The Joint Research Centre (JRC) has now made its research data accessible to the public in support of the European Commission’s strategy on Open Science for improved circulation of knowledge and thus innovation for generating growth.
The first version of the JRC Data Catalogue is online and its datasets available for download. The catalogue will feed into the EU Open Data portal, which is the single point of access to a growing range of data produced by the EU institutions. Interested users can access information on a wide range of topics, including climate, freshwater resources, alien species, soil or forests.
This data is available for use in further research and other projects, provided the source is acknowledged.
The JRC’s data policy was designed to help enhance transparency and drive innovation. Its underlying principles include Open Data (free, full, open and timely access to JRC data by default), data acquisition (restriction-free access and use of licensed data), data management (metadata, storage, accessibility) and implementation (identification of responsible entities, guidelines, data management plans, monitoring of implementation).
The public availability of JRC’s research data follows the implementation of the JRC Open Access Policy, granting free and unrestricted online access to all JRC peer-reviewed research and review articles.
The catalogue currently contains around 500 sets of the data wealth produced by the JRC; more information will be uploaded on a regular basis.
You can search the catalogue here.
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Projeler
Haydale Composite Solutions has launched a range of carbon fibres that have been augmented by ‘wonder-material’ graphene.
Already used in aerospace, car manufacturing and sporting goods, graphene is adapted to Haydale’s new range of carbon fibres to improve their properties and save costs.
SHD Composites and US chemicals giant Huntsman collaborated with Haydale to develop the new carbon fibres.
Ray Gibbs, Haydale’s chief executive, said: “My aim is to be the leader in functionalised graphenes and other nano particles, leveraged through IP [intellectual property] and best-in-class commercial relationships in our defined markets of composites and inks. We have independent verification that our patented technology works; we have sales channels and satisfied customers placing repeat orders; and now we have the funds to accelerate our commercialisation strategy.”
David Hatrick, European technology director at Huntsman, said: “This work is the platform for development of a range of new graphene enhanced Araldite resins which will be targeted at the industrial composites, automotive and aerospace markets.”
Gerry Boyce, Haydale Composite Solutions’ managing director, said: “We believe we are on the verge of a whole new range of graphene based polymer nanocomposites with some exciting and unique properties.”
Gibbs also said to expect some “very exciting” announcements and further developments.
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The 4 April submissions deadline for KIC InnoEnergy’s 2016 call for proposals is fast approaching.
This year’s call is looking for European businesses which have innovative projects in sustainable energy at the research and development stage, and has already received 492 registrations of interest from innovators across Europe.
After its official close, applicants with the most promise will be asked to present their proposals to two KIC InnoEnergy assessment committees. Successful applicants will be announced on 31 May 2016 and will then work alongside KIC InnoEnergy to bring their innovation to market.
“Developing new innovations in sustainable energy is, now more than ever, a vital task. The world faces a triple challenge to reduce emissions, find alternatives to depleting fossil fuels and ensure supply without compromising safety,” said KIC InnoEnergy CEO Diego Pavia.
“KIC InnoEnergy’s call for innovation proposals is a generator of success stories, all of which are tackling these challenges. Over the years, we have identified the most viable concepts, and with the support of KIC InnoEnergy’s network of experts, we can now watch as these innovations develop, ready to make great strides in the energy market.
“As we now open our doors to supporting new products and solutions in the sustainable energy sector, our message to the European community of innovators is: join us – don’t miss this year’s opportunity to turn your concept into a commercial reality.”
To learn more about the call or to submit a proposal, go here.
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The EU needs to step up its performance in research and development and make further efforts to boost basic drivers of innovation such as ICT and education, according to a new report by DG Research.
A major finding of the ‘Science, Research and Innovation Performance of the EU’ report is that the EU’s productivity gap with the US continues to widen. Labour productivity is 15% lower in the EU and the gap has widened since the economic and financial crisis, in particular for advanced European economies.
This is due to a relative underinvestment in research – although the EU’s R&D intensity has progressed to over 2% GDP (up from 1.79% in 2000) – and an inability to re-orient the economy towards knowledge-intensive activities, with the EU continuing to specialise in medium-high tech sectors such as automobiles.
Speaking at a launch event at the Lisbon Council, research and innovation commissioner Carlos Moedas said: “The EU is a global leader of science and technology, but for our economy to benefit from being ever more dynamic and innovation intensive, we must continue to be proactive in creating the right conditions for innovation to succeed. This report will provide policy makers from across Europe with the hard facts and insights they need to tackle the innovation challenges we face. The commission’s own efforts remain focused on the priorities of Open Innovation, Open Science and Open to the World.”
The report presents a detailed analysis of the EU’s science, research and innovation performance in relation to three main challenges: converting research results and new technologies into innovations on the market (Open Innovation); improving the EU’s share of the very best scientific output in the world and promoting greater collaboration (Open Science); and helping Europe to improve its standing in international research co-operation and science diplomacy (Open to the World).
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Portugal’s Dr Susana Sargento has been announced the winner of the third EU Prize for Women Innovators.
Sargento beat eight competitors in the final round of the contest, which recognises outstanding women entrepreneurs who have successfully brought their innovative ideas to market and hopes to inspire other women to follow in their footsteps.
Sargento was awarded the top spot for her work as co-founder of Veniam, which turns vehicles into Wi-Fi hotspots and builds city scale vehicular networks that collect terabytes of urban data. She received a cash prize of €100,000.
In second place was Professor Sirpa Jalkanen, who was recognised for her role as co-founder of BioTie Therapies in Finland. The company has discovered unique targets for drug development for harmful inflammations and cancer treatment. Jalkanen received €50,000.
Ireland’s Dr Sarah Bourke, co-founder of Skytek, which develops software for the International Space Station and has received innovation awards from NASA, was awarded a €30,000 prize for finishing in third place.
Innovation commissioner Carlos Moedas said: “I want to congratulate the three winners of the 2016 EU Prize for Women Innovators on their outstanding achievements. Europe needs to support more innovators like them: the people who combine scientific excellence with a head for business; the people who turn their research into employment opportunities and their ideas into positive impacts for our society and our economy.”
The finalists were selected by a high-level jury consisting of independent experts from business, venture capital, entrepreneurship and academia. Some 64 people applied to the contest, with innovations across a broad range of sectors, the most dominant being ICT and the Life Sciences.
The three winners received their prizes from Moedas during a Citizens’ Dialogue event in Brussels yesterday on the importance of women in business and research.
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Eight new research infrastructure projects have been announced as part of the 2016 Roadmap for the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI), launched yesterday at the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.
ESFRI identifies research facilities of pan-European importance that are necessary to strengthen scientific excellence and competitiveness in the EU. The updated roadmap now consists of 21 ‘ESFRI projects’ (research infrastructures in development phase) of such magnitude that they cannot be realised at national level and the 29 ‘ESFRI landmarks’ (projects which are being implemented or have been completed).
“To remain at the forefront of scientific discovery, Europe needs to ensure that its scientists and innovators have access to the very best research infrastructures. This requires a strategy and funding. The 21 projects identified by ESFRI are a major contribution in this context,” said DG Research director general Robert-Jan Smits.
The eight new facilities are expected to help push the boundaries of science in important areas such as the environment (ACTRIS and DANUBIUS-RI); health and food (EMPHASIS); physical sciences (EST, KM3Net 2.0, HL-LHC and ESRF Upgrades); and social and cultural innovation (E-RIHS).
The ESFRI roadmaps reflect the long-term needs of the European research community. The 2016 roadmap highlights the strong socioeconomic impact of research infrastructures as well as their potential to generate innovation through collaboration with industrial partners.
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European Research Council (ERC) president Professor Jean-Pierre Bourguignon will today speak at the Next Einstein Forum Global Gathering in Dakar, Senegal.
It marks his first visit to Africa in his capacity as president of the ERC.
Speaking ahead of a plenary session of the Next Einstein Forum, which aims to propel Africa into the global scientific landscape, Bourguignon said: “I’m very pleased and honoured to be in Dakar on the occasion of the Next Einstein Forum. I am truly impressed by the drive and excellence of the scientists I have met here, in particular the younger ones. Together with this forward looking initiative, originally built around the African Institutes for Mathematical Sciences (AIMS), it bodes well for the future of first class research in Africa. It is absolutely key that talented researchers hosted here are nurtured and that their bright ideas are brought to fruition.”
He added: “It has been and will remain important for the ERC to engage with outstanding scientists and counterparts from across the world to forge closer ties and to make the attractive ERC grants better known to ambitious researchers. The aspiration to make Europe a hotbed for top talent has been at the core of the ERC’s mission since its launch in 2007. For that purpose, an international mindset is essential, and the message is clear: the ERC is open to the world.”
Bourguignon, a renowned mathematician, will speak in the plenary session ‘Developing a national science strategy including curiosity-driven science’, alongside US National Science Foundation director France Córdova, Rwandan minister of education Papias Musafiri, and the CEO of South Africa’s National Research Foundation, Molapo Qhobela, amongst others.
The first global gathering of the Next Einstein Forum, which closes today, has seen some 500 outstanding thinkers, policy makers, journalists, civil society representatives, business people and entrepreneurs from around the world come together to highlight breakthrough discoveries and catalyse scientific collaboration for human development under the theme ‘Connecting Science to Humanity’. It has also showcased 15 of Africa’s top young scientists and connected them with leaders from Africa and the rest of the world.
The next edition of the forum, which was launched by the AIMS initiative in partnership with the Robert Bosch Stiftung, will be held in 2018.
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Eminent physicist Stephen Hawking is the latest in a growing list of figures to warn against the consequences of the UK voting to leave the European Union on 23 June.
He is joined by more than 150 fellows of the Royal Society, the UK’s premier scientific institution, in arguing that a Brexit would be a ‘disaster for UK science’.
In a letter to daily newspaper The Times, they write that increased funding from the EU has elevated the quality of not just European science but UK science in particular.
‘We now recruit many of our best researchers from continental Europe, including younger ones who have obtained EU grants and have chosen to move with them here.
‘Being able to attract and fund the most talented Europeans assures the future of British science and also encourages the best scientists elsewhere to come here,’ they add.
‘If the UK leaves the EU and there is a loss of freedom of movement of scientists between the UK and Europe it will be a disaster for UK science and universities.’
The scientists point to Switzerland as a warning of what could happen to the UK should it quit the union. In 2014 Switzerland was forced to introduce Temporary Backup Schemes as a substitute for European Research Council grants after voting in favour of immigration quotas.
‘Switzerland pays into the EU and was a popular destination for young scientists. It now has limited access to EU funds … and is desperately trying to find alternative ways to attract young talent,’ the letter cautions.
Hawking is joined in the letter by Astronomer Royal Lord Martin Rees, three Nobel laureates and its organiser Sir Alan Roy Fersht, master of Gonville and Caius College at Cambridge University.
Lord Rees will contribute the foreword to the 18th edition of Pan European Networks: Science & Technology, which will be published later this month.
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European technology leaders have united under the Photonics Public Private Partnership (PPP) to accelerate the commercial adoption of flexible organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) for lighting and signage applications.
PI-SCALE aims to create a European-wide, open access pilot line that will allow companies of all sizes to quickly and cost effectively test and scale up their flexible OLED lighting concepts to make them market ready.
Flexible OLEDs are a promising technology which allow for ultra-thin, bendable, lightweight, transparent and energy efficient lighting solutions that can be made or cut to any shape or size. Their commercialisation will open up a range of exciting design opportunities to create new lighting products in a host of application areas, including architecture, transport, aerospace and electronics.
PI-SCALE is co-ordinated by the Holst Centre and includes 13 expert partners: Audi, CPI, VTT, Fraunhofer, M-Solv, FlexEnable, DuPont Teijin Films, Brabant Development Agency (BOM), REHAU, Emdedesign, Pilkington, Coatema Coating Machinery and AMIRES.
“The creation of this pilot line is a fantastic opportunity for a wide range of companies to get flexible OLED technology out of the research and development phase and into products,” says the Holst Centre’s Dr Joanne Wilson.
REHAU AG+Co researcher Dr Ansgar Niehoff adds: “PI-SCALE gives REHAU the opportunity to gain in-depth knowledge of flexible OLED production with the top European players in this field. This will help us to integrate flexible OLEDs into our premium polymer products in the best possible way.”
PI-SCALE is supported by the European Commission through the Photonics PPP with a contribution of €14m. It has been adopted alongside the pilot lines MIRPHAB and PIX4Life, which will focus on photonics technologies for health applications and sensors for the detection of chemicals in gas and liquids. Together they provide an important contribution to the commission’s efforts to boost Europe’s industrial competitiveness on the global stage.
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The Graphene Pavilion at Barcelona’s Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2016 (22-25 February) proved that graphene will be increasingly influential to future mobile technology.
A jointly co-ordinated project between the Institute of Photonic Sciences (ICFO), Barcelona, Spain, and the Graphene Flagship, the Graphene Pavilion was a highlight at the MWC 2016, where 12 research centres and 12 European companies with graphene-based prototypes and applications exhibited their products to an interested audience.
Nobel Laureate and co-discover of the ‘wonder material’ Professor Kostya Novoselov delivered a keynote speech as part of the ‘Mobile is Innovation’ session, wherein he said: “We are now part of this industry … It is very exciting for a scientist to go from doing experiments and writing papers to doing real-world applications and showcasing them in such a big gathering.”
Professor Frank Koppens at the Catalan Institution for Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA) added: “We now have working prototypes, which is a huge step. Whether this will ‘tip’ or not depends on industry joining us for the integration into real products and further pursuing economical ways of mass-producing these products. From what we have seen at MWC, industry may now be ready to take this important step.”
Over 100,000 mobile industry professionals attended the MWC to witness innovative products and applications that could lead to the invention of new technologies. Only 12 years after its own discovery at Manchester University, UK, graphene is continuing to impress as a material as it edges close to commercial markets.
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