CORDIS EXPRESS

It seems the issue is refusing to budge from the spotlight - this week‘s CORDIS Express looks at climate change. First off is news of EU-US environmental research collaboration. Then a new report into its impact on Europe's seas and coasts, followed by a paper urging the German Government to take leadership on one of the 21st Century's most pressing issues.

EU and US boost environmental research cooperation

Collaboration between European and American environmental researchers will be even easier in the future thanks to a new agreement signed by the European Commission and the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) on research addressing common environmental challenges. Research topics highlighted in the agreement include environmental information systems; the development of environmental and sustainability indicators; decision support tools; sustainable chemistry and materials; and the uses and impacts of nanotechnology.

Climate change already affecting Europe's seas, says JRC

Climate change is already having a significant impact on Europe's seas and coasts, and any policies designed to mitigate these impacts will also have to address the wider human exploitation of the seas and coasts, according to a new report from the European Commission's Joint Research Centre. The report, 'Marine and Coastal Dimension of Climate Change in Europe: A report to the European Water Directors', was presented at a symposium on climate change and water organised by the German EU Council Presidency.

Germany told to use EU and G8 Presidencies to spur climate change action

The German Advisory Council on Global Change (WBGU) has called on the German Government to capitalise on its dual presidency of the EU and the G8 to drive forward climate change technologies and policies. The paper recommends that Germany uses its EU Council Presidency to launch an 'efficiency revolution', substantially expanding the use of renewable energies and thereby demonstrating to the international community that climate protection is feasible. The G8 Presidency meanwhile should be used to draw up an innovation pact on decarbonisation.

Turning ideas into products European style

More protection for intellectual property, closer links between fundamental research and industry, and motivating people are the secrets to the successful exploitation of research results, suggested various participants at a conference in Brussels on 7 February. 'We are not bad as Europeans at coming up with ideas. Our problem is how to turn ideas into products,' said German MEP Jorgo Chatzimarkakis. 'We are bad at turning knowledge into money. That's innovation,' he said.

Potocnik calls for improvements to ethical procedure for stem cell research

EU Science and Research Commissioner Janez Potocnik has called on the European Group on Ethics in Science and New Technologies (EGE) to provide an opinion on how to improve the current ethical procedure for human embryonic stem cell research. In 2000, the EGE provided an opinion which formed the basis of strict ethical guidelines set up in the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) to deal with human embryonic stem cell research. But with FP7 now up and running, Mr Potocnik said it was time to review the procedure.

UK Government funds research on energy efficient air conditioning

The UK Government has given the green light to new research on more energy and cost-efficient air conditioning systems for planes, trains and buildings. The NECST (New Environmental Control System Technology) project will receive a sum of GPB 400,000 (€ 599,000) from the Government, which will be matched by a group of leading international companies in the field.

Workshop on structural funds

A workshop called 'Structural funds 2007-2013: which strategic and financial opportunities for local stakeholders?' will be held in Brussels, Belgium on 20 March 2007. The course will be led by a former official of the European Commission (DG employment, social affairs and equal opportunities), assisted by former European project managers both from industry and academia. The course will explain how structural funds can be used for research and innovation purposes, and help regions contribute to achieving the Lisbon goal of making Europe's economy the most competitive in the world by 2010.

CREATE training course on creative thinking

The first CREATE (Creating a competitive ERA through empowerment of young researchers) training course will take place from 23 to 30 March in Udine, Italy. Entitled 'From creativity to innovation - which factors boost innovation in a global context?', the course aims to sharpen the creative thinking among young researchers and provide them with the necessary skills for multidisciplinary and innovative research management in a European context. The event is just one of a series of events run by CREATE, a Marie Curie project.

Study on how forests adapt to climate change

The European Commission's Directorate General for Agriculture has released a Prior Information Notice regarding a tender for a study on how forests adapt to climate change. The tender will involve carrying out a study, as part of the implementation of the EU Forest Action Plan, in particular action 6.

Italian institute seeks solar thermal cooling partners

Eurac research is an applied research institution located in northern Italy with nine sub- Institutes and 150 collaborators. One of the Institutes is working in the field of renewable energy, focusing on solar thermal cooling systems. For FP7, the institute is looking for research partners involved in the development or industrialization of small scale thermal cooling units.

Vidi, Vici, Video!

The VIDI-VIDEO aims at designing, building and testing a video search engine based on a thesaurus containing 1,000 concepts. The main novelty of the project is to develop additional technology and tools for automated analysis of speech, audio and visual information combined.

Viva la Siesta!

We're all familiar with that early afternoon feeling of tiredness, and now research from Greece suggests that giving in to this urge to sleep may be good for our hearts...