Final Report Summary - JEUPISTE (Japan-EU Partnership in Innovation, Science and TEchnology) Executive Summary:JEUPISTE (Japan-EU Partnership in Innovation, Science and Technology, FP7 grant agreement no 609585) is an EU funded project for the promotion, enhancement and development of Europe-Japan cooperation in Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) between September 2013 and February 2017. It was implemented by a consortium of 10 partners, 2 in Japan and 8 in Europe.This project supported the EU-Japan STI policy dialogues and organised workshops and information days to promote EU-Japan cooperation through programmes such as Horizon 2020 and to facilitate partnership building among research communities. It also addressed the individual needs of researchers and research organisations by implementing training seminars on Horizon 2020 project management and operated a help desk where any kind of inquiry related to EU-Japan STI cooperation could be addressed. The project was instrumental in setting up the National Contact Point for Horizon 2020 in Japan, a service funded through to Japanese government in order to raise awareness on the Horizon 2020 programme in Japan and to give direct support to Japanese researchers and organisations to help them in the application process to this programme.The project’s main results can be summarized as follows:- Set-up of National Contact Point for Horizon 2020 in Japan: a service funded through to Japanese government in order to raise awareness on Horizon 2020 in Japan and to give direct support to Japanese researchers and organisation to help them in the application process- Set-up of the European Interest Group for Japan: a flexible platform for communication among STI agencies in European countries and Japan that are interested in cooperating together. The EIG Japan builds on past FP7-funded ERA-NETs as CONCERT Japan and the BILAT project JEUPISTE- Reached 2700 relevant stakeholders through the organisation of 26 events/activities and 22 presentations at 3rd party organisations: promotion of Horizon 2020/EU-Japan cooperation in Japan and Japanese programmes/EU-Japan cooperation in Europe- 6 partnership building activities to connect target research communities: activities targeting Smart Communities, Power Electronics and Biotechnology, after which 11 EU-Japan partnerships were reported by participants.- 985 cases handled at the help desk, resulting in a FAQ with 54 items- Active support to 57 applications to Horizon 2020 involving Japanese organisations through the help desk service in Japan- 5 training seminars on project management in relation to the inclusion of Japanese partners in Horizon 2020 projects: capacity building of University Research Administrators to prepare them for future projects. Also one training seminar was organised for contact points in Europe on Japanese programmes- 9 analytical reports to support EU-Japan STI Policy Dialogues: Inventory of Science, Technology and Innovation Programmes (2 reports), Analysis of EU-Japan Cooperation in FP7/Horizon 2020 (3 reports), Analysis of EU-Japan Co-publications (2 reports), Blueprint for a Joint Liaison Office in Japan for European research organisations (1 report), Analysis of the EU–Japan Cooperation in Patenting (1 report)Project Context and Objectives:Science, Technology and Innovation (STI) is the key to sustainable development both for Europe and Japan, as both regions are seeking a way out of their sluggish economies. International cooperation on STI is promoted under Horizon 2020 as it is important in order to strengthen the EU's excellence in research, to tackle global challenges jointly and to support EU external policies.The JEUPISTE project contributed to the STI capacity through the building of mutually beneficial partnerships, supporting the EU-Japan policy dialogues, ensuring a bilateral flow of information, organizing seminars and workshops to further develop the partnership through the exchange of information and opinions, establishing visible contact points and offering them appropriate cross-sectional and cross thematic training courses, providing a comprehensive help desk service, and disseminating the results and discussion widely to the Research, Technological Development and Innovation (RTDI) communities.The project was divided in six work packages:OBJECTIVES FOR WORK PACKAGE 1: PROJECT MANAGEMENTThis work package covered activities related to the overall management of the project contract (financial, legal and administrative aspects included) as well as the coordination of activities organized by the consortium under all other work packages. This work package also provided supervision of the overall project timeline and ensured the prompt and timely reporting of all project deliverables within scope and budget, as well as handle project communication matters related to administration and intra-consortium coordination. Proactive communication between the project partners was actively promoted throughout the duration of the project.The following objectives were to be met during the project period:• Put in place appropriate and efficient coordination and management of the project and to take timely corrective actions if necessary.• To set-up a project management structure which ensures an efficient operational management including administrative and financial tasks.• Coordinate the timely allocation of resources and implementation of procedures to assure proper fulfilment of the Grant Agreement.• To ensure timely delivery of results with an adequate quality level through set-up of an Advisory Board.OBJECTIVES FOR WORK PACKAGE 2: SUPPORT TO POLICY DIALOGUESThis work package has been designed to determine and implement an infrastructure for the future of EU-Japan bi- and multi-lateral cooperation on a policy level. The existing policy analyses were used to produce an on-going “policy watch” report which were augmented with regular monitoring of policy engagement, especially the work performed by J-BILAT, CONCERT-Japan as well as EURAXESS Links Japan, recommending policy discussion agenda and possible actions that could be taken to improve the level of collaborations between the Member States, Associate Countries and Japan. The potential for a liaison office in Japan was investigated as a feasibility study on establishing such an office with a long lasting impact.The following objectives were to be met during the project period:• Extensive collection, update and analysis of data on EU-Japan STI cooperation.• Structuring of actionable input feeding into EU-Japan policy dialogues, based on the achievements of the J-BILAT project as well as the CONCERT-Japan project, focusing on the societal challenges chosen as project's focus.• Support the EU-Japan policy dialogues and contribute objectively to the implementation of what has been decided/agreed through dialogues.• Setting up a continuous process of exchange within Europe for further STI cooperation with Japan.• To study the feasibility of establishing a joint liaison office for European research organizations in Japan.OBJECTIVES FOR WORK PACKAGE 3: BILATERAL DISSEMINATIONThis work package engaged in synergistic dissemination activities, both in Japan (on Horizon 2020, public-private partnerships, member states funding schemes), taking stock of the network of awareness previously built up by projects such as J-BILAT, EURAXESS Links Japan and CONCERT-Japan, as well as in the EU (on Japanese funding programmes for R&D, mobility and staff exchange as well as coordinated funds). There was a special focus on EU and Japanese programmes about those Societal Challenges and Industrial Leadership priorities which were covered under the project.The following objectives were to be met during the project period:• To provide updated information on the EU-Japan STI collaboration.• To raise reciprocal awareness of European/Japanese programmes for STI through organization of events.• To seek synergies with other relevant programmes within Europe and Japan.OBJECTIVES FOR WORK PACKAGE 4: NETWORKING AND TWINNINGThis work package promoted networking and twinning among research and innovation actors through identification of issues, coordination among stakeholders and organization of workshops. The aim was to enable European and Japanese entities to strengthen links through the workshops with the opportunities for partnerships and matching of project ideas. The follow-up of the INCO ERA-NET project CONCERT-Japan was planned during the absence of a new ERA-NET project targeting Japan via continued interaction among funding organizations.The following objectives were to be met during the project period:• To support formation of EU-Japan collaboration in various forms and among various actors (among academia for basic/frontier research, academia-industry cooperation, public-private partnerships (PPP), joint technologies initiatives (JTI), etc.)• Organization of comprehensive workshops for the networking and initial collaboration in person• Sustaining the networking and coordination among the funding organizations and funding programmes which was already established with CONCERT-Japan ERA-NET projectOBJECTIVES FOR WORK PACKAGE 5: HELPDESK AND TRAINING ACTIVITIESThis work package was dedicated to the operation of a help desk and the training of experts, as well as quality control of the services provided by the contact points.The following objectives were to be met during the project period:• Establishment of (informal) Horizon 2020 contact points in Japan• Organization of network of contact points for bilateral flow of information• Training of the contact points, both in Europe and Japan, and quality assurance of services provided by them• Facilitate EU-Japan STI cooperation through extensive helpdesk on practical aspectsOBJECTIVES FOR WORK PACKAGE 6: COMMUNICATIONThis work package aimed at the widest outreach of the project results. Activities included defining an effective communication strategy, ensuring internal and external project-wide communication (preparation of templates, guides, logo, web-based information services, building of social networks), interaction with relevant stakeholders and with the media for the distribution of the project results to the public.The following objectives were to be met during the project period:• Develop and implement a communication strategy• Enable and coordinate the project wide communication, by supplying guidance and templates• Systematic compilation of media coverage and other relevant materials regarding the project• Promote and disseminate the added-value of EU-Japan collaboration to the wider public• Enable and maintain communication flows with all relevant stakeholdersProject Results:JEUPISTE is not a research project, but rather a support project in order to strengthen the Europe-Japan partnership in STI. Therefore its main results are analytical reports that can support Europe-Japan STI dialogues, promotional events on EU-Japan cooperation in Horizon 2020, networking events for researchers in specific fields, training seminars on project management for research administrators and help desk activities.MAIN RESULTS FOR WORK PACKAGE 1: PROJECT MANAGEMENTFive consortium meetings (twice in Brussels, twice in Tokyo, once in Turin) and regular teleconferences were organised to promote intra-project communication. In addition, an Advisory Board was set-up to provide advice to the project partners during the project implementation. The Advisory Board gave comments on key deliverables and convened six times (three times in Tokyo, once in Brussels, once in Turin and once in Barcelona) to discuss directly with the JEUPISTE members who were implementing the activities.MAIN RESULTS FOR WORK PACKAGE 2: SUPPORT TO POLICY DIALOGUESWith the aim of providing an overview of bilateral STI programmes between the EU or Member States/Associated Countries to Horizon 2020 and Japan, analytical reports were created to get a better picture on Japan-Europe STI cooperation schemes, especially bilateral and multilateral cooperation. With these reports, the project has contributed to the STI policy dialogues. The main reports dealt with EU-Japan joint STI policy priorities and cooperation (D2.1); the analysis of the state of the cooperation and level of Japanese participation in FP7/Horizon 2020 (D2.2 D2.8 and D2.10); bibliometric analyses of EU-Japan academic co-publications (D2.3 and D2.9) an inventory of bilateral, multilateral and unilateral cooperation programmes and the potential use of Japanese programmes in combination with Horizon 2020 (D2.6) and ideas to set up a liaison office in Japan for European research organisations (D2.7). In particular, the reports on the state of the cooperation and level of Japanese participation in FP7/Horizon 2020 have been useful tools in promoting and explaining Horizon 2020 in Japan, as it is from a competitive perspective interesting for Japanese organisation to see how similar entities are participating in the programme.A European Interest Group (EIG), targeting Japan, which potentially develops new activities and sustains the ongoing cooperation between Europe and Japan has been established in December 2014 in cooperation with the ERA-NET project CONCERT-Japan. This EIG was further strengthened at the end of the JEUPISTE project at a meeting in The Hague in February 2017 to ensure the engagement of the participating organisations and to develop long term activities.MAIN RESULTS FOR WORK PACKAGE 3: BILATERAL DISSEMINATIONJEUPISTE engaged in promotion both in Japan (mainly on Horizon 2020) and Europe (on Japanese funding programmes for R&D, mobility and staff exchange). 11 events were organized in Japan gathering around 1000 participants, 7 activities in Europe attracting nearly 500 participants and invited talks were delivered at 22 events all over Japan to promote Horizon 2020 and EU-Japan STI cooperation reaching 900 people. In addition, the project participated, in cooperation with other projects, with a booth to eight major trade fairs and exhibitions in Japan gathering data of more than 300 potential stakeholders, in order to directly connect to innovation actors, companies and researchers. For example, the project participated to the Kyoto Smart City Expo in 2015 and 2016 in order connect Japanese smart city stakeholders to Horizon 2020 projects. In total, 2700 people were reached through these activities.The events put a focus on the positive experiences of Japanese participants in Horizon 2020. These stories were not only shared through the events, but also through the JEUPISTE website and National Contact Point for Horizon 2020 in Japan website in order that potential participants could learn how the consortium with the Japanese partner was formed, what the merits are for participating and what kind of financial arrangements were put in place to facilitate the project. In context of promotion for the Japanese audience, apart from generic presentation materials to present and promote Horizon 2020 in Japan, more specific materials have also been created (in Japanese), such as information sheets on Horizon 2020 with testimonials from Japanese participants (in print and on website) and a video on the Japanese organisations participating in the My-AHA Horizon 2020 project (https://youtu.be/oIWNw_rPDYI).JEUPISTE has also leveraged existing cooperation schemes and projects such as GNSS.asia for the promotion of Horizon 2020 through co-organisation of events and inviting the projects to make a presentation during the seminars.MAIN RESULTS FOR WORK PACKAGE 4: NETWORKING AND TWINNINGA series of “Innovation Workshops” was launched aiming at active partnership building through the broad theme of “Smart Communities”. In total, three workshops (in Brussels, Turin and Barcelona) were held in Europe in 2014 and 2015, bringing together stakeholders from academic institutions, research centres, incubators, investors and top corporations. For academic partnership building, two “Academic Workshops” (in Kobe and Thessaloniki) were organised related to bio-based chemical production, nanomaterials and bionanoscience in 2015 and 2016. The project furthermore organised a two-day symposium on power electronics together with Osaka University in December 2015 in Tokyo, bringing together a large group of stakeholders from Europe and Japan in this field.Through follow-up of the participants to these workshops, it was found that 11 EU-Japan partnerships have materialized involving the participants of these activities. It is important to note that these partnerships were not always perceived as a direct result of the JEUPISTE activities, but rather the JEUPISTE activities were seen as one positive element in the overall partnership building efforts of the participating organisations.MAIN RESULTS FOR WORK PACKAGE 5: HELPDESK AND TRAININGJEUPISTE offered help desk services that have been extensively used by researchers, research managers, policy makers, funding organizations, and others both from Europe and Japan. In order to continue this type of service in the future, the JEUPISTE project contributed to the establishment of the National Contact Point (NCP) for Horizon 2020 in Japan, a service provided with support of the Japanese government. JEUPISTE has supported the set-up of NCP Japan through a knowledge database on FP7/Horizon 2020, analytical reports on Japanese participation, framework for trainings and promotional events of Horizon 2020, stakeholder database and mailinglist infrastructure and templates.On average, 24 inquiries have been received each month to this help desk, with in total 985 inquiries over 42 months. In Japan, this help desk was run since April 2014 together with the National Contact Point for Horizon 2020 in Japan, also located at the EU-Japan Centre for Industrial Cooperation. The services offered ranged from basic information on Horizon 2020, assistance with administrative procedures, partner search and detailed information on funding opportunities in Europe and Japan. It was found that the help desk activities in Japan have supported 57 applications to Horizon 2020 involving Japanese organisations. The relevance of the help desk has grown over the years. The help desk provided support in 23% of applications for calls in 2016, as compared to only 9% of applications for calls in 2014.Moreover, a detailed “Frequently Asked Questions” document has been created in English and Japanese, listing recurring general questions about EU-Japan cooperation in Science, Technology and Innovation, as well as specific inquiries on registration, validation, agreements, proposal submission, partner search, coordinated calls and Marie Sklodowska Curie Actions in Horizon 2020. 54 frequent questions and answers are listed in this document, which is made available online through the JEUPISTE website.Five training seminars were organised that were focused on Horizon 2020 project management and mainly targeted Japanese University Research Administrators as potential multipliers. These sessions were structured around the various stages of a Horizon 2020 project from proposal to reporting and how to integrate Japanese partners into a Horizon 2020 project. On average 22 people participated in each training seminar. They were organised in Tokyo (twice), Osaka, Brussels and London. MAIN RESULTS FOR WORK PACKAGE 6: COMMUNICATIONThis work package aimed at the widest outreach of the result of project results. Activities included defining an effective communication strategy, ensuring internal and external project-wide communication (preparation of templates, guides, logo, web-based information services, and building of social networks), interaction with relevant stakeholders and with the media for the distribution of the project results to the public. The main outcomes visible to be public were an extensive website (http://www.jeupiste.eu) e-alerts/newsletters, active twitter account and posters/roll-ups that were used as promotion at the numerous events of the project.The project has been featured in one major technology website article in Japan (Nikkei BP) and one newspaper article in Japan (Nikkan Kogyo Shimbun). However, most of the communication was done to target groups in science, technology and innovation.LESSONS LEARNTAt the recommendation of the Advisory Board, an overview was made on the issues and solutions that were encountered during the practical implementation of the JEUPISTE project. They could serve as input in the set-up of new projects for strengthening EU-Japan Science, Technology and Innovation cooperation. In summary, the following lessons were learnt:• The Advisory Board gave necessary direction to activities in the project. However, more continuous support for day-to-day activities would benefit the project, particularly in relation to thematic events and partnership building activities. Instead of a voluntary Advisory Board, continuous remunerated support of experts with clear responsibilities in the project would be an asset.• In the initial stage of the project, presentation materials were made regarding the merits for Japanese organisations to participate in Horizon 2020. However, it was found that many stakeholders (participants to seminars, organisations contacting the help desk) were still unsure what would be their benefit for participation, even after participating to JEUPISTE events. In particular in absence of any funding it was hard to convey the precise merit to a potential participant. To accommodate this, information on the experience of Japanese organisations in projects was collected and published online, showing how and why a Japanese partner participated in Horizon 2020. To emphasise this message, a video was created, showcasing the experiences and benefits of Japanese participants in the My-AHA project. The lesson learnt is that it has to be made very concrete how organisations are participating and the context surrounding this participation should be understood.• Bringing together scientific communities from the EU and Japan is a difficult task that should be implemented in close cooperation with local and sectoral stakeholders. The main strategy of the JEUPISTE project was to organise its activities together with large events. However, also the co-organisation status of important stakeholders is essential for a successful event as was the case with the Power Electronics Symposium in December 2015.• The topic selection for thematic activities proved to be a vital point for the success of the activities. Broad topics were already decided in the JEUPISTE project plan (the Description of Work) and then a more narrow definition was worked out by the partners, confirming this with experts in their organisations. However, more in depth research by experts is necessary on a continuous basis, in particular in relation to identify the current salient topics that could be worked out in an EU-Japan setting and at the same time in order to identify the right stakeholders. Therefor more thematic and dedicated expertise could enhance the effectiveness for thematic activities.• Training courses at the start of the project were focused on the whole lifecycle of project management for EU projects. While there is indeed an interest in Japan on how EU projects are managed, often the research managers and administrators are looking for more basic and very practical information. This information should go beyond a 30-minute promotional talk and address at length the first steps to take for Japanese organisations to get started in a project. These basic training courses need to address all the items of concern for Japanese research managers, from how it works, what are the requirements to participate (with reference to all administrative requirements by project type), what is the workload going to be during the project, what are the options for receiving funding and how is intellectual property managed at different stages of the project.• A network of experts on Japanese programmes and EU-Japan cooperation cannot be set up on a voluntary basis. Funding is necessary to let these people allocate their limited resources. In addition, a couple of short trainings is insufficient to familiarize them with the Japanese research and innovation system, in particular the character of the Japanese programmes open to foreign participation.• Using the networks of all the partners for promotion is a natural way to disseminate project information. However, it is difficult to measure the results of this kind of promotion. For example, even though the information was distributed to thousands of contacts, no clear spike in website visitors could be observed. Only a direct mailing to known interested stakeholders had a noticeable effect. Close cooperation with local partners in Japan is necessary for adequate dissemination.• One of the main barriers for strengthening R&I cooperation between the European Union and Japan appears to be the lack of easily accessible funding. A special emphasis must be placed on highlighting national and international funding opportunities for cooperation in any future activity to strengthen EU-Japan cooperation.Potential Impact:The direct impact of the JEUPISTE project is difficult to measure as it is itself not a research project, but rather a support action for Japanese participation in Horizon 2020. In this light, one of the main impacts of the JEUPISTE project is the launch of the National Contact Point (NCP) for Horizon 2020 in Japan. Thanks to the accumulated expertise of the JEUPISTE project, the NCP was able to swiftly start operations.Towards future strengthening of EU-Japan Science, Technology and Innovation cooperation, the JEUPISTE project supported the setup of the European Interest Group for Japan, consisting of organisations in Europe and Japan that can support cooperation towards the future.Other potential impact areas of the JEUPISTE project can be summarized as follows:• Implemented broad promotion of EU-Japan cooperation through events, trade fairs, brochures and video• Created a clear framework to develop EU-Japan cooperation through its detailed FAQ and guides• Provided input to the EU-Japan STI dialogue through a number of analytical reports• Built the capacity of the University Research Administrators in Japan to deal with EU projectsMain dissemination activities:• Promotional events and participations to trade fairs (see list on page 16-17)• Brochures, posters and leaflets• Articles in publications from third parties• Video on Japanese participation in the My-AHA Horizon 2020 project: https://youtu.be/oIWNw_rPDYI List of Websites:Project website: http://www.jeupiste.eu/Project coordinator: Fabrizio MURA - fabrizio.mura@eu-japan.gr.jp Project manager: Stijn LAMBRECHT - stijn.lambrecht@eu-japan.gr.jp EU-Japan Centre for Industrial CooperationShirokane-Takanawa Station Bldg. 4F, 1-27-6 Shirokane, Minato-ku, Tokyo 108-0072, JapanTel:+81-(0)3-6408-0281 / Fax:+81-(0)3-6408-0283 / http://www.eu-japan.eu Documenti correlati final1-jeupiste-publishable-summary-2017.pdf
