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Issue 1 | independent international review Neelie Kroes
BMBF
Isabel Celaa
CERN
Building the EU. European Commissioner for the Digital Agenda.
Annette Schavan – “The Significance of Progress and Innovation for Prosperity and Growth in the Context of Demographic Change.”
Ministry of Education, Universities and Science – Basque Country.
Is in the fundamental physics business.
CO2 Geological Storage: a promising option in the race against climate change.
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Issue 2 | GLOBALSCIENTIA | 00
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BRGM, the French Geological Survey, deploys its expertise in the management of surface and subsurface resources and risks. Its activity is directed towards scientific research, support for public policy and international cooperation. Responding to the different industrial, societal and environmental challenges, its involvement spans 10 sectors of activity: > Geology > Mineral resources > Geothermal energy > Geological storage of CO2 > Water > Post-mining > Risks > Polluted sites and soils, waste > Metrology > Information systems As a world-leading pioneer of research into the geological storage of CO2, BRGM's activities in this domain include mapping favourable geological formations, inventories of storage capacity, modelling of interactions between CO2 and wells / reservoir rocks, monitoring, defining safety criteria and managing risks.
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Welcome
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Issue 1
Building the e-EU
Building the e-EU by Neelie Kroes
value their internet freedoms. What we are seeing now is a need for digital action and connections across all levels of government and leadership. That is why, for example, the European Commission has asked European governments to build new bridges between the worlds of government, technology and people, by appointing a ‘digital champion.’ Modelled on UK efforts to bring a public face to the tremendous power of the Internet, our goal is to ensure the power of the digital world may be experienced and understood by all.
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e all know the European economy is in the middle of a difficult period. But there are bright spots, and none is brighter that the digital economy. It’s time we better understand this digital world, and capitalise on its potential. If we rise to the challenge, the internet can be our new economic backbone.
But embracing the digital world takes more than one champion. It’s an effort that must be powered by a faster internet. An Oscar-winning animation company like UK’s Aardman Animations should not waste two whole weeks sending digitally a 30-minute cartoon to the
United States, as they do now. Even ships are quicker! Globally, Internet traffic is doubling every two years; mobile broadband traffic even faster. By 2015, European mobile broadband traffic will be one and a half trillion megabytes per month. These are levels of traffic - driven by use of videos, music and games online – that will make your morning commute seem like a holiday. The message from this is that If we take our eyes off the road, if we stop investing, we are bound to crash. Yet simple actions can often help most. Up to 80% of broadband investment costs are tied up in parallel digging and time-consuming permit processes. Acts like re-using ducts or speeding up planning approvals can cut costs by 30%. We must seize these possibilities, and the EU is working intensively to make this possible.
The potential is real. The European digital economy is already bigger than Belgium’s; were it a country, it would qualify for G20 membership. It is growing faster than China, at 12% each year, and creates more than two jobs for every job lost. The Internet helps small companies to double growth and exports, and while countless studies show that where fast internet goes, competitiveness follows. The emerging field of cloud computing supports already one million jobs in Europe. Services supporting by radio spectrum – from wireless internet to medical devices – provide another 3.5 million jobs. Yet while the Internet has been overperforming economically and socially in recent years, it has been underperforming politically. But in 2012 the Internet is moving to centre stage. This is about more than the Arab Spring and other efforts by internet communities to show how much they 06 | Issue 1
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Building the e-EU
But we need more than cables and pipes, towers and satellites. We need human capital too. In recent years, demand for ICT specialists has outstripped graduate numbers. What other sector can say that, in this era of horrific youth unemployment? By 2015 there could be 700,000 ICT surplus vacancies. Yet, while 90% of all new jobs will soon require at least basic e-skills, 25% of European adults have never used the Internet at all. That means people in your street, your neighbourhood, and possibly your own family are at risk of socio-economic exclusion. That risk, those missed opportunities, will only grow in the coming years. Businesses also suffer from digital neglect. As your local web entrepreneurs strive to build the next “killer app” they don’t need a tangle of 27 different licensing and payments systems and tying them to the ground, when they could be flying instead. If we lifted these chokepoints and delivered these entrepreneurs a single market and standardisation in ecommunications, they would be the faces behind a 1% rise in GDP. For the sake of our overall economy, it must be done. The Internet is not scary; it is not someone else’s issue – it a part of all our futures. It is a chance to bring jobs to your community and strength to your society. It is a powerful stimulant for a tired economy, a real chance for Europe to turn the economic tide.
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Issue 1 | 07
Máire Geoghegan-Quinn
Recent Goals of the European Cabinet of Science. European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science Máire Geoghegan-Quinn.
successes in its first five years, including facilitating the support of over 2,500 researchers in only its first five years.
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he cabinet of science is currently undertaking several programmes and innovations related to research and science. There have been several developments and plans implemented by the Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn and the cabinet, which were recently addressed in a speech given by the Commissioner herself. One of the programmes to come under criticism is that of Horizon 2020, mostly for its vast spending and budget. However, the European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, stands by the programme stating that it has prompted a “battle to maintain the central place of science in European Society.”
At the European Open Forum in Dublin on July 13th 2012, the Commissioner addressed the Horizon 202 Programme in all of its components. The first part of the program seeks to promote research that is both reliable and driven by curiosity and creativeness. The programme is pursuing to double the current funding level of the European Research Council, which has already championed huge 08 | Issue 1
The second component of Horizon 2020 serves to support new enterprises and to develop new and different production processes. Finally, the third part of the programme hopes to bring together knowledge and research tactics and results from different fields of study as well as different disciplines and technologies. This could go so far as to include varying studies in the humanities and social sciences. This is meant to take a comprehensive approach to the societal problems and challenges currently being faced. Improvements in Information Sharing The European Commission is undertaking the task of improving access to the scientific information that is being researched and produced in Europe. The purpose of this improvement in information sharing is to allow for quicker and easier access to scientific papers and data. This information transfer can help both businesses and researchers to help build on their developments and produce more comprehensive and cumulative approaches to common problems being faced. The end goal of
By Gillian McNicoll sharing this information is to hopefully create a system that allows citizens to access the benefits of scientific discoveries much more quickly and easier. The Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn is taking steps to achieve this end goal, the first of which is to allow open access to scientific publications as a general principle of Horizon 2020, the EU’s Research & Innovation funding programme for the years 2014-2020. Beginning in 2014, all articles that have been researched and produced using funding from Horizon 2020 will be made more accessible. They will either be immediately made accessible online through the publisher or researchers will allow for their articles to be made available through an open access repository. The Commission has stated that their goal is “for 60% of European publicly-funded research articles to be available under open access by 2016.” Funding for new EU Research Projects On July 9th, Máire GeogheganQuinn announced that a total of 8.1 billion Euros were being designated for new EU research projects. Moreover that the “key to competitiveness for just about any economy in the world right now is
knowledge, and that means research and innovation.” The 8.1 billion Euros is set to go to various types of funding including research organisations, businesses, and individual researchers. Some funding will allow for researchers to simply follow their inquisitiveness as the European Research Council is set to provide 1.7 billion euro to the best researchers. These researchers can be from virtually any discipline or industry and can be any nationality, provided that their research is carried out in Europe. There is also another close to 1 billion euros that are being designated to support research training and mobility. The New Role of Entrepreneurship for Anyone; Including Women and Young People There was a recent meeting at of the EU Ministers of Competitiveness and Research that took place in Nicosia. During the meeting, ministers discussed the new role of entrepreneurship and how it can produce better economic growth. There was a special emphasis put on small and medium sized endeavours. The meeting was led by Cyprus Minister of Commerce, Industry and Tourism, Neoklis Sylikiotis. The European Commission Vice President Antonio Tajani also attended. www.impact2020.eu
Máire Geoghegan-Quinn The summit focused on various issues related to innovation and research. One of these focused on female entrepreneurship. European women are at least as well educated as their male counterparts but very few decide to start their own company or business enterprise within 15 years after their graduation. The meeting also had a focus on how education on entrepreneurship can make a difference for both the economy as well as for young people in society. Those young people who successfully completed some kind of entrepreneurial programme almost always get a job more easily and are more likely to start their own company or business.
(ERA). The ERA is a Single Market for innovation and research in Europe. The Commissions goal is to help researchers, institutions and business to compete and move across borders. The aim is to help Member States to strengthen and secure their research foundations and increase their competitiveness. By doing so, Member States should be able to work more collaboratively to address current societal challenges including public health, energy and food security, and climate change. Through networking and information sharing it is presumed that several more societal challenges can be successfully addressed and potentially solved.
recently facilitated and forged a working relationship and partnership with the head of the US National Science Foundation, Dr. Subra Seuresh. The purpose of the partnership is to help build a two way exchange. Those scientists who are in the very early stages of their careers and are funded by the NSF in the United States can now spend up to one year in Europe at labs that have been funded by the European Research Council. The Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science spoke at a recent event declaring that she had a growing determination to make science part of the heart of Europe and put Europe at the heart of In discussing the need for advancements in Science, especially in Europe, the Commissioner stated the following:
The meeting focused on better ways in which to capitalise on the ingenuity of both young people and women, especially in the realm of entrepreneurship. Targeting Barriers to Single Market The European Commission has created steps that Member States should take in order for them to achieve the European Research Area www.impact2020.eu
In the past, EU leaders have tried to emphasise the importance of finishing the European Research Area and have set a deadline of 2014. The role of the European Research Area is strong in helping to establish competitiveness.
science. This new relationship is aimed at helping scientists to facilitate communication both with each other and with greater society, hopefully allowing scientists to better communicate results to the people.
“The announcement from CERN was a magnificent moment. Amid the economic difficulties, it gave us inspiration. It made me proud to be the Commissioner whose job it is to promote science. Our task now is to persuade everyone else of the centrality of science. Let’s put science back where it belongs – at the heart of Europe. Let’s put Europe where it belongs – at the heart of world science.”
Forging a Partnership with the U.S. Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn has
Issue 1 | 09
Scientific research in the USA
Scientific Developments in America Gets a Boost from Federal Funds. By Gillian McNicoll
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he current list of new science and research developments in the United States is both broad and comprehensive. There are improvements being made to the health care system, the way in which wastewater is treated and used, and even how to further expand computer efficiency. Each of these innovative projects, along with others are currently underway. The budget for total U.S. research and development endeavours in 2013 is expected to be somewhere around the $142.2 Billion mark. This is an increase of 1.2% over the budget for 2012. Of this budget, there are two components. The first is what is classified as defense spending which is estimated to total $77.2B. The second component is that spending which is “non-defense” related. That amount is estimated to be the remaining $65.0 Billion. In comparison to the previous year’s budget, the net gain of R& D spending is for non-defense related endeavours. The areas of science and research have been budgets forecasted on their spending and there are a few key observations in these areas. The first is that the total nondefense expenditures for R&D, which is $65.0 Billion, is about 1.7% of the total 2013 budget of 3.8 trillion dollars. The second major observation, and potentially the most interesting, is that the National Institutes of Health, which includes 27 institutes, receives almost half of the entire non-defense R&D budget. This can be attributed to the recent priority placed on health care in the United States. Emefcy Micro-based Technology
technology and that which was used in the past. This singular Emefcy feature differs by using a permeable filter to allow air in - without letting liquid out. This is unlike past technologies where electricity pushed air into the water. The membrane, which is made from polyethylene plastic, encompasses the fuel cell chamber where the wastewater flows. Emefcy coaxes anaerobic bacteria inside the fuel cell to help release electrons. These electrons are released into an environment that is free from all oxygen. They then flow to an anode and into a circuit to cathodes in a separate chamber. The electrons let the carbon cathodes react with the oxygen, creating carbon dioxide. The practical aspect of the fuel cell is in direct correlation with the way in which the materials are engineered. The anode and cathode are both comprised of carbon cloth, allowing them to work as conductors. Metals have been used as conductors for a long time, in such things as other fuel cells and even batteries. This exciting technology could create huge advances in some industries in the future. For example, in a regularly sized paper-recycling factory, one fuel cell module from Emefcy has the capacity to treat approximately 3 cubic meters per day of wastewater. Despite its promise, there are some potential limitations to the new technology. The fuel cell is perfect for wastewater that is high in organic material, primarily from food processing and agriculture rather than from municipalities. Despite this, this new technological development helps to reduce waste whilst helping create useful new energy. Beetles Prey on Plant to Aid Water Supplies in the US
A new ground-breaking micro-based technology in the US has been found to simultaneously treat wastewater whilst also creating energy. Furthermore this particular technological advance has been discovered to substantially reduce the amount of sludge produced, creating a dual technology for the price of one.
In the Southwest United States, the tamarisk plant has been monopolising the water supply and has subsequently been increasing the fire risk for the area. Scientists have been working to find a way to curb the infestation of this encroaching and damaging plant.
The Israel-based company Emefcy begins with the same overarching fundamentals of nearly every other wastewater treatment. Water is first aerated so that bacteria found in the liquid can break down organic material in a bioreactor. The bioreactor is a series of closed containers. However, there is one important factor that is creating the difference between this new
About a decade ago, scientists introduced what could be considered the tamarisk’s natural enemy, the leaf beetle, also known as Diorhabda carinulata. The beetle was intended to help prey on the tamarisk plants and diminish their population. Now, it has been learned that these beetles are taking to their role even better than initially anticipated. When first introduced to the
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Scientific research in the USA environment, the beetles were somewhat disoriented by the shorter daytime cycle, with daylight only being 14.5 hours per day in the late summer. Because of this cycle, the beetles would start hibernating at the precise time that they should have been breeding and reproducing. However, after just a few short years, the beetles have now adjusted to the new cycle and have now spread through much of the area that was previously affected by the tamarisk plant. New Semiconductor Devices Create Cooler Environments to Increase Computer Efficiency Engineers are currently working on ways in which to find alternatives to complementary metal-oxide semiconductor (CMOS) technology. This would allow for higher efficiency computer logic circuits to generate far less heat than they currently do. The issue comes from how current computers work. Today’s computers are based on logic circuits using semiconductor transistors. Smaller sized transistors are needed in order to increase the computing power of the unit. The number of these transistors that can fit on an integrated unit should double every two years. However, as transistors reach different dimensions, this task becomes more difficult to accomplish. One of the biggest challenges related to the feat is the issue of heat dissipation from the circuits using CMOS. As more transistors are added, more heat dissipates.
administration has tasked agencies and labs at the federal level to expand their current transfer efforts. There are also initiatives being taken at the state level. Universities have also joined the effort. Penn State no longer has to own intellectual property that was created through industrysponsored research. HHS Health Innovation Awards On June 15th 2012, the Department of Health and Human Services in the United States announced that there would be a round of 81 recipients of the health innovation awards. These awards will help to fund, design, and implement new and unique projects geared toward improving high-quality medical care, enhancing the health care work force, and saving money. Currently, the HHS has already funded 107 different projects that have served to help improve the health care system and have been estimated to save $1.9 billion. The awards will be administered through cooperative agreements over the next three years. One of these awards was given to a project currently underway in Houston at the Methodist Hospital Research Institute. The project is helping to fund a way new way to find and treat sepsis before it progresses.
The researchers at Northwestern University may have found a solution to the problem. They have engineered a brand new logic circuit family, one that is based on magnetic semiconductor devices. This advance could eventually lead to creating logic circuits that are 1 million times more efficient than the circuits currently being used today. Accelerating Technology Transfer There has been a recent push in policy to help fasttrack technology transfer, specifically through a wide range of new programs. Technology transfer is defined as the commercialisation of university and government generated intellectual property, also known as IP. This is being done through business start-ups and licensing. There are several of these programs that are currently starting in the political arena. The current Obama www.impact2020.eu
Issue 2 | 11
NASA
NASA Leads the Way in Space Exploration.
By Gillian McNicoll few stars. That is where the Hubble Space Telescope steps in to provide answers to many unanswered questions; and perhaps lead to many new questions.
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ASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration) is the agency in charge of the civilian space program in the United States. The agency also takes care of aerospace and aeronautics research as part of their responsibilities. Since it was established in mid-1958 after taking over from NACA, its predecessor, NASA has been in the forefront in space research. NASA’s work is focused on deepening our understanding of the Earth through external observation. NASA also includes the exploration of the solar system using advanced robotic devices. Additionally NASA takes part in developing technology aimed at solving problems for ordinary citizens and businesses. Moreover it is vital we understand the benefits that NASA can give to the aviation and aerospace industry as a whole. 12 | Issue 2
NASA’s next-generation James Webb Space Telescope.
Webb’s Surrogate Eye NASA specialists are working on the OSIM (optical Telescope Element Simulator). The work of the OSIM is in the generation of a light beam similar to the beam the real telescope optics provides during flight. The actual flight instruments will be in use during the physical flight telescope test, which is why the alignment and precision must be tested and verified prior to the real deal. The telescopic optics in space will act as Webb’s eye. On the ground the telescopic optics are comfortably replaced by the OSIM. The device is tested under conditions similar to the vacuum cold space that Webb is set to experience. Experts say it took almost a month to achieve the cold temperatures that Webb will actually experience. The verification process is set to take about 90 days
to ensure that everything is set correctly and that all the instruments are in good shape for the event. Mysterious Ghost Galaxies Have Been Found by the Hubble Telescope The Hubble Space Telescope project is a collaboration between the European Space Agency and NASA. It is a high-tech telescope capable of viewing different bodies in space located hundreds of light years away from the Earth. Astronomers are still puzzled over the fact that the large galaxies in our Milky Way Galaxy have very few stars. Though they have few stars and are tiny, they are believed to be the oldest of all galaxies. Astronomers only discovered them in the past decade but really require advanced NASA technology to solve the mystery behind these enigmatic galaxies with
A view from the Hubble Telescope reveals that the stars shared by the galaxies are equal in terms of age. Observations have proved that the stars in these galaxies are ancient. Astronomers decided to use Hubble’s advanced technology to have a deeper look at the galaxies and study their’ stars to determine their date of birth. Tom Brown, from Baltimore’s Space telescope Science institute has already completed the analysis of three galaxies named Ursa Major, Leo IV and Hercules. The distance from earth and these galaxies ranges from 330,000 – 490,000 light years. AMELIA’s Assists Commercial Flights Leap into the Future Looking like an upside down plane because of the jet engines located on top of its wing, the AMELIA is the new face of aviation. NASA tested this engine in California in a wind tunnel and the tests were positive. AMELIA (Advanced Model for Extreme Lift and Improved Aeronautics), has been projected to combine three of the most important features in aviation which are start, land and take www.impact2020.eu
NASA off; reduced aircraft noise; and cruise efficiency. Most aircrafts that land and take off in short distances have extremely powerful engines, which come with fair share of loud noise. These planes also have wings designed to give them great lift but this is not generally efficient for cruising at high or low altitudes without losing fuel or speed. Unfortunately, aircrafts with wings able to cruise comfortably need longer runways and cannot take off or land on short distances. During the tunnel test, the wing measurements, and aircraft noise proves that AMELIA is a potential solution to the problems in the aviation industry. The most important thing is that the tunnel tests conducted by NASA are crucial in the manufacture of efficient airplanes in future. Experts in NASA term the test as a door way to a new world where airplanes will be different; nothing like what we have now or what we have seen in the past. NASA Has Introduced a New Technology Transfer Portal NASA, in efforts to speed up the transfer of technology from NASA’s hands to businesses, and the public, has opened their new Technology transfer portal for business. This technology provides a one-stop front door that is internet based. This is aimed at enabling technology infusion and transfer into the innovative and technology driven economy of the United States. An official from NASA said that the agencies main goals are to have a ‘streamlined technology transfer procedure, support governmental www.impact2020.eu
industry collaborations and encourage new technology commercialization from their labs’. The best way to streamline this technology and support related projects is through the use of the all new Technology Transfer Portal. NASA focuses on developing technologies that will
has been commercialised. You can also get present and historical data on NASA’s technology on the site. NASA’s main aim is to have their technology included in the commercial market for the benefit of all. NASA is in hopes that everyone including business people and companies who are in
These Hubble images show the dim, star-starved dwarf galaxy Leo IV. The image at left shows part of the galaxy, outlined by the white rectangular box. The box measures 83 light-years wide by 163 lightyears long. The few stars in Leo IV are lost amid neighboring stars and distant galaxies. A close-up view of the background galaxies within the box is shown in the middle image. The image at right shows only the stars in Leo IV. The galaxy, which contains several thousand stars, is composed of sun-like stars, fainter, red dwarf stars, and some red giant stars brighter than the sun. Credit: NASA, ESA, and T. Brown (STScI)
solve problems termed as difficult both on Earth and in space. NASA is behind most of the devices that are remotely operated for purposes of space and Earth observation. They have also worked on many lightweight and resistant materials that are used in the building of spacecraft. The new Technology transfer portal availed by NASA speeds up the access to is intellectual property portfolio. The site is easy to use especially because of the categorised database of patents and a way to reach specialists in NASA. The site also features multiple articles about NASA technology that
search of innovative and efficient technological ideas will get something they can use from the portal.
of which 191 were on the space station and the other 2 days travelling to and from the space station. For Kononenko, this was the second trip after a previous 6-month space trip as flight engineer in Expedition 17, which was in 2008. For flight engineer Pettit, this was his third trip after Expedition 6 in 2002/2003, and a trip to the orbiting complex in2008 as a mission specialist. This was Kuipers’ second space flight after spending some time as a flight engineer in 2004. The moment the crew departed the international space station, Expedition 31 came to an end and Expedition 32 began. Expedition 32 consists of Gennady Padalka (commander) and the two flight engineers Joe Acaba and Sergei Revin. Additional flight engineers Aki Hoshinde, Suni Williams, and Yuri Malencheko will be in the space station together with the three crew members. All Expeditions are about expanding space exploration and developing new technologies that can help people continue to work in space. Furthermore experiments in space can lead to improvements in people’s health and to the environment; both in space and on land.
News about Expedition 31/32
http://www.nasa.gov/topics/ technology/features/webb-eyescan.html
Six months on the international space station came to an end as the Expedition 31 crew landed on July 1st 2012. The crew consisted of three members, Oleg Kononenko (commander), Don Pettit (Flight engineer), and Andre Kuipers (Flight engineer). They landed in Kazakhstan in their Soyuz spacecraft on the mentioned date at 4:14 am EDT. The three crew members spent 193 days in space
http://www.nasa.gov/home/ hqnews/2012/jun/HQ_12-207_ Tech_Transfer_Portal.html http://www.nasa.gov/mission_ pages/hubble/science/ghostgalaxies.html http://www.nasa.gov/topics/ aeronautics/features/amelia. html http://www.nasa.gov/mission_ pages/station/expeditions/ expedition31/e31_landing.html http://www.nasa.gov/mission_ pages/station/main/index.html Issue 2 | 13
Scientific research in Japan and Singapore
Innovative Scientific and Research Developments in Japan and Singapore
By Gillian McNicoll
is not affected by climatic changes. The monitoring of environmental change from the two poles offers different trades’ and those in educational establishments, both in Japan and globally, with valuable information. Studying the past and present can help plan future ecologies
The world of science is always advancing and much has changed in recent times in both Japan and Singapore. Different industries are continuously inventing and improving their infrastructure and technology to meet ever growing needs and make life easier for people. Japan is a country of great resources, ingenuity and diversity and Singapore a busy city-state with multiplicity in all sectors. This has given rise to many different institutions that have continued to work on new discoveries and improvements. This article will cover some of the main scientific improvements and innovations in both Japan and Singapore. 14 | Issue 2
JAPANESE DEVELOPMENTS Monitoring the Earth from Polar Regions
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onitoring the changes that occur around us has been the priority of many research institutes and nations. Japan’s NIPR (National Institute of Polar Research) is no exception only that it utilises advanced technology to monitor different aspects from the Polar Regions. The institute has stations in the Arctic and Antarctic that are used as observation centers. This center provides necessary information about the poles that can be used in development and planning of future steps in relation to the environment. The institute’s focus is on the changes that affect development. The research conducted in
these observation centers is aimed at monitoring global warming and related effects. Apart from monitoring the progress and effects of global warming, the institute plays a major role in expeditions in the two poles and offers training in the industry. NIPR also handles the collection and storage of information related to the two poles as well as procuring the necessary supplies needed for monitoring. Climate has become one of the most important factors when it comes to planning and development. To be on the right track all industries need to understand how changes will affect their business. Information relating to climate changes will allow different players to strategise accordingly and lay down the infrastructure that will ensure their business
The Japanese led team working on this project has the task to establish why different organisms have managed to adapt to the extreme climates that characterise the poles. Scientists do this through the study of response mechanisms of terrestrial as well as marine organisms and global changes of the environment. The entire research is based on the biology of organisms that have adapted and have continuously survived the extreme climatic conditions over the years. The research is divided into three groups. Biological oceanography concentrates on the behavior of organisms in relation to the ocean around this region through satellite and in situ observation. The research mainly focuses on plankton variability to understand their past and present changes, and how they will affect the future. Vertebrate ecology is another group that focuses on ecology and www.impact2020.eu
Scientific research in Japan and Singapore behavior of marine animals in the Polar Regions. The research involves tracking animals to record their behaviors by assessing environmental changes.
SINGAPORE DEVELOPMENTS
Terrestrial biology is the other category the scientists spend their time studying; the origin of Lake Biota and the effects of environmental change. The team under this group samples sediments and other factors to determine the effects of present changes, and what it means for the future. To determine what the future holds for us, researchers have to deeply look at the past and connect it to the present.
The Global Research institute is set to launch a translation application aimed at enabling communication between people of different languages. A technological institute in Singapore (I2R) and other science agencies are part of the team behind the development of this innovation. The team consists of 23 agencies from the same number of countries. The main agenda is to ease communication and enable more than 90% of the world’s population to communicate without any barriers related to languages. The team has therefore developed an application that can allow different users to communicate in 23 languages simultaneously.
Advanced Gas, Liquid Separation Japan has been in the frontline of advancements in technology and the invention of a faster, easier and more cost effective method of separating liquid and gas. This has provided a boost for all connected industries. Scientists at Kyoto University have created a porous substance with the ability to separate gas and liquid effectively. The process, dubbed “reverse Fossilization” is expected to be beneficial to many industries for example manufacturing. The researchers have explained there are some separations that have remained stubborn via porous materials. They have however confirmed that through the new technology, the separation of mixtures such as water/ ethanol will be much easier and more affordable. This method is set to ease the procedures in different industrial processes and cut down the expenses spent on separation processes. www.impact2020.eu
Using an innovative translation application to improve global communication
bring ease not only to users at home, but also to companies and organisations interested in translating their content. Multinational companies and establishments target people across the globe and language related issues mostly hinder their efforts. With this application, reaching out to different people in regions around the world has never been this easy. U-STAR is the name given to the team that consists of the 20+ institutes from the 23 countries and has been working on the translation system that is meant to make international as well as local events more interesting to anyone using the app. Events such as the Olympics in London will be translated to different languages giving people a chance to follow the events effortlessly.
Virtual Environment helps build and develop sustainable intelligent environments People tend to believe that there is an application for almost every aspect of life and they aren’t really wrong especially with the levels of technology used today. Singapore has seen many technological advancements and the virtual environment is one of the many that are being developed to change the way people live, for the better of course. In this world, the amount of information you have is not the important part; instead what you can do with it and what you have is what really counts. Urban living has been made easier via the capturing huge amounts of data to: create systems that enable crowd behavior tracking, smart energy management,
The communication industry has advanced in leaps and bounds in Singapore and this has brought about the exponential growth in technology and infrastructure. Language barriers have been the main enemy of communication around the globe but this application opens doors to a whole new world where the difference in spoken languages is no hindrance to business and interaction. Technology institutes dealing with communication have focused their resources on improving interaction between people speaking different languages. Their research programs have collaborated and have come up with a lasting and effective solution; an application called the “VoiceTra4U-M”. Such developments in the communication world Issue 2 | 15
Scientific research in Japan and Singapore advanced systems that can predict disease outbreaks and epidemics or simulate microclimates in cities. This technology is important as it can gather relevant information concerning floor pressure data, sound and visual and translate the collected information to smart crowd maps. These can be useful in determining regions with less traffic and travel paths. This technology is quite valuable in the marketing industry as involved parties can understand the market and know where to place products. This can also be integrated in the traffic department to manage the flow and avoid any unnecessary congestion. City crowds are continuously increasing and this calls for technology that will reduce energy use but still give the same or better results. Scientists are spending days on end in inventing new ways to make urban life easier and Singapore is on the forefront in this area. As the world urbanises all around us, science plays a crucial role in ensuring that we optimise on the resources available and invent new devices to cover what is not done by nature. This technology will go a long way in assisting developers, giving them an insight into how cities will look like in future and provide a foundation for building sustainable and intelligent environments. Revolutionary Discovery in atherosclerosis, cancer and obesity Scientists from IMCB (Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology) working with their counterparts from SBIC (Singapore Bioimaging Consortium) form the team behind the discovery of a 16 | Issue 1
signaling pathway meant to control atherosclerosis (vascular disease or ASVD) and obesity. The team has already provided a mice test that showed how effective their discovery is. This discovery has already been published and is believed to open new ways for therapeutic intervention and management of atherosclerosis and obesity. The western world suffers from obesity and atherosclerosis-related issues that are responsible for over 1/3 of total deaths. The molecular pathways involved in these diseases are not clearly understood and thus they remain a stubborn issue in the medical world. This medical discovery has also been found useful in the treatment and management of cancer. The same way this treatment can suppress the advancement of obesity and atherosclerosis, it can also degrade the cellular content required for cancer cells proliferation and thus the suppression of cancerous growth.
the expenditures of the members considerably. The Singapore programme has so far commissioned about 37 projects since its early beginnings. These projects are all aimed at driving the next aerospace technology to the next generation. They revolve around entertainment systems and using green energy - lowering carbon footprints and reducing turnaround time. The members are made of about 18 major companies and other major players in the world of aerospace
complete with improved and technologically advanced systems and infrastructure. The groups working together under A*STAR Aerospace programme are bound to create a system that is not only long lasting, but one that will bring about a technological roadmap that will benefit the entire industry. There is a growing demand in the aerospace industry for new advancements. Science has to be part of every step made to ensure that new ideas are continually being brought to the table.
Doctors and experts in the medical field have termed this discovery as a perfect example of how intense fundamental research can give rise to a treatment and management methods for these difficult to treat diseases. Aerospace technology for the next generation The aerospace industry has grown over the years with new developments and innovations being the order of the day. The A*STAR Aerospace programme was initiated in 2007 and has ever since continued to foster synergies among members and involved research bodies. This has maximised the potential of the research and cut down
technology. All these supporters are dedicated to perfecting different parts of this industry to make one complete system that makes life easy for consumers and involved players.
The programme creates an environment where members can come together and work on a single project at a reduced cost and at a faster rate.
The programme is a good source of resources for those determined to complete their own projects. Those involved have said that the programme is groundbreaking and will lead to a new aerospace world; www.impact2020.eu
Impact2020
Showcasing
Science
www.impact2020.eu
Consolidating Networks in Basque Science
CONSOLIDATING NETWORKS IN BASQUE SCIENCE
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he Basque Country is a Spanish autonomous region with its own scientific and technological policy. Its plans, programmes and resources are defined taking into account not only the requirements of the Basque society and its economical system but also the objectives and orientations of the Spanish Ministry in charge of these areas and the European Union Framework Programmes. The recently established Science, Technology and Innovation Plan 2015 for the Basque Region, aims to set the guidelines for the close future Basque value proposition based on an equilibrated model for a sustainable economic, social and environmental growth and wealth. Five Strategic Objectives have been defined related to higher added value structures; globally competitive and innovative companies; efficient and advanced public services; social innovation towards proactive and committed inhabitants; and strengthening and internationalization of the Science, Technology and Innovation network.
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The Basque Science System comprises an extensive network of research centers with over 11,000 researchers, working in Universities, Basque Excellence Research Centers (BERC), Centers for Cooperative Research (known as CIC, the acronym in Spanish), Centers of Biomedical Research, and Technological Corporations. Basic research is the cornerstone of that system. During the last decade, the scientific output in the Basque Country grew steadily over the state average. Actually, the number of scientific papers has doubled since 2003. Noteworthy is the contribution of the BERC and CIC, which in a few years, have managed to become key agents and nowadays publish over 25 per cent of the total scientific production in the Basque Country. Ikerbasque, the Basque Foundation for Science established by the Basque Government through the Department for Education, Universities and Research, aims to reinforce support for scientific research that the public administrations and private businesses in the Basque autonomous community have been
carrying out for years. As an important contribution to the effort to position Euskadi among the world leading players in R&D+i, Ikerbasque works as a catalyst in the Science System serving as a talent magnet and centre for the creation of Research Centers of Excellence. The University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU for Universidad del País Vasco/Euskal Herriko Unibertsitatea) is the major contributor to the Science production in the Basque Country, representing more than two thirds of the research community. It is the single public university in the Basque Country and the biggest in our Higher Education System, with over 45,000 students registered last academic course. It is a publicly run educational institution guided by the principles of promoting knowledge and research, consistently in pursuit of excellence. Its three campuses are located in the main cities of the Basque Country: Vitoria-Gasteiz, Bilbao and Donostia-San Sebastian. It is a reference agent of Research, Development and Innovation in a region standing out as one of the most prosperous in Europe. Its motto ‘Give and spread knowledge’ reflects the determination of producing knowledge, experience and research in order to forward them to the general public. The researchers at the University of the Basque Country work in almost 300 research groups and published 1,776 scientific articles in indexed journals (SCI and SSCI) in 2010. Therefore, the relationship and collaboration model between the University of the Basque Country and other research agents is crucial for the system to get good results, taking into account that Science www.impact2020.eu
Consolidating Networks in Basque Science is now a global competition more than ever. Increasing competition related to globalization and spread of information technologies have boosted international networking; there has been a dramatic growth in partnerships during last decades. Science and Higher Education systems are drawn up in an international and collaborative perspective. In fact, a thorough evaluation of the Basque Higher Education System is at present being carried in the framework of the corresponding OECD program. In this context, the decision of boosting new Excellence Research Centers aims to put the Basque Country in the world map of scientific research by consolidating research nodes that raise the scientific level and act as true levers of Basque science system and the agents that comprise it. The Basque Government and the UPV/ EHU have recently launched three new BERC institutes on neuroscience, nanostructures and macromolecular design, based on a model designed to strengthen the synergies of our system taking into account its distinctive characteristics.
These centers ease proactive scientific talent attraction to incorporate it into the set of agents that comprise the Basque Science System. They act as a focus for attracting researchers from around the world, who find in the Basque Country adequate conditions to develop their first class professional careers. It is therefore a twodimensional effort, attracting talent and building the BERC network, to reinforce and boost basic research in the Basque Country in close collaboration with the university. New and existing elements converge necessarily. The new elements must act as vectors of competitiveness and attractiveness and the existing ones must seize the first to be reactivated and thus improve their competitive and attractive position in the European Research Area.
This partnership between the Basque Government and the University of the Basque Country will have the double effect of strengthening UPV/EHU and consolidating strategic research areas for the Basque Country. The pattern in which BERC are based upon is a model driven by the Department of Education, Universities and Research of the Basque Government to respond clearly and concretely to the will of development and promotion of scientific capabilities of Euskadi. The BERC are called to become a key vector that places Scientific Policy as a tool to transform Euskadi into a knowledge society, a will that is fully reflected in the above mentioned Science, Technology and Innovation Plan 2015. This plan establishes as strategic directions, the development of an international reference Science System, the promotion and enhancement of the Basque Science, Technology and Innovation network, and attracting scientific, technological and business talent. The attraction of talent and the creation of the BERC network are closely linked. www.impact2020.eu
Most productive areas in the Basque Country and their share of total scientific production – (Web of Science) New research infrastructures created in a time of deep crisis, where efficiency and flexibility are the leverages for the design of organizations, need agile organizations that face rapidly the changes that happen both inside and in the surrounding environment. Centers will profit from having an independent status which endows them with flexibility in the management of public and private funds, recruitment of personnel, technology and knowledge transfer, partnership establishment as well as in administrative duties, and they will incorporate or collaborate with most of the existing research groups at
the UPV/EHU in their respective areas of research. The centers will also engage the task of leading, promoting and coordinating scientific interactions in the Basque Country. The development strategy of the BERC network endorses this convergence, reconciling country strategy in the future with present scientific excellence and providing the resources necessary to ensure equal opportunities in a scientific environment competing globally. Building networks is indeed one of the pillars that supports our scientific progress. The constant search for new synergies between different actors has led to this formula that improves the integration of research potential of the UPV/EHU with the rest of the Basque Science System. With the establishment of these three institutes promoted by the Basque Government and the University of the Basque Country, which are respectively known as the Achucarro Basque Center for Neuroscience, the Basque Center for Materials, Applications and Nanostructures, and the Polymat - Basque Center for Macromolecular Design & Engineering, the Basque Country now has a total of nine elite research centers linked to our Universities. These three entities have been created as the result of a laborious process that started as a consultation in the Basque scientific community and resulted in a panel of 10 initial proposals in various fields. The definition of the three finally selected projects resulted from the work of the Ikerbasque Foundation Scientific Advisory Board and an external evaluation by benchmark international researchers in the corresponding research fields, together with the support, commitment and collaboration of the University of the Basque Country. Issue 2 | 19
Basque One of the most interesting facts is that these three new centers have been created out of existing research groups at the UPV/EHU. This shows on one hand the strength of university research in the Basque Country and on the other hand, the commitment to continuous improvement of the science, not give in to its current limitations.
The new BERC´s activities relate to research in numerous fields of knowledge with enormous development potential, and where the Basque Country has demonstrated its ability to compete with leading international institutions. These areas include: brain biology, functional or ‘intelligent’ materials science and engineering and the study of polymers, without which modern society as we know it would be impossible. The Achucarro Center (which is named in memory of the first Basque neuroscientist, a disciple of Alzheimer and Ramón y Cajal, who created a staining technique that is still widely used in modern neuroscience) is primarily dedicated to researching brain biology in order to understand how the brain and its pathological alterations function. Understanding brain mechanisms is a key factor to find new treatments for diseases such as Alzheimer’s, Multiple Sclerosis, brain damage as the result of strokes, etc. 20 | Issue 2
Understanding human brain function, its development, ageing and diseases represents the main challenge faced by the Biosciences in 21 century. Indeed, neuroscience (which embraces all aspects of brain-oriented research from neuroanatomy and neurohistology to neurophysiology, neurophsychology and neuropathology) rapidly becomes the most funded area in biosciences. Furthermore, diseases of the nervous system, associated for example with stroke and neurodegeneration rapidly become the major pathology and cause of death in developed countries. Major funding bodies, such as the National Institutes of Health (US) or The Wellcome Trust (UK), allocate up to 60% of all scientific support to neuroscience-oriented research. The main strategic direction of the Achucarro Center of Neuroscience in the Basque Country will be the in depth study of neuronal-glial biology in normal and pathological brain. This will make this institute a unique centre in the world and will allow for a high degree of international recognition and competitiveness. The Basque Center for Materials, Applications and Nanostructures (BCMaterials) will focus on the relationship between the structure
and properties of functional materials (conductors, semi-conductors, dielectrics, magnetics, optics, etc.). This multi-disciplinary field has multiple applications in various areas of science and engineering, including intelligent materials, nanomagnetics and advanced materials for applications in energy or sensors. The centre will specialize in thin film and nanostructures, and the use of large-scale European neutron and synchrotron radiation facilities. Its main research areas will be active materials, advanced functional materials and nanomagnetism. The creation of the BCMaterials allows the development of an integrated and multidisciplinary research in Materials Science in the Basque Country. Its activity is directed to improve the level and productivity of the existing research groups in Materials, and adds to others pre-existing centers in order to conform a hard core of research institutes grouped in the future Scientific Park at the Campus of Leioa of the University of the Basque Country. Last, the Polymat BERC aims to establish itself as an internationally renowned polymers center. Polymers are the most versatile materials in the world, used in applications as diverse as automobiles, airplanes, sports equipment, electrical appliances, household goods, construction, contact lenses or artificial hearts. Synthetic polymers are found in such a large variety of products that have shaped modern life and they provide an outstanding performance/ cost ratio, so they will play a major role
Koen Vandenbroeck Neuroscience BERC. www.impact2020.eu
Basque
in the development of the technologies needed to address some of the 21st Century challenges such as energy, health care and sustainability. The challenges for improving the performance of these materials lie in controlling the functionality and architecture of the polymer chains and their interaction with inorganic and biological materials and in understanding their three-dimensional assembly. At Polymat, research will focus on these challenges, to find applications in the fields of energy, electronics, transport, construction and biomedicine. This BERC on Macromolecular Design and Engineering is conceived as a center where fundamental research on synthesis, assembly and processing of polymers enabling addressing to the 21st Century challenges. It will include activities related to physicochemical theory and simulation and supported by a state-of-the-art infrastructure for characterization. Three prestigious, renowned scientific directors, all of them coming from the UPV/EHU, have been appointed to lead these three new centers. Carlos Matute leads Achucarro – Basque Center of Neurosciene. He is Professor of Anatomy and Neurobiology at www.impact2020.eu
the Neuroscience Department of the UPV/EHU (Leioa) since 1987. He currently directs the Neurobiology Laboratory, which is committed to dissecting the molecular and cellular mechanisms of neurodegeneration and neuroprotection. He has carried out several research placements at various North American and European academic institutions. Author of over 140 publications, most in the international media, he has collaborated with 45 scientific journals and has given over 200 presentations and conferences across the globe. He holds 12 patents and has supervised over 20 doctoral theses. José Manuel Barandiarán, scientific director of BCMaterials, is Professor of Applied Physics at the Electricity and Electronics Department at UPV/EHU (Leioa) and manager of the consolidated and high performance Research Group “Magnetism and Magnetic Materials”, which studies all kinds of magnetic materials, including nanoparticles, with applications for medical diagnosis and treatments. Author of over 350 scientific publications and 5 patents, and director of over a dozen theses, he was the Spanish representative on the ILL (Institute Laue-Langevin in Grenoble) international neutron research centre magnetic structure subcommittee, member of the European Magnetic Sensors & Actuators (EMSA)
International Committee and President of the International Committee of Soft Magnetic Materials (SMM). José María Asua, Professor of Chemical Engineering at the UPV/EHU Chemical Sciences Faculty in San Sebastian, is carrying out fundamental research in industrially important polymerization processes, at Polymat. He has published over 260 articles and he is a member of the editorial board of various international journals. He is particularly active in promoting relations between academia and industry, and has directed over 30 projects in collaboration with businesses, acting as a business consultant in Europe and the United States. BERC NETWORK The creation of those new centers is designed to complete the Basic Excellence Research Centers (BERC) network formed to date by six institutions, researching in condensed matter, economy of climate change, material physics, applied mathematics, biophysics and cognition, brain and language. Three of them (BCAM, BCBL, BC3) were created in 2007 by Ikerbasque to enhance strategic research areas, whereas the other three (DIPC, MPC, FBB) are centers set up in advance which received the BERC status to consolidate their paths. Issue 2 | 21
Basque
DIPC (Donostia International Physics Center) directed by Prof. Pedro Miguel Echenique in the Gipuzcoan capital’s university city, studies the field of condensed matter, polymers and noncondensed materials and nanophysics. Created in 1999, it has become one of the most productive agents in the system, thanks to its Visiting Researchers Program, a platform for interaction between researchers of recognized prestige from other countries and local researchers. Materials Physics Center (MPC, Centro de Física de Materiales CFM), a joint center of the Spanish Scientific Research Council (CSIC) and the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU) also based in San Sebastian, is comprised by 83 researchers directed by Dr. Ricardo Díez Muiño. Scientific activity in MPC achieves a
balance between the laboratories and experimental facilities dealing with the morphology and electronic properties of nano-structured materials, polymers and soft matter, and photonic materials, and the theory and simulation of materials properties in the microscopic and mesoscopic scales.
to long term research on the causes and consequences of climate change to foster the creation of knowledge in this multidisciplinary science. It works on integrated global circulation models, socio-economical implications, vulnerability studies and the impacts of climate change.
Fundación Biofísica Bizkaia (FBB, Bizkaia Biophysics Foundation) located at the Bizkaia Campus of the UPV/ EHU and directed by Prof. Félix Goñi, hosts 39 researchers, working on biological membranes, biophotonics and microscopy, computational and integral biology and cell biology. The BERC was established in 2007 with the intention of channeling funds and assistance to allow proper development of the activities of the Biophysics Unit, a joint Centre for Scientific Research (CSIC) and UPV/EHU founded more than a decade ago.
BCAM (Basque Center for Applied Mathematics) hosts 31 researchers who are working on differential equations, control theory, numerical simulations, financial mathematics and networks analysis. Its Scientific Director is Prof. Enrique Zuazua and it has been able to stablish initial interesting projects to incorporate advanced mathematical tools to different Basque industrial companies in areas like computational fluid mechanics or optimization.
BC3 (Basque Center for Climate Change) directed by Prof. Anil Markandya and based in Bilbao, aims to contribute 22 | Issue 2
BCBL (Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language), based at the Parque Tecnológico de Miramon (Miramon Technology Park), San Sebastian, is comprised of 30 researchers directed by Prof. Manuel Carreiras working on linguistic acquisition, representation and processing, computer models of language, language and learning disorders and neurodegeneration in www.impact2020.eu
Basque
language processing, bilingualism and socio-linguistics.
themselves among global leaders in the longer term.
The already existing six BERC published 540 papers in indexed publications in 2011, which is nearly a fifth of the total output in the Basque Country. Moreover, the only two ERC Advanced Grants awarded in the Basque Country last year were given to scientific directors of BCBL (Basque Center on Cognition, Brain and Language) and BCAM (Basque Center for Applied Mathematics), two of the BERCs launched by Ikerbasque. The ERC Advanced Grants are aimed to allow established research leaders to pursue ground-breaking, high-risk projects that open new directions in their respective research fields or other domains.
To achieve this, and in line with the Ikerbasque Foundation’s objectives, they will work on attracting and retaining research talent in their fields and will collaborate, primarily with the UPV/EHU, in advanced professional training. They will also present and/or attract research projects that are likely to secure financing in Spanish, European and International calls for proposals.
In a world enduring a global economic and financial crisis, the competition for resources will be even more difficult, and only excellent projects will survive. Like its predecessors, the new BERC aim to become benchmark European centers in their respective fields of knowledge in the medium term, and position
Some of these BERC will be based at the UPV/EHU Science Park in the Bizkaia Campus, a new space of close to 190,000 m2 dedicated to excellence and innovation for Universities and business that is promoted by the Basque Government, the Diputación Foral de Bizkaia (Regional Council of Bizkaia) and the UPV/EHU. Development works began on this site last year. The main objectives of this project are to provide a forum for excellence and innovation that encourages university-industry relations and the creation of new businesses
Isabel Celaá Ministry of Education, Universities and Science www.impact2020.eu
with technology and highly skilled jobs, taking advantage of scientific and technological capabilities of a university campus open to the social demands of their environment. In line with the goal of excellence of the BERC network, the three centers will have to submit proposals to the BERC Program of the Basque Government’s next call for financing the development of their activities for the years 2013-2016. They will have to show a solid, ambitious and cross-influential work plan. In the same way, they will be encouraged to collaborate with other entities, both public and private, including other research centers, corporate R&D units, technology corporations and any other institution sharing their objectives and field of activity. Moreover, the Centers are expected to develop strong links with local enterprises and companies active in research and development to catalyze initiatives that may have translational value. Euskadi requires science and advanced technology to transform existing industries and encourage the creation of new ones; it is necessary to articulate a science and technology system in which all agents work together in a coordinated and integrated way. Strong networks of science and technology, capable of generating knowledge with quality and excellence that results in technologies and market applications through connection with the industry, are the key factors of success for the more present than future knowledge society. Most of the crucial innovations which will allow the Basque society to play a significant role in an increasing globalized world must be based on excellent scientific and technological research. by Isabel Celaá Ministry of Education, Universities and Science.
Issue 2 | 23
Higher Education in Denmark
Stimulating students to achieve their greatest potential: Talent development in higher education in Denmark
T
he Danish government has set an ambitious target regarding the educational attainment level of the nation’s population. By 2020, 60 percent of a year group should achieve a higher education degree.
Morten Østergaard, Danish Minister for Science, Innovation and Higher Education
The government also has a strong focus on maintaining a high quality of education as well as a strong commitment to the longstanding principle of equal access to education in Denmark. If we are to benefit fully from these educational goals, it is crucial that we also address the question of how to stimulate the most gifted and talented students at all levels. To tackle this issue, I recently launched an open consultation process among a broad range of stakeholders. Why a focus on the most talented? Higher education institutions should have a strategic focus on stimulating the most talented students in all areas to achieve their greatest potential. A focus on the most talented students not only ensures that our businesses are able to recruit highly skilled professionals – professionals who have been encouraged to perform outstandingly during their education. A focus on the most talented students also contributes to raising the quality of the public sector across the board. We are not just looking to focus on talented academics but on all those talents across the higher education sector. I believe we should focus as much on the future social worker who can make a difference in the lives of the less fortunate youngsters, or on the health care students with the potential to develop new innovative ways for the nursing practice, as we
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should on stimulating the most gifted university student in nanophysics or the engineering student with the entrepreneurial mindset to create the next start-up success. Challenging our most talented students will also enhance the ability of Danish higher education institutions to attract and retain gifted international students. In today’s global knowledge society, top class research environments need international researchers – and ensuring attractive and challenging educational paths at undergraduate and graduate level will undoubtedly strengthen the nation’s ability to retain top class international students from undergraduate to PhD-level and onwards to a research career in Denmark. Setting the proper frameworks for talent development Universities naturally often focus on recruiting their most gifted students to pursue PhD studies. But how do we ensure that the most talented students, who are not necessarily following a research career path, are given sufficient challenges and attention? And how do we ensure that the bright students in important public service professions (nurses, school teachers etc.) are given the possibility to reach their greatest potential within the issues related to their subject matter and their profession? In other words, how can we develop a culture of talent development in the higher education institutions? In launching the consultation process on this issue, I published a number of specific ideas aimed at promoting a talent culture in the education system: Firstly, we should make it possible for the brightest and most talented www.impact2020.eu
Higher Education in Denmark
students in upper secondary school – both in general upper secondary and in vocational schools – to also attend higher education level courses. This will ensure supplementary challenges for the most gifted youngsters – whether their potential lies in excellent craftsmanship or in solving mathematical questions at a level above that of their peers. Secondly, when looking at talent in higher education, we should allow higher education institutions to implement structured “talent paths” for the most talented students. It should be up to the education institutions to design the talent paths, as the elements may vary depending on the study programme. A talent path, however, could involve a requirement to choose essay subjects at a particularly advanced level, additional supervision, or a planned period of studying abroad; it could also involve an internship or cooperation with private or public sector businesses in relation to course work. Or it could involve a particular emphasis on entrepreneurship, applied research or projects. Thirdly, the most talented students should be allowed to sit additional exams on top of the set norm for their study programme and within the timeframe of the programme, whereby the most talented will be allowed to obtain more ECTS credits than is normally required and be accredited for the addition on their certificate. Fourthly, bright students in the different areas of the higher education sector (e.g. academic courses, university colleges, business-oriented short cycle courses) should to a larger extend be given the opportunity to be admitted as guest students at other higher www.impact2020.eu
education institutions in order to undertake a specific course of e.g. 15 or 30 ECTS points. For example, a student in a university college studying to become a primary school teacher of mathematics often has no contact with the mathematics degree programme taught at universities. Similarly, the health care student at a university college studying nursing too rarely has the chance to benefit from the universitybased health sciences bachelor degree programme. If both the home institution and the host institution recognize the student’s ability to take on new challenges in e.g. a mathematics course at university, then it should certainly be possible by way of an exchange agreement between the two institutions to make room for more flexible educational paths and more coherence in the higher education sector.
to include in a talent strategy. As the minister responsible for science, innovation and higher education in Denmark, my role in promoting a culture of talent development in higher education is to ensure that the institutions are given the adequate legal and regulatory framework conditions for developing their own talent initiatives. A strong focus on stimulating students to achieve their greatest potential will benefit society as a whole as well as indeed the individual student. By Morten Østergaard, Danish Minister for Science, Innovation and Higher Education
Moreover, higher education institutions in Denmark should be able to award an official honours degree to their top students. A degree offering honours distinction has not been part of the Danish education system so far, but the increasing mobility of students and the rise in joint degree programmes offered by a consortium of higher education institutions in different countries will no doubt intensify the demand for an official recognition of top students. In order to strengthen focus on the most talented students, I have also encouraged the higher education institutions to consider developing institution-based strategies for talent development. A number of higher education institutions already organize national or international case-based competition as well as other forms of talent events, which would be natural Issue 2| 25
Science in Dialogue
Science in Dialogue – The Danish Basis for Prioritizing Strategic Funding
Hans Müller Pedersen Director General of the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation.
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ESEARCH2020, the Danish basis for prioritizing strategic public research funding, is the most recent Danish example of the country’s use of major societal challenges and comprehensive dialogues as a starting point for the prioritizing of public sector research investments. Internationally, Denmark is known as a pioneer in using major societal challenges and comprehensive dialogues as a starting point for prioritizing public sector research investments. Today, this approach to research policies is widely acknowledged and also central to the EU research and innovation framework programme, Horizon 2020. When identifying the most promising areas for future public research investments it is essential to involve society’s most important users of research and research-based knowledge and technology. During the RESEARCH2020 process a wide group of representatives from business, the public sector, interest organizations and universities contributed to identifying the visions and needs for research. RESEARCH2020 provides a very strong basis for the future prioritization of public strategic research investments. Not by predicting the next research breakthrough or commercial successes, but by giving priority at a general, strategic level and thereby creating the best possible framework for excellent research and consequently the development of new knowledge and insight.
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Not only does this insight provide politicians with a strong foundation for making policy choices, but research institutions are given input for strategic planning of research activities, the research community is handed a cross-disciplinary guideline for future research developments and the Ministry of Science Innovation and Higher Education is provided with a highly-qualified contribution to the political decision-making process. By anchoring RESEARCH2020 in a thorough, transparent and systematic mapping and dialogue process, the strategy identifies the areas in which the largest value creation is to be expected, and also provides stakeholders with a sense of coownership of future research policies - an essential element of successful policy making. The five visions The RESEARCH2020 process resulted in five concrete visions concerning how strategic research investments should aim to contribute to the development of:
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A Society Based on a Green Economy
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A Society with High Standards on Health and Welfare
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A High-Tech Society with Innovation Capacity
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An Efficient and Competitive Society
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A Competent and Inclusive Society
www.impact2020.eu
Science in Dialogue
These visions are a result of the attempts to crystallize the essence of the many views from stakeholders in society who use research. Moreover, each of the five visions forms the framework for between two and four underlying and interrelated research themes where research projects could be initiated across the individual themes. This amounts to 14 underlying, promising research themes focused on the idea that research investments must aid value creation in the future (see figure). In other words, research should contribute to solving essential societal challenges, while also being a driving force behind growth, employment and welfare in the Danish society. Relation to Horizon 2020 The themes and visions in the RESEARCH2020 catalogue are based on Danish perspectives, but they also relate to the themes discussed in the EU on the basis of the «Grand Challenges» and «Industrial Leadership». While Horizon 2020 is very much based on «Grand Challenges», RESEARCH2020 goes a step further and tries to use the identified major societal challenges as a basis for creating coherent visions of where challenge-oriented strategic research efforts may lead society. Many of the themes encompass aspects of how to contribute to the solution of societal challenges and increase productivity, growth and employment, while all themes contribute to meeting the future requirements for a sustainable society. Sustainability in this context should be understood in a general sense in relation to a number of different dimensions, for instance social economics, environment, health or the cohesion of society. Many of the themes address several of these dimensions of sustainability. Many themes are also based on using great global challenges as a tool for creating export, growth and employment, while also contributing to solving major social challenges. www.impact2020.eu
A qualified background Some themes focus on basic research and large and long-term research investments in particular, e.g. in cooperation with private foundations, whereas other themes attach importance to including innovation instruments and distribution of knowledge, so that the research carried out will contribute to increasing the innovation capacity of as many small and medium-sized businesses as possible. Other themes attach special importance to increasing the knowledge base and innovation capacity in the public sector, which could happen through a closer cooperation with the university colleges. And finally, some themes create knowledge that is central to policy development. It is crucial that research should have a long-term potential. And the success of RESEARCH2020 can be measured through the actual distribution of research funds in the future. Future policy choices can be made on a qualified foundation- brought about by the extensive mapping and dialogue process of RESEARCH2020 and it is certain that the many stakeholders who have participated in the RESEARCH2020 process will follow the development closely.
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From basic research to efficient prevention, diagnostics and treatment of diseases
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The healthcare and care sector of the future
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Digital opportunities and solutions
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Strategic growth technologies
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Efficient and innovative welfare and prevention
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Transport, logistics and living space
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Education/training, learning and competence development
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Cultural understanding and crosscultural competences
Future production systems and new types of innovation Competitiveness, productivity and growth
by Hans Müller Pedersen, Director General of the Danish Agency for Science, Technology and Innovation.
Figure The 14 cross-cutting research themes in the Research2020 catalogue
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Future energy technologies and systems
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From knowledge about the environment, water and resources to competitive technologies and solutions
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Climate and climate adaption for the future
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Bio-resources, food and other biological products
Issue 2 | 27
Fanning the Flame of Finish Education
Fanning the Flames of Finish Education, Science and Research Development
By Gillian McNicoll
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inland has for a long time topped the Education rankings and has created a general stir internationally with its knowledgeable graduates and employees. Despite this eminent background The Minister of Education and Science of Education and Science in Finland Jukka Gustafsson and the Ministry are dedicated to change and are not just standing still admiring what has been but continue to move forward. Jukka Gustafsson The Minister of Education and Science in Finland.
“In order to reap benefits from significant R&D investment it is important to turn a knowledgeable and well-educated workforce into economic growth”. Jukka Gustafsson
Funding has been put to work on developing and growing Finland’s Universities and reforming and shaping education and instigating research. The Ministry actively encourages evidencedbased changes and developments as a matter of course, allowing for an up-todate country that has progressive and wide-opened eyes. The developments in Finland are carried out in conjunction with the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation (TEKES) and the Academy of Finland. Improvements flow naturally from activities, research and educational reforms that are measurable and inventive. Seeds of Change Signs of Growth «Being part of an innovative ecosystem is imperative for Finland…From this it follows that education, research and innovation investments will continue to be high.» Jukka Gustafsson
Signs of growth are seen in the ascending numbers of scientific publications over the years that have
been produced from numerous Finish writers. Moreover, these publications and journal articles sweep across the board incorporating a variety of subjects and topics, with ICT, medical and health science themes leading the way. Youth unemployment and social guarantee schemes Jukka Gustafsson was present at The EU Education Council this year and youth unemployment was one of the subjects for discussion. The Social Guarantee scheme is one of the seeds for change, to enable young people to get into training schemes, projects, apprenticeships and workshops. This means that all school leavers will be guaranteed a place onto some kind of further education or rehabilitation placement. Priority will be given to those in particular need or who have little or no recognised qualifications. The recent Learning Solutions Programme This scheme was started in 2011 by Tekes, the Finish Funding agency, to produce new learning solutions, skills and methods to enhance Finland’s education settings that are able to participate in the modern world’s marketplace. Funding from this programme goes to support educational establishments, organisations, research groups and businesses for instance to produce new solutions. These will them be trialled and tested in various locations. International support and collaboration are also key to this programmes current and future success. One example of this is the ‘eGuidance in Training on the Interface between Education and Working Life’ a pilot scheme which is to be run by the Centria ammattikorkeakoulu Oy for young people on the Social Works Programme. www.impact2020.eu
Fanning the Flame of Finish Education The Finnablem Project Another area is technology enhancement for learning to allow students to study wherever they are; either onsite, online or a combination of both. Thus the Finnable Project was born. Distance learning will be improved thorough different new ICT technologies and improvements. In addition, Finnable is about enabling students and learners to have access to international training, forums and courses that are of excellent quality and diversity. Problem solving and sharing of knowledge are also important parts of this programme. The Four areas that Finnable has developed are: Boundless Classroom, Teacher’s Toolkit, ExerGames in Learning, and Emergent Learning Technologies and Communities The Innolukio project “This is a fantastic example of modern thinking and genuine desire to put the knowledge and creativity of students to better use. There is absolutely nothing wrong in opening the schools to universities and enterprises and to the whole changing world where we live at in Finland. In this Innolukio way-of-thinking everybody is a winner.” The Prime Minister Katainen.
This project is one of Finland’s newest learning platforms and was launched to link upper secondary school students with Universities and other organisations. Students are believed to be creative outlets just waiting to be tapped into and be developed to their fullest potential. The schools that the students attend will also have their profiles elevated and fast-tracked. The Innolukio project has at its heart the aim to grow problem solving and critical skills, team work innovation and creativeness to its maximum levels. Finland; A Resilient Contender in a Competitive Future Within Europe and internationally there is stiff competition and many countries are pushing and vying for top ranking positions. Finland already has a strong basis and with the many innovations such as those already started and those in the early stages there is much room for continual evolution and improvements. Unemployment and recessions can make their mark, but life moves on regardless. Positive and beneficial programmes and projects can give people tangible skills as well as hope and dignity, especially if struggling to get onto the ladder of employment.
Research and Development and Education are a key element in this process. Recognising that Finnish students and prospective students have a vital place in the country’s future is an advantageous and forward-thinking approach. Furthermore, other countries in Europe Countries and worldwide can learn much from their growth history and new concepts. «It is our ambitious goal to make Finland the most qualified nation in the world by 2020 and we believe that by maintaining a broad competence base, we are able to tap into our human capital resources when needed» Jukka Gustafsson
http://www.virtualschoolsandcolleges. info/news-tags/taxonomy/term/99 http://www.minedu.fi/OPM/?lang=en http://www.minedu.fi/OPM/ Tiedotteet/?lang=en
Physics benifits society
Basic research in physical sciences benefits society
international students interested in pursuing studies closely linked to a strong research environment at the very highly ranked Department. According to the last two evaluations by CHE-Centre for Higher Education our Department is at the cutting edge of study places in Europe, in the excellent group.
Prof. Juhani Keinonen Professor, Head of the Department of Physics
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o serve society is a task of the universities in Finland, underlined by law. It places additional demands on the effectiveness in scientific research and education. It imposes that in the Department of Physics, the University of Helsinki, the research and research-based teaching are at an internationally high level, nationally important, and increase the society’s intellectual and economic wellbeing. Multidisciplinary research and teaching along with networking and partnership are the key issues for our success. The focus areas of research are materials physics, elementary particle physics, and Earth and space physics. Basic research aims to produce and convey science-based knowledge for the Finnish innovation system and contribute in making societal impact also in addressing global challenges related to environment, energy, and health. The curriculum comprises physics, theoretical physics, geophysics, meteorology, and astronomy. Education of physics teachers for high schools is a part of our societal impact. For the needs of our bilingual and international society, we offer studies in Finnish, Swedish and English. We welcome
Essential for the high level of research is the competent personnel, comprising of 30 professors and altogether about 400 person years. Professor Kulmala is listed by the Thomson ISI Web of Knowledge essential Science Indicators to be the most cited researcher in geosciences. Two professors have the highly competitive Academy Professor position funded by the Academy of Finland (the Finnish national research funding organisation). Two of our professors are in the FiDiPro - the Finland Distinguished Professor Programme. Led and financed by the Academy and Tekes (the Finnish Funding Agency for Technology and Innovation), FiDiPro provides competitive grants to projects recruiting highly merited scientists, who are able to commit to long-term cooperation with a Finnish university or research institute. Our personnel has received two ERC (the European Research Council) advanced grants and two starting grants. Several of our researchers serve in important international positions of trust. Our financial resources reflect both the quality of the research and its societal importance. The share of the funding from the University budget is 38 per cent. The complementary external funding of our budget consists of 34 per cent from the Academy, 10 from EU and other sources abroad, 3 from domestic sources, and 15 per cent from Tekes. On closer inspection, the research profile of the Department with respect to the societal impact comprises a whole number of components connected to basic research and linked with each other.
Research in materials physics is based on profound knowledge of ion beam physics, x-ray and synchrotron radiation physics, electronics, and medical physics and biophysics. Together with computer simulations of the experiments fundamental understanding of the processes facilitates the development of new materials and practical applications. Materials research makes clear scientific impact and acquire visibility in the public. Materials studied include carbonbased nanomaterials, materials for energy production and storage, novel superconductors, nanostructure and properties of plant cell wall, and new materials based on natural polymers. X-ray imaging by microtomography has been applied in multidisciplinary studies of evolutionary biology, tree physiology, paleontology, composite materials, food science, and geology. This work draws from the world-class expertise of a highly multidisciplinary research consortium. Medical physics research combines expertise in materials physics, computational tools, applied medicine and biosciences, as well as the available commercial technology and new technical innovations. The focus in the collaboration with the University of Helsinki Central Hospital is to develop novel methods and applications for medical diagnostics and therapy and to educate hospital physicists.
Physics benifits society Elementary particle physics focuses on experimental and theoretical studies of the smallest constituents of matter, laws of physics that describe them, and development of the Universe. Theoretical studies in cosmology research are also connected to the mission of the ESA (the European Space Agency) Planck satellite, which explores the structure and origin of the Universe. Our Planck team plays a key role for the map making and data analysis. Planck observations are also utilized in our research on star formation and combined with analysis of data from another large ESA programme Herschel. Space physics research covers the whole chain from instrument design, through data processing, analysis, and interpretation to services to society. The research focus is in space plasma physics and space weather. Our research reaches across the boundary between electromagnetic processes in the ionosphere and the neutral atmosphere, bringing in added value to atmospheric sciences. Space weather is a topic where fundamental space research has clear societal impacts. We are currently strengthening our strategy concerning space weather applications and services to society. World-wide space weather is seen as a crucial factor in the modern technologically oriented society and is thus becoming an important part of the activities of World’s Meteorological Organization and the United Nations in addition to several other space organizations. Consequently we have taken an active role in the newly established Space Situation Awareness Preparatory Programme of ESA. Research in geophysics has connections to environmental aspects and meteorology. The coastal zone of freezing seas is examined with applications to ecology and engineering. Topics in our oceanographic research include circulation and mixing processes in the Arctic Sea, and the exchange processes between the Nordic Seas and the North Atlantic. The research in the atmospheric sciences aims to understand the global climate change, biosphere-atmosphere
interactions, and climate – air quality interactions. A diverse range of scientific and technological expertise in the areas of physics, meteorology, chemistry, and biology is required. Laboratory studies, ground, ship and airborne field studies, satellite remotesensing, and numerical modelling studies ranging from the molecular level to the global-scale Earth system models are necessary to understand the complex processes. Our versatile field stations SMEAR (Station for Measuring Forest Ecosystem-Atmosphere Relations) play an important role in the research. The stations belong to the national strategic research infrastructure. Networking is essential for our research. It is connected to European strategic research infrastructures, like CERN (the European Organisation for Nuclear Research), ESRF (the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility), ITER
(International fusion reactor), JET (the Joint European Torus), ESO (the European Southern Observatory), and ESA (the European Space Agency). In space research, we are involved in four projects within EU’s 7th Framework Programme. Of these two are coordinated by our scientists. They focus on developing a new international solar data service and novel astronomical detector development. In addition we participate in a consortium led by the British Antarctic Survey to produce improved forecasting methods for space weather and another to develop an innovative electric propulsion system. The research in atmospheric sciences requires large networks. An international project office iLEAPS (Integrated Land Ecosystem – Atmosphere Processes Study) is located in our Department. Related to landatmosphere interactions within IGBP
(International Geosphere – Biosphere Programme), the iLEAPS project aims at advancing new integrated experimental and modelling research approaches needed in the Earth System. We are also in charge of establishing the national and European Integrated Carbon Observation System (ICOS). In the domestic networking 11 of our 30 professors have a joint position with our collaborators in research, such as other departments in the University, research institutes of different government ministries, and industry. Two Finnish research centres of excellence appointed by the Academy and two Nordic centres have also an important role in the networking. In the collaboration with industry the electronics research utilizes several novel measurement methods and sensors developed for industrial and scientific applications. For planetary research we have contributed to several instruments on ESA’s Rosetta mission that will arrive to a comet in 2014. During the recent years our largest project has been the X-ray and particle instrument SIXS for ESA’s Mercury mission BepiColombo to be launched in 2015. The development and construction of novel weather radar techniques has been performed in collaboration with Vaisala Oyj. The research is also linked to the instrumental development work with other international companies. The most important one has been Aerodyne Research, Inc. in the U.S.A. The co-operation concerns greenhouse gas analyzers and atmospheric mass spectroscopy. Our research has also produced spin-off companies. The importance of basic research in physical sciences to society stems not only from the quality of the research and teaching but their awareness in the society. Our outreach activities are organized as an Outreach Centre. It is very active in the area of its general aim, namely in promoting understanding and interest in contemporary physics and technology among Finnish citizens. It offers a variety of activities, like events and personal support for teachers and students, children and youth, and the general public.
CERN
Members of the CMS Collaboration in front of a real-size poster of the experiment. The Collaboration is one of the largest at CERN, with over 4,000 collaborators from 41 countries.
CERN is in the fundamental physics business – carrying out basic research to answer the Universe’s most complex questions. What is the Universe made of? How does it work? To answer these, CERN has constructed a unique complex of particle accelerators, including the iconic Large Hadron Collider (LHC). This 27 kilometrelong accelerator made the headlines this July with the discovery of a particle consistent with the long-sought Higgs.
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ERN is an international particle physics laboratory with some of the world’s most technologically advanced facilities for basic research, including the complex accelerator chain leading up to the LHC. CERN’s largescale accelerators, experiments and computing projects are achievable with contributions from its Member States and Observer States, within a framework of collaborative science. The laboratory hosts dozens of experiments, ranging from 3,000-strong LHC collaborations involved in the search for the Higgs boson and extra dimensions, to smaller experiments investigating areas such as antimatter and dark matter. Much of the attention given to CERN in recent years has centred on the Higgs boson, the particle theorised to give fundamental particles mass. The announcement by two LHC experiments – ATLAS and CMS – of the
discovery of a Higgs-like particle was a tangible demonstration of the power of collaborative science. This discovery added to an established reputation of pioneering technological and scientific advances. But while the science makes the headlines, the key behind these successes lies in the people who contribute to it. Guiding Principles Collaboration. Defined by Webster’s Dictionary as “working with others, especially in an intellectual endeavour”. At CERN, it means thousands of physicists, engineers and computer experts – from around the world – working together to carry out fundamental research. This definition was established in the CERN Convention signed in 1954, which laid out the guiding principles that govern the Organization to this day:
CERN
“The Organization shall provide for collaboration among European States in nuclear research of a pure scientific and fundamental character. […] The Organization shall have no concern with work for military requirements and the results of its experimental and theoretical work shall be published or otherwise made generally available.” Signed less than a decade after the end of the war that had devastated Europe, the CERN Convention was a landmark achievement for both the scientific and political communities. It remains the guiding document for the Organization and – barring the shift from nuclear research to the broader particle physics area – establishes the four main activities of CERN: • Research: Seeking and finding answers to questions about the Universe. • Technology: Advancing the frontiers of technology – reflected in current knowledge transfer programmes. • Collaborating: Bringing nations together through science. • Education: Training the scientists of tomorrow. To achieve these activities, CERN has adopted a collaborative management style. While there is an internal hierarchy to the Organization, most of the experiments it supports are managed through multi-national collaborations. These collaborations – led by “spokespeople” and “committees”, rather than “CEOs” and “boards” – encourage decisions made by scientific consensus rather than executive decisions. By allowing research institutes from any nation to contribute, CERN collaborations also ensure cohesive, global investigations of specific research areas.
Portugal (1985), Finland (1991), Poland (1991), Czecho-Slovak Republic (1992), Hungary (1992), and Bulgaria (1999). The Czech Republic and Slovak Republic re-joined CERN after their mutual independence in 1993, while Yugoslavia left CERN in 1961. While CERN is a European-driven laboratory, contributions from the global scientific community are significant. Non-member state nations have contributed to the finances, construction and operation of the LHC, and CERN experiments and computing. Some of these nations, such as the United States and Russia, even have a special status as Observer States to the Organization. There are currently over 3,700 non-member state users working at CERN, including the spokesperson of the CMS Collaboration, Joe Incandela. In June 2010, the CERN Council approved a new legal framework that allows non-European nations to be considered for Member State status. The following year, Israel became the first nonEuropean nation to take advantage of this framework, joining CERN as an Associate Member in the pre-stage to full Membership of CERN. “CERN’s approach to collaboration is and always has been one of openness to academic communities, wherever they may be,” explained Rolf Heuer, CERN Director-General, upon announcing Israel’s new status. “This brings richness to the intellectual life of CERN, and sends a message to the world about what can be achieved through peaceful collaboration.”
Knowledge Transfer While CERN’s main mission is fundamental research, many of the ideas and technologies developed by the Organization can have an impact on the world at large. Sharing this knowledge is a central part of the Organization’s activities, whether this is through spreading scientific understanding or sharing innovations with groups outside the basic research field. In order to maximise the dissemination of this knowledge to society and academia, CERN has a dedicated Knowledge Transfer (KT) Group. To ensure that this knowledge is distributed in accordance with CERN’s ethical and administrative mandates, the KT Group has developed various approaches technology transfer. Collaborative R&D projects, consultancy and spin-off companies In order to achieve its research objectives, CERN has a tradition of collaborating with companies and research institutes to develop new technology. The technological advances generated through this R&D process are then available to the partners for commercial use. Professional advice and services are also given to companies and academics seeking CERN expertise. Likewise, CERN provides support to spin-off companies based on CERN technologies, where the creation of such companies is fostered through business incubation centres in CERN Member States.
A Global Collaboration The CERN Convention brought together its twelve founding states: Belgium, Denmark, France, the Federal Republic of Germany, Greece, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and Yugoslavia. CERN now has twenty Member States, joined by Austria (1959), Spain (1961-1969, re-joined 1983),
The Medipix chip, a small particle detector, was developed at CERN for use in the LHC. The technology is now used across a variety of disciplines: from biomedical imaging to measuring radiation on board the International Space Station.
CERN CERN Knowledge Transfer Fund Along with providing external projects with the support and access to CERN technology, the CERN KT Fund also provides direct support to home-grown technologies seeking to leave the lab. By providing CERN inventors with financial support in the early stages of development, the fund allows these technologies to take the final steps into the commercial market. Any revenues generated by the exploitation of these technologies are divided among the members of the team that developed the technology, their department and the KT Fund for reinvestment into other projects. Projects currently supported by the KT Fund are developing detectors for flame detection and early earthquake prediction, radio-frequency absorbers for energy recovery, and exotic radioisotopes for medical applications (read more in Physics for Health below). Easy Access Intellectual Property The CERN scientific programme is a natural driver for innovation and
generates a considerable amount of intellectual property. Selections from the CERN Intellectual Property portfolio are accessible to commercial and academic partners through CERN Easy Access IP. This swift licensing process makes certain CERN technologies available royalty-free. “This approach seems to be an appropriate model for CERN, where the ultimate goal of technology transfer is not to generate income but to transfer knowledge to external partners,” explained Giovanni Anelli, head of the KT Group. There is no cost for the license and no royalties need to be paid to CERN. Companies and institutions that apply merely need to provide an explanation of what they intend to do with the technology and a yearly report on their progress with it. Should a product be developed with the Intellectual Property, CERN’s contribution must be suitably acknowledged. CERN Easy Access IP is particularly advantageous to smaller businesses that do not collaborate with CERN through R&D or consultancy. Also, it is a means of disseminating some of CERN’s more
specialised technology, which has proven to be more difficult to exploit. Open Science While “open access” may seem like a very modern concept, it’s one that has been part of the CERN ideology since its foundation. According to the CERN Convention, “the results of [CERN’s] experimental and theoretical work shall be published or otherwise made generally available.” In a modern-day laboratory, this has translated into a specific policy to promote open access to its scientific research. Initiatives like SCOAP3 (Sponsoring Consortium for Open Access Publishing in Particle Physics) are uniting CERN and High Energy Physics partners in over 20 countries to convert existing journals to Open Access. While this is on going, results from LHC experiments are available under Creative Commons license, which allows the unlimited use and distribution of the content while preserving the original authors.
A view of the LHC tunnel.
CERN
For further information about CERN’s international relations, visit: http://cern.ch/international-relations.
In 2009, electronics designers at CERN worked with the KT Group to explore a new area for open science: hardware. CERN’s Open Hardware Repository – and the corresponding Open Hardware License – allows hardware developers to share the results of their R&D activities. Hardware designers can access and modify hardware within the Repository, thus preventing any duplication of efforts and encouraging collaboration between designers. Furthermore, any company or individual can commercialise the hardware, so long as there is no endorsement or responsibility implied on the part of the designer. More than 40 projects are currently available in the repository. “Open source software was our source of inspiration for Open Hardware, and we are starting to see that the benefits seen in the former translate well to the latter,” said Javier Serrano, an engineer in CERN’s Beams Department and the founder of the Repository. ”We are proving that there need be no contradiction between commercial hardware and openness.”
Physics for Health Medicine and physics may not seem like the most obvious of partners, but when they team up they can address many issues: from providing medical imaging techniques to explaining the biophysics of nerve cells. At CERN, the same technology and expertise used to make the world’s most complex accelerators can also provide help to the world’s medical accelerators. In particular, CERN science plays an important role in shaping the development of hadron therapy – a treatment that utilises highly focused beams of protons or carbon ions to attack cancerous cells. These beams can be focused with pinpoint precision and have little effect on surrounding healthy tissue. The Life Sciences section of the KT Group works to identify which particle physics technologies are interesting for biomedical applications, and to encourage collaboration between CERN scientists and researchers from medicine and biology–related areas. “The successful transfer of knowledge
and technology from fundamental particle physics research to the biomedical domain can be catalysed and enhanced if medical doctors, biologists, physicists and engineers exchange information, identify challenges and develop global strategies together,” said Manjit Dosanjh, CERN’s Life Sciences Advisor and Life Sciences section leader. This multidisciplinary collaboration is best found in the European Network for Light Ion Hadron Therapy (ENLIGHT). Co-ordinated by CERN, the ENLIGHT network strives to bridge the gaps between the traditionally separate fields. The network currently counts over 300 participants from 20 European countries, who work together to coordinate European efforts in hadron therapy. Under the umbrella of ENLIGHT, CERN is involved in four life sciences projects funded by the European Commission (EC). Three of the projects are co-ordinated by CERN and one, ULICE, is co-ordinated by CNAO (Italy).
CERN • PARTNER – A Particle Training Network for European Radiotherapy This Marie Curie Training project offers research and training positions to 25 young physicists, biologists, engineers and physicians specialising in hadron therapy. CERN is currently hosting 4 PARTNER fellows, who are working on developing a prototype Hadron-therapy Information Sharing Platform (HISP), improving the accuracy of computational simulations of therapeutic ion beams in tissues, and participating in the FIRST (Fragmentation of Ions Relevant for Space and Therapy) experiment, designed to obtain high-precision data on interaction of ion beams with matter. • ENVISION – European Novel Imaging Systems for Ion Therapy This project brings together 16 research centres and industrial partners to develop novel imaging techniques for safer and more precise hadron therapy. The project has already delivered tangible results, shown by the publication of six scientific papers and one doctoral thesis. • ENTERVISION – Enhanced real-time imaging for radiotherapy Responding to the critical need to reinforce research and training in 3D digital imaging, ENTERVISION provides 16 young researchers with training in this area. • ULICE – Union of Light Ion Centres in Europe This project addresses the standardisation and optimization of hadron therapy facilities for research, while also providing greater access to these facilities.
ISOLDE laser.
Along with these EC-funded projects, the Organization is also supporting CERN-based medical physics projects through the KT Fund. One such project is CERN-MEDICIS (Medical Isotopes Collected from ISOLDE). Launched in early 2012, the project aims to create a production facility for small quantities of radioisotopes for medical research. These isotopes will be produced using “wasted” beams produced by CERN’s ISOLDE experimental facility. ISOLDE is dedicated to the production of radioactive ion beams for many different experiments in the fields of nuclear and atomic physics, solidstate physics, and materials science. “At ISOLDE we have the capability to produce a thousand different radioactive isotopes,” explained Thierry Stora, leader of the CERNMEDICIS project and of the Targets and Ion Sources Development Team
at ISOLDE. “The objective of MEDICIS is to make use of the expertise and infrastructure of ISOLDE to produce radioactive isotopes that could be useful in medicine.” In ISOLDE, only some 10% of the beams generated actually interact with target materials. The remaining 90% merely pass through the target unused. By creating a second target for MEDICIS, located behind ISOLDE’s current targets, the facility will be able to produce isotopes especially for medical applications, without interfering with the facility’s physics programme. A look ahead The LHC will continue to gather data until early 2013, providing experiments with the data they need to examine the properties of the newly discovered Higgs-like particle. 2013 then will be a will be a busy one for CERN engineers, as they prepare the CERN accelerator complex to run the LHC at a higher energy in 2014. Experiments will also be busy upgrading their systems to cope with the higher energy. But while CERN’s accelerators and experiments may change as scientific understanding improves, one element of the Organization will always remain: the commitment to the founding principles of the CERN Convention.
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www.globalscientia.com
Issue 2 | GLOBALSCIENTIA | 00
Culture
Erasmus: changing lives, opening minds for 25 years
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Androulla Vassiliou European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth.
t was 1987 when the first group of Erasmus students packed their bags and set off for an adventure none of them would forget. Few could have imagined that, in a matter of years, Erasmus would become the world’s best-known academic exchange scheme. The 3 000 plus students who took part in the first exchange could choose from 10 destination countries for their studies. Fast forward a quarter of a century: 33 countries are now in the scheme – the 27 EU Member States, Croatia, Iceland, Liechtenstein, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey – and nearly .3 million young Europeans have received Erasmus grants. In the 2010-11 academic year alone, Erasmus funded more than 230 000 students, the highest figure so far. Erasmus was launched at a time when Europe was still a divided continent. The scheme became a flagship for education across borders, for changing lives and opening minds. As Umberto Eco, the Italian writer, recently remarked, the Erasmus programme has contributed to creating a truly “European generation”. A lot has changed in the past 25 years, both for Europe and Erasmus. The programme has evolved with the times. Today, it is a cornerstone in the EU’s efforts to reduce youth unemployment. The programme was expanded in 2007 to allow students to apply for Erasmus grants for job placements abroad, in addition to the traditional study option. While the latter remains the most popular choice – around 190 000 studied abroad in the 2010-2011 academic year – more than 40 000 received on-the-job experience in companies, while at the same time strengthening links between business and academia. It is widely recognised that an Erasmus exchange can help young people gain vital skills, such as
languages, adaptability, inter-cultural awareness and leadership. These skills are invaluable on the increasingly competitive job market. Erasmus is not just for students – grants are also available for teachers and other academic staff. In 2010-2011, 43 000 teachers and staff took part in an Erasmus exchange. Indeed, more than 4 000 higher education institutions are involved in the programme. Each has signed up to the Erasmus University Charter, which aims to ensure the quality of student and staff mobility. Through funding for transnational projects and networks, the Erasmus programme enables higher education institutions to work together and improve their teaching, recognition systems, student support services, cooperation with business and institutional management. This means that the Erasmus programme not only brings benefits to individual students or staff, but is also a catalyst for improving the quality of higher education in general. For example, Erasmus has triggered important reforms through the ‘Bologna Process’, including EUwide recognition of study periods abroad through the European Credit Transfer and Accumulation System (ECTS), which started as an Erasmusfunded pilot project, and measures to improve quality assurance. The Erasmus scheme has also encouraged the European academic community to modernise and to address issues such as the compatibility of curricula. These reforms contribute to the internationalisation of European higher education. In 2004, the success of Erasmus prompted the introduction of a worldwide version of the programme, Erasmus Mundus, which has boosted
Culture
academic cooperation between Europe and the rest of the world. The programme is open to students of all nationalities and is aimed at joint masters’ degree courses which must involve at least two higher education institutions. Since 2009, universities from outside Europe have been able to participate as full partners in these Erasmus Mundus joint courses. Beyond Europe, Erasmus has inspired similar exchange schemes, notably the Nyerere Programme between African, Caribbean and Pacific universities and the Campus Asia initiative between universities in China, Japan and South Korea. The next chapter in the Erasmus story is currently in the making. The 25th anniversary comes at a time when the European Commission is preparing to launch its new programme for education, training, youth and sport, ‘Erasmus for All’. This new programme builds on the enormous contribution that Erasmus has made to European higher education and the enduring power of the Erasmus brand name. Erasmus for All will run from 20142020 and brings all the existing EU programmes in these four sectors under one roof. The Commission has proposed a significant budget increase which will enable it to increase the number of individuals receiving grants to study, teach, train or volunteer abroad from 2.5 million in the current budget period (2007-2013) to nearly 5 million in the following seven years. Two-thirds of the budget would be earmarked for grants to enhance knowledge and skills. The programme will be opened up for non-EU countries, allowing higher education students and staff to receive grants to go to a non-EU country, as well as non-EU students and staff to come to study, train or teach in the European Union.
As a further boost to student mobility, the Commission has also proposed to create an EU loan guarantee fund within Erasmus for All. This is aimed at students who plan to undertake a full masters’ degree course in another European country and for whom it is often difficult to obtain commercial loans at reasonable rates. By sharing the risk of possible defaults with lenders, the scheme aims to generate loans for some 330,000 students between 2014 and 2020, dramatically expanding the number of mobile students in Europe. This would help the EU meet its target of doubling overall student mobility to at least 20% by the end of the decade. The Commission’s proposal is currently being discussed and negotiated by the European member states and the European Parliament. by Androulla Vassiliou, European Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth.
OECD
Education and change
There is an increasing body of evidence that education is no longer an aim in itself. Certainly, education continues to matter, now more than ever, for individuals and economies alike. Today, however, education systems are under growing pressure to deliver outcomes that are demonstrably relevant – for rapidly changing economic and social environments, for a growing and increasingly mobile and diverse pool of students, job-seekers and employees, and for the ambitious national development plans of emerging economies. Successful participation in the labour market depends more and more on a swift supply of skills in demand, increasingly related to nonroutine, analytic and interactive tasks (Figure 1 illustrates the trend in task input change for the US). Figure 1. Trends in routine and nonroutine task input in U.S. occupations 1960 to 2002: mean task input in percentiles of 1960 task distribution (1960=50) Source: Levy and Murnane (2003)
OECD research shows that the absence of education improvement as measured by the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) can also be quite costly and, in the lifetime of a generation, reach up to five times the current GDP of an OECD country in terms of foregone national gains (OECD 2010a). The case for making education systems better and their outcomes more relevant is indeed strong. However, the sector is very resistant to change
with its vast structure of traditionally established providers and extensively vested interests. Changes in the education sector, probably more than in any other public sector, bring about a fear of loss of privileged positions or advantages (OECD 2010b), and the levers of stakeholders in education to defend individual or institutional interests can be considerable. Teachers for example frequently enjoy greater public trust than politicians, and are well organised in strong unions, which makes their resistance particularly
OECD effective. Similarly, the success of reforms depends on the buy-in and participation from education providers, which might be reluctant to co-operate (OECD 2010b). Last but not least, it takes time before the benefits or mistakes of education reform become evident – in most countries it would take at least 8 years of formal schooling before a cohort would be old enough to be assessed by a survey such as PISA, and another 2-4 years for the same cohort to start entering the labour market or higher education. Uncertainty is a constant companion of education reform, and frequently the weakest point in an argument for change. As point of return on initial investment in educational change lies beyond the duration of a typical government mandate, it makes reform-oriented decisionmakers politically vulnerable, but also dependent on a broader national consensus, on evidence and sometimes external support for their reform agenda. Austerity measures triggered by the recent economic crisis are forcing governments across the OECD to try and do more with less, which complicates matters further. Peer support for education reform For 50 years now, one of the core benefits of OECD membership has been the access to country experiences and “best practices” in a host of areas, including in education. To learn from the reform trajectories of others for their own reforms, OECD member states frequently have recourse to reviews of their policies. Although there are no “one size fits all” solutions, this not only helps save time, but also reduces cost, helps better target reform efforts
and has often been instrumental in winning support “at home” for difficult measures (OECD 2003). An OECD peer review is defined as an examination of one state’s performance or practices in a particular area by other states (peers) (OECD 2003). The point of the exercise is to support policymaking in the state under review and provide a selection of relevant best practices, standards and principles. At its core it is an exchange among equals, not a judgement. Through its Programme for Co-operation with Non-member economies (NME) the Directorate for Education (EDU) has been a pioneer in introducing the peer review process in education also beyond the OECD area. Since 1992, it carried out close to 70 peer reviews of education policies all over the world. For some of them, most notably the Russian Federation, the Baltic states, South Africa, as well as countries joining the OECD such as Hungary, Poland, Chile, South Korea and Mexico, the reviews provided long-term guidance for countries in challenging times. Data analysis, as well as extensive site visits for interviews with all stakeholders (government, researchers, teachers, parents, pupils, civil society representatives, development partners where applicable), allow the reviewers to look into the quality of all or selected segments of the education system and to detect particular strengths and weaknesses related to, inter alia, access and equity, governance and finance, assessment, curricula and textbooks, teachers, vocational education and training, higher education. The NME reviews of education policies were instrumental in establishing the
Ownership
OECD as a point of reliable analytical reference in education, globally. This success is due to their relevance. At the heart of the NME reviews is a peer review-based methodology which is established around a joint effort of national authorities and the OECD, or in other words – on the principles of ownership and tailored policy analysis. Table 1. Elements of ownership and tailored policy analysis The NME reviews are bound to an important conditionality – the authorities of the requesting OECD Non-member economy must submit a formal request for a peer review to the OECD Education Policy Committee, committing funding towards the expenses. In most cases the financial commitment implies that the request was preceded by inter-institutional consultations at national level (e.g. Ministry of Education, Ministry of Finance, and Parliamentary Committee). This creates accountability pressure on the institution requesting the review, visibility and often expectations, which is commonly very beneficial for the impact and significance of the final review report. Another ownership element contributing to the NME review relevance is the freedom which nonmembers would normally enjoy to place the focus of the background report on areas which they consider particularly challenging or important. The mere fact of preparation of an (extensive) background report is a capacity-building exercise in itself. A good background report depends on a cross-divisional effort in the Ministries involved, on consultations with adjacent institutions, and on national education
Tailored policy analysis
Formal request to the OECD, with a budgetary commitment
Selection of areas in focus adapted to country needs
Preparation of a comprehensive background report by the requesting country
Team members’ background
Self-identification of problem areas to be taken in focus
Strong role for a Rapporteur, under OECD guidance
Inclusion of all stakeholders through responsibility for the background report and meetings during the site visits
Extensive site visits and tailor made interviews
Dissemination of the final report & policy of non-negotiation of findings and recommendations
Follow-up activities based on the review recommendations
Table 1
OECD research. In other words, its contents would reflect the common themes of the national debates on education and reform. On OECD side, the focus of the review would be individually geared to match this. The Non-member reviewed is in charge of setting up an extensive list of site visits and of arranging meetings with all education stakeholders in the country – a typical review mission would include between 100 and 200 interviews, usually over a two weeks period. Thus, the site visits raise considerable awareness for the OECD review, while the responsibility for arranging them makes the authorities declare their ownership for the process. The OECD team would make a point of meeting its counterparts in their familiar setting (on local level, in schools, in universities, teacher training centres...). Only a very small number of questions are set in advance. This allows for conducting the interviews around topics that matter for the particular stakeholder group interviewed, which can seldom be reliably identified in advance – capturing topics of relevance only through desk research or by institutions on central level is usually less efficient. Last but not least, the members of the review team and in particular the rapporteur, would normally have a professional profile featuring substantial experience in both education research and policy, who are experienced in the domain of policy making in the public domain. Over the years this has proven instrumental or the relevance and feasibility of the policy
Figure 2. Process of peer reviews of Non-member economies in education
recommendations which are the main outcome of the NME reviews. Commonly all OECD team experts would come from OECD member states. The figure below captures the dynamics of a typical NME review process which takes up to 18 months to complete. The peer review process was broadly perceived as a very helpful contribution to education reforms. The neutral character of external advice allows for a focus on a range of issues, including such which would otherwise be politically sensitive to discuss. The pragmatic policy recommendations of the reviews usually stimulate a broad public debate, contribute to achieving consensus on reform priorities and policy steps, and in ODA recipient countries are used as a reference for decision making and planning of donor support. Recent examples of PISA participating countries which successfully based their reforms on OECD education reviews include Russia, Lithuania and the new OECD members Chile and Estonia.
Bibliography Martin Hollis (1982), Education as Positional Good, Journal of Philosophy of Education, v16 n2 p235-44, 1982 Autor, Levy and Murnane (2003) The Skill Content of Recent Technological Change: An Empirical Exploration, Quarterly Journal of Economics, 118(4), November 2003, 1279-1334. OECD (2003), Peer Review. An OECD Tool for Information and Exchange, OECD, Paris OECD (2010a), The High Cost of Low Educational Performance. The Long-Run Economic Impact of Improving PISA Outcomes, OECD, Paris Gregory Wurzburg in OECD (2010b), Making Reform Happen. Lessons from OECD Countries, OECD, Paris OECD (2011), Education at a Glance 2011, OECD, Paris Annex: coverage and timing of oecd peer reviews of education policies in non-member economies
OECD
Reviews and other publications in partner countries and economies Abu Dhabi (2012) • Reviews of National Policies for Education: Abu Dhabi 2012 Albania (1996, 2001) • •
Secondary Education Systems in EC-Phare Countries: Survey and Project Proposals 1996 Thematic Review of National Policies for Education: Albania 2001
Bosnia and Herzegovina (2001) • Thematic Review of National Policies for Education: Bosnia and Herzegovina 2001 Brazil (2010, 2011) • Reviews of National Policies for Education: Santa Catarina State, Brazil 2010 • Higher Education in Regional and City Development: The State of Paraná, Brazil 2011 Bulgaria (1996, 2001, 2004, 2004, 2006) • • • • •
Secondary Education Systems in EC-Phare Countries: Survey and Project Proposals 1996 Thematic Review of National Policies for Education: Bulgaria 2001 Reviews of National Policies for Education: Bulgaria 2004 Reviews of National Policies for Education: Bulgaria 2004: Science, Research and Technology Education Policies for Students at Risk and those with Disabilities in South Eastern Europe Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, FYR of Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia 2006
Chile (2004, 2009, 2009, 2010, 2010) • Reviews of National Policies for Education: Chile 2004 • Reviews of National Policies for Education: Tertiary Education in Chile 2009 • Reviews of Vocational Education and Training: A Learning for Jobs Review of Chile 2009 • Higher Education in Regional and City Development: Bío Bío Region, Chile 2010 • Reviews of National Policies for Education: Chile’s International Scholarship Programme 2010 China (2000, 2003, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2010) • Current Issues in Chinese Higher Education 2000 • Thematic Review of the First Years of Tertiary Education 2003 • Review of Financing and Quality Assurance Reforms in Higher Education in The People’s Republic of China 2003 • Review of Financing and Quality Assurance in Higher Education 2004 • Reviews of Tertiary Education: China 2009 • Reviews of Vocational Education and Training: A Learning for Jobs Review of China 2010 Colombia (2012, forthcoming) • Reviews of National Policies for Education: Tertiary Education in Colombia 2012 • Higher Education in Regional and City Development: Antioquia, Colombia (forthcoming) Croatia (2001, 2006, 2008) • • •
Thematic Review of National Policies for Education: Croatia 2001 Education Policies for Students at Risk and those with Disabilities in South Eastern Europe Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, FYR of Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia 2006 Reviews of Tertiary Education: Croatia 2008
Czech Republic (1992, 1996, 1996) • • •
Review of Higher Education in the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic 1992 Reviews of National Policies for Education: Czech Republic 1996 (published after accession) Secondary Education Systems in EC-Phare Countries: Survey and Project Proposals 1996 (published after accession)
Dominican Republic (2008, 2012) • •
Reviews of National Policies for Education: Dominican Republic 2008 Reviews of National Policies for Education: Higher Education in the Dominican Republic 2012
Egypt (2010, forthcoming, forthcoming) • Reviews of National Policies for Education: Higher Education in Egypt 2010 • Reviews of National Policies for Education: Compulsory Education in Egypt (forthcoming) • Reviews of Vocational Training and Education: A Skills Beyond School Review Egypt (forthcoming) Estonia (1996, 2001, 2007) • • •
Secondary Education Systems in EC-Phare Countries: Survey and Project Proposals 1996 Reviews of National Policies for Education: Estonia 2001 Reviews of Tertiary Education: Estonia 2007
OECD Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (2001, 2004) • •
Thematic Review of National Policies for Education: Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia 2001 Improving Access and Opportunity Higher Education in Transition in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, 2004
Gabon (2011) • Peer Review in Education in Africa: Gabon. For a Quality Education Accessible to All 2011 Hungary (1993, 1995, 1996, 1999) • Reviews of National Policies for Education: Compulsory Education in Hungary 1993 • Reviews of National Policies for Education: Higher Education in Hungary 1995 • Secondary Education Systems in EC-Phare Countries: Survey and Project Proposals 1996 • Towards Lifelong Learning in Hungary 1999 (requested before accession) Indonesia (forthcoming) • Reviews of National Policies for Education: Indonesia (forthcoming) Israel (2011) •
Higher Education in Regional and City Development: The Galilee, Israel 2011 (published after accession)
Kazakhstan (2007, 2009) • Reviews of National Policies for Education: Higher Education in Kazakhstan 2007 • Reviews of National Policies for Education: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan 2009 Students with Special Needs and those with Disabilities Korea (1998) • Reviews of National Policies for Education: Korea 1998 (published after accession) Kosovo (2001) • Thematic Review of National Policies for Education: Kosovo 2001 Kyrgyzstan (2009, 2010) •
Reviews of National Policies for Education: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan 2009 Students with Special Needs and those with Disabilities • Reviews of National Policies for Education: Kyrgyz Republic 2010 Lessons from PISA Latvia (1996, 2001) • •
Secondary Education Systems in EC-Phare Countries: Survey and Project Proposals 1996 Reviews of National Policies for Education: Latvia 2001
Lithuania (1996, 2002) • Secondary Education Systems in EC-Phare Countries: Survey and Project Proposals 1996 • Reviews of National Policies for Education: Lithuania 2002 Malaysia (2011) • Higher Education in Regional and City Development: The State of Penang, Malaysia 2011 Mauritius (2011) • Peer Review in Education in Africa: Mauritius. For a Quality Education Accessible to All 2011 Mexico (1997) • Reviews of National Policies for Education: Higher Education Mexico 1997 (published after accession) Moldova (2001) • Thematic Review of National Policies for Education: Moldova 2001 Montenegro (2001) • Thematic Review of National Policies for Education: Montenegro 2001 Netherlands Antilles (2001) • Educational Policy Reform in the Netherlands Antilles 2001 Poland (1996, 1996) • •
Secondary Education Systems in EC-Phare Countries: Survey and Project Proposals 1996 Reviews of National Policies for Education: Poland 1996
Romania (1996, 2000, 2001, 2006) • • • •
Secondary Education Systems in EC-Phare Countries: Survey and Project Proposals 1996 Reviews of National Policies for Education: Romania 2000 Thematic Review of National Policies for Education: Romania 2001 Education Policies for Students at Risk and those with Disabilities in South Eastern Europe Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Kosovo, FYR of Macedonia, Moldova, Montenegro, Romania and Serbia 2006
OECD Russian Federation (1993, 1996, 1998, 1999) • The Russian Officer Conversion Programme: A Proposed Approach 1993 • Russian Officer Conversion Programmes: Overview and Future 1996 • Reviews of National Policies for Education: Russian Federation 1998 • Reviews of National Policies for Education: Tertiary Education and Research in the Russian Federation 1999 Serbia (2001, 2012) • Thematic Review of National Policies for Education: Serbia 2001 • Integrity of Education Systems: Serbia 2012 Slovak Republic (1992, 1996) • Review of higher education in the Czech and Slovak Federative Republic 1992 • Secondary Education Systems in EC-Phare Countries: Survey and Project Proposals 1996 Slovenia (1996, 1999) • Secondary Education Systems in EC-Phare Countries: Survey and Project Proposals 1996 • Reviews of National Policies for Education: Slovenia 1999 South Africa (2008, 2012) • Reviews of National Policies for Education: South Africa 2008 • Higher Education in Regional and City Development: The Free State Province, South Africa 2012 Tajikistan (2009) •
Reviews of National Policies for Education: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic and Tajikistan 2009 Students with Special Needs and those with Disabilities
Sweden Education and Research
Sweden Education and Research initiatives to yield a new generation of students Swedish Minister of Education Jan Björklund. By Gillian McNicoll Funding and potential
“We have to increase the results in the Swedish education system. I want Sweden to be one of the most successful countries in the world in the 21st Century.” Swedish Minister of Education Jan Björklund.
S
weden is already at the forefront of education and research in Europe and worldwide and has been working on ways to increase the Scandinavian country’s position in a global marketplace. Increasing opportunities and strategies that can influence and bring about productive improvements in schools and higher education is high on the list for Jan Björklund and the Swedish Government. Long-term investment has been put into place for this venture and progressive vision to succeed.
This valuable funding will continue to be allocated to educational establishments over all levels of education including degree programmes and postgraduate study. As part of the changes and in line with other European countries equality and diversity in Swedish education and research initiatives is being actively encouraged and supported. A new better equipped and organised generation of students is expected to emerge; brighter and more prepared. Research innovations are being promoted and the people potential across the board is being tapped into, whatever the age of the person. The study and topic areas that have heightened attention, due to the increase in technological advances in the world, include science, IT, technology and mathematics. One example of this is that high school students who study a technology based subject are given an opportunity to study for one more year. This kind of approach shows that Sweden and the Education Ministry is firmly behind improving the quality of study and learning. These types of measures can lead to a better equipped and skilled workforce that employers are not only searching for but demanding.
Students who show promise in certain subjects are being encouraged to grow and develop at a pace that works for them and allows for them to be cultivated to a greater level of ability. “Skilled labour is needed now… industry cannot wait and so we want to educate high school engineers as soon as possible.” Jan Björklund.
The Swedish Research Bill 2012 A new bill focusing on increasing and augmenting Sweden’s research abilities and activities is being worked on and will be presented later on in 2012. Several government agencies and funding institutions have been involved in providing up-to-date information; for example the Swedish Council for Working Life and Social Research Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems and the Swedish Research Council and the Swedish National Space Board. This is in order to find out what way the government should move in the coming years in terms of research, improvements and structure. In addition proposals have been taken from different groups and agencies for potential
initiatives and programmes. In previous years research funding allocations came to SEK 5 billion. Focus areas: Seven Projects The Swedish Research Council has been instrumental in developing projects that have been chosen as focus areas. There are seven projects; the XFEL X-ray Free Electron Laser, LifeWatch project for e-science and technology organisation for biodiversity data and observations, ELIXIR the European Life Sciences Infrastructure for Biological Information, ESS the European Spallation Source, PRACE the Partnership for Advanced Computing in Europe, FAIR Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research and Infrafrontier the Infrastructure for phenotyping and archiving of model mammalian genomes. The aim is that with better infrastructures, collaboration and organisation research and innovations will increase and advance Swedish research and lift the country’s status even further in the European and international communities. Life Sciences “Sweden Science for Life Laboratory has the makings of a world-class research institute.” Peter Wallenberg, The Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation.
Sweden Education and Research Sweden is opening a new national institute called the SciLifeLab which is leading the way for Sweden in enhancing research and development. This centre brings together not only skilled professional staff but up-to-date equipment and technologies. This centre is being designed using information and project concepts from top Universities and institutes around the globe. This is a collaborative project of the 4 leading Universities in Sweden that has received investments from a variety of sources for example The Knut and Alice Wallenberg Foundation and AstraZeneca. This institute is expected to boost Sweden’s biomedical
research capabilities which will enable new ideas, medications and treatments. “We have high ambitions. Sweden will be at the forefront. A research institute like SciLifeLab will be able to gather the sharpest brains and lay the foundation for new and major breakthrough.” Jan Björklund.
Bio-refineries Another area that has benefited from government funding via the Swedish Energy Agency is environmental research and projects. One of
these is the bio-refineries concept KIBIOS. This funding is improving the current initiatives for biobased heating and power in Sweden. Technologies are being further improved and evolving to create both a cleaner environment and reduced usage of fossil fuels, as well as being more cost effective. With this comes a new set of skills that need to be advanced on; both
for current workers in this field and in terms of futures employees. This is where again education is crucial to impact Sweden’s economy and prestige.
http://circlelund.wordpress. com/2012/02/02/newresearch-project-oncompetitive-and-innovativebiorefineries-in-sweden/ http://www.sweden.gov. se/sb/d/2063
Marine data — the key to Europe’s competitiveness and innovation
Marine data – the key to Europe’s competitiveness and innovation a number of challenges ahead. It is a bit of a cliché but nevertheless true that we know more about the surface of the moon than the bottom of the ocean. We have nautical charts but these have largely been developed for navigation. They show the depth of the water but not much else. They do not show the underwater cliffs and valleys, the sediments – sand, gravel or rock, the cold water coral, the sea grasses, the communities of marine life.
Maria Damanaki European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries
T
o make it through the crisis, Europe needs the contribution of all sectors of its economy. In this context, the marine and maritime sectors – the ‘blue economy’ – have an important role to play on the overall road to Europe’s economic recovery. We have promising indications regarding possible economic growth and employment prospects in the marine and maritime economy, but also
This is a brake on the marine economy. We are running out of land for food and energy and are increasingly looking to the sea. 39% of all new electricity generating capacity installed in Europe in 2009 was wind power. This is more than any other source of energy. 10% of this was offshore and this proportion is growing. The European Wind Energy Association reckons that by 2020, 30% of new construction will be offshore, and it will be 60% by 2030. The electricity grid infrastructure for these windfarms will also increase the attractiveness and lower the cost of other types of electricity generation wave and tide. As these new sectors grow, so does the employment. Estimates from the industry suggest that there will be
296,000 employed in offshore wind in Europe by 2030, and 450,000 in wave and tide by 2050. Marine and maritime activities are expanding and industry needs to know what is on the seafloor and in the water. They need to plan the most suitable sites, to estimate the disturbance to marine life, to operate safely and to reduce the business risk. It is not that there are no data. Navies, hydrographic agencies, geological surveys, research institutes, coastal protection authorities have been gathering data for years. They currently spend more than one and a half billion euro a year on marine observation. But it is hard to know who has the data, and it takes much negotiation to obtain it. And assembling these fragmented data into coherent maps is always timeconsuming and sometime impossible. We have estimated that unlocking this patrimony of data would increase the competiveness of European offshore activities by three hundred million euro a year. And this does not take into account the inevitable increase in the marine economy as these new industries – energy, aquaculture, mining – expand. Neither does it include the opportunity for new products and services. Up to now only those who
Marine data — the key to Europe’s competitiveness and innovation
hold data are able to provide services based on them. With easy access to data, researchers or small businesses will be able to offer new products. We also need to take into account the need to protect sensitive habitats and rare species for future generations. We have some evidence of the damage caused by fishing to deep water corals and sponges. But in many cases our information is not precise enough to define areas where harmful fishing gear should be banned or where marine protected areas should be set up. For all these reasons we embarked on the “Marine Knowledge 2020” adventure. 53 organisations – marine institutes, geological surveys and small companies – have come together in preparatory actions to assemble these fragmented data and make them available through the internet. Feedback from users and from independent evaluators has been enthusiastic, so we now intend to expand the effort. Up to now we have only created maps for a limited number of sea-basins but by mid-2014 we intend to complete the mapping of Europe. The resolution will be coarse and there may be some gaps but at least we will know where these gaps are. These will be the first steps towards a more ambitious effort to produce a complete mapping of the seabed by 2020, including water depth, sediments, minerals and marine species. We will begin a consultation process this summer. Can data held by private companies as well as public bodies be included? Could it be a public-private partnership? We look forward to input on these and other questions. The “Marine knowledge 2020” initiative is certainly one of the enablers of “blue growth” – smart solutions and sustainable growth from the oceans, seas and coasts. by Maria Damanaki European Commissioner for Maritime Affairs and Fisheries
Tuscia University
The Laboratory of Experimental Oceanology and Marine Ecology, of Tuscia University
T
he Laboratory of Experimental Oceanology and Marine Ecology, of Tuscia University, is located in Civitavecchia’s harbour; representing one of the main laboratories of marine experimental research on the Tyrrhenian sea, it focuses its activities both on open sea and coastal processess. Although recent constitution, it has already gained a good experience partecipating in national and european research projects, in many oceanographic cruises and collaborating with public insitutions. The laboratory staff is composed by a young enthusiastic group of 25 people composed by professors, research ers, PhD students, technicians and experts. The laboratory payload comprehends many oceanographic instruments and devices, towed vessels, buoys, field and laboratory equipments, calibration facilities and also two boats for coastal marine surveys. In addition the laboratory counts permanent collaborations with the main italian research institutions: CNR, INGV, GNOO, ISPRA and ENEA.
Main Research Areas The reasearch activities of the Laboratory of Experimental Oceanology and Marine Ecology of Civitavecchia can be, basically, divided into the following main areas: development of new technologies; study of coastal processes, dynamics and pollution; study of marine ecosystems and their dynamics; marine and coastal resources management. • The development of new technologies is focused on the design and realization of new instruments, sensors and platforms for biological, optical, physical and chemical measures of marine water and ecosystems and on the integration of OEM sensors into innovative platforms. The main technological developments include: low cost sensors, expendable probes, undulating vehicles, buoys and new bio-optical sensors. This research aims to fill the gaps in oceanographic measurements, to develop low cost and user friendly tools to be integrated in the observational networks, to
implement new platforms, in order to increase knowledge of marine and oceanographic dynamics, approaching the phenomena at different temporal and spatial scales. • The research concerning the study of coastal processes, dynamics and pollution consists of three main lines: the first is focused on the coastal dynamics in the shallow water domain and includes modeling analysis of conservative and not conservative variables performed by mathematical models. The second line refers to sedimentological analysis and radiochronological techniques for dating sediment cores and for measuring the sediment mass accumulation rates. The third line includes the geochemical characterization of seawater and sediments; in particular it considers the identification of geochemical anomalies in order to discriminate the anthropogenic sources of pollutants in coastal zones. • The study of marine ecosystems is focused on two lines of research; the first line concerns the study of pelagic ecosystems and their dynamics, especially the interaction between physical and biological processes. The activities include in situ data collection (oceanographic and coastal cruises), technological development and laboratory analysis as well as data processing and mathematical models implementation, in order to analyse and simulate the ecosystems dynamics. The second line concerns the analysis and monitoring of benthic communities with particular focus on seagrass (such as Posidonia Oceanica). • Marine and coastal resources management
Tuscia University real time phytoplankton’s study; it is the best way to follow the variability of sea productivity. In fact, because of the high time and space variability of phytoplankton, due to its capability to answer in a relatively short time to ecological variations in its environment and because of its characteristic patchiness, there is a lack of a precise quantitative estimation of the biomass present in the Mediterranean Sea. Civitavecchia Coastal Buoy in SeaDataNet
consists of two different parts: the first part concerns the study of renewable marine energy with particular reference to the characterization of suitable sites for energy exploitation from different marine sources (currents, waves and tides). In this context actually the laboratory is part of the MARINET project (http://www.fp7-marinet. eu/), a new EC-funded initiative which aims to accelerate the development of marine renewable energy (wave, tidal & offshorewind). The second part is based on environmental studies and analysis of ecological values of various environmental compartments with the aim to develop a “sea use map”. The “sea use map” aims to be an important tool to solve marine conflicts of use and to support policy makers; it is also an important tool to obtain a synoptic view of the environmental status of marine coastal ecosystems. In this line of research the laboratory also performed a study for the Italian Ministry of Environment concerning the elaboration of synoptic criteria for the placement of mariculture plants. TFLAP Technology Physical and biological processes of the marine ecosystem have a high spatial and temporal variability, whose study is possible only through high resolution and synoptic observations. During the last years the laboratory
dedicated a big effort to improve the quality and the efficiency of oceanographic real time data collecting. For this purpose since 2002 dedicated tasks of the EU MFSTEP and ADRICOSM-STAR projects were carried out to design, develop and realize a system which allowed to develop low cost fluorescence measures by means of expendable probes for the integration of VOS (Voluntary Observing Ship) program. The development led up to the TFLAP (Temperature Fluorescence LAunchable Probe – european patent EP1962089B1) that is a new expendable probe, which can be launched by moving ship to perform vertical temperature and fluorescence of chlorophyll “a” profiles along the water column. The development of the expendable fluorometer has followed similar concepts of the XBT, but differently from the latter it was developed with an electronic system which can be improved and adapted to several variables measure channels. To reach the aim of a low-cost probe, were utilized commercial components. Despite this, the technology was developed and improved in order to have a good accuracy and a high flexibility, so to be integrated in different measurement platforms like: moorings, surface monitoring systems, towed vehicles. In addition the probe modularity permits the integration of different commercial sensors in the system. The possibility of using a expendable profiling probe, with an active fluorescence measurement, is very important in
Complex decision systems were implemented for prevention and ecological risk analysis, basing on economically sustainable activities including forecasting models, satellite images and sustainable observatory networks. The high costs of offshore mooring systems and traditional oceanographic cruises have suggested the use of alternative low cost platforms to collect a large number of environmental data in a wide space. For example the Ship-of-Opportunity Programme (SOOP) realized a network to support different operational needs, first of all the provision of upper ocean data for data assimilation in models, in support of climate prediction. In the framework of the creation of a marine monitoring net, the laboratory developed an integrated real time observing system equipped with low cost instruments and installed in the Latium coastal area. The new low cost technological devices allow physical, chemical and bio-optical variables measures. Data collected by the buoy are processed for the SeaDataNet (www.seadatanet. org), which is a standardized system for managing the data sets collected by different oceanographic centers.
by Prof. Marco Marcelli via Molo Vespucci snc 00053 Civitavecchia (RM) Italy phone/fax: +39 0766 366538 web: www.oceaneers.it
Italian Ingenuity
Italian ingenuity and social innovation
By Gillian McNicoll
C
Francesco Profumo, Education Minister for Italy.
hange and regeneration can come when new projects are initiated or new people take on a leading role. The new Education Minister for Italy Francesco Profumo has taken over this new role in the Italian government and seeks to make positive changes and improvements, yet initially stability is key. Although of course with any role especially government positions there are several challenges to face and to deal with. However, challenges can bring about many new innovations, ideas, and a fresh perspective that in itself is renewing and revitalising.
“We need to make plans: many things have been done in the last few years but a bit at random. Instead, we need to make plans to keep things steady... We need to send a clear message, thus helping people to plan their own life.” People are at the heart of transformation in Italy Giving people choices is generally more favourable than following one path or route. Conversely too many variations can be a disadvantage. One modification that is in progress as part of the European shake up and internal Italian educational change is the educational system. Within the country there are many different ways of achieving certification and at different levels, the idea now is to streamline the system not only to match up qualifications within Italy but in line with other European countries. This will assist students to take a clearer and stronger step into workplace and further education either in Italy or worldwide. Therefore by investing in education, this ultimately invests in Italy’s
economy, prestige and future as well as helping to stabilise and strengthen Italy’s foundations. New ideas, thoughts, innovations entrepreneurship and technologies are being encouraged and developed. The digital agenda is at the forefront of change to boost Italy’s ICT capabilities and knowledgebase in the European community and beyond. Research and Innovation “Only by stimulating research and innovation can we make Italian industry more competitive,” Francesco Profumo, The government has made investments in science and research such as in nanosciences at and the ELETTRA Synchrotron Light Laboratory. To keep current it is necessary to invest money and time into new and upcoming technologies and develops knowledgeable staff. This will enable Italy to not only keep abreast of recent innovations but also build on its status as well as seeking to become a renowned dynamic influencer. Social Innovation Competition in Naples (Naples 2.0) Competitions can enhance learning and motivate
Italian Ingenuity people to not only take part but to think actively and constructively. They can develop problem solving skills, free enterprise and creative ideas and designs that may not have happened otherwise. The Euclid Network are a group of civil society professionals and along with the UniCredit Foundation launched this social innovation competition in 2011. Francesco Profumo has been a leading light in its inception and progression in Italy. The Minister pursues social engagement from Italian citizens as a key to transformation. Regular events and activities have been instigated to combat unemployment and to revitalise social enterprise. Minister Profumo has introduced a social innovation agenda in Italy that works alongside local authorities. There now have been 7 different initiatives that have been chosen and will gain new funding in order to grow further. This competition was not only run in Italy but internationally as well. The main aims were to find creative and workable solutions to present day social problems that haven’t been fixed by governments, organisations and agencies. The goals set out for Naples, Italy are threefold: for Naples to move from its past issues into a new Naples known for social innovation. That politically Naples has an impact and becomes a template for other cities and areas in the EU to adopt. That Naples develops a culture that allows citizens to flourish and be dynamically involved in change; using technologies and working alongside other regions and countries. These goals and
the objectives all have to come under the umbrella of sustainability and feasibility. The competition was very fiercely taken on board by many around the world; 200 applications were received from 30 countries. Prize money ranged from 7,500.00 - 10,000.00 Euros and the 7 selected received seed money to implement their project. The following are two of the top prize winner of the competition. “Turning a confiscated villa into a financially sustainable Social Business” This particular challenge won the first prize and was by Margherita Cittadino, Naples, who has a civil engineering background. This idea was to turn a disused villa into a Green Urban Centre. The centre would provide courses geared up for living sustainably and on green issues. In addition local people and others would be encouraged to not only participate but be involved at all levels of implementation and idea generation. A festival would also be organised with the same theme, encouraging inclusiveness and diversity. “Making an abandoned Roman bath accessible and sustainable” The second prize winner of this competition was an idea to address the challenge of an old Roman bath that was empty and unexploited. This challenge was put forward by a consortium of Fondazione Confprofessioni, Italy and Jan Herder Vermont, USA. This initiative was about bringing people together in the area of Naples by utilising history as a connection to bond people in unity.
The belief is that building on past roots can create new sustainable roots. The consortium has educational training background and looks to teach and empower student’s and local Naples citizens in ICT and creativeness. Social media and emerging technologies will also be employed to transform this Roman baths. http://www.euclidnetwork. eu/projects/currentprojects/european-socialinnovation-naples-20/ naples-conference-phase. html http://news.sciencemag. org/scienceinsider/2011/08/ turin-refomer-promisesshake-up-.html http://www.euclidnetwork. eu/news-and-events/sectornews/595-euclid-networksachievements-in-italy.html http://www.agi.it/englishversion/italy/elenconotizie/201204211712pol-ren1043-profumo_on_ education_no_time_for_ reforms_we_need_stability
Camerino University
UNICAM: the natural place to learn
I
f now the University of Camerino (UNICAM) is one of the most interesting and innovative in Italy, is certainly on the strength and the momentum assigned from its ancient history. Camerino and his university express for almost 700 years a unique essence that can evolve and meet the challenges of the times while remaining true to itself, its values, its long tradition. UNICAM has its roots in the past but it grows and improves turning its gaze to the future. At UNICAM quality and excellence are core and fundamental values with which the faculty and administrative staff are confronted constantly. UNICAM, very active both in teaching and in research internationally, is a university open to the world that is increasingly engaged in developing an offer differentiated and innovative teaching. The international dimension is fundamental for the UNICAM and thanks to the good reputation of its research teams, built on excellence and efficiency, it emerges among Italy’s foremost research universities. The great literate and jurist Cino da Pistoia, who lived in Camerino in the spring of 1321, remembers the territory as having an exceptional number of juridical school. Camerino, which
became a center of learning as early as the year 1200, offering courses in civil law, canonical, law, medicine and literacy studies, is the first town in the Marche Region to be uplifted to the level of overall center of “Learning”. Upon the request of the Camerino Duke, Gentile III of Varano on 1377, Pope Gregorio XI, by way of the apostolic authority he possessed, decided to authorize Camerino to confer bachelor and doctorate degrees. On july 15th, 1727, the pope Benedict XIII re-founded the Universitas Studii Generalis with the faculties of Theology, Law, Mathematics and Medicine; on April 13th, 1753, Emperor Francesco Stefano I of Habsburg Lorena extended the validity of the degrees taken in Camerino to the entire territory of the Holy Roman Empire and conferred the title of rector to its head, and the situation remained so up until 1958, when it became the state University it is today. UNICAM is the site of the natural place to learn, where spaces and appropriate tools are available for students, and where continuous relations with teaching staff are possible thanks to the professor/student ratio in favor of the students. UNICAM offers to all its students all required support in order to make the study an easy task. UNICAM cares for its members that provides assistance and support from the moment of choosing its own path of study to that entering the world of work, providing them with services entering, during and post-graduate. UNICAM offers Degree Courses of certified quality, which respond well
to the complexity and progress of the social and economic framework. Specific study itineraries are designed on the basis of suggestions made by economic and professional personal.
First in Italy, UNICAM has introduced a quality management system with the aim of improving the integration between the processes of all its institutional activities, identifying specific goals and responsibilities and pointing in particular to provide maximum guarantees to students in four areas: a) teaching, which must be supplied by the research, supported by good training practices, provided by competent teachers and facilitated by structures (56 laboratories, 15 libraries) and teaching consistent with the purposes of training and learning objectives; b) support services for learning and career development of students, including guidance and tutoring, or the availability of assistance provided throughout the course of study;
Camerino University c) services and placement for a successful entry into employment; d) service of international mobility, a sign of an opening of UNICAM on foreign reality. UNICAM is holder of the quality control certification of ISO 9001:2000, by the certifying company AFAQ France, for all university activities and services, cultural and sporting activities, tutoring services, certified language skills and training-ship for all university students in leading sector companies, high level and innovative masters, job placement upon graduation: just some aspects of this modern University as well as of ancient tradition. For all offered courses, the teaching method aims mainly to integrate the fundamental aspects of theoretical didactics with the early professional inclusion in dynamic and competitive framework, and also aims to obtain and merge three results: curiosity, knowledge and know-how. Since 2010 is also active the School of Higher Studies “G.Leopardi”, a quality itinerary by which UNICAM chooses to reward the talent of the students to direct them towards an excellent future. “UNICAM (says the Vice-Rector Claudio Pettinari) also pursued with conviction, and with considerable success, the policy of internationalization: the Master of Science in Bioscience and Biotechnology is taught in English, while the Master of Science programs in biology, physics, chemistry, geology, computer science and mathematics, as well as being in English, are also in the international consortium, with the possibility of getting even then the Double Degree. They involved the University of Reykjavik, the University of Olten, the Gdansk Polytechnic, the Polytechnic Institute of Lisbon, the Ludwig Maximilian University, the Escola Superior Agraria Polytechnic Institute of Santarem, the University of Clausthal” A choice that is producing the expected results:
the percentage of foreign students at UNICAM reaches 7.5%, more than three times the national average. Very probably the best summary of the international success of UNICAM is represented by the School of Advanced Studies, the Doctoral School directed by Prof. Cristina Miceli, established in 2005 with the goal of attracting into their PhD programs the best talent without restriction of nationality: currently 32% of the students coming from foreign countries. The international dimension of UNICAM in the last four years strongly increased as indicated by the involvement of scientists in research and mobility projects with foreign partners (>15 projects funded by the Ministry of University-MIUR), Erasmus Intensive Programs (see for example http:// d7.unicam.it/eucheme/) and Summer Schools as the International School of Organometallic Chemistry (http://portal. unicam.it/isoc/) that also gave great visibility to our University. Only in 2011, 15 new cooperation agreements have been signed that will support research and educational tours of excellence. UNICAM is currently the leader of a consortium of Italian Universities for the academic cooperation in Argentina (CUIA) and through CUIA it has been possible to sign new agreements for innovative projects both in training and research. From 2012 UNICAM initiated the establishment of a Faculty of Pharmacy in Cameroon and in this same year was awarded funding by the Chinese Ministry of Universities for mobility of teachers and students as part of a double title in the field of biotechnology.
The new Rector Flavio Corradini chose to focus his work on three major themes: 1) cultural and professional growth of the person; 2) finding financial resources for the sustainable growth of the university; 3) help the important changes taking place. In order to do this, says the Rector, we need convergence of research and training activities to continue to be universities, aggregation to acquire the necessary critical mass to address major challenges and characterization to win the competitiveness and attractiveness of each cross-border challenge. Convergence, aggregation and characterization are also the local response to global demand of the European commission, just think to the “Smart Regional Specialization Strategy” and “Research & Development Specialization” several times mentioned in Europe 2020 and Horizon 2020. To confirm and strengthen its role in the European Research Area (ERA) and High Education (EHEA) and to contribute to economic and social development of their country and the reference territory (third mission) in the context of the multiannual program (2012-2014), UNICAM has identified the following research lines as characterizing:
Camerino University of programs and research contracts with local, national and EU advice for the management and protection of intellectual property. Research carried out from the seven schools in which the University is organized is: 1. planning, coordination, organization, promotion and monitoring of related activities; 2. creating and maintaining an environment of research and research training, the most stimulating and full of opportunities, through the development of international relations and the promotion of geographical mobility, interdisciplinary, intersectorial, virtual;
• • • • • • •
Complex systems, models, methods and applications Quantum phenomena and applications Energy, eco-friendly materials and processes Molecules and genes, structures and activities Food resources Environment and Land
• • • • • •
Public health and animal welfare
Synthesis, development and management of drugs and health products Quality and food safety Individual, market and institutions Citizenship, rights and legality Quality of design, installation and object Conservation and restoration of architectural, artistic and cultural
Since 2005, UNICAM has adopted, like other Italian Universities, the European Charter for Researchers and a Code of Conduct for their Recruitment (signature took place in Camerino, July 7th 2005) and in 2009 decided to design, adopt and implement a Human Resources Strategy for Researchers (HRS4R). This decision was based on the confidence that this can improve the attractiveness of UNICAM for the best research talents from anywhere in the world. Indeed, the HRS4R qualifies this public Research Institution as a stimulating and creative working environment, which favours the researchers’ independence at any stage of their careers, including of course First Stage Researchers (FSR). In May 2010, the HRS4R of UNICAM obtained the
‘acknowledgement’ from the European Commission and the authorisation for using the HR logo. Among the offices of UNICAM, the Industrial Liaison Office (ILO), launched in 2006, aims to make systemic collaboration with local stakeholders (companies, trade associations, public institutions) in organizing a targeted search of ‘ University. In this regard, the ILO plays a role of hinge is placing itself at the service of research groups working at the university and territorial partners, has the specific task of strengthening the networking skills at the university and qualify the present ‘ technology transfer activities while contributing with innovative research to industrial and economic development of the territory. The ILO promotes an information to businesses on research and operational capacity of the University, offering collaborative problem-solving research and innovation, supporting the design
3. development and implementation of incentives of merit and quality. UNICAM drawing on a tradition acquired in about seven hundred years of history, aims to spread among more and more consumers with extensive diversified interests, social status and time to devote to training, quality of his studies, obtained from the following strengths: the scientific prestige of the teaching staff; enhancement of the intelligence and capabilities emerging from the younger generations, through the ability to use them in advanced research and closely connected with the demands of growth and development of civil society; the level and extent of international relations activated; the ability to experiment new forms of teaching and student / faculty, especially in light of the possibilities offered by the reform of the national university system and new technologies.
Camerino University 1. Schoof of Architecture and Design The research carried out at the School of Architecture and Design is paid to the transformation of the “built environment”. Teachers/researchers, young students, fellows and administrative staff are committed to developing scientific and cultural transformations and activities that contribute directly or indirectly to the “built environment”. The culture of the project is at the base of the School, investing the transformations of both meaning and role that assumes today the project of architecture and design at all scales - from the landscape, the city, building manufacturing, everyday objects - compared with the novelty of the cultural, political, technical and productive context. Tradition and modernity are two words that the school takes in its contradiction to compare the reading and discussion of the historical transformations of the city and territory. The School is to serve the territory to
move from the world.” The school offers two bachelor degree programs in Environmental and Industrial Design and in Science of Architecture, a master degree in Design (2nd level, 2 years) and a master degree (5 years) in Architecture. 2. School of Biosciences and Biotechnologies
establish a relationship of responsibility and participation. “Architecture and design, complex disciplines suspended between art and science, says the director of the School Professor Umberto Cao, are now offering themselves to the community, thanks to the charm of creation and construction of major international designers. Architecture and design have the responsibility to transform a planet where 50% of the population now lives in cities. This is an enormous, terrible, difficult task, because every mistake will be paid dearly by the entire collectivity. Then we want architects and designers preparing citizens of this world. We want to break boundaries in which we are locked, to feel a living part of Europe and sensible body of the planet. Our culture is based on creativity and design. Around the words we have to call the youth of the world to work with us and around these words we must be learning to
The research activities of the School of Biosciences and Biotechnologies focuses on issues of great importance both for the overall advancement of knowledge of fundamental biological processes and evolution (e.g. molecular anthropology studies) and on issues of environmental protection and human health (e.g., development of new immunological therapies and research of new drugs in the treatment of cancer, parasitic diseases and bacterial and fungal infections, environmental monitoring by means of biotechnological applications). The school is also involved in the creation of spin-off of functional foods, dental bioengineering and bioinformatics, which arise to revitalize the local economy by exploiting the knowledge gained in university laboratories. “It seems appropriate to mention, says the director of the school Professor Manuela Prenna, that some research lines have earned to the Department an excellent international visibility and reputation, benefit of prestigious both national and international collaborations while other have produced patents and successful applications such as, for instance the anti-cancer therapy based
on DNA vaccination that has just been approved for clinical trials by the Italian Ministry of Health.” Overall, the research activities of the School: a) are supported by public grants obtained through highly competitive selection procedures from both Italian and European institutions and also by private funds and b) are documented by almost 400 publications in the last ten years, generally in high impact factor journals. The “first level” interclass degree in Biosciences and Biotechnology offers two degree programs: Biology and Biotechnology. The School offers also a degree program in Nutritional Biology and a 2nd level degree in Biological Sciences. At Doctoral level, the laboratories of Biosciences and Biotechnologies host 32 doctoral candidates for research activities. They are enrolled in the Life Science course of the UNICAM School of Advanced Studies, with scientific orientation in Ageing and Nutrition, Molecular Biology, Biochemistry and Biotechnology and Environmental Sciences and Public Health.
Camerino University 3. School of Environmental sciences The School of Environmental Sciences puts the natural environment and its sustainability at the heart of the proposed didactic and research activities, and aims to contribute scientifically to a better awareness of how critical production and consumption pursued in our society. The natural environment supports all human activity significantly and therefore must be exploited in full compliance with the criteria fully shared in the economic and social development. They are therefore strongly required continuous updating and development of interdisciplinary skills for improving the techniques of production and consumption patterns to choose that are simultaneously beneficial to humans and the natural environment and its resources. “The training and research efforts of this School, affirms the Director Professor Carlo Renieri, found their identity and originality in the interdisciplinarity of the skills of all teachers and researchers both theoretical and applicative, ranging from plant and animal biology, ecology, chemistry, geology, evolution,
chemical and anthropic. A promising combination of biotic and abiotic environmental scholars have been promoted. The creation of this school can be seen as a unique experience in Italy in the field. Research projects have a strong international, involving areas that are the majestic Andes highlands of Africa and Mongolia. Are active in the school the following research groups: study of animal production; botany and plant ecology, analytical and environmental chemistry; animal ecology; zoology and eukaryotic microbiology; geology; bio-sustainable agriculture; green economy. The School offers a bachelor degree program in Environmental and Territorial Sciences-Geology and a 2nd level degree in Environmental, territorial and landscape planning. 4. School of Law “The Law school, says the Director Professor Ignazio Buti, intends to promote in a unified and interdisciplinary context, studies and researches on legal science and political and social sciences. By combining the skills and knowledge of a wide range of
linked to social reality.” The school offers courses designed to provide students with skills and abilities that enable interdisciplinary character to integrate successfully into the world of work. The presence of legal, economic, historical, sociological, philosophical, political science studies, represents a potential for interdisciplinary research and innovative teaching proposals. Strengths of the school are the very good ratio teacher / student and the high quality of teaching done. The school also has high level post-graduate training courses (Graduate school in civil law, doctoral courses in Civil Law and Constitutional legality, Fundamental Rights in the Global Society, Public Services, Social Sciences on work and legality, Economic development: analysis, policy and theory, and Forensic Science. The School offers two bachelor degree program in Political Sciences and Sciences in Legal services and a 2nd level degree in Jurisprudence (5 years). 5. School of Pharmacy
socio-economics.” The originality of the School of Environmental Sciences lies in bringing together in one body skills related to plants and wildlife with skills related to cultivated plants and domestic animals and in having proceeded to integrate them with specific skills on the physical,
educational and scientific disciplines of great relevance for the promotion and development of public institutions and civil society, troughout its organizational components, the Law School now constitutes an economic and social center for study and research stretching testing of new lines of research strongly
“The School of Pharmacy follows a continuous prestigious result: in recent years the student population is much increased from about 1100 to about 2500 members, these data putting us in tenth place, among the 30 Italian School of Pharmacy, explains the Director Professor Sauro Vittori. The significant increase of enrollments has been accompanied by a high level of quality of graduates, as indicated by the statistics of consortium Almalaurea, where our graduates occupy the top of the charts as percentage of employed after Graduation.” The drug, meant as a cure of the disease, remains at the center of
Camerino University
mission of the School, but the concept is highlighted that the health also derives from a careful prevention. Indeed, in recent decades the concept of health has broadened and enriched, promoting new models for the development of knowledge and to know. The stakeholder’s attention, at first directed almost only to therapy and the use of drugs, has expanded to healthy eating, care of correct habits of life, intake of dietary supplements and the prevention of health problems caused by aging. On the other hand, the increase in life expectancy, connected with the increase of chronic diseases, requires the researcher’s field an increasing commitment to the pharmaceutical drug discovery targeted and free of side effects: in our School the researchers are involved in the design, synthesis and development of potential drugs, diagnostic and care products, quality and safety food, study of natural substances for the maintenance of health and welfare of human beings. Strategic goals that the school also wants to pursue are consistent with the commitments of the Bologna Declaration and addresses of the European Commission: besides the traditional close relations with Companies, universities and research institutions of developed nations (North America, Europe), which were increased and expanded, it are engaging or have been implemented agreements with facilities of the main areas in developing countries, such as South America (Argentina and Brazil), Asia (India and China) and
Africa (Burkina Faso and Cameroon). Openness to the world is also reflected in the remarkable growth the number of students from the School who spent time abroad and students who choose our school as a destination for their educational experience abroad. The School offers a bachelor degree program in Medical-scientific Information on pharmaceutical products, two Master degrees (5 years) in Pharmacy and Chemistry and Pharmaceutical Technologies and a Specialization School in Hospital Pharmacy. 6. School of Sciences and Technology “The “School of Science and Technology” of the University of Camerino (formerly
known as the Faculty of Science and Technology prior to adoption of the new statutes) says the Director Professor Roberto Ballini is one of the leading scientific institutes for higher education along the entire Adriatic region of Italy. Outstanding interdisciplinary study and research at Camerino bring together diverse areas of expertise which play an essential role in many of the most important fields of modern research. The School boasts five departments dedicated to specific scientific fields, such as Chemistry, Physics, Geology, Computer Science and Mathematics. The School’s strong scientific mission places advanced research at the forefront of its institutional goals.” The various lines of research are the production and storage energy; the development of new materials; the study of new superconductors; the development of new synthetic ecosustainable processes for the production of “fine chemicals” (Green Chemistry); the study of new mathematical models for business development; the development of innovative software for both the public and private sectors. The vast majority of researchers at the School of Science and Technology work closely with many private businesses in the area and have, over the years, developed a strong basis for reciprocal growth through applied research. This solid research network also provides unique opportunities for development to many of our young PhD candidates and strongly contributes to the creation of tomorrow’s scientific human capital.
Camerino University The School offers bachelor degree programs in Chemistry, Computer Science, Geology, Mathematics and Applications, Physics and Technologies for the Preservation of Cultural Heritage. The Master degree in Chemistry and Chemical Advanced Methodologies, Computer Science, Geo-environmental Resources and Risks, Mathematics and Applications and Physics are all jointly offered through international consortia of leading European Universities and are held in English. 7. School of Veterinary Medicine The School of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Camerino was founded in the Papal States under the pontificate of Leone XII as a result of the issuing of the papal bulls “Quod divina sapientia” of 1824 and “Ordinationes Sacrae Congregationis Studiorum” of 18 August 1826 that aimed to unify the State regulations. The Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of the University of Camerino was suppressed in 1958 due to the nationalization of universities. Thirty years later the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine was established again by law Decree no. 168 of 9th May 1989 within the four-year development plan of the UNICAM for 1986-1990. Shortly
thereafter it was decided that the Faculty should be placed in Matelica, a small town 15 km north from Camerino, where it is now located. At present the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, that has been changed into School of Veterinary Medical Sciences in 2009, offers different undergraduate and postgraduate courses as well as continuing education initiatives. It is a specific and unique educational institution within the Marche Region and thus particularly keen in trying to fulfill the needs of its stakeholders. The local authorities (the Marche Region, the municipality of Matelica, the Local Land Caretaker Association “Comunità Montana” and the “ENI E. Mattei” Foundation) are highly interested, says the Director Professor Giacomo Renzoni, in the role and function of the School of Veterinary Medical Sciences and show a great deal of interest in the development of the many functions of the School in a way which often exceeds what is normally expected from a stakeholder. The School of Veterinary Medical Sciences has recently achieved the “Full Approval” status of the EAEVE (European Association of Establishments for Veterinary Education). On the basis
of the SER (Self Evaluation Report) prepared by the School and the observations and verifications made during the visitation, the Commission expressed a fully positive preliminary opinion, definitively confirmed in the final report by the ECOVE (European Committee on Veterinary Education) in the meeting held on November, 2011. The School offers a bachelor degree program in Animal breeding security, a Master degree (5 years) in Veterinary Medicine, a specialization school on Animal Health, Breeding zootechnical production.
Author: Prof. Claudio Pettinari Vice-Rector
Italian Agriculture
The Italian Agricultural Research Council: Agrofood and forest research in a changing world.
T
he exceptional volatility of agricultural prices, observed in the recent years around the world, is a clear signal of the increasing need and request of food products for a growing and, fortunately, enriching world population. At the same time, this is an indication of the increasing difficulty of the land and water ecosystems to match the growing request of other products and services as biomass for energy and industry as well as water, carbon sequestration and biodiversity for the global environment. The strategic importance of agro-forest systems is, moreover, highlighted by the number of international conventions and global summits that address issues such as climate change, desertification and food security for the whole human kind. At the same time, European agriculture is facing the great challenges posed by the new approaches of the Common Agricultural Policy that will be increasingly devoted to support the environmental services provided by farmers and forest owners, under the threats of global change. Therefore, agricultural research is again called, 50 years after the Green Revolution, to support the increasing needs for bio-resources of the growing population of our planet, with the constraints and the opportunities required by the goal of achieving a sustainable development.
The Agricultural Research Council at a glance In Italy, agriculture and forest research is conducted nationwide by the Agricultural Research Council: CRA is the largest Italian research organization with general scientific expertise in agricultural, agro-industry, food, animal, fishery and forestry domains, which operates under the supervision of the Ministry of Agricultural, Food and Forestry Policy. The distribution of CRA institutes, about 40 structures as Research Centres and Units throughout the country, makes it possible to expand its expertise and proficiency to the different agro-climatic and cultural conditions of Italy, and to closely cooperate with regional and local institutions, companies and various farmers, agro-industrial and trading associations. CRA has a staff of more than 1600 scientists and technicians, an annual budget of 130 M₏, 25% from projects and competitive grants, about 300 publications on ISI international journals per year and more than 400 patents in agriculture and agro-industry. CRA’s research structures refer to four Departments that have responsibilities for guidance, coordination and promotion of scientific and technological research. CRA Departments cover
the following areas: Plant Biology and Production, Animal Production, Processing and Improvement of Agroindustrial products, Agronomy, Forestry and Land Use. Plant Biology and Crop Production This Department includes scientific expertise and research activities specifically targeted to the genetic improvement of crop species: cereals, vegetables, fruits (including citrus), and flowers and nursery plants. Together with the main areas of research targeted to genetics and breeding, the Department’s activities aim at safeguarding and preserving plant genetic resources, protect them from external factors, whether environmentally born or resulting from human activities, and characterize their quality and nutritional properties. Particular attention is paid to the area of agronomy, with innovation of cultivation techniques, and in the area of genetics, making use of genomics and molecular biology to unravel the mechanisms governing genetic traits and their expression thus determining the quality of food chains. Important projects targeted to the exploitation of genomics in major crops are: CITRUSTART, Citrus geneome sequencing and applications of functional genomics
Italian Agriculture to plant breeding; ESPLORA, exploration of biodiversity and genetic resources in allele mining for plant breeding; DRUPOMICS, peach genome sequencing to improve fruit quality and resistance to diseases; MAPPING 5A, action as partner in an international consortium to map the intere wheat genome, in which CRA’s action is focused on chromosome 5A. Two main centres for research also belong to this Department, whose expertise cover various areas and offer research networking: the genomics research centre, leader in most of the genomics projects, and the plant pathology research centre, the expertise of which spans from fungi, bacteria, virus and other pathogenic organisms, and is involved both in research and in legislation of emerging diseases and quarantine organisms as well. Main areas of research and experimentation: improving genetic aspects for • the creation and distribution of new varieties, with improved characteristics appropriate to the different pedo-climatic conditions as well as studying innovative methods inspired by the use of advanced biotechnology (molecular breeding, in vitro cultivation) alongside traditional methods; proficiency in the sectors • ofincreasing structural and functional genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, and
metabolomics in order to increase knowledge on the structure and function of genes and their products, thus being able to better apply molecular biology techniques and improve food safety, product quality, and the traceability of production processes, for the purpose of innovating products and processes;
• preserving and characterizing
agricultural crop biodiversity, also by maintaining and expanding the germplasm collections, including the National Fruit-growing Germplasm Center (project Plant Genetic Resources – FAO Treaty);
• optimizing flower and nursery plants cultivation networks through the introduction of new germplasm, and breeding plants for specific purposes (new ornamental varieties for use as cut or potted flowers, for environmental reconstruction, or urban and rural landscaping);
• identifying useful methods for
diagnosing and preventing disease; studying and validating appropriate techniques and treatments in minimizing phytopharmaceutical residue in products and the environment, including techniques in renewing the production of certified propagation materials free of pathogens, which aim at defending cultivation in terms of conventional, integrated, and biological production methods.
Animal Biology and Production Main goal of the Department targeted to animal husbandry and improvement of Italian animal production system. Special attention is paid to sustainability an animal welfare. Main areas of research and experimentation include:
• genetics, genomics, transcriptomics,
proteomics, and reproductive technology applied to animal selection;
chemical, physical, studying phenotyping and physiology • developing • through microbiological, biotechnological, the development of methods for screening genotypes for their tolerance to abiotic stresses applicable to collections of germplasm, mutagenized populations etc.;
• studying the interaction between
plants and pathogens, epidemiology and characterizing populations of pathogenic organisms through traditional methods and molecular biology, for the fight against disease
and sensorial methods with regard to traceability; optimizing products of animal origin for the purpose of food safety;
• increasing efficiency in the use of
nutrients (N and P in particular) in zootechnical nutrition, by defining more specific requirements, employing modern techniques, and adopting precision nutrition, in order to reduce environmental impact;
quantitative and • characterizing qualitative elements of traditional production for native breeds, in combination with preservation methods, especially for endangered breeds; cultivation techniques and • adopting fodder systems designed to endure climate changes and the decrease of water resources; verifying the effects on the animals’ yield, wellbeing and the quality of products; approaches in the • innovating production of biogas through studies concerning the matrices of fermentation, microbial populations, and the impact on land fertility, water quality, and the level of greenhouse gas emissions;
Italian Agriculture
• supporting the development of
animal products from organic farming in high value production chains.
Processing and Improvement of Agro-industrial products A relevant interest of CRA is reserved to Agrotechnology Industry and a close cooperation is attempted among researchers, extension agents, farmers and agriculture-related industries. The research focus is addressed to develop high added-value crops by using new varieties, advanced crop management and innovative processing strategies. In the food sector, basic production chains (grapevines-wine, olive-oils, fodder-zootechnics-milkcheese) are investigated. In the nonfood area, species used for renewable energy are studied. In detail, the research is engaged in:
•
supporting the conservation and use of genetic resources including native varieties, old accessions, breeding lines, and new cultivars, in terms of characterization of the nutritional value;
• linking conservation of biodiversity
to its use in pre-breeding activities as a major focus for crop improvement, not just in view of increasing production but also increase quality and adaptability to increased variable environmental conditions;
• developing software for the
creation of tools for use in the agroenvironmental studies of industrial crops;
identifying novel organisms and • enzymes suitable for industrial applications in harsh conditions. In line with the aim of greening the industrial process, searching for MO from extreme environments (hot/cold, acidic/alkaline, high/low concentration of heavy metals or contaminants) is addressed; integrating consumer preferences, • acceptance and needs into food product development. Due to their central importance, topics for tailormade food products encompass a food-chain perspectives, and the following priority topics have promoted: specific foods, ingredients and formulations with nutritional
and health benefits, bioavailability and processes of traditional and local foods, improving quality and safety of traditional foods of SMEs.
• implementing integrated solutions for controlling insects, fungi and weeds. Due to growing environmental awareness, biological suppression of severe fungi and soil-borne pathogens is attempted by natural substances with antimicrobial activity, like glucosinolates occurring in Cruciferous species.
In conclusion, research activity in the agro-industry sector is performed on sustainable production, transformation, and optimization of food and non-food products and processes, as well as on the potential for using some plants as “biofactories” (i.e. use of bioactive substances of plant origin for pharmacological use). There is a potential market to be explored for these latter products. The participation of SME/industry would be of key importance in this area and is expected to be relatively easy to ensure.
Italian Agriculture Agro-environmental research The Agronomy, Forestry and Land Use Department deals specifically with the sustainable management and adaptation to global change of agroforestry ecosystems, particularly those of the Mediterranean environment. Important research activities considered by the Department include structure and function of forest and agro-ecosystems, agricultural and forest soil protection, sustainable irrigation for a changing environment facing scarcity of water resources, forest inventory and long term ecosystem monitoring, multifunctional forest management and rural landscape analysis, increasing quantity and quality of wood biomass production for industry, bio-energy and environmental remediation. A major endeavour accomplished this year by the CRA forest research, together with the Italian Forest Service, is the Italian Forest and Carbon Inventory-INFC which provides reliable and complete data, based on a 1x1 km2 grid, on the surface cover, biodiversity, biomass stocking and carbon sequestration potential of Italian forest ecosystems. This information is vital to address the commitments of the Kyoto Protocol on reducing Carbon emissions and enhancing biological Carbon sinks; it also provides fundamental information for biodiversity conservation, soil and water protection and planning sustainable use of forest resources. Measuring carbon uptake and biomass of our forests requires also a continuous development to devise innovative technologies for faster, cheaper and more accurate inventory results, making use of the latest advancements in remote sensing, geomatics and information technology. A new European research and development project (MANFOR) has just started, for the identification and testing of the best forest management practices to increase net Carbon ecosystem productivity of our forests and their potential for biodiversity conservation at the landscape scale. Equally important are nationally-funded research projects on agricultural crop management for Carbon sequestration (SOILSINK) and on the potential of Italian agriculture to adapt to climate change (AGROSCENARI).
Water is a fundamental resource for agriculture, industry and every-day life of today’s human society; but it will become increasingly important in the future, all over the world and particularly in the Mediterranean region, as its request will expand with the growing population and its availability and quality will decrease because of climate change and pollution. CRA researchers are deeply involved in developing an integrated approach to water resources monitoring and management, improved modelling capabilities of the impacts of land-use on ecosystem hydrology as well as an optimal use of water for crop system production through highly technological “precision farming� and breeding plants for better water use efficiency. Agricultural and ligno-cellulosic biomass production for energy and for environmental remediation requires major investments in agricultural engineering research to make biomass harvesting and bio-energy production, more environmentally and economically sustainable; these are the outcomes expected from major, national and European research projects
coordinated by the CRA agricultural engineering scientists. CRA intends to continue to provide support to farmers, seed and agroindustry enterprises by promoting research and technological innovation in the agro-food sector at the national and Euro-Mediterranean level in order to strengthen the scientific and technological basis of the Italian agro-food industry, as well as the role of agro-forest systems in preserving the landscape and providing a wide diversity of ecosystem services and goods.
R. Aleandri, E. Lupotto, P. Ranalli, G. Scarascia Consiglio per la Ricerca e la Sperimentazione in Agricoltura. Roma.
Connect4Climate and DevComm 2.0: partnerships, participation, and people power in action.
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ver the past decade, awareness of climate change has grown, but has not yet led to a groundswell of effective individual action, demonstrating a need for a new approach to climate change communication. Strategic use of development communication can play a key role in addressing climate change and environmental issues by developing awareness and trust, informing and empowering people, and stimulating citizen action. The need for effective communication, public outreach, and education to increase support for collective action and behavioral change is ever present, and is vital to spark individuals to act. According to the 2010 World Bank World Development Report on Development and Climate Change, a large share of greenhouse gas emissions in developed countries results directly from decisions by individuals. U.S. households account for roughly 33 percent of the nation’s CO2 emissions. If fully adopted, existing efficiency recommendations for households and motor vehicles could produce energy savings of almost 30 percent – 10 per cent of total U.S. consumption. In this scenario, it is very
important to introduce appropriate communication activities to stimulate individual engagement and participation. The consequences of climate change will fall disproportionately on developing countries. According to the World Bank, high-income countries, with one-sixth of the world’s population, are responsible for nearly two-thirds of the greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. In addition, developing countries are the most vulnerable to climate change impacts because they have fewer resources to adapt. Connecting these individuals from a variety of developing and developed settings in a discussion on climate change can help provide a global yet personal perspective on the impact of individual actions, leading to increased Water is an issue in Sierra Leone. What may come easy for some may come very hard for others. Climate change affects the whole world, but for developing countries the consequences are worse. Marginalized population, although contributing so little to climate change, are the ones who suffer the most. In many cases, women are responsible to get water for the family while their husbands try to make a living in the city. So they need to walk kilometers under a harsh sun to find some for their families, at the same time caring for their children. Climate change also produces gender issues.
After a day of herding sheep and goats, this Maasai returns to his village with a large tree root to be used for cooking fuel. The lasting effects due to the need for such timber carcasses in everyday life is like poison to the future sustainability of such communities. Forests have disappeared, resources are few and the environmental consequences have cost this Maasai much of his cattle and soon perhaps even his way of life.
motivation for behavioral change. Recognizing that personal stories © Eduardo Arraes/Connect4Climate
© Maria De La Guardia/Connect4Climate
World Bank
World Bank
Simultaneously, C4C utilized social media and the web to amplify the voices of young people and local stakeholders that have stories to tell about their climate change experience, which encouraged further engagement. In less than one year, C4C has created a Facebook community of more than 300,000 followers, who contribute up to 25,000 interactions weekly, allowing climate change content to reach up to 6 million individuals online weekly. This online reach can significantly amplify knowledge-sharing. For example, more than 670 individuals attended the C4C event “Connecting for Climate: Technology, Creativity, and Action” hosted at the Newseum in Washington, DC on June 28th, but live tweets of the event reached more than 330,000 individuals and were viewed cumulatively more than 3.4 million times via Twitter. The online engagement wasn’t just restricted to the developed, connected regions of the world: participating tweeters engaged in the one-night event from as far away as Uganda and Ghana - demonstrating the power of social media to include voices previously unheard. “Today’s rapidly changing social media environment presents a great opportunity for global discussion, advocacy, and participation. Connect4Climate is amplifying local voices to a global platform and bringing together environmentally-engaged citizens from all corners of the globe,” said Corrado Clini, Italian Minister of Environment, and one of the core
partners of the C4C initiative. C4C also uses partnerships to promote innovative global advocacy efforts and the integration of communication interventions in climate change projects and activities, including the production and sharing of knowledge, and the building of partnerships and coalitions. Stakeholder engagement has been a key factor in the success of the C4C initiative: much of C4C’s growth so far has been the result of leveraging knowledge partners, ranging from © Herbert Lwanga/Connect4Climate
can help engage individuals and highlight the link between global issues and individual actions, Connect4Climate (C4C) has applied various communication for development strategies to build a participatory, open knowledge platform that engages the global community in climate change conversations to drive local action. Spearheaded by the World Bank, the Italian Ministry of Environment, and the Global Environment Facility (GEF) in collaboration with more than 140 global knowledge partners, C4C kickstarted its campaign with an Africafocused citizen journalism competition that challenged African youth to tell their personal climate change stories. Encouraging discussion through an open competition generated over 700 photo and video stories on climate change, with submissions from every country on the African continent.
women) between 13 and 30 years of age living in Dhusamareeb, Cadaado, and Galkayo in Central Somalia had the opportunity to learn about climate change issues and contribute to the global discussion via the C4C platform.
C4C leverages partnerships, multimedia, and social media to create an actionoriented community and knowledge platform which inspires and informs thousands of young people and continues to engage universities, civil society organizations, and international institutions on the issue of climate change. Because climate change conversations can be both polarizing and unifying, creating an open and neutral space where all are free to exchange ideas and solutions fosters a much needed conversation that is driven from the ground up and The lady seen operating this solution is rural based and apart from providing an enhances civic alternative energy source, she generates continuous revenue hence, realizing engagement through her entrepreneurial dream. With this revenue she is empowered to pay school social accountability. fees for her children while supplementing the food security budget for her This bottom-up household. She also plays the role of providing the rural farming communities approach—which with a constant energy source that enables them to use their phones uninterrupted, thus leading them to access and benefit from information started by asking that addresses their personal, farming, and community needs. Furthermore, young Africans to the photograph is a testimony of the combined role of women and youth tell the world about in developing, producing and applying icts for transforming especially rural how climate change communities i.e. The log`el commercial, solar phone-charger is produced and is affecting them disseminated by the log`el project team (mainly comprising the youth) and it through pictures is being commercially utilized by a female operator. It can be replicated. and video—is an innovative example of the World Bank’s major UN agencies to leading academic catalytic power as convener and igniter institutions and grassroots civil society of social change. organizations. This diverse network of knowledge partners has also proven So what’s next on the C4C agenda? Here critical to personalizing the impacts are just a few examples: a major global of climate change and contributing to music video competition in partnership individual behavioral change. with MTV that will culminate in major events during the next UN Climate In practice, C4C’s global partnership Change Conference/COP 18 in Qatar in program inspired CISP Somalia, an NGO, November 2012, and an e-conference to independently create a trainer’s series bringing together climate change guide for high school students and communicators and scientists. The trainees in rural villages based on C4C’s solutions to climate change are varied, model. The guide provided information but none can succeed without individual on climate change and its effects on behavioral change. Join us and add agriculture, energy, forests, gender, YOUR voice to the conversation: health, and water. Complementary www.facebook.com/connect4climate workshops discussed how climate change affects individuals, their by Lucia Grenna, communities, and their environment. Connect4Climate Program Leader, The WorldBank In total, 340 students (including 119
Š Max Thabiso Edkins/Connect4Climate
World Bank
The women-dominated Bennde Mutale Theatre Group performs in their village to explain the causes and consequences of climate change. Through theatre complex stories can be explained with ease, such as the idea that airplanes produce carbon dioxide. It is often the most un-knowing communities that are most vulnerable to climate change. Climate Theatre can bridge this communication gap and provide a platform for the women in communities to express themselves.
FIGURE Unequal footprints: Emissions per capita in low-, middle-, and highincome countries, 2005 Sources: World Bank 2008c; WRI 2008 augmented with land-use change emissions from Houghton 2009. Note: Greenhouse gas emissions include carbon dioxide (CO2), methane (CH4), nitrous oxide (N2O), and high-global-warming-potential gases (F-gases). All are expressed in terms of CO2 equivalent (CO2e)—the quantity of CO2 that would cause the same amount of warming. In 2005 emissions from land-use change in high income countries were negligible.
After Rio + 20
After Rio + 20 – the future for Sustainable Development of prosperity for so many. But more middle class consumers means more demand. If this demand is met by the “brown” economy, it will put immense strain on many resources. The world will need three times more resources – 140 billion tons annually – by 2050. That pressure will be the most significant limiting factor on our ability to grow and provide higher living standards. The planet’s limits are undeniable. To guide the direction and pace of transition to an inclusive Green economy, we need to build on five pillars of life: water, sustainable energy, oceans, land and ecosystems, and resource efficiency, with a particular focus on waste. What do we mean by this: Janez Potocnik – European Commissioner for Environment and Lead Negotiator for the EU at Rio+20
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t would be fair to say that the immediate reaction of media and civil society to the outcome of the 2012 UN Conference on Sustainable Development was overwhelmingly negative. However, within a few weeks there were already signs of a more mature reflection and a more balanced assessment. Yes, we all wanted more from Rio+20, however, the EU decided that it was better to have the agreement we got than no agreement at all. Why? Because the final outcome document explicitly recognised some important needs and priorities and we now need to get on with making sure they are implemented. Frankly, the time for wish-lists is now over and it is time for action. The challenges the world faces today are many, and although some answers lie at local or national level, long lasting results will only be possible with a strong sense of direction shared internationally. One of the main outcomes of Rio is that the world has finally acknowledged the need to move towards a green economy. This should facilitate the sustainable management of natural resources, and raise awareness of the need for urgent action to tackle unsustainable patterns
of production and consumption. As a result of the conference, the possibility has emerged of working with a broad range of countries to develop policies on the green economy as a common undertaking. Sustainable Development means meeting the needs of present generations without jeopardizing the ability of future generations to meet their own needs – in other words, a better quality of life for everyone, now and for generations to come. Sustainable development will not be brought about by policies only: it must be taken up by society at large as a principle guiding the many choices each citizen makes every day, as well as the big political and economic decisions. This requires profound changes in thinking, in economic and social structures and in consumption and production patterns. Creating opportunities for all By 2050 there will be 9 billion people sharing this small planet. It is predicted that there will already be 3 billion extra middle class consumers by 2030. We should rejoice about this prospect
1. Sustainable Energy – we need to increase energy access, energy security and promote renewable energy and energy efficiency. 2. Water Efficiency – access to clean water for all is essential. 3. Halting the degradation of land (soil) and ecosystems - we should strengthen existing initiatives on sustainable agriculture 4. Preservation and sustainable use of the resources of the oceans 5. Moving to a more resourceefficient and zero waste economy, - sustainable management of materials and waste is expected to generate substantial economic, environmental and social benefits. An inclusive green economy based on global direction and global and national action on the pillars of life will be essential for growth and poverty eradication, offering opportunities for all countries around the world and in all stages of development. Green economy can work… In recent years the EU has implemented sustainable development through a broad range of its policies. In particular,
After Rio + 20 the EU has taken the lead in the fight against climate change and the promotion of a low-carbon economy. The EU has adopted binding climate targets together with the EU Emissions Trading Scheme, as well as a range of legislative instruments on biodiversity, waste management, water and air quality. This has encouraged the growth of EU eco-industries, which now correspond to over 2.5% of EU GDP and provide jobs to over 3.4 million people. A key policy development has been the adoption of the Europe 2020 Strategy in 2010. This aims to transform the EU into a knowledge-based, resource efficient and low-carbon economy and provide a sustainable response to the challenges facing the EU up to 2050. … for everybody The catalytic effect that proper incentives and framework conditions have on private investment is clear – and this is key to delivering on the promise of sustainable development. But at the same time we continue to acknowledge that official development assistance has a major role to play. With €53 billion of development aid in 2011, the European Union and its 27 Member States remains the world biggest donor, providing more than half of global official aid. EU official development aid reached 0.42% of EU GNI, which exceeds the efforts of other major donors. EU aid has pulled millions of people out of poverty and saved countless lives over the last ten years. Take just the example of the efforts to provide sustainable energy for all. The European Commission alone has spent more than 2 billion Euro over the last five years on energy projects and around 1 billion euro on improving the state of the energy sector in developing countries. Building on our experience and expertise, we have focused on all elements of energy, from electricity, to governance, to technology, to clean cooking facilities. And we are ensuring that investments and growth are inclusive, benefiting all citizens, and indeed concentrating on the poorest and most vulnerable. And in order to scale up energy access projects, we have developed leading
innovative financial instruments to pool the European Union’s grant resources with lending from European development finance institutions. Overall this instrument already has a potential outreach of many millions in developing countries. And that’s not all: the European Investment Bank has been prioritising energy, resulting in billions of Euro being granted in preferential loans in recent years. And we are seeking to do more in the coming years. Our 2011 blueprint for higher-impact EU development policy – what we have called our “Agenda for Change” – will focus our cooperation on the most effective drivers of inclusive and sustainable growth. Using local people and local resources, it is central to providing opportunities for equitable and environmentally friendly economic growth, education and health, and also to help eradicate poverty. Around 1.4 billion people, mostly in South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa, still live in extreme poverty and one sixth of the world’s population is undernourished. Unsustainable economic growth has increased the stress on the earth’s limited natural resources and on the carrying capacity of ecosystems, with 60% of the world’s natural resources already being used unsustainably or at their limit. Many environmental problems have not been solved and have become more acute, and economic, social and environmental problems are closely linked. Without managing our natural assets and resources in a more sustainable manner, our economies and environment will suffer and we cannot alleviate poverty and achieve more equity. The poorest in our societies will suffer most if we use our resources unsustainably as their lives and livelihoods depend very directly on water, land, seas, forests and soil. There is particular opportunity for those whose production systems are not yet locked in: to leapfrog to efficient technologies and systems; technologies and systems that will permit them to exploit their resources, from forests and biodiversity to land and minerals, in ways that are sustainable and capable of supporting vast increases in consumption. From local renewable
energy generation to water metering, and from satellite monitoring of forests and land-use to development of farmer’s skills in soil maintenance. Outlook The outcome document signed in Rio de Janeiro offers a number of opportunities for undertaking further substantive work at international level. We obtained concrete results on a green economy and institutional reform. The Rio outcome document has many elements required for bringing about change if we really want to build on its strengths, mobilising national and international efforts, including civil society and stakeholders at large. Rio+20 has not gone as far as most would have wanted, none of the countries and regions present at Rio achieved in full what was wanted initially. This also applies to the EU. But, it is an important starting point. We worked together to develop common ground and we reaffirmed that we share a common responsibility towards future generations. The power to turn Rio+20 into a success story lies in our hands. It will depend on how strongly we take forward the results obtained. The challenge will be to achieve a real commitment on action from state and non-state actors at international, national and local level. The shared challenge for us all now is to implement in full the potential of the Rio+20 outcome, and ensure that it leads to real action towards sustainable development, an inclusive green economy and poverty eradication.
By Janez Potocnik European Commissioner for Environment and Lead Negotiator for the EU at Rio+20
Š Joe Cornish | Digital Vision | Getty Images.
BRGM
Facing current energy and environmental challenges: towards a sustainable use of the subsurface.
Dr. Catherine Truffert, BRGM’s Director of Research
developing the missing R&D technologies for a sustainable use of the subsurface, namely the optimization of resource exploitation and management whilst giving preference to carbon-free energies and a total respect of the environment. Three emerging sectors, all at different stages of maturity, are singled out as holding potential for contributing significantly to the dual objective of attenuating climate change and the responsible and respectful management of the subsurface environment:
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i) CO 2 geological storage ii) underground energy storage iii) geothermal energy.
Earth Sciences can play a major role in our future. The current issue for the geoscience community is to provide part of the energy solution by
Despite aiming for environmental excellence and a responsible management of risks during exploitation of the subsurface, the superposition of several types of usage could lead to competition within a given geological unit, for example, a sedimentary basin containing fresh water, geothermal resources and deep salty aquifers able to confine large amounts of CO 2 . Such situations must be addressed logically whilst raising
he soaring worldwide energy demand and global warming implies a diversification of energy sources, preferentially carbon-free. To this context we must add the economic and societal challenges of rising anthropogenic carbon emissions, intermittent renewable energy production and the inability of networks to smartly manage the electricity resources due to a lack of sufficient storage.
public awareness through debates and communication actions to reduce widespread concern and misunderstanding. CO 2 geological storage The aim here is to reduce CO 2 emissions from fossil-fuel combustion, thus limiting greenhouse gas (GHG) concentrations and mitigating environmental impact, by returning the CO 2 back to the deep underground where it is stored permanently. The International Energy Agency (IEA) has earmarked CO 2 storage as one of the main options for CO 2 emission reduction and keeping atmospheric CO 2 concentrations below 450 particles per million, and capable of contributing 19% of the effort needed to achieve this target. But many issues still need to be addressed before the storage of captured CO 2 can become standard practice at industrial scale. Deploying CO 2 storage infrastructure does not make sense unless the capture and transport components are already in place. Because the sole purpose of CO 2 storage is to limit CO 2 emissions and
BRGM technology nevertheless is an assemblage of various readily available skills, and the techniques and settings involved are similar to those already practiced by the international gas industry to store natural gas in underground reservoirs. A major drawback for the future of hydrogen storage is the poor yield (currently 40% maximum) and the high investment costs for the electrolysis phase. It will only become a viable option if the need for very large storage capacities arises, since the energy density of compressed hydrogen is much higher than that of compressed air.
reduce global warming, sources of income are lacking and deployment depends exclusively on incentives for reducing GHG emissions or penalties for failing to respect targets, which in turn depend directly on policy decisions. Over and above the economic aspects, the risks involved in storing CO 2 in large quantities also demand appropriate regulations, which are now being transposed in the European countries. Society’s perception of CO 2 geological storage is another important issue to be addressed constructively and effectively before large-scale deployment. Early warning signals have emerged from several projects around the world, in the United States and Europe, particularly Germany and Holland.
The energy storage market is still a recent development, but was estimated in 2010 at 4.5 Billion€ worldwide, taking all technologies into account. The market structure for underground energy storage, in terms of technologies, economics and regulations, is now emerging.
Underground energy storage Another pertinent energy option, both technologically and ecologically, is large-scale underground storage of energy in the form of compressed air and hydrogen. The aim is to reduce waste when energy supply and demand are not synchronized in terms of timing or output. For example, an intermittent or surplus supply is not always in phase with the varying demand influenced by seasons, daytime-nightime, individual buildings or heating networks. This primarily concerns the storage of electricity, but also heat and cold, and can ensure significant volumes, and therefore quantities of energy.
For hydrogen, large-scale storage is still in the experimental stage and requires the launch of pilot sites. The
Geothermal energy can help wean society off fossil fuels by producing carbon-free and renewable heat and/ or electricity. Depending on the temperature of the underground resource, geothermal energy can supply electricity (high), combined power and/or heat (medium and low), and heating or cooling for direct use or via geothermal heat pumps or GHPs (very low). The very-low-temperature geothermal energy market involves GHP heating 3D Geological model of the Paris Basin. © BRGM im@gé.
Only two underground Compressed Air Energy Storage (CAES) projects are operating worldwide: 1) a 290-MW facility in Huntorf, Germany that started up in 1978, and 2) a 110-MW plant in Alabama, USA launched in 1991. The future success of CAES will depend mainly on the new generation of adiabatic plants offering anticipated yields of 80% compared to the current 50% maximum. Other challenges include reducing costs for managing thermal losses, optimization of turbine performance and, finally, lowering excavation costs for projects where existing cavities cannot be used.
Geothermal energy
and cooling of individual or collective housing and tertiary, industrial and agricultural buildings. The main players are engineering consultancies, drilling companies, and GHP manufacturers and installers. GHP investment costs are essentially related to drilling and equipment purchase, with relatively low maintenance costs. The market’s development will depend on continuous improvement of technological performance, particularly for GHPs, compressors and heat exchangers. Other geothermal energy markets are high-temperature (and medium-temperature through binary cycles) for power production, and lowand-medium-temperature for heat production (excluding GHPs). Sustained R&D efforts are necessary to accelerate the inventory of available resources, develop more competitive technologies -particularly for drilling, and improve enhanced geothermal systems (EGS), which have an enormous growth potential, to a competitive operational standard (more pilot projects needed). Competition for subsurface use Such emerging solutions nevertheless raise two main issues. Firstly, today’s subsurface is subject to a multitude of uses that are likely to develop rapidly in the near future and which could lead to subsurface ‘competition’. Secondly, the impact of these new technologies on the environment must be kept as low as possible. Industrial subsurface operations have until now been limited to oil & gas production, storage of natural gas,
BRGM
© Duncan Cook Drummond.
Several types of risk can occur: leakage and contamination of natural resources, operations triggering a seismic event, health and safety of the population, and natural, unforeseen events affecting site reliability and safety. National geological surveys and other academic research organizations have a major role to play in conducting R&D activities for an appropriate industrial development. Both numerical modelling and experimental approaches are needed. Experimental platforms, pilot sites, demonstration sites, etc., will constitute complementary investigation fields used by both research and industry.
geothermal energy, etc., and these have not generated any major competition. However, the proposed solutions for adapting our society to low-carbon energy production –or for decarbonizing our use of fossil fuels, will have a greater impact on the targeted subsurface formations and possibly their immediate environments. Some cases will require arbitration, for which decision-aid tools should be available for industry, government services and the public. The development of such tools requires an understanding of the natural objects being targeted (i.e. hydrosystem, granitic massif, etc.) as well as the ability to master the hydrodynamic, chemical,
mechanical and thermal characteristics at all scales so as to predict their behaviour and response to any new solicitation. Making sure things run smoothly More R&D efforts are needed to control risks during the industrial activity (resource exploitation, storage …) and following site closure. The problem of risk management begins at the exploration and characterization phases, well upstream of any operational phase, and continues during the installation design and construction stages, and long after closure. This overall methodology must take into account the level of uncertainty specific to each phase.
CO 2 geological storage, energy storage and geothermal energy have many points in common in terms of practice, meaning that they can be deliberately addressed with a transverse or crosscutting approach with a common research core. This specific context has been approached recently in France through the Government’s ‘Future Investment Fund’ (FIF) programme. GEODENERGIES, a successful candidate of the ‘Institutes of Excellence’ call, is specialized in R&D support for these three carbon-free energy sectors. Through a systemic approach, GEODENERGIES will encourage innovative methods and technologies while optimizing development and marketing costs. It will also help develop the missing technological building blocks in line with existing markets and prepare for a variety of future constraints, such as immature or unknown markets, inappropriate regulations or poor societal perception. It will lead to a sustainable exploitation of subsurface resources and storage potential and maximize synergies between the sectors and markets, at the same time as raising public perception and encouraging dialogue. Led by BRGM, GEODENERGIES has an exciting industrial programme laid out for the next 10 years. It is a public/private partnership with 10 public institutions and 25 industrial companies, and represents of total budget of 70 M€, 15.9 M€ of which is funded by FIF.
© BRGM – François Michel.
CO2GeoNet
CO2GeoNet and CGS Europe: A European response to global climate change through CO2 geological storage.
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Returning the carbon back to the ground Our prolific burning of fossil fuels for power production, heating, industry and transportation is responsible for 80% of anthropogenic CO2 emissions into the atmosphere, of which 60% comes from large fixed emitters where CCS can be applied. CCS is a promising mitigation pathway that, according to the International Energy Agency, should contribute 20% of the CO2 reduction needed by 2050 in order to achieve
stabilisation of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere in the most cost-effective manner. CCS involves capturing CO2 at coal- or gasfired power stations and industrial plants, transporting it by pipeline or ship to a storage location, and injecting BRGM im@gé.
he European Union has already made significant progress in advancing CO2 Capture and Storage (CCS) as a bridging technology for combating climate change. The situation now calls for acceleration, particularly in terms of getting CO2 geological storage pilots and demonstration projects off the ground. CO2GeoNet and CGS Europe are the result of a European joining of forces and expertise on all aspects of CO2 geological storage, in the aim of supporting CCS demonstration and deployment and promoting transnational cooperation and networking throughout the EU Member States and Associated Countries.
it via a well into a suitable deep geological formation for long-term storage. In doing so, the carbon extracted from the ground in the form of coal, oil or gas is returned back again in the form of CO2, making CCS a smart solution that can help avoid the current situation of large CO2 emissions disturbing the atmosphere and provoking climate change, sea level rise and ocean acidification. Time is pressing for storage pilots and demonstration projects According to the EU Energy Roadmap 2050, CCS needs to be applied from around 2030 in the power sector in order to reach emission-reduction targets. Following 20 years of research and a number of pioneering CCS pilots and industrial operations, the world must now move into a large-scale demonstration phase, vital for enabling progressive commercial deployment within the right timeframe. In Europe, the first CCS demonstration projects are emerging under the leadership of major power and industrial companies and with financial support from the European Economic Plan for Recovery (EEPR), the NER300 mechanism for the
co-financing of CCS and innovative renewables in the framework of the European Union Emissions Trading System (EU-ETS), and Member States. The goal is to have 12 large-scale demonstration projects up-and-running by 2015 to harness knowledge and experience from a number of different geological, geographical and industrial contexts, both onshore and offshore. However, the very low price of CO2 in the EU-ETS (<10€/ton) will not fund as many NER300 demos as anticipated and does not provide a secure environment for long-term investment. Other incentives are necessary. Furthermore, the procedure for selecting, characterising and obtaining a permit for a storage site takes several years, and time is also needed for its connection to a CO2 -emitting plant by an appropriate transport infrastructure. No investment decisions can be taken for CCS projects without confidence early on regarding the storage site. The scientific challenges and the expertise within CO2GeoNet and CGS Europe More research effort must now be placed on storage compared to capture, which has been attracting much attention to date. This is because each storage site i) is unique due to its specific geology - often complex and unexplored, and ii) must be capable of trapping CO2 over periods of at least 1000 years. The scientific challenges of CO2 storage are numerous: site selection and characterisation, modelling and monitoring of CO2 fate and site behaviour, risk assessment – including possible local impacts on humans and ecosystems – and safety protocols. CO2 storage is a complex field of research in which many different disciplines interact: geology, geophysics, geochemistry, geomechanics, hydrogeology, microbiology, ecology, reservoir engineering, oceanography, etc. Furthermore, various components of a storage site have to be considered: reservoir, cap rock, overburden, groundwater, soils, surface, vegetation, wells. Similarly with the different phases: planning period (~5 years), injection period (~40 years), closure period (~5 years) and post-closure period (~1000 years). The existence and study of many natural CO2 fields in the
© BRGM – D. Quiniou.
CO2GeoNet
subsurface proves that geological formations are able to store CO2 efficiently and safely for extremely long periods of time. In terms of storage, the abovementioned pilots and demonstration projects are vital for advancing knowledge concerning the storage capacity of a given site, and for testing on-site, in various storage settings, the performance of tools and methodologies developed for site characterisation, modelling, monitoring and risk management. The lessons learned from these field tests will be invaluable in improving the technological blocks so as to guarantee efficient and safe industrial-scale operations, as required by the European Directive on the geological storage of carbon dioxide adopted in 2009. The pool of expertise and research experience available within CO2GeoNet* and CGS Europe* is a true resource for Europe, providing scientific support for the geological storage of CO2 and facilitating the large-scale demonstration and deployment of CCS. Activities include research, scientific advice, training and information and communication on CO2 storage matters. Durability will be ensured by expansion of CO2GeoNet membership to include other CGS Europe partners, thus broadening the critical mass, extending geographical coverage to truly European, and offering privileged CO2 geological storage contact points in the EU Member States and Associated Countries. Article co-authors: Isabelle CzernichowskiLauriol (i.czernichowski@brgm.fr) and Rowena Stead (r.stead@brgm.fr).
CO2GeoNet
CO2GeoNet The European Network of Excellence on the Geological Storage of CO2
CGS Europe The Pan-European Coordination Action on the Geological Storage of CO2
The lighthouse event is the annual CO2GeoNet Open Forum in Venice enabling dialogue between the scientific community and all CCS stakeholders (www. co2geonet.com/openforum2012_presentations).
CGS Europe (www.cgseurope.net), a three-year Coordination Action (11/2011 to 10/2013) funded by the EC 7th Framework Programme, has been created to complement existing CCS initiatives and, more specifically, to tackle the part of the CCS chain dealing with CO2 Geological Storage (CGS) on a true European scale. CGS Europe is a networking project that pools together the expertise of 34 key research institutes in the area of CO2 geological storage across 28 countries (24 European Member States and 4 Associated Countries). It builds upon the networking and integration experience of CO2GeoNet with the ultimate goal of providing an independent, scientific, pan-European platform and reference source where national, European and international experts, institutes and regulators can access the most up-to-date results of CO2 storage-related studies, share experiences and good practices, discuss the implementation of regulations, identify research needs to face upcoming challenges, and build new projects.
Contacts Secretariat: info@co2geonet.com President: Isabelle Czernichowski-Lauriol i.czernichowski@brgm.fr
Contacts Secretariat: info@cgseurope.eu Coordinator: Isabelle Czernichowski-Lauriol (BRGM) i.czernichowski@brgm.fr
Members of CO2GeoNet:
CGS Europe partners:
CO2GeoNet (www.co2geonet.com), the European scientific body on CO2 geological storage, brings together over 300 researchers with the multidisciplinary expertise needed to address all aspects of CO2 storage. With activities encompassing joint research, training, scientific advice, information and communication, CO2GeoNet has a valuable and independent role to play in enabling the efficient and safe geological storage of CO2. CO2GeoNet was created in 2004 as a Network of Excellence under the EC 6th Framework Programme for 5 years. In 2008, the Network became a non-profit Association under French law. It currently comprises 13 public research institutes from 7 European countries, but expansion of membership is underway to include other partners of the CGS Europe project.
• GEUS (Denmark) • BRGM (France) • IFPEN (France) • BGR (Germany) • OGS (Italy) • URS (Italy) • TNO (Netherlands)
• IRIS (Norway) • NIVA (Norway) • SPR SINTEF (Norway) • BGS (UK) • HWU (UK) • IMPERIAL (UK)
• CO2GeoNet Association • GBA (Austria) • RBINS-GSB (Belgium) • SU (Bulgaria) • UNIZG-RGNF (Croatia) • CzGS (Czech Republic) • TTUGI (Estonia) • GTK (Finland) • G-IGME (Greece) • MFGI (Hungary) • GSI (Ireland)
• LEGMC (Latvia) • GTC (Lithuania) • PGI-NRI (Poland) • LNEG (Portugal) • GEOECOMAR (Romania) • UB (Serbia) • SGUDS (Slovakia) • GEO-INZ (Slovenia) • S-IGME (Spain) • SGU (Sweden) • METU-PAL (Turkey)
The Energy Roadmap 2050
The Energy Roadmap 2050
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nergy is one of the biggest challenges Europe is confronted with today. While being at the helm of the fight against climate change, our economic competitiveness fully depends on a reliable energy supply at an affordable price. And in turn, this depends on adequate infrastructure. Until the end of the 1990s, boosting demand was more important than energy efficiency and energy suppliers primarily served national markets. From now on energy systems need to be designed to run on variable renewable and lowcarbon fuels at continental level. Is Europe ready and able to take up the challenge? Will Europe be able to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by at least 80% by 2050 and maintain competitiveness? The European Commission is launching the debate with the publication of the Energy Roadmap 2050. What does the Energy Roadmap 2050 say? Through an analysis based on scenarios, the Roadmap 2050, indicates possible pathways to achieve the decarbonisation of the EU energy system. The purpose is not of choosing one over another, rather of identifying
the common emerging elements that support long-term approaches to investments. The real world will never look like these models, but the conclusions drawn from them give fundamental signals for our future policy. The main conclusion of the Roadmap is simple: transformation of the energy system is technically and economically feasible – if we make the right choices. Five key lessons can guide us in making the policy choices to shift our energy system towards a more sustainable future. (1) Energy savings are crucial There is a vast amount of untapped potential to save energy. Significant energy savings would need to be achieved in all decarbonisation scenarios. Primary energy demand drops in a range of 16% to 20% by 2030 and 32% to 41% by 2050, as compared to peaks in 2005-2006. Thus, energy efficiency is crucial for the energy system transformation – at the stages of production, supply and end use. Maintaining our efforts at the current level, we would not achieve enough progress. In a recent proposal for an Energy Efficiency Directive, the
By Günther H. Oettinger, European Commissioner for Energy
Commission has spelled out where we need urgent action. The directive needs to be quickly adopted if we want to deliver on potential savings. But we must be more ambitious. In the long-run, higher energy efficiency in new and existing buildings is crucial. Nearly zero energy buildings should become the norm. Products and appliances should fulfil the highest energy efficiency standards. In transport, efficient vehicles and incentives for behavioural change are needed. All this requires more action both at EU and Member State level. (2) The share of renewables rises substantially The analysis shows that the biggest share of energy supply technologies in 2050 comes from renewables. In 2030, all decarbonisation scenarios suggest growing shares of renewables of around 30% in gross final energy consumption. In 2050, renewables will achieve at least 55%, up 45 percentage points from today’s level. This is both a huge change and a challenge. Renewables will play a central role in Europe’s energy mix, from technology development to mass production and deployment, from smallscale to large-scale, from subsidised
The Energy Roadmap 2050 to competitive. All these shifts require parallel changes in policy. Incentives in the future have to become more efficient, create economies of scale, and lead to more market integration. (3) Building the necessary infrastructure is key With electricity trade and renewablesâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; penetration growing up to 2050 under almost any scenario, adequate infrastructure at distribution, interconnection and long-distance transmission levels becomes a matter of urgency. The existence of adequate infrastructure is a condition sine qua non. In the long-run, the extension of the current planning methods to a fully integrated network planning for transmission, distribution, storage and electricity highways looking at a potentially longer timeframe will be needed. And above all, we need to develop more intelligent electricity grids, able to deal with variable generation from many distributed sources, allowing for new ways to manage electricity demand and supply. (4) The European energy markets needs to be fully integrated A European market offers the right scale to assure access to resources and to provide the huge investments needed. The single energy market must be fully integrated by 2014. An additional challenge is the need for flexible resources in the power system, as there will be more variable renewables. Access to flexible supplies of all types (e.g. demand management, storage and flexible back-up power plants) has to be ensured. Another challenge is the impact of renewable generation on the wholesale market prices. Whatever the answer, it is important that market arrangements offer costeffective solutions to these challenges. The cross-border impact on the internal market deserves renewed attention. Now more than ever, coordination is required. Energy policy developments need to take full account of how each national system is affected by decisions in neighbouring countries. (5) Investing in low-carbon technologies Carbon pricing can provide an incentive for deployment of efficient, low-
carbon technologies across Europe. The ETS is a necessary condition for the energy system transformation, but it is not sufficient. Higher public and private investments in R&D and technological innovation are also crucial in speeding-up the commercialisation and the modernisation of all low-carbon solutions, whatever are the sources. In particular Europe will certainly have to develop further Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS) from around 2030 onwards in the power sector in order to reach the decarbonisation targets. New opportunities for Europe Indeed, it is cheaper and easier for Europe to work together. The European market gives us the chance to make economies of scale and speed up new markets for low-carbon technologies. Between now and 2050, there must be a wide-scale replacement of infrastructure and appliances throughout the economy including consumer goods in peopleâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s homes. Modernizing the energy system will bring high levels of investment into the
European economy. It can bring more jobs more quality of life, and more growth. Decarbonisation can also be an advantage for Europe, placing itself as an early mover in the growing global market for energy-related goods and services. Energy system transformation also helps reducing import dependency and exposure to the volatility of fossil fuel prices. The Way forward The debate is launched. In the next months all actors in all Member States will continue an open debate, discussing milestones and the policy framework for 2030. These will help providing Member States and investors with the certainty they need. We cannot wait anymore: we need to act now for the future. What we are doing already is helping reduce our carbon footprint. But we need to step up our efforts: more renewables, more clean technology, more investment in networks, more integration, and more energy efficiency. We need decisions and investments. We need political will.
Schavan
The Significance of Progress and Innovation for Prosperity and Growth in the Context of Demographic Change.
Innovation is not solely a technological and scientific task, and it’s not simply a matter of money. It is also a societal task and a matter of setting priorities. Progress that sustainably serves people needs strategy and clearly defined goals. It needs standards and ethical guidelines. And it must time and again become the subject of new social debates.
Annette Schavan, Federal Minister of Education and Research in Germany.
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rogress happens because humans are curious and because we aren’t content with what we’ve achieved. It happens when there’s competition for the best ideas and products and when there are enough well-trained people. But the conditions that enable progress need a greater context of support, and this means making sufficient funding available – especially in trying economic times. The goal and credo of the German Federal Government is “Progress through Innovation.” Germany’s consistently increasing efforts in R&D and education have been well worth it. In 2010, while other countries were struggling with the fallout of the financial crisis, Germany recorded above average growth: unemployment dropped to 6.7 per cent – the lowest it had been in 20 years. The number of R&D jobs alone increased by 15 per cent between 2005 and 2010, reaching a total of 550,000. These jobs put German industry at the head of global competition, leading to prosperity and employment in other areas as well. Private sector R&D expenditure in
Germany amounted to 47 billion euros in 2010 – a 21 per cent increase from 2005. The state has also clearly increased R&D investments: from 9 billion euros in 2005 to a projected 13.8 billion in 2012 – an increase of 53 per cent. More money is being invested in research and development today than ever before. With R&D investments at 2.8 per cent of the gross domestic product in 2010, Germany is in the top bracket of European countries. The German economy as a whole is strong, but at the same time, both politicians and citizens are well aware of our responsibility to contribute to solutions that address the pressing questions of tomorrow’s world. In the global village, only those who want and help others to succeed will themselves be successful in the long run, which is why, for example, we are accentuating our bilateral cooperation with BRICS and developing nations in the fields of education and research. But Germany is also a country that stands for ideas, the joy of discovery, and open-mindedness – a country working towards not only industrial but also social and cultural prosperity.
For us, progress is not an end in itself. The goal of our research and innovation policy is to provide answers to the central questions of today and tomorrow: How do we want to sustain ourselves? How can we secure the livelihood of future generations? How will we meet our responsibility? How can we ensure a fair distribution of goods and resources? And how can we prevent the sort of situation in which progress benefits some while burdening others? Innovation in the interest of humankind is our priority. Today’s ideas are what make tomorrow’s technologies, products and services possible. This is why we are providing targeted funding for young academics and outstanding achievements, including measures that make it easier for specialists and scientists from abroad to come to Germany. Initiatives like our strategy for highly skilled workers, the Recognition Act, and the Blue Card have been important points in setting our political course. At the same time we’re pursuing what we call a strategy of participation, and due to Germany’s unique system of dual vocational training, we also have very low youth unemployment: between 2005 and 2011, the unemployment rate for people under 25 years of age was cut almost in half – from 15.6 to 8.6 per cent, well below the European average of 21.4 per cent.
TEXT However, this development also shows that we in Germany – as in the rest of Europe – are entering a phase of population development which will bring profound changes: we’ll be fewer, older, and more culturally diverse. The question of how the coexistence of generations will be organized is among the greatest structural tasks for European societies and their active political forces, but also for many civil society groups. One thing is certain: life expectancy has fortunately increased. Together with a consistently low birthrate – at least in Germany – this has resulted in a significantly higher average age. In Germany, the number of citizens over the age of 65 will increase by around 29 per cent by 2030, reaching one third by 2060. Over this period, Germany’s current population of 80 million will decrease to 65 million. For this reason, the German Federal Government has proposed a research agenda, the content and measures of which are to be informed by these new structural challenges. This will impact technological development as well as health care research and research for new working environments. It has become increasingly important for us to improve and increase the exchange between various scientific disciplines. The interdisciplinary research of
engineers and physicians, for example, requires a dialogue with academics from the humanities, cultural studies, and social sciences. We’re speaking less of an aging society and more of a long-life society. We know that in this long-life society, we can expect a number of mental changes. How do older people feel about security, for example? What are their expectations? Which fears will become stronger? How can people of all ages become and stay socially integrated? How can quality of life be maintained at advanced ages? How can we stay healthy? With our research agenda, we want to find answers to these questions. It’s not only technological developments that we’re funding. For instance, in the context of nursing research, technology is secondary to the extremely important role played by content and concepts. In the coming year, our focus will be to find the hidden treasures of our long-life society, to advance the development of new solutions, products and services through research, and to improve the quality of life as well as the social participation of older people. In our framework programme for health research, we’ve already set
the priorities of prevention, diagnosis and treatment of diseases prevalent among older people. For example, 1.1 million people in Germany today suffer from dementia. By 2050, this will increase to between 2 and 3.5 million people. If you break these seemingly abstract numbers down into cities and communities, it’s clear that this will carry major structural challenges, for example with public services or the new organization of health care. Research has already yielded promising results that better enable self-determined living well into old age. For example, patients have now been implanted with the first pacemakers to monitor the heart’s pumping capacity and relay this information via mobile networks to the attending doctor. We are also funding assisted living systems, which develop and test sensitive flooring at in- and outpatient care facilities to facilitate independent living for the elderly. A central area of research and development will be ensuring the longest and most self-determined lives possible and maintaining independent living arrangements. Research on demographic change benefits all generations. Of course, many research topics are based on the large number of older people in our population, but in the end, it all comes down to organizing the coexistence of generations under changed demographic conditions. Mobility and communication, longer employability, living arrangements, health, nursing, social and cultural engagement – all of these are issues that matter to us. It’s within these areas that we want innovation – and not just in the sense of technology, but also in terms of social and cultural development and the mental state of our future long-life society.
By Annette Schavan, Federal Minister of Education and Research in Germany.
Era-Net
NEW SPIRITS – the ERA-NET NEURON moves on…
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uper tankers have their advantages. They can carry a huge lot of different cargo on very long distances safely. Sometimes they are accompanied by smaller boats or trawlers, thereby building a swarm. So far for the metaphor of research funding by the European Commission. In the early years of the new century the Directorate General for Research and Innovation initiated besides the already implemented huge funding measures - a new instrument, European Research Area Networks. The objective of the ERA-NET scheme is to improve the cooperation and coordination of research activities carried out at national or regional level in the Member and Associated States. Through networking of ministries and funding agencies the coordinated implementation of national and regional research funding programmes is promoted. www.eranet-neuron.eu The NEURON partner countries, not only European but also Canada (inset) and Israel.
In total 71 ERA-NETs have been funded under FP6. Almost all of them succeed in launching joint transnational calls for research proposals in various areas thus contributing to improve the coherence and coordination across Europe of such research funding programmes. In the Health sector five of the original 11 FP6 contracts in this area continued their activities under FP7. The ERA-NET NEURON – coordinating research funding programmes in the area of brain diseases - is one of these. Initiated by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) and heading off with three other ministries and funding agencies from Israel, Luxembourg and Poland, the network now comprises 21 funding bodies in 16 different countries. The coordinator of this network, Dr. Marlies Dorlöchter explains the enthusiasm and drive of NEURON.
Dr. Dorlöchter what were your expectations when you first thought about building an ERA-NET? Diseases of the brain are a heavy burden for patients, their families and society as a whole. Research into this area is therefore a priority in the funding portfolio of the German Ministry of Education and Research, BMBF. And – research is global. BMBF had for many years successful bilateral collaborations in neuroscience research funding with ministries in Israel and Poland and very much welcomed when the European Commission services announced the new ERA-NET instrument. Based on the bilateral reliable and longstanding experiences we strived for the extension of such cooperations with other countries.
The expectation was then to coordinate the implementation of common funding programmes in the area of brain diseases in a European network of funding organisations. On top of the existing national programmes we anticipated that greater scientific efforts could be stimulated by interdisciplinary and international cooperation on the level of research groups. Particularly flexible research funding instruments for small consortia were identified as most effective. During the last five years the expectations manifested indeed positively on all levels. On the NEURON network level, by the annual joint transnational calls and the high number of funded consortia (43) and research groups (180).
Era-Net
What is necessary to bring 21 organisations together? The increasing societal and economic burden of brain diseases is a global and not merely a European challenge. It is necessary to increase our knowledge of brain function and its disorders, and find new strategies for preventing and treating these intractable disorders. All our 21 NEURON partners share the view of the importance and chances of internationally coordinated funding in disease-related neuroscience and acknowledge the added value of bundled capacities. This common interest in a societal most relevant question is a strong motivation to jointly promote research funding. In addition, the nationally rather well developed scientific communities called out for such flexible research funding possibilities that include pragmatic and transparent procedures. On the personal dimension, matters that count substantially are trust and mutual understanding, reliability and, not least, a curious and enthusiastic common spirit. In retrospective, what can be seen as challenges in the establishment of a network of funding bodies? The coordination of programmes and programme opening activities require joint concepts, standards, and agreement about cross cutting issues of programmatic and strategic importance. The highly diverse funding procedures in the participating funding organisations provided considerable hurdles at the beginning of NEURON. Therefore information was collected on the contents of existing and, where possible, future national funding programmes and research priorities in disease-related neuroscience. Thematic or strategic framework conditions for programme
development were explored. As one result a documentation of funding portfolios of each partner organisation (and other organisations in the respective countries) was published that summarized the funding activities. It was very important to understand and respect each other’s national priorities and needs and try to find a common ground for joint research support. In retrospective, these initial steps were rather quickly done and we were able to start our most important network activities with the launch of the first joint transnational call for research proposals in 2008.
PD Dr. Marlies Dorlöchter, the coordinator of ERA-NET NEURON.
What are the main highlight(s) in NEURON? Of the several highlights, the most prominent is of course the implementation of yet four joint transnational calls for research proposals, in fact, one each year, with a budget of about 40 million € so far. The calls cover very different research fields from methodology development to mental disorders and different types of research instruments from basic to clinical research. The number of excellent research groups that could be
funded by NEURON increased steadily, reaching 180 in 2011. Attribute of such high impact research are the over one hundred publications so far, some of them in highest impact journals. All these efforts pave the way for a better understanding of brain diseases, diagnostic measures and - eventually – cure, because knowledge is the first and major step towards helping the patients. Another tangible highlight is the support for young scientists. Since 2009, NEURON has launched the “Excellent Paper in Neuroscience” Award to recognize the most remarkable and outstanding scientific publications by young researchers in the field of disease-related neurosciences. The annual award is attractive to young researchers because on top of the prize money the winners are invited as special ERA-NET NEURON Young Investigator lecturers in an international conference.
PD Dr. Marlies Dorlöchter is the coordinator of the ERA-NET NEURON (www.neuron-eranet.eu) at the Health research Project Management Agency Part of the German Aerospace Center (PT-DLR) on behalf of the Federal Ministry of Research and Education (BMBF), Germany.
ERA-NET
NEURON – advanced Origami of Joint Transnational Calls
The NEURON consortium, 2011 in Berlin.
The planning and execution of joint transnational calls for proposals is like high level Origami. Every single bit and piece has to fold into its perfect position, getting more complex the more partner countries or funding bodies participate. The ERA-NET NEURON created a strategically operating group of research funding organisations in Europe and beyond to implement research funding programmes in the area of to brain diseases. The organisations are in their countries key players concerning neuroscience research funding and invest considerable funding volumes in this research area. Since 2008 NEURON conducted four joint transnational calls in a coordinated manner.
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he ERA-NET scheme (ERA – European Research Area) is a funding instrument of the European Commission since the 6th Framework Programme. It supports networking of funding organisations in order to initiate coordination of national or regional funding programmes. One of the key objectives of ERA-NETs is the exchange of information as the initial step of a mutual learning process that will eventually lead to improvement of standards throughout partner countries and – as history and success proved - the highest level of cooperation among funding bodies: Joint Transnational Calls for proposals (JTCs). When NEURON aimed in 2007 towards such ambitious goals, the indispensable preparations comprised exchange of knowledge about similarities and the variability among the partners of the consortium with regard to e.g. funding policies and philosophies, funding regulations, best practices with regard to review processes and programme management. An in depth survey enabled the consortium to develop a joint concept for the first NEURON joint call for proposals in basic and translational research into neurodegenerative diseases in 2008. http://www.neuron-eranet.eu/en/108. php#National_funding_programmes
Likewise important is to identify priority topics that link the partners’ national strategies and priorities and international strategies in the field of disease-related neuroscience research. A continued dialogue between programme managers and a dedicated scientific advisory board is necessary to keep an eye on the burning research questions and problems in the field. Understanding the brain and its diseases are among the most exciting research areas of the 21st century. The brain is the most critical and mysterious organ, and is what makes us human. Brain disorders are a result of a complex interplay of genetic and environmental factors with often long-term burdens to patients, their relatives and society. Due to the demographic development in coming years the topic is highly important and relevant for health and consequently funding is among the priorities in many European countries . Research is the key to unravelling the complexity of the brain and nervous system and the only hope for finding therapies and cures. Research into disease-related neurosciences gains enormously from an interdisciplinary approach and it is nowadays unimaginable that important questions of brain functioning or Nature, Vol 478, October 2011, p 15
ERA-NET progress on preventive, diagnostic and therapeutic measures could be achieved without combination of different methodology, skills and expertise. The successful translation of research results into clinical application or the development of drugs and other therapeutic or diagnostic products needs to be tackled in multidisciplinary collaboration which is even more successful when the best international research partners work together. Immanent to the topics different research types from basic science through translational to clinical research may serve best. However, some funding bodies focus on basic research while others prefer clinical research. Thus, together with foresight activities for relevant thematic specification of planned JTCs the research types must be individually considered. This is why, as many other ERA-NETs, NEURON follows the ‘variable geometry’ and ‘virtual common pot’ schemes. Variable geometry means that for each planned call every partner may decide whether to participate or not. Taking into account national policies and – recently more sparse – available resources, there is no obligation to contribute to any JTC. ‘Virtual common pot’ reflects for an actual JTC the financial contribution a funding body can manage. Both parameters are for every planned call newly negotiated among the partners. Following a ‘peerreview’ scientific assessment procedure,
each NEURON partner provides the necessary funds for the successful researchers from their own country. JTC management, that is the timely finetuned publication of the call text in all partner countries with individualized regulations where appropriate, and the NEURON webpage, the consultation of (national) proponents, the conduction of the - two step – peer review by a board of international experts, and the panel meeting organisation are carried out by a Call Secretariat, a rotating task that also serves as focal point for all relevant communication. The provision of a regular integrated funding opportunity to the science community working on developmental, neurological and psychiatric alterations of the nervous system has revealed an amazing number of positive results. The NEURON JTCs for proposals attracted increasingly high numbers of applications. Since 2008 in four different JTCs 43 research consortia have been funded, comprising about 180 research groups. Only excellent projects are funded, as is demonstrated by the funding rate of between 10 and 20%, more than 100 research publications from the funded projects so far, many of them in highest impact journals. There is, therefore, a large need for transnational projects as can be funded in the framework of the ERA-NET NEURON. Research results very rarely translate into immediate cure or even improved treatment for a disease. However, in
the long run, funding of successful research projects by NEURON will help the patients and their carers and families whose quality of life is so heavily impaired by the many disorders of the brain. Research is necessary and greater scientific effort. International collaborations between research teams through direct support to transnational projects are facilitated by the NEURON JTCs. For each call the NEURON partners do not follow a beaten path but set out for a new round of advanced Joint Transnational Call Origami. Figure 1. Thematic distribution of funded projects in two NEURON JTCs
By Hella Lichtenberg, Petra Lüers, Marlies Dorlöchter
World Health Organisation
WHO â&#x20AC;&#x201C; World Health Organisation By Gillian McNicoll
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ealth and ill-health is impacted by many diverse situations and circumstances such as political problems, environmental disasters or war. WHO has rapidly had to evolve and spread out into more and more areas since its inception in1948 as an agency of the United Nations. Today WHO operate on a 6 point agenda including 2 that work on health goals, 2 on strategic needs and 2 on operational lines of action:
1. Promoting development 2. Fostering health security 3. Strengthening health systems 4. Harnessing research, information and evidence 5. Enhancing partnerships 6. Improving performance WHO in Europe WHO operates in Europe on a variety of projects, initiatives and goals. Recently there have been a number of developments of note that indicate the changing face of health issues and their impact. Norway targets â&#x20AC;&#x153;unhealthyâ&#x20AC;? food marketing to protect children The Norwegian government has been actively working to address the marketing of unhealthy foods by manufactures and companies. Policies in this area are being reviewed in line with current EU and WHO health
agendas. Obesity has hit Europe in recent times and according to 2010 WHO Childhood Obesity Surveillance Initiative statistics for Norway, 19% of children who are between 8 and 9 years old are now obese or overweight. Norwegian authorities working on this are being praised for their actions and work in this area. It is hoped that other EU countries will follow their strong stance and example on policy changes. Marketing of foods that contain for instance, saturated fat, free sugars and salt are the focus of the main considerations to change. Other EU countries have responded by banning advertising or looking at changing laws and improving regulations. Some of the WHO reports and documents that seek to address childhood obesity and marketing include: the Global Strategy on Diet, Physical Activity and Health, the
World Health Organisation European Charter on Counteracting Obesity and the Action Plan for implementation of the European Strategy for the Prevention and Control of Non-communicable Diseases 2012–2016
aims is to improve health systems and increase access to testing and health care, especially for the underprivileged. The other aim is to work on the problems that contribute to the disease’s increase as well as situations that escalate the risks of contracting this strain of TB.
Our EU Mayors are working to create healthier cities Learning from others is known to be an effective way of making improvements. 300 European mayors and city leaders joined together in June 2012 in St Petersburg, Russia to attend the Annual Business and Technical Conference of the WHO European Healthy Cities Network and Network of European National Healthy Cities Networks. These attendees came from around 130 cities. The conference discussed how each city dealt with different situations that arise in their cities and their different experiences and outcomes and how city leaders can learn from them and make improvements. Children’s Charter, Belfast One case study looked at was the ‘Shaping healthier neighbourhoods for children’ Belfast, Northern Ireland. This initiative consulted with young children of between 8 and 10 years old and then developed a Children’s Charter to improve the built environment, health, and allow children to have a voice. Now the idea of child friendly cities is not only being employed in Belfast but by other organisations and agencies in the area. “No all solit” (Say no to loneliness) Udine, Italy An Italian programme in the city of Udine works to address issues for older people who live in the city. Data indicates that 25% of mature residents make up the current Udine population. Hundreds of volunteers, around 1000, help and support different services that work with older people. One initiative is a morning helpline service and others monitor the health of citizens, provide transport, and health clinics as well as offering companionship. This programme has helped to strengthen bonds between people of different ages, and helps reduce social exclusion.
Tackling TB: Confronting the broader causes Tuberculosis is on the increase because the disease is becoming resistant to medications used to combat MDR-TB TB. Over 80,000 people in the European Union alone have contracted TB. Due to many citizens not getting adequate TB checks the disease is not always discovered quickly enough. People groups most affected are the young citizens in Eastern Europe; it also affects the elderly, infirm and migrants. In order to address the issue in the European Region WHO brought out the Consolidated Action Plan to Prevent and Combat Multidrug- and Extensively Drug-Resistant Tuberculosis 2011–2015. This has been welcomed by the EU member states. One of the main
It has been recognised that without a consolidated effort from all the member states that this problem could further escalate. The other issue that has been raised is that this is a human rights issue. The reason for this is that many of the people who remain undiagnosed are those who are marginalised and disadvantaged. By not giving them an adequate and timely diagnosis and resulting treatment they are being denied their rights. Therefore WHO and the EU community is working on addressing this major issue. http://www.who.int/en/ http://www.euro.who.int/en/what-we-do/ health-topics/disease-prevention/nutrition/ news/news/2012/06/norway-leads-europein-protecting-children-from-unhealthy-foodmarketing http://www.euro.who.int/en/wherewe-work/member-states/turkey/news/ news/2012/06/making-cities-healthyfor-everyone-european-mayors-shareexperiences http://www.euro.who.int/en/what-wedo/health-topics/communicable-diseases/ tuberculosis/news/news/2012/6/tacklingtuberculosis-means-looking-beyond-the-diseaseexperts-meet-to-address-its-broader-causes2
Nordic Hysitron Laboratory
Northern Lights bring success: Nordic Hysitron Laboratory American Research Unit in Finnish University organized in Japanese Style
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HE STORY OF THE NORDIC HYSITRON LABORATORY (NHL) began on the 14th of April, 2005, when the Rector of the Helsinki University of Technology (HUT), Matti Pursula, together with Professor Roman Nowak of the HUT, and the President of Hysitron, Inc. (Minneapolis, USA), Thomas Wyrobek, opened the NHL with a strong team of international researchers from Finland, Japan, the USA, and Poland, creating a unique combination of cultures and approaches to science and technology. This signified the groundbreaking of the new laboratory, and the NHL team began building its expertise with the powerful Hysitron TriboIndenter Nanomechanical Testing Instrument, the first instrument of this high precision level in the Nordic countries. With Professor Roman Nowak named as Director, the NHL follows a Japanese style of management, which is one of the keys to its success. After spending 13 years with Japanese Universities and moving to Helsinki University of Technology (HUT), Professor
Nowak was seeking to link his Japanese experience to a new reality and specific needs in Finland – the country known for its expertise in novel solutions for modern technology. Combined with a flexible American business approach brought in via close collaboration with Hysitron, Inc., Japanese expertise, and Finnish innovation, the NHL had soon built an excellent international reputation for cutting-edge research, world-class training of experimentalists, and the power to publish its findings in top international journals. This small, essentially multidisciplinary and international team, known locally as “Hunters of Curiosities”, presented a fantastic dynamic of development. Starting in 2005 from the level of welleducated but essentially uninitiated researchers, the team soon gained recognition in Finland and overseas, publishing the results of their unorthodox research in increasingly prominent scientific journals: Physical Review B (2006), Physical Review Letters (2007) and, more recently,
Professor Roman Nowak Director of the Nordic Hysitron Laboratory, Aalto University, FINLAND
President Thomas Wyrobek Hysitron, Inc., Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA
two times in the prestigious Nature Nanotechnology (2009 and 2011). The Nordic Hysitron Laboratory continues to work towards future scientific achievements in close collaboration with Hysitron, Inc., within the framework of the newly-founded Aalto University. The essence of the NHL’s success lies in the research attitude that we call Nano-Stimulus↔Atom-Simulus. This interdisciplinary Surface Nano-Physics Team was created and continues to be organized in accord with the original idea by Thomas Wyrobek and Roman Nowak, which fits well with the leading spirit of the Aalto University. The NHL’s interdisciplinary team-members, who frequently move between Finland and Japan as well as the US, combine an excellence in nanomechanical probing of solid surfaces and nanostructured components with the ability to clarify and predict (via atomistic simulations and quantum calculations) the new phenomena that come into view only at the nanoscale. The NHL actively contributes to the scientific society in both countries as they address a plethora of important contemporary nanomaterials applications, ranging from catalysis to energy conversion as well as medicine and biotechnology. The atomistic simulation serves as a forecast to the results which nanomechanical testing can actually verify experimentally, resulting in the creation of a new knowledge-base. This ever-increasing comprehension of nanoscale phenomena results in the optimization and development of nanofabrication technologies for new functional materials, thereby helping to provide essential next steps towards a sustainable society. The targeted “Re-evaluation of materials” is a keyfactor for the social acceptance of nanomaterials, an issue which ultimately must be addressed by the research community in greater detail.
Nordic Hysitron Laboratory
The Latin name of the project Nano-Stimulus ↔ Atom-Simulus reflects the essence of the methods that we use to evaluate nanomaterials and emerging phenomena. Nano-Stimulus represents nanomechanical experiments in which the nano-region of material receives stimulation from outside, while Atom-Simulus (atomistic simulations) enable us to understand what really happened with atomistic structure and provides feed back to further testing.
The basic idea of the Nano-Stimulus ↔ Atom-Simulus philosophy stems from the scale of the experiments themselves. The displacement- and force-ranges required by so many applications today mean that atomistic calculations and simulations are a necessary step towards understanding the material behavior. Indeed, anyone wishing to project to nanoscale, even with such classic phenomena as elastic or plastic deformation, will inevitably look to the atomistic approach for answers. The NHL discovery made together with Hysitron, Inc. and highlighted in the Letter: “An electric current spike linked to nanoscale plasticity”, published in Nature Nanotechnology (VOL 4, MAY 2009, 287-291), offers an enhanced understanding of the link between nanoscale mechanical deformation and electrical behavior, and ultimately suggests key advances in pressure-sensing, pressureswitching, and unique phase-change applications in future electronics. It is a very encouraging demonstration1 of the way in which nanomechanics may contribute to electronics and optoelectronics developments (see Fig.1). Instrumentation developed by Hysitron, Inc. of Minneapolis, USA allows for quantitative and concurrent measurement of the mechanical and electrical properties. These experiments are complemented by computational methods, with the aim of exploring nanometer-size contacts in the material and arriving at a final unique clarification. (The discovery was possible thanks to the usage of a prototype of the insitu electrical contact resistance mode (nanoECR®) of the Hysitron equipment, capable of capturing tiny changes in resistivity of a nanovolume of material stressed up to 25 GPa.)
Fig. 1 Plasticity has always been associated with the defect movement or initiation in semiconductors, but Prof. Nowak’s team has proved that plasticity can start from non-dislocation processes. This phase transformation occurs in a stressed nanovolume, changing from one crystalline structure to another, without affecting defect activity. The phenomenon called the “Current Spike” is clearly visible, and its explanation relies heavily on advanced physics.1 As a next step, with broad implications for nanotechnology, Professor Roman Nowak and his Nordic Hysitron Laboratory have established (in cooperation with the University of Minnesota and Hysitron, Inc.) the previously unforeseen role of ‘nanoscale deconfinement’, governing a transition
in mechanical response from “bulk” to “nanovolume” behavior. This discovery was published in the article: “Deconfinement leads to changes in the nanoscale plasticity of silicon” in Nature Nanotechnology (VOL 6, AUGUST 2011, 480-484). 2 This particular study by Nowak and associates provides a basis for understanding the onset of incipient plasticity in nanovolumes, thus a repeatable means for generating crystal imperfections which dramatically impact functional properties and biocompatibility. The succinct explanation of this topic affects future nano-devices such as ultraviolet photo detectors, lasers on a chip, drug delivery, and biological markers (discussed recently in detail by Cross3). The introduction of their “nanoscale
Nordic Hysitron Laboratory
confinement” parameter (never explicitly taken into account so far for size-dependent phenomena) resolves dilemmas noted by the earlier studies and offers avenues to a broad range of nanoscale device design (Fig. 2).
team with the sophisticated nanoexperimentation by Hysitron, Inc. and the proficiency of the University of Minnesota’s researchers have together enabled the possibility of this work.
poised again in 2012 to further mark its imprint on the nanoscience community with fresh results to report. 1. R. Nowak, D. Chrobak, S. Nagao, D. Vodnick, M. Berg, A. Tukiainen, and M. Pessa, An electric current spike linked to nanoscale plasticity, Nature Nanotechnology 4 (2009) 287-290. 2. D. Chrobak, N. Tymiak, A. Beaber, O Ugurlu, W.W. Gerberich and R. Nowak, Deconfinement leads to changes in the nanoscale plasticity of silicon, Nature Nanotechnology 6 (2011) 480–484. 3. G.L.W. Cross, Silicon nanoparticles: Isolation leads to change, Nature Nanotechnology 6 (2011) 467-468
Fig. 2 Molecular dynamics calculations and supporting experimental results reveal that plasticity onset in Si nano-spheres below 57 nm radius is governed by dislocation-driven mechanisms.2 These findings are in contrast to bulk Si, where incipient plasticity is dominated by phase transformations. The transition from transition-driven to dislocationgoverned incipient plasticity is determined to be a consequence of the increasing role of nanoscale deconfinement. The NHL’s success stems from welltargeted and carefully organized collaboration and consulting with ‘best in their field’ experts. The synergistic expertise achieved by combining the atomistic calculations of this scientifically aggressive international
This research would not have been possible without the invaluable consulting for the NHL from the following outstanding scientists from Finland (Profs. Risto Nieminen, Jyrki Räisänen, Kai Nordlund, and Markus Pessa), Japan (Profs. Fusahito Yoshida and Wataru Sakamoto), and Israel’s Weizmann Institute of Science (Prof. Reshef Tenne). The great help from HUT Deans Kari Heiskanen, Matti Leisola, and Outi Krause must also be gratefully acknowledged, as the accomplishments which have resulted in the NHL being one of counted as one of the top leading Finnish scientific laboratories would not have been possible without their continued support and guidance. From the springboard of two recent Nature Nanotechnology publications and ever-expanding collaborative efforts with its partners, the NHL is
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