EUROPEAN GERONTECHNOLOGY PROGRAMS Jan Graafmans Secretary General CESAER First ISG Master Class Eindhoven, May 22-23, 2006

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EUROPEAN GERONTECHNOLOGY PROGRAMSJan
GraafmansSecretary General CESAERFirst ISG
Master ClassEindhoven, May 22-23, 2006
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SUNSHINE BEHIND THE CLOUDS?

• Introduction
• EC policy statements regarding universities
• ERC European Research Council
• EIT European Institute of Technology
• Other possibilities
• FP7

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INTRODUCTION

• Gerontechnology Programs do not yet or anymore
  exist at EU level
• The EC, European Council and European Parliament
  are very active at the moment
• Developments regarding the 7th Framework Program,
  the role of the ERC and the establishment of an
  EIT
• The so-called Lisbon agenda From Lisbon-gt
  Copenhagen-gt London to create a competitive
  Europe (growth and jobs agenda)

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EC ON UNIVERSITIES(1)

• Europe needs modernised universities
• Millions are trained in old-fashioned ways(Figel)
• Power-houses of knowledge generation but need to
  adapt to the demands of a global, knowledge-based
  economy (Potocnik)
• 9 areas of change proposed by the EC

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EC ON UNIVERSITIES(2)

• More graduates to spend a semester abroad
• Allow students to take their grants abroad
• Bring recognition procedures of academic
  qualifications in line with professional
  qualifications
• Training in IPR management for researchers
• Offer courses to allow for LLL (ageing
  population)
• Review national student fee schemes
• Review systems for funding universities
• Allow greater autonomy and accountability-gtquick
  response to change-gtenhance interdisciplinarity
• Autonomy for individual institutes to choose
  teaching and research staff (salary!)
• www.europa.eu.int/education/policies/
• http//europa.eu.int/comm/dgs/research
• http//europa.eu.int/eracareers

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EUROPEAN RESEARCH COUNCIL

• Part of 7th Framework Programme
• Scientifically free and politically independent
• Ground-braking, investigator driven basic
  research
• Tackle problems with emerging research fields
  such as biotech, nanotech and maybe
  gerontechnology
• Replace existing (national) funding mechanisms
  that tend to favor established disciplines
• ERC Starting Independent Research Grant Scheme
  for early stage research (teams or individuals)
• Advanced investigator research grant scheme for
  projects lead by researchers at all career stages
• http//europa.eu.int/erc/index_en.cfm

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EUROPEAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (1)

• EIT CONCEPT
• An autonomous institution with an innovative
  structural and operational model and a strong
  European identity.
• Will perform education, research and innovation
  activities on the basis of resources partially
  provided by partner organisations and organised
  within the framework of Knowledge Communities

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EUROPEAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (2)

• Knowledge communities (KC)
• Federations of excellent teams and departments
  that will perform a medium/long term education,
  research and innovation agenda in a range of
  strategic interdisciplinary fields.
• Teams and departments from both academic and
  business sectors will federate and create
  partnerships seeking to become the KC (bottom
  up).
• The Governing Board will define the
  interdisciplinary areas in which the EIT will
  operate and in which KCs need to be established.
  It will set the criteria and procedures for
  selection, and organise it as a competitive
  process (top down).
• The areas selected should represent key
  challenges faced by the EU in a long term
  perspective (areas with business relevance,
  between fundamental and downstream applied
  research).

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EUROPEAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY(3)

• Human resources
• Challenge to attract the best people, provide a
  shared and innovative working model, and draw an
  effective team to fulfil the objectives of
  excellence.
• Academics working in KCs need to be in touch with
  their academic base it is important to ensure
  enough commitment to the EIT itself.
• KCs have the freedom to organise their human
  resources within the general EIT framework
  defined by the Governing Board.
• Various options available in the Legal
  instrument from direct employment, detachment
  (with varying degrees of right to return to the
  home institution) to dual affiliation.

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EUROPEAN INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (4)

• Finance
• An in depth financial analysis will be provided
  in the framework of the impact assessment next
  autumn.
• The EIT will need considerable public core
  funding at the beginning, nevertheless as it
  develops, it can be expected that more private
  funding will come in.
• The EIT will grow progressively funding
  requirements will be concentrated at the end of
  the 2007-2013 period and beyond.
• The EIT will be encouraged to set up a private
  Foundation to manage its endowment.

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OTHER POSSIBILITIES

• Hidden everywhere in the EU some examples
• FP6 eHealth (last call closes 12-06-2006)
• STRATA-ETAN (policy studies)
• Human Potential (Summer Schools)
• TSER (Targeted Socio-Economic Research)
• JRC (Joint Research Centre
• ESF (European Social Fund)
• ERDF (European Regional Development Fund)
• COST (We had a very successful COST-A5)
• CRAFT-SME
• DGX, DGY, DGZ might address aging society
• European Commission http//ec.europa.eu

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WHAT ABOUT FP7?

• FP7 Four specific programs, first calls expected
  end 2006 begin 2007
• Cooperation (collaborative research, 32,2 B)
• Ideas (frontier research, 7,4 B)
• People (human potential, 4,6 B)
• Capacities (research capacity, 4,2 B)
• Total budget 48,4 B (indicative)(40 increase)
• The Eropean Council and the European Parliament
  still have to approve the Program and the Budget

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FP7 THEMATIC AREAS

• Nine thematic areas
• Health
• Food, agriculture and biotechnology
• Information and communication technologies (ICT)
• Nanosciences, nanotechnologies, materials and new
  production technologies
• Energy
• Environment
• Transport
• Socio-economic sciences and the humanities
• Security and space
• Debate on FP7
• http//cordis.europa.eu/fp7/home.html

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Why cant I make this x,!_at_çx? thing work?
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THANK YOU

• We have a long way to go! After Gerontechnology
  was born as a healthy baby in a fertile
  environment, the field became adolescent. And as
  every puber runs into problems with the
  establishment, this was not different for
  Gerontechnology.
• Now the field has a chance to become mature but
  this will require joint efforts from many. Yes,
  the sun (money) shines behind the dense clouds of
  burocracy and politics but with patience and
  endurance we meaning Gerontechnology- will
  survive and prosper to the benefit of society