On the occasion of a joint event organised by the JRC in cooperation with the Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST), the two organisations signed a Memorandum of Understanding on intensified research cooperation. Areas of such collaboration have been identified on the basis of mutual interest and include environment, biotechnology, information and communication technologies (ICT), energy, food safety and maritime affairs.

Both organisations have also agreed to host Maltese doctoral and post doctoral students in the various JRC Research Institutes. Candidates for grants funded by Malta's national programmes will be nominated by MCST or the University of Malta, and pre-selected candidates will be approved by the JRC. Maltese candidates to the EU grants will need to follow the common JRC grants procedures or apply for a Marie Curie fellowship.

Nature's capacity to provide vital services such as fresh water, benign climate and natural ecosystems for recreational activities is often cheaper to maintain than having to invest in technological solutions. Protecting and restoring biodiversity is also an essential step in the transition to a more sustainable economy and protecting ecosystems can be very cost effective. This is confirmed by a report to policy makers presented by The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB) project, a major independent global study providing an economic angle to an environmental topic.

The rapid growth of web 2.0, or social computing, allows users to play an influential role in the way commercial and public products and services are shaped. The report "The impact of Social Computing on the EU Information Society and Economy", published today by the JRC Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (IPTS), finds that in 2008, 41% of EU Internet users were engaged in social computing activities through Social Networking Sites (SNS), blogs, photo and video sharing, online multi-player games and collaborative platforms for content creation and sharing. This percentage rises to 64% if users aged under 24 only are considered.

The report shows that social computing goes beyond individual networking and entertainment, as it empowers tens of millions of Europeans to support their work, health, learning and citizenship in innovative ways. The research found that social computing is reshaping work practices, as employees join communities of interest outside their organisations to improve their knowledge and skills. Social innovation enabled by social computing contributes to improved lifelong learning processes, business competitiveness, social inclusion and integration of immigrants, among others.

This week, the 15th GeoCAP Annual Conference is gathering around 350 European experts to discuss the latest innovations in remote sensing technologies and their application for supporting agricultural subsidies controls. Since the introduction of remote sensing controls EU regulations in 1992, satellite images have proved to be an efficient tool to verify that agricultural subsidies are correctly paid to farmers. In 2008, on a total of 8.3 million declarations made by farmers, 629,000 checks were performed on the spot, of which 55% were done using remote sensing imagery. The same figures are expected for 2009. Very High Resolution satellites or aerial orthophotos allow to accurately check the size of the parcel, their cover type and possibly cover status, thus reducing considerably the need of physical checks in the farms and consequently contributing towards a more effective and efficient management of the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP).

The 2009 EU R&D Industrial Investment Scoreboard is now available. Worldwide corporate R&D investment has increased by 6.9% in spite of the economic crisis, according to the report. With an 8.1% increase, the R&D investment growth of EU companies, defined as companies having headquarters within the EU, is significantly higher than US ones for the second year, at 5.7%, and Japanese ones, at 4.4%.

Two EU companies feature in the top ten: Volkswagen in the 3rd place with an R&D investment of €5.93 billion and Nokia in the 8th. The world's biggest investor in R&D was Toyota Motor, with €7.61 billion. The report also shows that companies from emerging countries have the highest R&D investment growth.

A new test protocol for non-road mobile machinery (NRMM), developed by scientists at the JRC Institute for Environment and Sustainability (IES) in cooperation with experts from the United States and Japan, has been adopted as a global technical regulation by the United Nation’s Economic Commission for Europe (UN-ECE) Working Party on Pollution and Energy (GRPE).

Internationally harmonized test protocols for emission control contribute to reducing pressures on the environment and to more efficient use of energy. They also facilitate innovation and competitiveness by allowing manufacturers to develop engine models that can meet internationally consistent emissions regulations.

The European Commission has opened a public consultation in order to receive input from all people and organisations involved or interested in nanosciences and nanotechnologies research in Europe, and notably researchers, policy makers, industry, media and civil society organisations.

The METIER final conference, co-organised by the JRC and the Partnership for European Environmental Research (PEER), was held 4-6 November in Brussels. The event was attended by 95 young scientists and 30 senior lecturers from all over the world discussing their latest research results on how to tackle the complex challenges of climate change, water availability, biodiversity and sustainable land use. One of the main purposes of the event was to provide training in entering into dialogue with practitioners and policy makers, getting to know their needs and how to respond to them.

Improving tax procedures for cross-border trading of securities could raise European GDP by more than 37 billion Euro over a ten-year period. This is the key finding of a study jointly carried out by the JRC's Institute for the Protection and Security of the Citizen (IPSC) and the Commission's Directorate General Internal Market and Services which analyses the costs and benefits of the proposals made by the EU Clearing and Settlement Fiscal Compliance Experts Group (FISCO) for improving and simplifying withholding tax relief procedures.

Based on the FISCO proposals and backed up by the economic impact study, the European Commission adopted on 19 October 2009 a Recommendation that outlines how EU Member States could make it easier for investors resident in EU Member States to claim withholding tax relief on dividends, interest and other securities income received from other Member States. The Recommendation also suggests measures to eliminate the tax barriers that financial institutions face in their securities investment activities while at the same time protecting tax revenues against errors or fraud.

A new project has been launched which will bring together European and Turkish experts in measurement science. The JRC Institute for Reference Materials and Measurements (IRMM) will work with scientists from the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) and the Turkish Atomic Energy Authority (TAEK).

The three-year project is funded by the European Union under the instrument for pre-accession assistance (IPA), and it aims at providing Turkey's citizens an increased quality of life in areas such as environment, health, food safety and consumer protection through an enhanced measurement infrastructure. A well-functioning measurement infrastructure is also necessary for the adoption of the EU body of law and the project can thus be seen as supporting the accession of Turkey to the EU.

On the occasion of ESOF 2010, taking place in Turin next year, an Italian national science competition has been launched: “Science, Society and Us: What can science do for society? – in the eyes of young people” (“Noi, la Scienza, La Società – Cosa può fare la scienza per la società: il punto d vista dei giovani”). The competition is open to high school students in Italy, and participants must make a 3 minute video clip. Prizes include a visit to Turin during ESOF 2010, and a study trip to Belgium organised by the JRC.

TopESOF – the local organiser of ESOF2010, in partnership with the Regional School Office of Piedmont and the Regional School Office of Lombardy has set up the competition in collaboration with the JRC, the Italia 150 Committee and the Institute G. Caboti in Chiavari, with the support of Publishing House Bollati Boringhieri.

The new-look October edition of the JRC Newsletter has been published and can be downloaded here. It features an editorial from Matthias Ruete, Director-General for Energy and Transport at the European Commission, on the SET-Plan and its role in the EU's energy and climate change policies.

This month's issue also contains news on the EU's investment in research and development in the field of clean energy technologies, new websites on international development co-operation, JRC reports on agricultural risk management schemes, the geological disposal of nuclear waste, the impact of ship emissions on air pollution and much more.

The purpose of the JRC Newsletter is to provide customers, stakeholders and staff, along with anyone interested in who we are and what we do, with a selection of recent highlights of JRC science and technology, support to European policy making, contributions to scientific events and other news of interest. To receive regular email alerts about new issues of the newsletter, you can subscribe to JRC's electronic mailing lists.

The new-look October edition of the JRC Newsletter has been published and can be downloaded here. It features an editorial from Matthias Ruete, Director-General for Energy and Transport at the European Commission, on the SET-Plan and its role in the EU's energy and climate change policies.

This month's issue also contains news on the EU's investment in research and development in the field of clean energy technologies, new websites on international development co-operation, JRC reports on agricultural risk management schemes, the geological disposal of nuclear waste, the impact of ship emissions on air pollution and much more.

ERAWATCH, the European Commission's on-line information platform on research systems and policies in Europe and beyond, has published its 2009 Policy Mix Reports on research in 33 countries.

This is the first time that, in addition to all EU 27 Member States, six countries associated to the Framework Programme have been covered: Croatia, Iceland, Israel, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey.

The Trans-Atlantic Science for Policy Workshop at the Joint Research Centre (JRC) in Ispra brought together a unique group of 22 individuals with pertinent experiences of real-life scientific support to policy-making. These parliamentarians, science advisers, heads of European and international organisations, leaders of science foundations and academies, plus senior NGO representatives and CEOs from industry, represent all aspects of science-policy interaction from conception and development to implementation, monitoring and evaluation.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the JRC's Institute for Energy (IE) strengthened their ongoing collaboration yesterday with the official signing of a 'Practical Arrangement' which will allow both partners to further develop scientific and technical co-operation in the fields of nuclear safety, nuclear technology and energy planning issues.

In practical terms this will result in increased support of JRC-IE to the IAEA, enhanced co-operation and co-ordination of their mutual activities in the field of energy policy support.

The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and the JRC's Institute for Energy (IE) strengthened their ongoing collaboration yesterday with the official signing of a 'Practical Arrangement' which will allow both partners to further develop scientific and technical co-operation in the fields of nuclear safety, nuclear technology and energy planning issues.

In practical terms this will result in increased support of JRC-IE to the IAEA, enhanced co-operation and co-ordination of their mutual activities in the field of energy policy support.

Areas for collaboration include:

• Nuclear safety (for existing and future power reactors, and research reactors);
• Operational aspects of existing nuclear power plants, including operational experience feedback;
• Development of new nuclear technologies for power generation and other applications of nuclear energy in non-power fields;
• Modelling of optimal nuclear energy deployment, planning and investing, in the context of the overall energy systems, with special focus on energy security.

The official signing ceremony was held at the IAEA in Vienna on 27 October. JRC-IE Director Giovanni De Santi, IAEA Deputy Director General (Nuclear Safety & Security) Tomihiro Taniguchi and Yury A Sokolov, Deputy Director General and Head of Nuclear Energy, signed the official agreement.

Dr Alan I. Leshner, Chief Executive Officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and Executive Publisher of the Journal Science, is giving the inaugural JRC Annual Lecture this evening in Brussels.

The title of the lecture is "Europe and the United States, a crucial moment for science cooperation". European Commissioner for Science & Research, Janez Potočnik and JRC Director-General Roland Schenkel are also speaking at the event, which marks the 50^th anniversary of the opening of the European Commission's first research site in Ispra (Italy) and today's signature of a Memorandum of Understanding between the JRC and AAAS.

Download the JRC News Release

Dr Alan I. Leshner, Chief Executive Officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and Executive Publisher of the Journal Science, is giving the inaugural JRC Annual Lecture this evening in Brussels.

The title of the lecture is "Europe and the United States, a crucial moment for science cooperation". European Commissioner for Science & Research, Janez Potočnik and JRC Director-General Roland Schenkel are also speaking at the event, which marks the 50^th anniversary of the opening of the European Commission's first research site in Ispra (Italy) and today's signature of a Memorandum of Understanding between the JRC and AAAS.

Download the JRC News Release

The JRC has co-authored a report which sets out recommendations for how the EU should tackle nuclear data research in the coming years.

High-quality nuclear data describing the nuclear reactions taking place in advanced reactors and the fuel cycle are essential for the design and safe operation of current and future nuclear power plants. The tight safety margins envisaged for new, advanced nuclear energy systems, such as Generation IV, put challenging constraints on the accuracy of nuclear data.

In anticipation of this need for an intensive programme of nuclear data research, representatives from the research community and the end-users (industry) of nuclear data came together in the collaborative project, CANDIDE. Their final report sets out a set of recommendations, or a roadmap, for sustainable nuclear data development:

• A long term commitment to modern nuclear data evaluation in Europe
• Support for the facilities that are capable to produce the required nuclear measurements and stimulation of high-accuracy measurements on key reactions of interest to advanced reactor development
• To provide the capability for advanced nuclear model development
• To ensure flexible implementation of improved nuclear data libraries in nuclear technology and design