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? Program

? Framework conditions for innovation

?️ 28 september 2022

?14:45-15:30(GMT+02:00)

• Framework conditions : regulations to balance the need to protect and the need to innovate
• Deep Tech Innovations + Green Transition calls for a more responsable framework and adaptable regulations
• Discussion between public authorities, private innovators and eu representatives

Do we need expertimentation spaces for testing innovations ?

Ana Barjasic, Board Member | European Innovation Council

• main beneficiaries are innovators, policy makers and investors
• reduces project risk, help for commercializing innovation
• but not all innovators have access to theses spaces → ressources and access must b
• policy makers can also benefit → testing solutions for smart procurement (ex: swedish national test beds?)
• challenge making things happen on an EU level: ⚠️ launch of govtech incubator next year to foster cross-border collaboration ⚠️
• risk is reduced for potential investors
• consumers can also test innovations in a controlled environment and
• behavioral science used to

Peter (?)

• EU has good regulations that make the playing field level for innovators
• Need to foment more entrepreneurship in every sandbox
• Favor young people in innovation ecosystems

How can innovation procurement facilitate uptake of innovations?

Michael Dritsas, Head of Cabinet Office of the Dep. Minister (Dr Dimas) | Ministry of Development and Investments

• National startup registry Elevate Greece + National Competence Center
• Networking and collaborations with the public sector and EU entities

Nathalie Berger, Director – Directorate B support to reforms to MS | European Commission – DG REFORM

• Technical Support Instrument → tool linked to the EU Next Generation
• Policy support instrument used with the technical support instrument are meant to work together either simultaneously or in succession
• We provide technical support to the design and implementation of reforms in all areas of the economy including R&I
• The support is available on request to member states through the instrument

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? From lab to market: connecting research, technology and innovation

?️ 29 september 2022

?11:00-11:45(GMT+02:00)

Nektarios Tavernarakis, Chair of the EIT Governing Board | EIT European Institute for Innovation and Technology

• EIT Governing Board : success built on sustainable business in Knowledge and Innovation communities (industries, researchers, and innovators)
• Master and PhD training programs + support to start-ups and “unicorns” (ex: INSEP in France)
• partnership with other EU complementary programs : ERC + EIC (?) other Horizon Europe instruments
• fastr track mechanism for start-ups in place
• European Innovation Agenda : deeptech needs new skills
• EIT mandated to lead flagship measure to foster next generation skills : synergies between EU funding schemes (Marie Curie Fellowships + ERC + EIC + EIT)

Maria Leptin, President | European Research Council

• Researchers know what they are doing → knoweldge is out there and giving researchers freedom to follow their scientific dreams pays off (ex: covid vaccine)
• Funding basic curiosity-driven research is important : complementarity between basic and applied science
• ERC grants support broad exploration
• EIC Proof-of-Concept grants help testing solutions by ERC grantees
• ERC funded work is highly cited in patents and journals

Mark Ferguson, Chairman of the Board | European Innovation Council

• complementarity ERC + EIT + EIC : from great ideas to successful products through accelerator program for start-ups to scale up
• ERC supports basic research —> can lead to commercialisation —> EIT transition program —> EIC accelerator program
• Program to provide internships to EIC + EIT + Maria Sklodowska grantees to work in startups
• Gender initiatives through all three programs to promote more women in tech & innovation

Jose Capmany, Professor | Universtitat Politecnica de Valencia/ iPronics Programmable Photonics

• Photonic processor received ERC advance grant
• ERC grant is more flexible than

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? Education and innovation for skills development: empowering the next generation

?️ 29 september 2022

?11:00-11:45(GMT+02:00)

Klavdija Kutnar, Rector – University of Primorska (Slovenia)

• Context: New strategy for european universities
• Life-long learning key for EU vision
• hard to make big changes for a young, small university —> Internationalization strategy (45 differernt countries)
• member of Innovative Higher Education Institutions Network

Tiziana Lippiello, Member | European network of Innovative Higher Education Institutions

• need to value our cutural heritage and combine it with innovation (upscale + new competencies for students)
• within the european alliance, work is done on european values and exchange good practices, we should do more to include students
• there should be more inter-government dialogues and alliances between programs
• change mindset from competitive to callaborative
• synergies between vocation schools and higher education institutions —> combine EU funds with national funds

Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth

• closer the higher education and innovation systems are, closer we are to achieving our goals
• 44 EU university alliances exist —> they have more sustainable funding —> this momentum has to be used
• 3 other flagships : european degree + innovation agenda —> we need to take up the pace
• status of eu alliances : european network of european universities —> open up to regional universities
• alliances used to stay amongs themselves —> they need to work together
• 6 alliances created a common incubator for rural areas in Spain
• Euoprean innovation agenda : new training scheme for researchers to go into companies and companies get access to data through researchers
• we need common initiatives between alliances to drive these funds and innovative tools

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? Enhancing trust in science: a conversation with researchers

?️ 29 september 2022

?14:00-14:45(GMT+02:00)

Angela Liberatore, Head of the Scientific Department | European Research Council

• ERC grants allow scientists decide what to work on (academic freedom)
• Spoiler alert : Citizen Science event on December 7th 2022
• Bringing research to the public : European researcher’s night in 25 countries !

Tomomi Fushiya, Associate professor | University of Warsaw

• Collaborative archeaologie, meeting point for researchers and the public
• science communication focused on archeology to gain trust in local communities → misunderstanding in broadcasting scientific knowledge since colonialism
• integrated community knowledge into science methodology
• public engagement award

Aurélie Lacroix, Senior Scientist II | Sixfold Bioscience

• cancer research
• joined company as a Marie Curie Sklodowska felllow
• Pint of Science + science jounralism degree + PhD

Gian Maria Greco, Board Member (MCAA) and Senior Research Fellow (UniMC) | Marie Curie Alumni Association (MCAA) and University of Macerata (UniMC)

• accessibility studies in communication + media for diverse public in terms of culture, language, (dis)ability → form over content
• Communication working group of the Marie Curie Sklodowska alumni assocation

Jacob Sherson, Center for Hybrid Intelligence, Aarhus University

• Science at home → natural science challenges that were turned into games that the general public participated in
• Another set of games were Social Science based (ex: cognitive profiling in a democratic way)
• Hybrid intelligence + Games for Good : public engagement + democracy

Benefits & challenges of bringing research to society ?

Jacob Sherson

• Concrete problems have been solved by citizen engagemetn in science
• Citizen science has a set of core values that are important for the future of research : openness, transparency, etc.
• Human-centered AI solutions are hard to create → citizen science has a unique sense of value for every participant, it creates meaning

Tomomi

• archaeology is being challenged today about its colonial history
• social responsibility for researchers working in the field is to connect with local communities

What are your motivations for doing citizen science ?

Aurélie

• as a scientist, citizen science made me feel more useful for the community → for scientists there is a lot to gain
• discussions with patient associations are very important for the health field to counter-balance the data driven approaches
• outreach helps the public make informed decisions
• there are many scientists present at outreach events → need to diversify to really reach citizens accross groups

What can be done to improve engagement ?

Jacob Sherson

• building bridges to engage with citizens
• projects should be valued in terms of impact and not in terms of potential publication
• using games, we can generate crowdsourced opinion on a large number of society issues

Tomomi

• archaelogy has been doing science communication for a long time (museums, guide books, etc.) but outreach for engagement of local communities is not so common
• a lot of cultural knowledge has been accumulating for generations that deserves to be integrated into scientific communication

Aurélie

• create trust, not only convey information to an audience → often missing for now
• talking to people who are less aware of science through community-leaders who can be vectors for information
• making science more inclusive and diversifying our tools to improve the honesty around the scientific method

Gian Maria

• trust in science or faith in science ?

How do we respect citizen demands for better information, while acknowledging years of peer review and quality control in research processes ?

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EU Mission on Cancer: focus on needs of young cancer survivors

?️ 29 september 2022

?14:00-14:45(GMT+02:00)

Rob Pieters, Chief Medical Officer | Princess Máxima Center for Pediatric Oncology

• treatments for cancer vary depending on age group
• focus groups have been created for survivors of specific cancers to gather data about quality of life to adapt threatments
• survivors are key to understanding side-effects of treatments on the long term
• understanding the difference between individuals and how they react to treatments and long-term toxicities according to genetic profiles

Carina Ferreira-Borges, Regional Office for Europe | WHO

• investment to ensure correct information is given to health care providers
• cultural insights shoul dbe used to help health care providers to understand youth cancer
• networks should be created to support prevention efforts, enabling environments for youth survivors and more protective policies (psycho-social support)
• WHO has seen inequalities in access to cancer treatments

Tiago Costa, Patient Advocate | Childhood Cancer International – Europe (CCI-E)

• engagment with survivors and youth networks must be increased in european projects
• long-term follow-up and hte socio-economic rights of surviviors
• upcoming conferrence on young cancer survivors

Summary

→ not forgetting care-givers

→ long-term follow-up (tools + infrastructure)

→ cancer survivors must be involved

→ address inequalities

→ new treatments need to be discovered

→ mental health needs to be addressed

→ ⚠️ next year: conference on how to address the needs ot cancer survivors ⚠️