Brussels, 22/06/2015 (Agence Europe) - By the end of this year, the European Commission hopes to launch a new initiative for “research integrity”, to tackle scientific misconduct at EU level, the Commissioner for Research and Innovation, Carlos Moedas, announced on Monday 22 June, whilst presenting his working agenda for the next few years.
Moedas took the opportunity of a conference in Brussels, entitled “A new start for Europe: Opening up to an ERA of Innovation”, to set out his “own ambitions for the coming years”, which include the continuation of projects already underway and fresh proposals.
He has three “strategic priorities”, all of which lay emphasis on “openness”: they are “Open Innovation”, “Open Science” and “Openness to the World”. How can these priorities be developed in addition to what already exists under the current framework programme for research and innovation of the EU, 'Horizon 2020'?
First of all, the Commissioner would like to focus on private companies, developing “one or several European funds that will invest in new generations of great European innovative companies”. Another idea he put forward is to create bridges between 'Horizon 2020' and structural funds, in order to support “applicants that are evaluated as excellent but cannot obtain financing from Horizon 2020”.
Moedas also hopes to design a new “European Innovation Council”. “This is not tomorrow”, he conceded, but he believes that it should be discussed “as a major element under the mid-term review of Horizon 2020”. This examination will also provide the opportunity for “progress on the requirements for the openness of data”, he added. Lastly, by the end of this year he hopes to “launch a new European Research Integrity Initiative - with clear standards and mechanisms to tackle scientific misconduct”.
In conclusion, he referred to three ideas to increase international cooperation: - a joint research strategy with Latin America and Africa, mirroring what has been done for the North Atlantic under the Galway initiative; - progress on the PRIMA initiative (see EUROPE 112019); - more investment in projects such as the SESAME initiative with Jordan. (Jan Kordys)