building stores energy. Instead of opening the window when it’s getting too warm it’s better to take care of this energy immediately. In this case the building becomes a virtual energy storage tank. To steer the indoor climate in a controlled way, other data points are also used, for example, how the weather will change in a couple of hours.
Our experience from research and about 1000 installations shows that in a building the energy consumption, under the right conditions, can be reduced by up to 50% during a certain amount of time without affecting the indoor climate. The process is generated automatically in real time and performed exactly when its needed, i.e. when the energy company has scarce resources and, for example, are about to start the peak load oil burner.
What does this mean in reality?
DHC goes from a supply focus to a demand focus;
Fossil fuel can be reduced or removed completely;
More buildings (i.e. more customers) can be connected without investments in new infrastructure;
No investments in extra storage tanks;
Stronger link between consumption and production cost; and
The data can be shared and used by the property owner.
In this case digitalisation solves some of the main challenges for a fossil free and sustainable heating system without digging in the streets and investing millions in production plants.
The technology used in a grid system will also decrease the energy consumption in each connected building. With real-time steering and data analytics, the energy savings in buildings powered by district heating is around 10-20%, and keep in mind this is from one of the world’s best heating systems already.
NODA Intelligent Systems is part of the STORM project where this technology will be further developed by creating control algorithms suited for both existing and new fourth generation district heating and cooling networks. The STORM project tackles energy efficiency at district level. It aims to demonstrate that, thanks to a smart DHC networks controller, energy savings can reach up to 30%. In that perspective, the project partners will develop a controller based on self-learning algorithms.
So, at NODA we say it’s all about releasing the energy and using it when and where it’s needed. This will lead to sustainable energy solutions.
1https://ec.europa.eu/energy/en/topics/energy-efficiency/buildings
Christian Jönsson
NODA Intelligent Systems
+46 (0)709 905475
christian.jonsson@noda.se
www.noda.se
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The Joint Research Council (JRC) has designed a new model which it says will support education organisations in going digital.
The framework will allow organisations to identify areas where education organisations could improve by additional digital resources and infrastructure, and promotes ways of integrating these into the learning and teaching process. Furthermore, the JRC says that the proposal supports policy-makers, and will create a better policy-based support structure for the digitisation of education services.
The framework is addressed to all levels of the education spectrum, from primary and secondary schools through to higher education institutions, and can be used by member states to tailor their support to the specific needs of individual schools and education facilities.
For example, the report in which the model is presented outlines a number of key areas in which digital technologies can streamline education. For example, online assessments can offer quicker results and feedback, and also allow flexibility in the scheduling of tests, which is just one of many potential benefits if access to digital technology is embraced. The next step for the framework is to test it using field research and questionnaires to institutions in three EU countries, to establish how best it might be employed across the continent.
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Horizon 2020’s Graphene Flagship has announced the addition of four new sessions to the 2016 Graphene Week programme to address the idea that graphene can fulfil its promise if researchers are equipped with transferrable skills.
The sessions will be conducted by leaders in each field and will take place each afternoon during Graphene Week. Their foci is the importance of the skills required to advance technology from the lab and into the market.
Beginning on Monday 13 June, roadmapping graphene and other 2D materials for the electronics market applications will provide the focus for the first added session. The second session will focus on commercialisation by exploring the acceleration of graphene from concept development, proof of concept and validation in the lab to market readiness. Designed to promote understanding of the commercialisation process, experienced company representatives will be avaialble to share their thoughts. Among the topics explored in the third session is included the importance of standardisation for graphene for commercial success since, for the industry to win consumer trust, all companies must understand and act upon standardisation. The final extra session held on the afternoon of Thursday 16 June centres on bioapplications.
Researchers are just scratching the surface of graphene’s potential in medical and biological applications. The commercial opportunities in this field are therefore paramount and ever increasing.
The Graphene Flagship aims to send a clear message regarding the material’s commercial potential with the addition of these extra sessions. The event will be held in the Polish capital, Warsaw, where key speakers include Nobel Laureate Professor Sir Andre Konstantin Geim of the University of Manchester, UK; Professor Tony Heinz of Stanford University, US; and Professor Eva Andrei of Rutgers University, US.
Click here for more information.
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Leading members of several European scientific bodies have criticised Horizon 2020 for its focus on innovation rather than blue sky research.
The Horizon 2020 funding scheme was intended to move towards innovation focused research and favour market potential when selecting projects to fund, as a marked change from the priorities of its predecessor the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). But representatives of science organisations such as Science Europe, among others, said that the focus has shifted too far from scientific research and towards marketable results. The comments were made ahead of the upcoming mid-term review of the funding scheme, which is due to take place next year.
The director of Science Europe, Amanda Crowfoot, told Science|Business that although the choice was intentional, it was unfortunate that science is being overlooked: “There’s a fear a shift to innovation is pushing out all the science. That’s not an unfortunate action – it’s a political choice.”
It is not only the selection of projects that shows a move towards innovation, but also the ways in which those projects are funded. For example, last year some Horizon 2020 budget grants were made into loans, meaning that there is increased pressure on researchers to create marketable results in order to pay back their funds. Crowfoot said that this decision was ‘out of step’ with the way that science is funded, and that it would reduce the amount of scientific research undertaken in Europe.
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