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General European Highlights


Reallocation of Research Funds: EuCheMS Addresses President Juncker
EuCheMS has written a letter to President Juncker urging the European Commission to stop the proposal for the reallocation of funds from Horizon 2020 to the new European Fund for Strategic Investments.
This reduction of the Horizon 2020 budget, and in particular that of the European Research Council, would lead to the loss of approximately 150 ERC grants and about 1000 employment possibilities for young researchers over the next five years thus severely damaging the science base and the individual career progression of many of our most talented young researchers. You can read the letter here.
Source: www.euchems.eu
 
President Schulz and President Juncker Reply to EuCheMS Public Letters
The President of the European Parliament, Martin Schulz, replied to EuCheMS letter on the reduction of Greenhouse Gases by thanking EuCheMS for its efforts and by mentioning the resolution that the Parliament took to the Climate Conference in Lima where the European Parliament calls for ambitious binding EU targets for 2030.
Moreover, President Juncker replied to a EuCheMS public letter regarding the end of the European Commission´s Chief Scientific Adviser position. In his answer, President Juncker stated his commitment to the role of science in decision-making and informed that the Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, Mr Carlos Moedas, will soon present options on how to better institutionalise future independent scientific advice to the Commission. EuCheMS promptly replied back, stating that this type of advice must indeed be present, not only through an advisory committee but essentially through a person who is focused entirely on the role of science in the European Commission.
Source: http://www.euchems.eu/news/

3rd March: EuCheMS Workshop on the Value of CO2
During this event, chaired by MEP Julie Girling, you will have the unique opportunity to debate the scientific challenges in chemistry that need to be addressed to capitalise on the economical and ecological opportunities of bringing renewable energy into the chemical value chain. The workshop, which is co-organised with the European Parliament Intergroup on Climate Change, Biodiversity and Sustainable Development, will highlight successful examples and perspectives for carbon management as an essential component for sustainable development and will include two lectures given by the 2014 winners of the European Sustainable Chemistry Award.
Source: https://www.facebook.com/events/; www.euchems.eu; http://www.ebcd.org;
 
Bringing Innovations into the Market
With the support of the European Research Council (ERC) "Proof of Concept" grants, 59 researchers in Europe will now get the chance to turn their inventions into viable products. Among these mould-breaking ideas are such innovations as a simple blood test to diagnose breast cancer, artificial veins modelled on marine sponges, or a device which monitors human cells with unprecedented sensitivity, thus presenting an alternative to animal testing. Worth up to €150,000, these grants will allow selected ERC grantees to build start-ups, establish intellectual property rights for their inventions or explore other ways to test their ideas on the market. The budget for the whole call is €18 million.
Source: http://europa.eu/
 
The EU is Recruiting Researchers
The JRC has launched a call to recruit scientists interested in supporting EU policies. As the Commission's in-house science service, the Joint Research Centre provides the science for EU policy making. Successful candidates will work in one of the JRC sites, located in Germany, Belgium, Italy, Spain and the Netherlands. Scientific fields for recruitment include, amongst others, biology, chemistry, natural sciences, life sciences, biochemistry and nanotechnology.
Source: https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/
 
New Trends in Education - Call for Collaborations
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) constitute one of the most discussed trends in Open Education in postsecondary education institutions. The Institute for Prospective Technological Studies of the Joint Research Centre (JRC-IPTS) is looking for collaborators to produce a large knowledge base for MOOC providers covering all relevant topics to analyse this phenomenon from a European perspective.
For more information about the benefits and the conditions for collaboration, please visit the Moocknowledge project website.
Source: https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/
 
New Grants to Help Closing the Gap in Research Excellence Across Europe
The EU has announced new grants that will help bridge the research excellence gap between Member States and strengthen competitiveness and growth across Europe. The new Teaming instrument, under which these grants are awarded, will help improve research performance and increase investment in countries with lower research excellence rankings. With funding from Horizon 2020, 31 projects from such countries have now been selected to prepare operational plans for new Centres of Excellence by teaming up with high-calibre institutions from all over Europe.
Teaming is an important part of the EU's effort to unlock Europe's potential in research and innovation. Eligible Member states under Teaming include all those that joined the EU after 2004 plus Portugal and Luxembourg, as well as eight of the non-EU countries associated to Horizon 2020. Teaming will help them to start new collaborations, build new scientific networks and seize new market opportunities.
Source: http://europa.eu/
 
The Role of Chemistry - Analysing Chromium VI in Toys
Once again, chemistry plays a crucial role in promoting a healthier society by identifying potential risks. The Scientific Committee on Health and Environmental Risks (SCHER) reviewed scientific documents on the health effects of chromium (VI) in order to assess the relevance of the oral cancer potency for the safety levels laid down for chromium (VI) in the Toy Safety Directive.
In its Opinion, the SCHER concludes that the current migration limits for chromium (VI) from toys should be revised downwards and be based on a lower value. This ‘safe dose’ has been determined on the basis of new scientific studies. The SCHER proposes the following revised migration limits for chromium (VI): 0.0094 mg/kg toy for scraped-off toy materials, 0.0008 mg/kg toy material for dry, (powder-like or pliable) toy materials and 0.0002 mg/kg toy material for liquid or sticky toy materials, respectively.
Source: http://ec.europa.eu/health

Funding Updates and Awards


Call for Nominations for the European Prize for Organometallic Chemistry 2015
Deadline: 20 February 2015
Website: www.euchems.eu/
 
Call for proposals for the Euroscience Open Forum 2016
Deadline­: 2 March 2015
Website:  http://www.esof.eu/
 
EUROGIA2020 – Call 04
Deadline: 2 March 2015
Website: http://www.eurogia.com/
 
LRI Innovative Science Award 2015
Deadline: 17 March 2015
Website: http://cefic-lri.org/
 
IMI 2 - Call 3: Stage 1
Deadline: 24 March 2015
Website: http://www.imi.europa.eu/
 
Waste: A resource to recycle, reuse and Recover Raw Materials
Deadline: 24 April 2015
Website: http://ec.europa.eu/research/

Fast Track to Innovation Pilot
Deadline: 23 July 2015
Website: http://ec.europa.eu/research/

Consultations and Roadmaps

 
Public Consultation on the Draft Report of the EFSA-WHO Expert Workshop on the Threshold of Toxicological Concern Approach: Conclusions and Recommendations.
The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has launched an open consultation on the draft report of the EFSA-WHO Expert Workshop on the Threshold of Toxicological Concern Approach: Conclusions and Recommendations.
EFSA and WHO initiated a project aimed at generating recommendations on how the TTC framework could be improved and expanded by updating/revising the Cramer classification scheme and extending the TTC approach, thereby building on existing and ongoing work in this area. A call for data was issued by the WHO in 2013 and information was collected regarding new proposals and scientific work in the area. 
The overall goal of the project is to develop a globally harmonised decision tree for a tiered approach to the application of TTC in the risk assessment of chemicals.
Deadline: 29 March 2015
Website: http://www.efsa.europa.eu/
 
Public Consultation on the Active Substance Saccharomyces Cerevisiae LAS02
The European Food Safety Agency (EFSA) has published a public consultation on the active substance Saccharomyces cerevisiae LAS02. EFSA will assess and publish all comments from interested parties.
Deadline: 15 March 2015
Website: http://www.efsa.europa.eu/
 

Business Updates


Ask ECHA About Applications for Authorisation
The European Chemicals Agency (ECHA) will try out a new way of helping small and medium-sized companies over the phone on 25 February 2015 between 10:00 and 12:00 (CET). During these hours, ECHA will answer questions about applications for authorisation in all official EU languages. Slots can be booked here from 2 to 18 February.
Website: http://echa.europa.eu/
 

Upcoming EuCheMS Recognised Events


Integrating CO2 in the Value Chain: The Role of Chemistry
3 March 2015
Brussels, Belgium
Website: https://www.facebook.com/events/
 
Bunsentagung 2015
14 - 16 May 2015
Bochum, Germany
Website: http://www.bunsen.de/bunsentagung2015
 
Energy Science Technology Conference 2015
20 - 22 May 2015
Karlsruhe, Germany
Website: http://www.est-conference.com/
 
XL Edition of the "Attilio Corbella" International Summer School on Organic Synthesis (ISOS-2015)
14 – 18 June 2015
Gargnano, Italy
Website: http://www.corbellasummerschool.unimi.it/
 
CoCoTea 2015
22 - 24 June 2015
Aveiro, Portugal
Website: http://www.cocotea2015.com/
 
ISCE 2015
Stockholm, Sweden
19 June – 3 July 2015
Website: http://www.isce2015.com/

6th EuCheMS Chemistry Congress

11 - 15 September 2016
Seville, Spain
Website: http://euchems-seville2016.eu/

Energy Science Technology 2015

20 - 22 May 2015
Karlsruhe, Germany
Website: http://www.est-conference.com/
 

Forthcoming Events


European Societies Facing Energy Transition
Rome, Italy
17 – 18 February 2015
Website: http://ec.europa.eu/research/
 
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) - Bridging Business and Research
Birmingham, UK
18 February 2015
Website: http://ec.europa.eu/research/
 
Destination Europe
Boston, USA
20 February 2015
Website: http://erc.europa.eu/
 
MIT European Career Fair
Cambridge, USA
21 February 2015
Website: http://erc.europa.eu/
 
Shale Gas in a Low-carbon Europe: the Role of Research
Brussels, Belgium
23 February 2015
Website: http://ec.europa.eu/research/

New Narratives for Innovation
Brussels, Belgium
26 – 27 February 2015
Website: https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/
 
A Decade of Fostering Attractive Research Careers - 10th Anniversary of Charter and Code
Brussels, Belgium
3 March 2015
Website: http://ec.europa.eu/research/
 
1st Round table on the Strategic Implementation Plan of the European Innovation Partnership on Raw Materials
Madrid, Spain
3 March 2015
Website: http://www.eesc.europa.eu/
 
2nd European Sustainable Phosphorus Conference (ESPC2)
Berlin, Germany
5 - 6 March 2015
Website: www.phosphorusplatform.org
 
EC2E2N2 Annual Meeting 2015
Ljubljana, Slovenia
27 – 29 April 2015
Website: http://ecampus.chem.auth.gr/

EuCheMS Newsletter February Issue

Do not miss the latest issue of EuCheMS Newsletter featuring President´s letter "Europe Should be a Chemical Free Zone", highlights from EuCheMS General Assembly 2014, EuCheMS Lecture Award 2014, policy updates, and much more! You can read it all here.

 
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Produced for EuCheMS by Nineta H. Majcen.
The information given by EuCheMS in this EuCheMS Brussels News Update has been carefully formulated but is necessarily based on information available and consequently EuCheMS does not accept responsibility if it is in any way inaccurate or incomplete. In this respect EuCheMS does not accept any duty of care and will not be liable for any losses or damages arising from inaccurate or incomplete information. EuCheMS acknowledges that a disclaimer cannot restrict liability at law for personal injury or death arising through a finding of negligence.
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