Monday 26 May 2014

Call for contributions: "Future oriented-technology analysis" conference, 27 and 28 November 2014 in Brussels

The JRC is launching a call for abstracts for the fifth edition of the “Future oriented- technology analysis" (FTA) conference. Focused on the theme "Engage today to shape tomorrow", it will be held on 27 and 28 November 2014 in Brussels.
There are three main themes that will help structure contributions and discussions:
  • ·         FTA and Innovation Systems
  • ·         Creative interfaces for forward looking activities
  • ·         Cutting edge FTA approaches

Abstracts of papers and posters can be submitted until Monday 23 June (midnight) through JRC’s website. Further details on the themes, the contributions, the scientific committee and other important dates can be found in this call-for-contributions.
The conference organisers encourage contributions from practitioners coming from science, business, policy-making and civil society organisations. The conference aims at bringing these communities together to engage in discussing the use and impacts of FTA approaches and to identify and explore possible synergies and future developments.
For the three themes of the 2014 FTA conference, contributions are sought either in the form of papers or posters and can either be scientific or practice-oriented as follows:
·         Scientific papers should be empirically grounded, with a strong theoretical component and demonstrating critical or new methodological approaches.
·         Practice-oriented papers should clearly demonstrate how FTA approaches have been implemented in practice to support policy-making and strategy processes.
·         Posters should have a strong visual dimension and should clearly illustrate the process, outcomes and possible impacts of the applied FTA approach.
Abstracts should have a maximum of 500 words. Please note that only abstracts submitted directly through the online form will be considered. Abstracts should include a clear description of the contribution to the selected theme, the methodological approach, the results and/or impacts.


To submit your contribution: http://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/FTA2014

Saturday 17 May 2014



Grant Scheme to facilitate the participation of Moldovan researchers in Brokerage Events 



Introduction and Objectives 





Centre of International Projects (CIP) of the Academy of Sciences of Moldova, as a consortium partner in the FP7 Project IncoNet EaP, launches a grant competition scheme to financially support the participation of Moldovan researchers in large-scale Brokerage events and other similar activities related to Horizon 2020 in EU/AC countries. Such events provide an excellent arena for researchers to liaise and develop synergies, the participation therefore of researchers from the targeted countries will increase their opportunities to get involved and be taken onboard in consortia set up in EU/AC countries. It will also allow the researchers to make their institutions and/or their research networks better known. 





Implementation 
The thematic priorities of the call are the three Societal Challenges, targeted by the project, namely Health, Energy and Climate Change. 
The events that can be chosen from will be: 

  • Networking events; 
  • Brokerage events organized by the EC; 
  • Large international events organized by other European networks (e.g Enterprise Europe Network). 
More details at http://cpi.asm.md/wp-content/uploads/2014/04/Call_Brokerage-event_Moldova.pdf

Apelul "Clustere pentru proiecte și instituții științifice" a fost lansat

'Twinning Grants' will be implemented as a funding instrument within the IncoNet EaP. These grants represent one of the core project activities. Twinning itself has a long tradition in Europe as a successful and efficient instrument in capacity building processes.
With regard to the IncoNet EaP the specific objectives of the twinning instrument are:
  1. to increase the participation of EaP countries in EU calls,
  2. to reveal and select tandems of European and regional partners with the strongest collaboration potential and huge experience in the preparation and carrying out of EU projects, and
  3. to support the information exchange among partners (travel costs, staff exchange, preparation of workshops), and
  4. the concrete preparation of thematic proposals.

Call information

Call Objectives
The main goal of the twinning action is to enhance mutual learning, to strengthen cooperation between the EU member states and the EaP countries and to plant the seed for sustainable scientific, technological and innovation EU-EaP projects.

Therefore this call will embrace three innovation related topics on societal challenges which are:
  • Climate change
  • Health
  • Energy
Call Budget and Call Modalities
The total budget of the call in IncoNet EaP is EUR 144.000.
Twinning teams will be supported with up to 10.000 EUR per application.
The grant can cover the following expenses:
  1. Travel expenses (flight and transport in economy/2nd class)
  2. Daily allowance/ accommodation
  3. Technical and/or logistical support for event preparation (e.g. organisation of workshops, catering)
  4. Temporary staff (e.g. students, junior scientists for the event preparation, data analysis etc.)
The budget will not cover salaries for permanent staff.
Co-financing of the proposed activities from own or attracted sources is welcomed.
For further questions please also refer to the Guide to Financial Issues relating to FP7 Indirect Actions as provided by the European Commission:
Eligible Applicants and Project Consortium
Participants in the call can be:
  • Project coordination and consulting organizations with experience in bilateral and multilateral cooperation between EU MS/AC and countries of the EaP
  • Universities
  • Research Institutes
  • Companies with RTD activity and expertise related to the scientific fields of the 3 Societal Challenges (see above)
A project consortium must comprise at least three partners who form a twinning team of which one partner is necessarily from an EU member state and one from a country of the EaP. One of the team members must be designated as 'Coordinator'. The budget will be administered by a (the) European research institution within the twinning team. This institution (e.g. the coordinator of the project) is to be indicated in advance.

The Inco EaP project will only support proposals that imperatively include visits of 1-2 representatives of partner organizations to each other in order to strengthen long-term cooperation, discussion of project ideas, sharing skills and best practice and developing their staff.
Duration
In order to offer a quick and flexible approach the call will be continuously open from May 2014 until March 2016. The duration of a project shall be handled in a scope of 12 months maximum.
Deadline
The final call deadline is 31.03.2016. Applications will be accepted continuously as long as a funding budget in IncoNet EaP is available.

Download for Applicants

Contact

IncoNet EaP Central Information Office at
German Aerospace Center | Project Management Agency
European and International Cooperation
Heinrich-Konen-Str. 1
D-53227 Bonn | Germany
Dr Kirsten Kienzler 
phone: +49 228 3821-1458  
Kirsten.Kienzler@dlr.de  
Dr Hendrik Meurs
phone: +49 228 3821-1944
Hendrik.Meurs@dlr.de

Saturday 3 May 2014

Google Science Fair 2014


Google Science Fair is a global online science and technology competition open to individuals and teams from ages 13 to 18.
This competition is open to full-time and home-schooled students around the world, between ages of 13 and 18 (that’s 14-18 in Israel, Spain and South Korea, and 16-18 in the Netherlands). Students can register on their own, or as teams of up to three. The competition is not open to residents of Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, or any other U.S. sanctioned country and is void where prohibited by law.
The Google Science Fair is free for everyone.
Submission deadline: 13 May 2014

Detalii: https://www.googlesciencefair.com/en/competition