The Australian Innovation Community

Germany’s Fraunhofer centres are to set up a joint project centre in Asia, based at the Centre for Advanced Media Technology, which was set up in 1998 by the Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore. The Fraunhofer Project Centre for Integrated Digital Media at NTU (Fraunhofer IDM@NTU), located on the grounds of Nanyang University, will focus on interactive digital media research. This will include, among other things, the development of software for Internet-ready mobile phones.

The Irish government revealed plans for an overhaul of its intellectual property laws on Tuesday at the first meeting of the group set up to drive forward the recommendations of a recent report on innovation strategy.

In an effort to cut red tape and focus on research results, the European Commission has recently adopted two major initiatives that will see changes to the financial regulations and a simplification of the procedures surrounding the EU’s research Framework Programmes. As well as making it easier for researchers to gain access to EU funds, the new rules would also help fuse more public and private funding, giving investment a stronger punch. Ultimately, the changes would get new EU programmes off the ground and running.

Close to 80% of Europeans are interested in science and technological developments, according to a new Eurobarometer survey. For comparison, just 65% claim to be interested in sports news.

“Perhaps a World Cup of science would get even more people round the TV than the football one does!” quipped the European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, presenting the results of the survey.

Collaboration between the European Union and Australia in science and technology was further enhanced at the eleventh Joint Science and Technology Cooperation Committee (JSTCC) meeting hosted by the Australian Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research held in Sydney on 7-9 June 2010. Australia and the European Union have a long history of productive research collaboration, underpinned by a treaty-level science and technology agreement signed in 1994.

EU-funded researchers have helped develop an early warning system that will protect vulnerable communities from tsunamis and avoid future terrible losses of life such as that suffered in Indonesia and Sri Lanka in December 2004, when an estimated 230 000 people were killed.

Australia and the Netherlands will work closely together on vital technology for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) – the world’s most powerful radio-telescope and one of the most ambitious science projects ever undertaken by the international community.

Australia’s CSIRO has signed a Statement of Intent with ASTRON, the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, to cooperate on developing and testing technology that will ultimately make the SKA possible.

Innovation Minister, Senator Kim Carr, welcomed the new partnership.

“We cannot build a knowledge society if we don’t invest in it,” says Robert-Jan Smits, the new Director-General of the EU’s Research Directorate-General. He promises simplified procedures for researchers granted EU funding and greater internationalisation of European research.

The European Commission this week brought the largest-ever delegation to Australia for the 11th Joint Science & Technology Cooperation Committee (JSTCC). 14 Commission Officials and several scientific experts visited Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra to take part in Senior Officials Meetings on Science & Innovation.

Australia and Europe will increase cooperation on international research projects covering everything from energy to nanotechnology to ICT, thanks to recent high-level meetings with key European Commission officials.

Following the eleventh Joint Science and Technology Cooperation Committee meeting held in Sydney last month, the Australian Government has agreed to provide $750,000 over the next 12 months to pursue agreed research outcomes.

The funding is from the Government’s International Science Linkages program.

The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research has published a series of calls for proposals under the ‘Cooperation’, ‘Capacities’, ‘People’ and ‘Ideas’ Programmes of the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7).

The calls come under a wide variety of themes and topics, including:

Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn announces today nearly €6.4 billion of European Commission investment in research and innovation. The package, the biggest ever, covers a vast range of scientific disciplines, public policy areas and commercial sectors. This funding will advance scientific boundaries, increase European competitiveness and help solve societal challenges such as climate change, energy and food security, health and an ageing population. Around 16,000 participants from research organisations, universities and industry, including about 3,000 SMEs, will receive funding.

The largest research investment plan in the history of the Republic of Ireland — €359 million — is aimed at transforming the country into ‘Europe’s innovation hub’, according to Brian Cowen, the Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister).

His support for the investment is an indication of how seriously the Dublin government is hoping the so-called ‘smart economy’ will drag the country out of the economic mess it collapsed into following a spectacular property and banking crash.

A collaborative agreement between CSIRO and two German organisations is providing Australian food companies with access to a new processing technology which uses low-energy electron beams rather than heat or chemicals to decontaminate food.

The agreement – with the internationally respected Fraunhofer Institute for Electron Beam and Plasma Technology and service company, EVONTA-Service GmbH – aims to further scientific research into ‘low-energy electron beam processing’.

In today’s issue of Science, CSIRO astronomer George Hobbs and colleagues in the UK, Germany and Canada report that they have taken a big step towards solving a 30-year-old puzzle: why the “cosmic clocks” called pulsars aren’t perfect.

“We now have a more fundamental understanding of how pulsars work,” Dr Hobbs said.

“We’ve shown that many pulsar characteristics are linked, because they have one underlying cause.”

The European Research Council (ERC) has celebrated its biggest landmark since its 2007 launch: 1,000 researchers have successfully clinched key financial support to conduct innovative ‘blue sky’ research. The ERC marked the symbolic awarding of the 1,000th grant, to Professor Erika von Mutius of the Ludwig-Maximilians- Universität München in Germany, at a special event in Munich, Germany on 24 June. Officials and leading researchers attending the ceremony included EU Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science Máire Geoghegan-Quinn and ERC President Professor Helga Nowotny.

The Australian Government’s proposed R&D Tax Credit is rated the world’s best system for providing incentives to foster R&D activity, according to a report just released by KPMG.

The Competitive Alternatives 2010 Special Report: Focus on Tax states: “the most dramatic change is for Australia, moving up from fifth place in 2008, to first in 2010. This change is a result of Australia adopting a new R&D tax credit system as of July 1st, 2010”.

The Australian Government will invest $47.3 million in Western Australia to ensure solar energy and the nation’s largest direct heat geothermal facility power Australia’s bid to host the world’s strongest radio telescope.

Two key pieces of infrastructure being built to support the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) bid will now have full-scale, clean energy generation systems because of the investment.

The European Commission has launched Scientix, a new web-portal targeted towards teachers, researchers, policy makers, local actors, parents and anyone interested in science education. Scientix will give access to teaching materials, research results and policy documents from European science education projects financed by the European Union and by various national initiatives. The new platform will facilitate regular dissemination and sharing of news, know-how, and best practices in science education across the European Union.

The EU should add €40 million to its contribution to the international Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) programme, according to a declaration issued following the COST Ministerial Conference on 15 June in Palma de Majorca (Spain). The meeting, which was organised by the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, was attended by representatives of COST Member States.

This month the Go8 released information about the important work of its member universities in the field of energy research.

The Go8 recognises that the issue of energy usage and transformation is one of vital importance for Australia and for the rest of the world.

The document highlights projects and contact details for experts in:

From the air it looks like any other waste water treatment plant.

But this is actually the first hydro-electric power station in Australia to be powered by sewage.

The system is being pioneered in Sydney, Australia’s largest city.

The Australian Government will invest $37 million to develop a world first Australian Future Fibres Research and Innovation Centre (AFFRIC) at Deakin University.

The project will support:

In order to provide the Australian research community with best practice advice on engagement with the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research and technological development (FP7), FEAST has conducted a comprehensive survey of Australians involved with FP7 project proposals, both successful and unsuccessful. These interviews enable FEAST to present robust evidence of successful strategies and tactics, and practical advice on how to engage with FP7.

The EU’s forthcoming Research and Innovation Strategy for Europe will focus on the major societal challenges, have a broad definition of ‘innovation’ and seek to remove bottlenecks to the flow of knowledge, European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science Máire Geoghegan-Quinn has announced.

The Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) sector is by far the largest investor in private research and development (R&D) in the EU, with 25% of total investment in 2007. According to a new report published by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, the ICT sector’s leadership is due to its market dynamism, technological innovative capacity and the fact that ICT fosters competitiveness and productivity in the rest of the economy.

Australian researchers will help prevent collisions between satellites and space debris thanks to funding from the Australian Space Research Program (ASRP).

Four new projects will receive a total of $13.8 million, allowing our researchers to work with their scientific peers in the USA and Europe, including on the development of an automated laser tracking system.

Innovation Minister Senator Kim Carr announced the successful ASRP Round 2 applicants at the same time as opening Round 3 of the program for new applications.

Australian and French researchers will be working together to fight neurodegenerative diseases, like Parkinson’s disease, thanks to funding through the 2010 French-Australian Science and Technology (FAST) Program.

In total, Australia and France will work together on 14 new cutting-edge projects ranging from screening tools for new generation antibiotics to new water treatment techniques.

This paper has been prepared as part of a set of inter-connected projects that aim to raise awareness amongst European-based researchers of the funding opportunities that support collaboration with colleagues in a range of non-European nations. The paper highlights key policy trade-offs between competition and cooperation in international research cooperation.

The FP7 project USEandDIFFUSE has prepared a handbook “Making European Research Work for your Company”.

This guide is for SMEs interested in strengthening their market position, improving their existing products or acquiring new skills by getting involved in a Research and Development (R&D) project funded by the European Commission (EC)! The handbook is in English can be downloaded free of charge.

In 2009 the Go8 commissioned market research to examine the attitudes, perceptions and experiences of Australia as a destination for study at the Higher Research Degree level. This backgrounder highlights some of the positive aspects of the Australian experience.

The top five aggregated strengths of Australia as a research destination were: Australia’s multicultural society, the friendly and welcoming nature of Australian society, the quality of Australia’s universities, the safe environment and the research culture.

The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Innovation has tabled its report on Australia’s international research collaboration.

The largest research investment plan in the history of the Republic of Ireland — €359 million — is aimed at transforming the country into ‘Europe’s innovation hub’, according to Brian Cowen, the Irish Taoiseach (Prime Minister).

His support for the investment is an indication of how seriously the Dublin government is hoping the so-called ‘smart economy’ will drag the country out of the economic mess it collapsed into following a spectacular property and banking crash.

A collaborative agreement between CSIRO and two German organisations is providing Australian food companies with access to a new processing technology which uses low-energy electron beams rather than heat or chemicals to decontaminate food.

The agreement – with the internationally respected Fraunhofer Institute for Electron Beam and Plasma Technology and service company, EVONTA-Service GmbH – aims to further scientific research into ‘low-energy electron beam processing’.

The European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research has published a series of calls for proposals under the ‘Cooperation’, ‘Capacities’, ‘People’ and ‘Ideas’ Programmes of the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7).

The calls come under a wide variety of themes and topics, including:

This paper has been prepared as part of a set of inter-connected projects that aim to raise awareness amongst European-based researchers of the funding opportunities that support collaboration with colleagues in a range of non-European nations. The paper highlights key policy trade-offs between competition and cooperation in international research cooperation.

The FP7 project USEandDIFFUSE has prepared a handbook “Making European Research Work for your Company”.

This guide is for SMEs interested in strengthening their market position, improving their existing products or acquiring new skills by getting involved in a Research and Development (R&D) project funded by the European Commission (EC)! The handbook is in English can be downloaded free of charge.

The European Research Council (ERC) has celebrated its biggest landmark since its 2007 launch: 1,000 researchers have successfully clinched key financial support to conduct innovative ‘blue sky’ research. The ERC marked the symbolic awarding of the 1,000th grant, to Professor Erika von Mutius of the Ludwig-Maximilians- Universität München in Germany, at a special event in Munich, Germany on 24 June. Officials and leading researchers attending the ceremony included EU Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science Máire Geoghegan-Quinn and ERC President Professor Helga Nowotny.

The EU should add €40 million to its contribution to the international Cooperation in Science and Technology (COST) programme, according to a declaration issued following the COST Ministerial Conference on 15 June in Palma de Majorca (Spain). The meeting, which was organised by the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the European Union, was attended by representatives of COST Member States.

In today’s issue of Science, CSIRO astronomer George Hobbs and colleagues in the UK, Germany and Canada report that they have taken a big step towards solving a 30-year-old puzzle: why the “cosmic clocks” called pulsars aren’t perfect.

“We now have a more fundamental understanding of how pulsars work,” Dr Hobbs said.

“We’ve shown that many pulsar characteristics are linked, because they have one underlying cause.”

In an effort to cut red tape and focus on research results, the European Commission has recently adopted two major initiatives that will see changes to the financial regulations and a simplification of the procedures surrounding the EU’s research Framework Programmes. As well as making it easier for researchers to gain access to EU funds, the new rules would also help fuse more public and private funding, giving investment a stronger punch. Ultimately, the changes would get new EU programmes off the ground and running.

Close to 80% of Europeans are interested in science and technological developments, according to a new Eurobarometer survey. For comparison, just 65% claim to be interested in sports news.

“Perhaps a World Cup of science would get even more people round the TV than the football one does!” quipped the European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, presenting the results of the survey.

Australia and the Netherlands will work closely together on vital technology for the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) – the world’s most powerful radio-telescope and one of the most ambitious science projects ever undertaken by the international community.

Australia’s CSIRO has signed a Statement of Intent with ASTRON, the Netherlands Institute for Radio Astronomy, to cooperate on developing and testing technology that will ultimately make the SKA possible.

Innovation Minister, Senator Kim Carr, welcomed the new partnership.

Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn announces today nearly €6.4 billion of European Commission investment in research and innovation. The package, the biggest ever, covers a vast range of scientific disciplines, public policy areas and commercial sectors. This funding will advance scientific boundaries, increase European competitiveness and help solve societal challenges such as climate change, energy and food security, health and an ageing population. Around 16,000 participants from research organisations, universities and industry, including about 3,000 SMEs, will receive funding.

The 2008 Australian R&D and Intellectual Property Scoreboard has been released today. This landmark report benchmarks Australian companies based on their innovation performance.

In summary, the scoreboard shows Australian Business Research and Development spending at 1.3% of GDP, still well below the OECD average of 1.6%; but gaining ground.

Australia and Europe will increase cooperation on international research projects covering everything from energy to nanotechnology to ICT, thanks to recent high-level meetings with key European Commission officials.

Following the eleventh Joint Science and Technology Cooperation Committee meeting held in Sydney last month, the Australian Government has agreed to provide $750,000 over the next 12 months to pursue agreed research outcomes.

The funding is from the Government’s International Science Linkages program.

In 2009 the Go8 commissioned market research to examine the attitudes, perceptions and experiences of Australia as a destination for study at the Higher Research Degree level. This backgrounder highlights some of the positive aspects of the Australian experience.

The top five aggregated strengths of Australia as a research destination were: Australia’s multicultural society, the friendly and welcoming nature of Australian society, the quality of Australia’s universities, the safe environment and the research culture.

The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Innovation has tabled its report on Australia’s international research collaboration.

Australian and French researchers will be working together to fight neurodegenerative diseases, like Parkinson’s disease, thanks to funding through the 2010 French-Australian Science and Technology (FAST) Program.

In total, Australia and France will work together on 14 new cutting-edge projects ranging from screening tools for new generation antibiotics to new water treatment techniques.

Australian researchers will help prevent collisions between satellites and space debris thanks to funding from the Australian Space Research Program (ASRP).

Four new projects will receive a total of $13.8 million, allowing our researchers to work with their scientific peers in the USA and Europe, including on the development of an automated laser tracking system.

Innovation Minister Senator Kim Carr announced the successful ASRP Round 2 applicants at the same time as opening Round 3 of the program for new applications.

EU-funded researchers have helped develop an early warning system that will protect vulnerable communities from tsunamis and avoid future terrible losses of life such as that suffered in Indonesia and Sri Lanka in December 2004, when an estimated 230 000 people were killed.

Collaboration between the European Union and Australia in science and technology was further enhanced at the eleventh Joint Science and Technology Cooperation Committee (JSTCC) meeting hosted by the Australian Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research held in Sydney on 7-9 June 2010. Australia and the European Union have a long history of productive research collaboration, underpinned by a treaty-level science and technology agreement signed in 1994.

“We cannot build a knowledge society if we don’t invest in it,” says Robert-Jan Smits, the new Director-General of the EU’s Research Directorate-General. He promises simplified procedures for researchers granted EU funding and greater internationalisation of European research.

The European Commission has launched Scientix, a new web-portal targeted towards teachers, researchers, policy makers, local actors, parents and anyone interested in science education. Scientix will give access to teaching materials, research results and policy documents from European science education projects financed by the European Union and by various national initiatives. The new platform will facilitate regular dissemination and sharing of news, know-how, and best practices in science education across the European Union.

The European Commission this week brought the largest-ever delegation to Australia for the 11th Joint Science & Technology Cooperation Committee (JSTCC). 14 Commission Officials and several scientific experts visited Melbourne, Sydney and Canberra to take part in Senior Officials Meetings on Science & Innovation.

The Australian Government will invest $47.3 million in Western Australia to ensure solar energy and the nation’s largest direct heat geothermal facility power Australia’s bid to host the world’s strongest radio telescope.

Two key pieces of infrastructure being built to support the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) bid will now have full-scale, clean energy generation systems because of the investment.

This month the Go8 released information about the important work of its member universities in the field of energy research.

The Go8 recognises that the issue of energy usage and transformation is one of vital importance for Australia and for the rest of the world.

The document highlights projects and contact details for experts in:

Germany’s Fraunhofer centres are to set up a joint project centre in Asia, based at the Centre for Advanced Media Technology, which was set up in 1998 by the Fraunhofer Institute for Computer Graphics Research at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) in Singapore. The Fraunhofer Project Centre for Integrated Digital Media at NTU (Fraunhofer IDM@NTU), located on the grounds of Nanyang University, will focus on interactive digital media research. This will include, among other things, the development of software for Internet-ready mobile phones.

The Irish government revealed plans for an overhaul of its intellectual property laws on Tuesday at the first meeting of the group set up to drive forward the recommendations of a recent report on innovation strategy.

The Australian Government’s proposed R&D Tax Credit is rated the world’s best system for providing incentives to foster R&D activity, according to a report just released by KPMG.

The Competitive Alternatives 2010 Special Report: Focus on Tax states: “the most dramatic change is for Australia, moving up from fifth place in 2008, to first in 2010. This change is a result of Australia adopting a new R&D tax credit system as of July 1st, 2010”.

From the air it looks like any other waste water treatment plant.

But this is actually the first hydro-electric power station in Australia to be powered by sewage.

The system is being pioneered in Sydney, Australia’s largest city.

The Australian Government will invest $37 million to develop a world first Australian Future Fibres Research and Innovation Centre (AFFRIC) at Deakin University.

The project will support:

In order to provide the Australian research community with best practice advice on engagement with the European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme for research and technological development (FP7), FEAST has conducted a comprehensive survey of Australians involved with FP7 project proposals, both successful and unsuccessful. These interviews enable FEAST to present robust evidence of successful strategies and tactics, and practical advice on how to engage with FP7.

The EU’s forthcoming Research and Innovation Strategy for Europe will focus on the major societal challenges, have a broad definition of ‘innovation’ and seek to remove bottlenecks to the flow of knowledge, European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science Máire Geoghegan-Quinn has announced.

The Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) sector is by far the largest investor in private research and development (R&D) in the EU, with 25% of total investment in 2007. According to a new report published by the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, the ICT sector’s leadership is due to its market dynamism, technological innovative capacity and the fact that ICT fosters competitiveness and productivity in the rest of the economy.

The Prime Minister today launched the Australian Centre on China in the World at The Australian National University (ANU).

The Government will provide a foundation grant of $35 million to establish the Centre and a further $18.1 million to construct a signature building to house it on the ANU campus.

In the Asia-Pacific century, with China’s increasing prominence in regional and global affairs, this is an investment in Australia’s future.

In a major step forward for Australian research into solar energy, CSIRO is building the largest solar-power tower of its type in the world at the National Solar Energy Centre in Newcastle.

The site will consist of around 450 mirrors (heliostats) that will direct solar heat onto a 30m-high tower to produce super-heated compressed air for a Brayton Cycle turbine.

Socio-economic and Humanities Research for Policy, a newly launched news alert service highlights the policy relevance of socio-economic and humanities research findings. Socio-economic and Humanities Research for Policy helps policy makers respond to the complex economic and social dynamics of the modern world by providing access to the latest research results.

This report covers research carried out under the Socio-economic Key Action of the 5th Framework Programme, and aims to provide a benchmark for the evaluation of the scientific impact of subsequent programmes.

New EU-funded research shows that the ever-growing pressure to produce publishable results can adversely impact the quality of scientific research. Support for the work came from the OBJECTIVE SCIENCE (‘Quantifying objectivity in the natural and social sciences’) project, which received more than €161,000 under the People Specific Programme of the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) to assess the level of bias in the natural and social sciences. The research findings are published in the Public Library of Science (PLoS) ONE journal.

The first in a series of new annual reports takes a hard look at how Australia’s national innovation system is performing.

Innovation Minister Senator Kim Carr said the Australian Innovation System Report 2010 shows that business expenditure on research and development has almost doubled over the last decade, rising from a low of 0.67% of GDP in 1998-99 to 1.27% of GDP in 2007-08.

Attracting and retaining the best and brightest early-career researchers from within Australia and around the world is at the heart of the Australian Government’s decision to fund 100 Super Science Fellowships.

Researchers are critical to Australia’s knowledge economy. Early-career researchers are well placed to take advantage of opportunities as they emerge. They are the entrepreneurs of the future.

Treasurer Wayne Swan and Innovation Minister Kim Carr today released a second exposure draft of the legislation for the new R&D tax incentive.

“The new R&D tax incentive will be critical to thousands of Australian businesses, which is why we’re consulting so thoroughly to deliver the best possible scheme,” the Treasurer said.

On 30 and 31 March a strategic international workshop on the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) will seek to identify the major economical and societal benefits of large-scale scientific research infrastructure investments.

The SKA is a US$1 billion+ international project to create a radio telescope incorporating a receiving surface of a million square metres, fifty times larger than the biggest receiving surface now in existence. This huge surface will be composed of many small antennas, divided into a dense inner core array which becomes more diffuse with increasing radius.

In March 2008 Australia accepted an invitation to partner with Europe’s pre-eminent research institute, the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL). This partnership saw Australia granted Associate Member status (the first ever offered) for a period of seven years and created EMBL Australia. This invitation was extended to Australia due to our scientific strengths in cell biology, clinical research, stem cells and regenerative medicine, chemical biology and genetic epidemiology.

Group of Eight (Go8) students now have access to a joint PhD with one of the world’s leading research facilities under a new Memorandum of Understanding with the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL).

EMBL is Europe’s life sciences research flagship. Based on analysis of citation data it ranks as the highest performing research institution outside the United States.

The Group of Eight (Go8) will today renew its very strong links with Germany through a new Memorandum of Understanding focused on research collaboration.

In 2007 the Go8 formed a partnership with the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) to create the Go8 - Germany Joint Research Cooperation Scheme for an initial period of three years. Since then the scheme has provided over $3 million to support research exchange, particularly for early career researchers, between Australia and Germany.

The DGs Energy and Research of the European Commission have launched a new website with information about different energy relevant areas and activities, such as policy, funding instruments, databases of funded projects and publications as well as news and events.

The UK has set out plans to pursue clean coal technology as a UK growth sector with the launch of an industrial strategy for Carbon Capture and Storage (CCS). The government says the sector will be worth up to £6.5 billion and support up to 100,000 jobs by 2030.

The Yorkshire and Humber region, home of Ferrybridge, one of the country’s most polluting coal-fired power stations, has been nominated as the UK’s first low carbon economic area for CCS.

The report ‘Monitoring foresight activities in Europe and the rest of the world’ is part of a series of publications produced by the European Foresight Monitoring Network (EFMN project, 2004-2008). EFMN is a Europe-wide network inspired and financed by the European Commission within the framework of the Foresight Knowledge Sharing Platform implemented under the Research Framework Programme (FP7). This report is the concluding report of the European Foresight Monitoring Network.

The European Commission, in consultation with various stakeholders, identified a number of important current Societal Challenges for the European Union. These will be addressed by the 2010-2013 Work Programmes and, as examples, include “Changing the role of the financial system to better serve economic, social and environmental objectives”, “Creating and adapting jobs in Europe in the context of a socioecological transition” and “Europe facing a rising multi-polar world”.

Australia’s solar energy industry has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with leading European solar researchers.

The signatories to the MoU are the Australian Solar Institute and the Fraunhofer Institute, Europe’s largest research institution.

The agreement provides a platform for a wide range of research to strengthen the development and deployment of solar energy technology, including joint R&D projects, information sharing and support for skills development.