CORDIS EXPRESS

While the term ’EU research‘ tends to imply collaborative research between EU Member States, this week‘s CORDIS Express approaches the subject from a different angle. In our news section, we zoom out to look at a stronger research link between the EU and Brazil, and the EU‘s attempts to assist development through research. We also zoom in to look at the gains to be had from encouraging regional investment in research.

Commission proposes Strategic Partnership with Brazil

Science, technology and innovation will be among the areas of cooperation strengthened if a new Commission proposal for an EU-Brazil Strategic Partnership is approved by the Council and Parliament. Areas addressed in the science and technology section of the proposal include dialogue, mobility, Euratom and Galileo.

Do more to encourage investment of Structural Funds in research, says EURAB

The European Research Advisory Board, EURAB, has called for measures to increase the use of Structural Funds for enhancing research and innovation. 'We must increase the resources dedicated to research and innovation measures by Structural Fund Programmes; we must raise awareness of the importance of actions in this area; spread experience and best practice of how to deliver economic benefits from these measures, and we must ensure that Structural Fund actions are firmly embedded within the wider research and innovation 'eco-system',' reads the report.

Private sector can support development through research, says Potocnik

Whether in the North or in the South, the extent of a country's success in attracting private sector research investment will determine its opportunities for competitiveness and development, EU Science and Research Commissioner Janez Potocnik has said. 'Europe alone cannot 'create' development. Nor can the private sector. Nor can research. But together, they can create the conditions for development. That is the task in front of us in the future,' the Commissioner told an audience in Slovenia.

Getting finance to SMEs

To bring SMEs with the most promising innovations together with investors prepared to finance them, a number of barriers need to be removed. The last ever edition of European Innovation reports on four workshops on the issue. A key finding is that experienced business people, not professors or bureaucrats, need to be involved in assessing ideas and considering their prospects in the market.

CORDIS FP7 goes multilingual

In line with efforts to bring EU information closer to citizens, and improve access to funding, CORDIS is further extending its boundaries. Key pages of the CORDIS FP7 Service, the official access point to funding from the Seventh Framework Programme for research (FP7), are now available in six languages.

Astronomers should reach for tech-transfer, as well as the stars, says Observatory President

'The Paris Observatory can, and in fact should do better, in improving the technology transfer of its research results in astronomy and astrophysics,' said Daniel Egret, President of the Observatory, at an event in Brussels. 'We have to organise the conditions to foster a culture of knowledge transfer! By integrating basic and applied research and pushing multidisciplinary research, we could seize many more of the opportunities that are available to us Europeans, as world leaders in astronomy,' he said.

EurOCEAN 2007: A vision for marine science in Europe

EurOCEAN 2007, a science policy event on the EU's Green Paper on a maritime policy, will be held in Aberdeen, Scotland, on 22 June 2007. The event forms part of the one year consultation process which is designed to encourage stakeholders to respond to the European Commission's Green Paper. Through EurOCEAN 2007 the scientific community will have the opportunity to contribute to the process by providing a maritime science vision and strategy input to the Commission in relation to this Green Paper.

The Institute for Applied Ecology - going sustainably into the future

The Institute for Applied Ecology in Freiburg, Germany, will celebrate its 30th birthday on 22 June with a seminar on going sustainably into the future. Which sustainable policies do we need in order to meet the societal challenges of the coming 30 years? What role can an independent research and advisory institute such as the Institute for Applied Ecology play? The event will attempt to answer these and other questions.

FP7 call: trans-national collaboration among ERA-MORE members

A call for proposals for trans-national collaboration among ERA-MORE members has been issued under the People programme of the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). The objective of ERA-MORE is to enhance the overall performance of the ERA-MORE network and stimulate cooperation between its members on operational and strategic issues. The action will focus on sharing good practices, on improving the overall coherence and quality of the services offered by the network, and on developing common tools for the further operation of the ERA-MORE network.

Institute seeks partners for virus detection

The Cyprus Institute of Neurology and Genetics has expertise in the detection of viruses and their molecular characterisation in clinical and environmental samples. Research at the institute focuses on the herpes virus in multiple sclerosis, the evolution of enterovisruses, the epidemiology of enteroviruses which causes viral meningitis and the development of novel antiviral drugs. They are looking for partners to become involved in FP7 projects.

BRASIL – Bringing broadband to South America

The EU-funded BRASIL (Broadband to Rural America over Satellite Integrated Links) project brings together Europe's leading providers of broadband over satellite technology to deliver broadband services to millions of companies and households in South America. The project will bridge the digital divide in the region by promoting systems based on DVB-RCS (Digital Video Broadcast - Return Channel Satellite), a world-leading open standard for interactive broadband services via satellite which should encourage competition between service and hardware providers.

Road repairs the insect way

Tired of driving along roads with so many potholes and craters they look like the surface of the moon? South American army ants have come up with a natural solution to this perennial problem...