YERUN organised its Launch Event on November 7, at the European Parliament. Hosted by MEP Soledad Cabezón, the event brought together YERUN members, the European Commission, members of the Parliament, Permanent Representations and numerous EU Stakeholders working on the areas of research and education.
A year on since the opening of the YERUN Brussels Office, the network has put in place various initiatives in the areas of Joint Programmes, research workshops and mobility grants for researchers, staff and students of members’ institutions. Future activities will include a strategy with various actions to facilite graduate employability and to actively contribute to make Open Science a reality.
Professor Juan Romo, YERUN President, stated: “YERUN joins the call for further investments in research and innovation at EU level. Let’s continue the success of H2020 and update it to work even better, and to maximise its impact by showing how it delivers solutions to problems we all face“. MEP Soledad Cabezón (S&D) reiterated her support to YERUN and emphasised “we need to make sure that FP9 increases the funding and tools available for Early Career Researchers“.
The Launch event was an opportunity to present the YERUN Position Paper on FP9. Professor Tom van Veen, Chair of the YERUN Working Group on EU Policy, emphasised “The overarching goal of FP9 should be to create and fulfil a European Research and Innovation Agenda inspired by global challenges and missions”. “The YERUN’s position outlines distinctive aspects to include in FP9”, as Mr Keith Sequeira stated and focuses on 6 main aspects, namely:
- Sustainable funding to match Europe’s ambition in research and innovation
- Engage society in the creation of knowledge and innovation
- Promote and reward a full implementation of Open Science
- Recognise a more comprehensive definition of impact
- Enhance support for early career researchers
- Revise submission and evaluation processes to improve efficiency, transparency, fairness and impact
The event was also an opportunity to show the importance of EU collaboration in research and innovation and showcased 6 EU funded projects that were coordinated by YERUN members.
Professor Anthony Forster, Vice Chancellor of Essex University, concluded the event highlighting that “By bringing new perspectives and strengths to European discussions, and working together on initiatives that positively impact on European students, staff and researchers, YERUN will, I hope, very quickly become a key contributor to our competitive knowledge-based economy”.
Presentations can be downloaded below:
Pokhrel_EQUIPT_Brunel_Brussels_7Nov17
YERUN President Prof Romo Speech Launch Event
Speech Prof Forster Launch Event
