News

Ahead of the European Innovation Council (EIC) Summit, research and innovation organisations voice concerns regarding the Intellectual Property (IP) provisions for EIC-funded Transition and Pathfinder projects. As they currently stand, the provisions create serious obstacles to the knowledge valorisation services undertaken by research-performing organisations. This poses serious threats to the exploitation of research outcomes.

Which Guild universities are featured on the euro coins? Or which is the oldest university in the world? For this holiday season, The Guild has created an advent calendar which contains fun facts about our member universities. Take a look!

This issue includes highlights from The Guild's participation in the AU-EU Innovation Agenda Stakeholder event in Nairobi, and from the first-ever summit between African and European leaders who in their meeting laid the foundations for new types of research partnerships. The Guild Secretary-General Jan Palmowski and ARUA Secretary-General Ernest Aryeetey discussed the outcomes in a new opinion piece published by University World News. See also the video clips from our latest info session that explored opportunities for research collaboration via the MSCA Doctoral Network scheme. Lastly, read our news on The Guild’s doctoral workshop on private law hosted by the University of Bologna.

On 23 and 24 November, representatives of The Guild are contributing to a transcontinental dialogue about the draft AU-EU Innovation Agenda in Nairobi, Kenya, alongside their colleagues from the African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA).

The African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) and The Guild of European Research-Intensive Universities are intensifying their unique partnership, as Vice-Chancellors and Presidents of the two networks laid the foundations for new types of partnerships, grounded on equity and inclusion.

The Guild organised last week a workshop on private law, bringing together over 20 doctoral candidates and professors from across The Guild member universities.

The Guild's October newsletter contains highlights from our autumn General Assembly at the Jagiellonian University where the Presidents discussed how to strengthen inclusiveness and open scientific collaboration. See also our news about this year's Nobel Prize laureates Anton Zeilinger and Svante Pääbo, the new Rectors of the Universities of Tübingen and Vienna, and a joint call to reverse the proposed Horizon Europe 2023 budget cuts. Read also Secretary-General Jan Palmowski's opinion piece on EU’s bid to achieve strategic autonomy and how it can impact European science.

Poland’s oldest university, Jagiellonian University, provided a rich setting for The Guild’s autumn General Assembly meeting that focused on how to strengthen open scientific collaboration at a time of growing global tensions.

This year’s Nobel Prize awards, including to Emeritus Professor Anton Zeilinger from the University of Vienna and Professor Svante Pääbo, alumnus of Uppsala University, demonstrate the necessity for Europe to invest in excellence across the entire research pipeline.

Two new rectors of The Guild’s member universities, the University of Tübingen and the University of Vienna, have started their positions on 1 October, marking a new chapter in their universities’ commitment to excellence in research and teaching, and their dedication to internationalisation.

The Guild, together with research and university organisations, calls for the member states to reverse the proposed cuts for the 2023 budget of Horizon Europe. A financially well-equipped Horizon Europe is key to addressing the current and future challenges European citizens are facing, and for Europe to secure its global competitiveness.

The Guild’s first newsletter of this autumn contains Secretary-General Jan Palmowski's reflections on the Commission President von der Leyen's State of the European Union speech, highlights of our Vice-Presidents’ meeting in Bern where European and global collaboration was in focus, and a recap of the ARUA-The Guild info session on the MSCA Doctoral Networks scheme. See also the opinion piece by the University of Oslo’s Rector Svein Stølen and Vice-Rector Bjørn Stensaker on how to better support universities in war and conflict zones.

The Guild’s Vice-Presidents gathered in Bern on 7-8 September to discuss the key policy issues for the upcoming year. Hosted by the University of Bern, the meeting highlighted the importance of rapid association of Switzerland to Horizon Europe.

On 30 August, African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) and The Guild organised an info session on the MSCA Doctoral Networks funding scheme. With the call for 2022 currently ongoing, the event provided practical insights from the European Commission and previous grant holders on how to set up successful applications.

Published on 5 July, the New European Innovation Agenda puts forward a number of key actions to develop the innovation ecosystems in Europe. By putting emphasis on deep tech, the Agenda misses to embrace all types of innovation and neglects the crucial role of some actors, including universities, in developing these ecosystems.

In the past year, the EU has become increasingly important for universities. In turn, universities, through their research, innovation and education, have become more central to EU policymaking. Key initiatives, from the EU strategy for universities to digital and health policies, have had major implications for research and higher education. Moreover, the war in Ukraine has changed geopolitics profoundly, forcing universities to reassess their position and approaches regarding international relations. Through its working groups and the leadership of the General Assembly, The Guild engaged with a growing range of policy areas, while also bringing new depths to our work on Horizon Europe and Erasmus+, alongside the European Research and Education Areas. Finally, last year also brought significant advances to our collaboration; internally, and with our close partner, the African Research Universities Alliance.

This issue includes The Guild's call to the EIC to better recognise the role of technology transfer offices in enabling knowledge valorisation as well as recaps of our General Assembly meeting and the fifth #FutureofEducation seminar, hosted by the University of Tübingen. See also Secretary-General Jan Palmowski's latest blog entries in which he discusses the importance of fostering synergies between education and innovation, and why the UK and Swiss association to Horizon Europe should be a scientific and political priority.

Contributing to MEP Christian Ehler’s report on the implementation of the European Innovation Council (EIC), The Guild calls for the EIC to better recognise the role of universities’ technology transfer offices as key actors in the emergence of breakthrough innovations.

After two years of virtual meetings, The Guild had the pleasure to host its Presidents in person at the General Assembly meeting on 7-8 June 2022. On the agenda were many key topics from the Green Deal to foreign interference and the research assessment reform.

How can universities manage the tensions and expectations regarding international orientation and local embeddedness, where has the Bologna Process brought us, and what should be the next phase? These were some of the key themes discussed in our virtual seminar, hosted by the University of Tübingen.

This issue includes our calls to the Commission and the member states regarding the recently released European Health Data Space, strengthening universities’ innovation capacities in light of the upcoming New European Innovation Agenda, and Open Access and the need to support the development of Diamond Open Access journals ahead of the June Competitiveness Council. Lastly, make sure you get a spot in our final #FutureofEducation seminar, hosted by the University of Tübingen on 3 June.

The Guild expresses concerns about the provisions in the Horizon Europe grant agreement that give ‘EIC inventors’ indefinite royalty-free access rights. Ensuring that universities across Europe have well-functioning knowledge and technology transfer offices would be a better approach to maximise the exploitation of research results.

Ahead of the June Competitiveness Council, where the ministers will be invited to adopt conclusions on research assessment and implementation of Open Science policies, The Guild urges the member states to ensure that Open Access serves science, not publishers.

The Guild welcomes the publication, on Tuesday 3rd May, of the European Commission’s proposal for a regulation on the European Health Data Space (EHDS). While contributing to the building of the European Health Union, the proposal recognises the particular sensitivities of health data and the ethics of its use. The Guild fully underlines the urgency of finding solutions to unleash the full potential of shared health data to help scientists develop new treatments for patients and improve the wellbeing of citizens in Europe.

Our April issue zooms in on international cooperation in research and academic freedom, including also a highlight from our call to the EU on supporting students and staff from Ukraine. See also the joint recommendations on the Digital Services Act, and our positions on multinational clinical trials and animal research. Catch up also with our Secretary-General Jan Palmowski's latest opinion pieces on the research assessment reform and universities’ support for Ukraine.