Tag Archives: EU

Update on Horizon 2020

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Horizon 2020 is the successor research and innovation funding programme to Framework Programme 7.  Horizon 2020 will operate from 2014-2020 with a proposed overall budget of €80 billion. This programme will support three pillars of activity – Excellent Science, Industrial Leadership and Societal Challenges. 

Each legislative part of Horizon 2020 implementation must be approved by the European Parliament, Council and Commission.  These discussions are scheduled  to be completed by summer 2013, before the end of the Irish presidency.  Current issues to be resolved include the rules and rates for cost reimbursement, the detailed structured for the societal challenges pillar and widening the participation potential across all member states.  Once these issues have been resolved the first calls are expected in early 2014.

This all depends on the budget negotiations, which are part of the overall EU budget for 2014-2020 (the Multi-Annual Financial Framework), subject for the summit meetings this week.  Our UKRO annual visit on 13th February will provide more detailed information following on from these budget discussions. To register for this event contact externalprojects@staffs.ac.uk.

FP7 ERC proof of concept call

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The European Commission Framework Programme 7: European Research Council/Ideas invites applications for the European Research Council proof-of-concept grants. Grants enable ERC-funded ideas to be brought to a pre-demonstration stage where potential commercialisation opportunities have been identified. Funds support:

•establishing viability, technical issues and overall direction;

•clarifying intellectual property rights position and strategy;

•providing feedback for budgeting and other forms of exploitation opportunity discussion;

•providing connections to later stage funding;

•covering initial expenses for establishing a company.

Applications are accepted by host institutions in association with principal investigators. All principal investigators benefiting from a recent ERC advanced or starting grant may participate and apply for ERC proof-of-concept funding. Candidate host institutions must engage the principal investigator for at least the duration of the proof-of-concept activity and must be established in a member state or an associated country. Any type of legal entity may host the principal investigator and their team. ERC actions are open to researchers of any nationality who intend to establish and conduct their research activity in any member state or associated country. Principal investigators may be of any age and nationality and may reside in any country at the time of the application. The indicative budget for this funding scheme is €10 million, to be divided equally over two rounds. Grants are worth up to €150,000 over 12 months to cover 100 per cent of eligible costs. One proof-of-concept grant will be awarded per ERC-funded project. FP7 ERC-2013-PoC.

  • Closing date 24 Apr 13

http://ec.europa.eu/research/participants/portal/page/call_FP7?callIdentifier=ERC-2013-PoC&specificProgram=IDEAS#wlp_call_FP7

Wider Outlook January 2013

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Wider Outlook January 2013

External Projects Team Newsletter –  Wider Outlook is now available -covering the latest funding deadlines, and reporting on the recent ‘EU Funding and Collaboration’ event, with contributions from ECD Director Sandra Booth, Senior Lecturer Dr. Peter Kevern, Enterprise Reader Dr. Neil Hart, and Head of Policy and Planning Dr. Lesley Rollason.

New ranking targets 500 universities

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Five hundred universities from across Europe and the world are expected to take part in a new international university ranking initiated by the European Commission, it was announced today. The new listing, U-Multirank, will differ from existing rankings by rating universities according to a broader range of performance factors, aimed at providing a more realistic and user-friendly guide to what they offer. The new ‘multidimensional’ ranking will rate universities in five separate areas: reputation for research, quality of teaching and learning, international orientation, success in knowledge transfer (e.g. partnerships with business and start-ups), and regional engagement. Universities are being invited to sign up for the new ranking in the first half of 2013, and the first results are due in early 2014. U-Multirank will be formally launched at a major conference on 30-31 January in Dublin under the Irish Presidency of the European Union.

Androulla Vassiliou, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, said: “This will be a modern and sophisticated ranking, capturing the full diversity of higher education. Existing international rankings still tend to attach too much weight to research reputation. Our multi-dimensional ranking will provide a more accurate and comparable guide to university quality. U-Multirank will help young people make the right study choices and it will motivate institutions to improve their performance across a whole range of activities. It will also be a useful tool for decision-makers, enabling them to be better placed to develop effective higher education strategies for the future.’

U-Multirank will be based on objective criteria and data. The Commission aims to attract a wide range of universities to take part in the first phase. It would be open to others to join in later. U-Multirank will also enable individuals to select and weigh their own priorities to produce their own, tailor-made rankings.

To ensure impartiality, quality and verification, the Commission has selected an independent consortium to carry out the ranking. The Centre for Higher Education (CHE) in Germany and the Center for Higher Education Policy Studies (CHEPS) in the Netherlands, will lead the initiative. They will work with partners including the Centre for Science and Technology Studies at Leiden University (CWTS), academic publishers Elsevier, the Bertelsmann Foundation and software firm Folge 3. The consortium will also work with national ranking partners and stakeholder organisations to compile accurate data.

Background

U-Multirank is the culmination of an initiative which originated at a conference organised under the 2008 French Presidency of the European Union, which called for a new university ranking based on a methodology reflecting a variety of dimensions of excellence in an international context.

The European Commission subsequently commissioned a feasibility study which was carried out by a consortium of higher education and research organisations known as CHERPA and finalised in 2011. The study, based on work with 150 higher education institutions from Europe and around the world, confirmed that both the concept and implementation of a multi-dimensional ranking was realistic.

U-Multirank will be developed in 2013-2014 and will receive €2 million in EU funding from the Lifelong Learning Programme, with the possibility of a further two years of seed-funding in 2015-2016. The goal is for an independent organisation to run the ranking thereafter.

For more information

U-Multirank

Skills Panorama launched by the European Commission

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The EU Skills Panorama website has been launched by the Commission to help tackle skills mismatches across Europe.

The website presents quantitative and qualitative information on short and medium-term skills needs, skills supply and skills mismatches. Drawing on data and forecasts compiled at an EU and Member State level, the Skills Panorama will highlight the fastest growing occupations as well as ‘bottleneck’ occupations.

Containing detailed information by sector, profession and country, the website will aim to improve education and training systems to adapt to the latest trends in skills while boosting Europe’s productivity and competitiveness.

To read the press release in full visit: europa.eu/rapid/press-release_IP-12-1329_en.htm

To use the EU Skills Panorama visit: euskillspanorama.ec.europa.eu

 

CEDEFOP tender to conduct a study on how low-educated and low-skilled workers from a low socio-economic background think about education and continuous learning.

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The European Centre for the Development of Vocational Training invites proposals for a narrative of career-related and labour-market-related learning of low-skilled workers. The tenderer shall conduct a study to investigate how low-educated and low-skilled workers with a low socio-economic background think about education and continuous learning. Funding is worth up to €300,000 over 18 months.

 The study will investigate how low-educated/low-skilled workers with a low socio-economic background think about education and continuous learning. The inquiry will be based on a collection of individual narratives that should bring out attitudes, aspirations and expectations towards learning. This research on low-educated workers prone to the risk of unemployment and social exclusion intends to uncover the potential among individuals to re-engage in learning and become socially upwardly mobile. The results of the study will be used to inform Cedefop’s research agenda on the topic of how adult and work-based learning can help people to better manage careers and working-life transitions, to set the stage for future analyses, and to pave the way for policy recommendations.

 The closing date is 18th January 2013.

 http://ted.europa.eu/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:374347-2012:TEXT:EN:HTML&src=0

 For further information, please contact externalprojects@staffs.ac.uk

 

Event: UK Research Office (UKRO) Visit

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Save the date!!!

The External Projects Team will be hosting our annual UKRO visit on the 13th February 2013. The session will be based around the latest EU news and oppoortunities for funding.

This is your chance to hear firsthand about the preperation for Horizon 2020 and recieve advice on EU funds.

The team are still preparing the agenda so if you have any requests or areas of EU funds that you would like to be covered please do get in touch with us at externalprojects@staffs.ac.uk

More details on times and venue will follow in the new year

Calls for Proposals: Europe For Citizens Programme

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The European Commission, Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency, has launched a call for proposals for the provision of the implementation of the programme actions: Active Citizens for Europe, Active civil society in Europe and Active European Remembrance.

The Europe for Citizens programme has the following specific objectives:

  • Bringing together people from local communities across Europe to share and exchange experiences, opinions and values, to learn from history and to build for the future;
  • Fostering action, debate and reflection related to European citizenship and democracy, shared values, common history and culture through cooperation within civil society organisations at European level;
  • Bringing Europe closer to its citizens by promoting Europe’s values and achievements, while preserving the memory of its past; and
  • Encouraging interaction between citizens and civil society organisations from all participating countries contributing to intercultural dialogue and bringing to the fore both Europe’s diversity and unity, with particular attention to activities aimed at developing closer ties between citizens from Member States of the European Union as constituted on 30 April 2004 and those from Member States which have acceded since that date.

The deadline dates for 2013 are: 01/02/2013 / 01/06/2013 / 01/09/2013

For more information on the 2013 calls for proposals please click HERE

Commission Consultation on Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR)

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The European Commission is holding a “public consultation on the efficiency of proceedings and accessibility of measures property rights” relating to the civil enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights (IPR).

The consultation closes on 30 March 2013.
As a part of its overall strategy on intellectual property, and in line with the Conclusions of the Competitiveness Council of 31 May 2012, the Commission is continuing to consult stakeholders in order to evaluate the overall functioning of the civil enforcement system for intellectual property rights (e.g. patents, trademarks, designs and copyright) in the EU. This survey is a part of the broad strategy of the Commission to improve the legal framework for intellectual property rights and their enforcement in order to allow innovative services and products to create growth and jobs in Europe.

Purpose and Scope of Consultation
The purpose of this survey is to gather specific information about the enforcement of intellectual property rights through contracts, litigation or other means. This information would allow for comprehensive assessment of efficiency and costs of the civil enforcement systems that are put in place for intellectual property rights in the Member States. Additionally, this round of public consultations gives an opportunity to identify complementary work streams where appropriate.

The survey focuses on the period from May 2006 onwards. It is directed at all interested public and private stakeholders. In particular, this survey is seeking information from stakeholders that participated in civil proceedings concerning infringements of intellectual property rights, namely plaintiffs and defendants as well as from other parties involved in such proceedings.

 to take part in the consultation please click HERE