N°12, 1er Decembre 2008
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Seventh Research Framework Programme (FP7)
Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme (CIP)
Tenders Electronic Daily (TED)
The EARTO Annual conference is scheduled for 5th - 6th May in Paris, with Working Group meetings on the afternoon of the 4th.
Please reserve these dates in your diary now.
Programme details will be released shortly
If you are currently experiencing an ex-post audit of your terminated FP6 projects, or have been informed that you will be audited shortly, you may wish to contact the EARTO Secretariat for advice.
As reported in earlier issues of EARTO News, the European Commission is increasing the number of ex-post audits of closed FP6 projects.
Several EARTO members have been audited already. We now know that the Commission is targeting the top 200 FP6 players (i.e. those receiving the most funding), who account for about 40% of the FP6 budget.
These audits are proving extremely problematic because the Commission is challenging cost reimbursement methods and practices which individual RTOs have employed for many years and which previously the Commission had accepted. In effect, the Commission is retrospectively introducing new definitions of eligible costs. Some RTOs have been told that they may be required to reimburse large sums of money to the Commission.
EARTO has formed a Task Force of affected members - comprising senior financial managers and senior legal counsel - to monitor the situation, to exchange information, to develop a common position towards the Commission on specific audit issues, and to consider the legal and political options available to challenge the Commission, if necessary.
At the time of writing, EARTO is seeking to obtain an urgent meeting with the European Commisisoner for Research in order to emphasise the gravity of the situation and to propose acceptable ways of bring the matter to a close.
For further information, please contact Christopher John Hull
The Innovative Medicines Joint Technology Initiative published its first call for proposals earlier this year: the evaluation and selection process has now been completed and the first contract negotiations are presently taking place.
EARTO is carefully monitoring IMI because of its unsatisfactory IP policy and its unacceptable funding model that limits the reimbursement of indirect costs (overheads) to 20% of direct project costs.
EARTO now wishes to monitor the contract negotiation process. Any EARTO member with experience or knowledge of the IMI contract negotiations is invited to contact Nina Baumeister in the EARTO secretariat as soon as possible.
The EARTO Working Group on Quality and Excellence in RTOs is a forum where members exchange experience on methods and issues related to quality management in RTOs, business excellence and related matters.
The next meeting of the Working Group will take place at the EARTO offices in Brussels on 17th December. The main item on the agenda are presentations by members on their approach to measuring RTO impact. There will also be a discussion about handling customer complaints.
The Working Group is helping the EARTO Secretariat with developing the proposed RTO Yearbook.
For further information please contact Nina Baumeister.
In the last newsletter we announced a workshop on the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). That meeting will take place in the EARTO offices on 13th January, starting at 10 a.m.
The meeting is open to all interested members. The objective is to give as much information as possible about the critical policy decisions currently being prepared in the EIT Governing Board and, if needed, to formulate recommendations for transmittal to the EIT Governors.
The workshop is timed to take place in advance of three meetings being organised by the Commission to discuss the thematic content for KICs: dates and locations should be available in mid-December. These meetings will be followed by an important EIT governing board meeting which will decide guidelines for the future form of the EIT's Knowledge and Innovation Communities.
The EARTO Secretariat is carefully monitoring developments in order to prepare the 13th January workshop. Presentations will be made by EARTO staff and by the EIT unit of the European Commission. We are also inviting presentations from members with ideas for possible Knowledge and Innovation Communities.
A detailed agenda for the workshop will be published in mid-December. If you are interested in attending or making apresentation, or if you wish more information, please contact Mikael Kekkonen.
The EIT has begun the search for its first full-time Director. This influential post requires a highly qualified and experienced individual. Further details are available here . Please contact Mikael Kekkonen for further information.
The EU Structural and Cohesion Funds are proposing to spend more than €50 billion on R&D and innovation during the coming years.
The EARTO Secretariat is organising a one-day workshop in Brussels on February 3rd to provide information to interested members. The agenda will include:
• a presentation by the European Commission on the general framework and rules for using the Structural and Cohesion Funds
• practical examples of R&D and innovation projects financed using the EU funds
• discussion among members on their experience of working with the funds.
If you are interested in participating or wish further information, please contact Nina Baumeister.
This service gives EARTO members a simple-to-use tool for comparing how well they are doing in FP7 compared with other RTOs. It is a benchmarking database in which you record the numbers of proposals you have submitted (or in which you are a participant), how many have passed the evaluation threshold, and how many have been accepted for funding. You can make comparisons with other RTOs accoring to size category and in different FP7 thematic priority areas. Submitted data are treated confidentially and are presented anonymously.
Several RTOs have recently updated or provided data for the first time.
You can access the data via the Members Area.
For further information, please contact Nina Baumeister.
Should you be interesed to subscribe to the new VTT Ventures Newsletter please contact Irene.Hernberg@vtt.fi
Here are two examples of articles in the first edition:
ASIAN MARKETS HUNGRY FOR NEW TECHNOLOGIES
China is the number one country in the world in the area of technology production and Asia the fastest growing market area. VTT has noticed the potential these markets can offer and is currently on the spot launching collaboration and finding its place as well as developing new methods in the Asian technology markets. http://www.vtt.fi/newsletter/ventures012008editorial.jsp?lang=en
VTT STRENGTHENS ITS COMMERCIALIZATION ACTIVITIES IN CHINA
VTT has signed a cooperation agreement with the Laboratory of Advanced Forming Technology at Tsinghua University and with the technology transfer company Coway International Techtrans Co., Ltd. This strengthens VTT’s commercialization activities in the Chinese markets and can bring notable IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) income to VTT.
http://www.vtt.fi/newsletter/ventures012008art06.jsp?lang=en
The Norwegian National Institute of Technology (TI - Teknologisk Institutt) is a research organisation recognised by the Norwegian government (Research Council of Norway).
It offers R&D and technical consultancy services, laboratory services, technology dissemination programmes and training services within a number of specialised areas: materials technology, production technology, environment and safety, indoor environment, calibration, certification, and training Services.
The Institute has an annual turnover of about €30 million and more than 220 employees. The main office is in Oslo, with department offices in Stavanger, Kongsberg, Gjøvik, Ågotnes and Lødingen.
TI is active in the EU Framework Programme, especially the Research for SMEs and Research for SME Associations programmes.
http://www.teknologisk.no/eway/default0.asp?e=0&pid=201
C-Tech was founded in December 2001. It provides R&D and innovation management services to companies, government agencies, SMEs, university research organisations and spin-outs.
C-Tech innovation management services include: contract research, grant assisted research, process innovation and scale-up, new product development, prototyping, project management, knowledge transfer, technology due diligence, intellectual property exploitation, technology transfer.
Its main fields of technological excellence are energy (storage, hydrogen fuel cells, industrial energy efficiency), environmental impact (resource efficiency, recycling, LCA, effluent treatment), industrial process technology (microwave, chemical, biotech), nanomaterials (nanostructured coatings, nanoparticles), security & safety (indoor air, water supplies), thermal process engineering (microwave, RF, plasma, IR).
www.ctechinnovation.com
EARTO gives space in this newsletter to members who would like to publish their job vacancies. Please contact Nina Baumeister.
November 8 - 9, 2010
ESWIRP first workshop, Cologne, Germany
October 27, 2010
EARTO Innovation Prize - ceremony
October 11 - 15, 2010
2nd European Innovation Summit
September 23, 2010
DESCA Consultation Group Meeting
September 22, 2010
DESCA Core Meeting
September 16, 2010
EARTO Communication Task Force, Brussels
September 15, 2010
EARTO Innovation Prize Jury Meeting, Brussels
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Europe's renewable energy industries have launched a roadmap setting out how the EU could achieve its goal of meeting 20% of the union's energy needs with renewable energy sources by 2020.
The Joint Research Centre of the European Commission recently published the report, "Mapping R&D Investment by the European ICT Business Sector".
Every year the European Commission publishes a work programme, which acts as the basis for strategic and legislative proposals from the Commission. As 2009 will be the European Year of Creativity and...
TRANS REG NCP, the trans-national network of the National Contact Points for the FP7 "Regions of Knowledge" programme, supports all research organizations, enterprises and regional authorities to...
Bring some Mobility to your research organisation!
The European Commission is failing to pay its "fair share" in funding research into the main poverty-related killers HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, according to health NGOs.
Research and technology organisations (RTOs) have called on the European Commission to ensure that public money invested in EU research is distributed and intellectual property managed in a way that...
The European Research Council's (ERC) Scientific Council recently announced the final results of the first Advanced Grants Competition.
The European Commission has launched today a new website, the so-called 'Tracking System for Alternative test methods Review Validation and Approval (TSAR)', designed to track the development of new...
CORDIS, the Community Research and Development Information Service, has launched a new Energy Open Topics service.
COST (European Cooperation in the fiend of Scientific and Technical Research) has launched a call for proposals on actions contributing to the scientific, technological, economic, cultural or...
The EARTO meeting room is available to members for meetings of 12 (14 absolute maximum), including light refreshments (coffee, tea, etc.) and the use of a projector, at €250 per day. Lunch arrangements are extra.
Members needing a larger meeting room are welcome to contact the Secretariat for assistance.
For further information, please contact Sylvia Lopomo at the EARTO Secretariat: +32-2-5028698.
To subscribe or unsubscribe to this newsletter, please send an e-mail to baumeister@earto.eu.