Image Courtesy: Delegation of the European Union to the United States (EUintheUS.org)

The European Commission presented for the first time today calls for projects under Horizon 2020, the European Union’s 80 billion euro research and innovation program.  Worth more than 15 billion euros over the first two years, the funding is intended to help boost Europe’s knowledge-driven economy, and tackle issues that will make a difference in people’s lives. International cooperation is a priority in Horizon 2020 with the program open to participation of researchers from across the world, including the United States.

“It’s time to get down to business,” said European Research, Innovation and Science Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn. “Horizon 2020 funding is vital for the future of research and innovation in Europe, and will contribute to growth, jobs and a better quality of life. We have designed Horizon 2020 to produce results, and we have slashed red tape to make it easier to participate. So I am calling on researchers, universities, businesses including SMEs, and others to sign up!”

The European Union Ambassador to the United States, João Vale de Almeida, highlighted the strong science cooperation between the EU and the United States. “Our economic, research and innovation relationship is of vital importance and this strategy will further strengthen transatlantic cooperation,” he said. “We have some of the best researchers in the world on both sides of the Atlantic and it makes perfect sense to bring them together to tackle the common challenges that we face.”

For the first time, the Commission has indicated funding priorities over two years, providing researchers and businesses with more certainty on the direction of EU research policy. Most calls from the 2014 budget are already open for submissions as of today, with more to follow over the course of the year. Calls in the 2014 budget alone are worth around 7.8 billion euros, with funding focused on the three key pillars of Horizon 2020:

• Excellent Science: Around 3 billion euros, including 1.7 billion euros for grants from the European Research Council for top scientists and 800 million euros for Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowships for younger researchers (see MEMO/13/1123).
• Industrial Leadership: 1.8 billion euros to support Europe’s industrial leadership in areas like ICT, nanotechnologies, advanced manufacturing, robotics, biotechnologies and space.
• Societal challenges: 2.8 billion euros for innovative projects addressing Horizon 2020′s seven societal challenges, broadly: health; agriculture, maritime and bioeconomy; energy; transport; climate action, environment, resource efficiency and raw materials; reflective societies; and security.

For background and more information, please see:

MEMO/13/1085: Horizon 2020 – the EU’s new research and innovation program

Horizon 2020 website

Participant portal

There are many exciting developments in the world of robotics and here is one from the European Union, funded under the EU’s  7th Framework Programme.  The video below shows how a drone can take over command and control responsibilities of a swarm on the ground, without any external communication channels like GPS (i.e., Spatially Targeted Communication and Self-Assembly).  Some of the example applications shown here are cool, i.e, moving chairs, bringing snacks to a guy watching TV, pushing the water container, etc.  But this one has far more devastating implications when deployed for the military in remote battlefields.

(Source:  Autobloggreen)

Before you think we’ve gone crazy, let’s make clear that this is a post about a serious report published in Nature Geoscience. According to this report, lead that was expelled to the atmosphere through exhaust gases stimulated the growth of clouds. Larger clouds imply less solar radiation, which has a definitive cool effect. In this EU funded study, investigators from Switzerland, Germany and the U.S. “captured” clouds on some mountains and compared them to artificial ones created in laboratories. Their conclusion: if the air has some lead suspended in it, temperature and humidity didn’t pay as significant a role in cloud formation.

The Notre-Planete observed “the major part of atmospheric lead comes from human activities, the main sources are coal combustion, gasoline lead, small aircraft flying at the altitude where the clouds form and construction that release lead from ground.

Emissions of greenhouse gases are the main cause of global warming, but the emission of small particles of substances such as lead may have the opposite effect by interacting with water vapor in the atmosphere to trigger the formation of clouds. Depending on their altitude and the thickness of the clouds can reflect sunlight into space or trap the heat radiated by the Earth.

What’s interesting is that their models show that between 1970 and 1980, before unleaded gasoline became common, most dust on the Earth’s suface had lead particles in it. This might have helped more clouds get created, and that reduced the impact of greenhouse gases accumulation in the atmosphere.  Though research has proved time and again the ill effects of lead on human health, it is surprising to see the “side effect” that has helpedin guarding the environment.

(Source: Green Car Congress & Newspress, UK)

European automotive suppliers and vehicle manufacturers have united to submit a series of R&D priorities to the European Commission to shape the European Green Car Initiative (EGCI), announced by the EU. CLEPA (the European umbrella membership organization representing the interests of the global automotive supply industry) and EUCAR (the European Council for Automotive R&D from the major European passenger car and commercial vehicle manufacturers) jointly prepared the document.

The Green Car Initiative, a part of the European economic recovery plan, aims to allocate €5 billion (US$6.7 billion) through a Public Private Partnership to bolster innovation in the automotive sector and sustain its focus on environmental progress. The initiative complements the European Clean Transport Facility which, through the European Investment Bank, serves to provide more immediate financial relief to the sector.

The Green Car Initiative concentrates on long-term R&D, largely combining existing projects under a clear policy focus and underlining the importance of a joint approach between industries and policy makers. The CLEPA and EUCAR document is intended to harmonize the R&D directions and priorities of the auto industry, and then to communicate these to relevant authorities and bodies at national and EU level and to other key partners. The scope of the document is adapted and narrowed to the domain of the EGCI, and it does not claim to cover the broad spectrum of automotive and transport R&D.

The R&D domain in the document is structured into four major areas:

• Mobility and Transport (deploying information and communication technologies (ICT) and Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS) for traffic and transport management, involving vehicles as well as route planning).
• Energy and Environment (exploring primary energy sources which are renewable, secure, sufficient and environmentally compatible; the electrification of vehicles and the road transport system as a whole; lightweight structures and new vehicle concepts for high energy-efficiency).
• Safety (ensuring safety of new vehicle concepts and types; development of cooperative systems for efficiency and safety based on communication between vehicles and infrastructure).
• Affordability and Competitiveness (achieving green objectives at an affordable level, taking into account the availability and use of raw and rare materials; (energy-) efficiency of production processes; handling of alternative materials; use of virtual tools).

All of these areas are equally important and none of them can be considered independent from the others, the organizations note.

Click here to read the entire article.  Here is a copy of the full report in PDF.

(Source: Financial Times)

Published with the support of The European Commission, United Nations, ERTICO and The OECD, The Intelligent Transport briefing was introduced by Eva Molnar Director for Transport UNECE, Antonio Tajani Vice President and Commissioner for Transport, European Commission, Denise Plumpton, The UK Highways Agency, German Minister for Transportation Wolfgang Tiefensee and French Transport Minister Dominique Bussereau.

 The briefing was inserted into and distributed by The Financial Times in March 2009 throughout all European and Scandinavian territories. Government agencies within Europe will account for another 20,000 copiesThe Financial Times with its exceptional business coverage and focus continues to dominate the market for the delivery of c-level executives and decision makers at the highest level and as such provides the perfect home for this briefing. Building intelligence into our vehicles and infrastructures can make a positive long term contribution to resolving the problems society and business face in terms of congestion, reliability, safety security and the environment.  

In the European Union alone, 20 per cent of GDP is generated by the transport sector. This equates to 1,900 billion euros, 16 million jobs, or nine per cent of all EU employment. How do we improve safety and security, and how do we minimise the negative environmental impact of many transport systems? These are not easy questions, but all answers depend not least on putting greater intelligence into our infrastructures and transport systems, in turn helping users make more intelligent choices about their journeys.

Containing more than 30 case studies The 36 page briefing provides a comprehensive source of advice and guidance for board level executives, senior management and Government executives explaining  deployments in a variety of modes and with varying applications. It features real-life examples, case studies and frameworks that demonstrate the successful deployment of solutions and trials across Europe and carefully analyses capabilities, possibilities and particularly advantages.

Click here to read more or read/download the PDF file here.  (Image below is the ITS Briefing Supplement’s  cover)