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Last month's activities

University of Malta RSSD met the University College London (UCL) ERIO
The RSSD team visited UCL between the 24 and 27 April where they had the opportunity to meet the UCL European Research and Innovation Office (ERIO), as well as their post-award, grant management, project management and systems management services. Here, presentations and discussions took place on the systems of both Universities as well as future collaborations. The event of Brexit represents an opportunity for both since UCL may contribute its expertise whilst UM may enter into the role of coordinating Horizon 2020 projects. The visit also featured a visit to the Vision 2020 network headquarters, whereby the Marine & Maritime Helix launch event to be held in September in Malta was discussed. The objective of this meeting will be to bring institutions from academia and industry together to form consortia for the relevant Horizon 2020 calls. The network also presented the Crowdhelix Platform, an online network partner search tool which will be available to all UM researchers. The UCL ERIO team is due to visit the UM next month. This collaboration is being made possible through the Internationalisation Partnership Awards Scheme (IPAS).

Utrecht Network fourth Research Managers' Workshop
The UM hosted the fourth Utrecht Network research managers workshop between the 8th-10th May. 24 research managers from across Europe came together to discuss developments in the research management profession, in particular how to be of better service to researchers and be more effective in winning EU funding. Of particular interest were discussions on building winning consortia, how to improve the success of low performing member states in ERC, the 4 levels of research support and the effects of Brexit. It was an honor to have guest speaker Dr Sean Mc Carthy, who delivered two presentations - the first on the 4 levels of research support, including an announcement to his new training course on proposal intelligence, and the second on the development of the next Framework Programme 9. Dr Mc Carthy specialises in helping organisations design and implement their European Research Strategies. The workshop also featured a visit to the UM Solar Energy Lab in Marsaxlokk, whereby the group, hosted by the Director of ISE Prof. Luciano Mule Stagno, had the opportunity to discuss collaborations in order to maximise use of the facility.

Joint event on the MCST Commercialisation Voucher Programme (CVP) and Internationalisation Partnership Award Scheme (IPAS)
A joint event was organised between RSSD and MCST as the National Funding Authority on the the CVP call 2 as well as IPAS on the 16 May. The event started with a presentation followed by a number of one on one consultations with potential applicants.

Upcoming events 

18 June: MCST Horizon 2020 NCP outreach event at the TAKEOFF events room, Dar Guzeppi Zahra. This event will focus on 3 specific calls - MSCA Individual Fellowships, as well as schemes for widening participation TWINNING and ERA chairs. A separate mailshot shall be sent shortly including a call for expressions of interest.

25 - 28 June: UCL's ERIO team visit to Malta.

27 - 28 September: Vision 2020 Marine & Maritime Helix Launch event at Esplora Interactive Science Centre, Kalkara. 

Open Calls

FUSION Commercialisation Partnership Award Scheme Call 2
The Commercialisation Voucher Programme is another instrument aimed at bridging the existing gap in the R&I framework as well as improving the overall development and commercialization potential of innovative ideas. It funds a series of vouchers for using the services of various service providers aimed at analyzing the commercialisation potential of a technology. Further information may be found .
Deadline: 18 June 2018 at noon
UM Internal deadline for submission to RSSD: 11 June 2018

INTERREG Europe
4th call for projects is due to be launched on 7 May, closing on 22 June 2018. It welcomes projects in the field of improvements to existing similar policies across Europe. Further information on the programme including a partner search tool, project ideas searching for partners and the relevant Priority Axes is available .
Deadline: 22 June 2018
UM Internal deadline for submission to RSSD: 15 June 2018

MCST Space Research Fund - new!
The Space Research Fund shall provide financial support for research, development and innovation in the downstream Satellite Earth Observation (EO) sector, specifically projects that deal with the processing and exploitation of data collected through EO satellites. The call is open to all Maltese Legal Entities, whereby funding is available to up to EUR 150,000 per project to be executed over a period of maximum 20 months.
Deadline: 2 July 2018
UM Internal Deadline for submission to RSSD: 25 June 2018

Marie Skłodowska Curie Actions (MSCA) 2018
Would you like to learn more about the revamped Marie SkÅ‚odowska-Curie actions? Searching for bottom-up research funding and host a post-doc researcher? Are you a research institution/company looking for partnership with academia in third countries as well as industry?  The following call for proposals are currently open:
MSCA Individual Fellowship (IF) - This year, for the first time, this call will extend to 'Widening Fellowships', meaning that if a fellowship is not awarded under the general call, it will be eligible under a call for the 'low-performing' member states, including Malta, thus increasing our chances of getting funded!
Deadline: 12 September 2018
UM Internal deadline for submission to RSSD: 5 September 2018

COST
These are Europe-wide networking actions in various research areas.
The next collection date is 29 November 2018

HORIZON 2020 TWINNING
This call is designed specifically for the 'low performing' member states including Malta. It needs to be coordinated by Malta, partnering up with two other 'Centres of Excellence'. It does not fund research but rather networking between these three entities in order to improve research performance.
Deadline: 15 November 2018

HORIZON 2020 ERA Chairs
This call, also designed specifically for the "low performing" member states including Malta, is intended to develop a new research area in Malta. Funding is available to engage an expert in the research field as well as his/her team for a period of 5 years.
Deadline: 15 November 2018

HORIZON 2020 TOPIC
Digital health and care services - Digital solutions supporting a continuum of care across a range of health and care services can relieve the pressure on governments to provide more cost-effective health and care systems by improving utilisation of healthcare and health outcomes.

Deadline: 14 November 2018

HORIZON 2020 TOPIC
Smart and healthy living at home - Citizens in a rapidly ageing European population are at greater risk of cognitive impairment, frailty and multiple chronic health conditions with considerable negative consequences for their independence, quality of life and for the sustainability of health and care systems. The challenge is to foster large-scale deployment of integrated digital solutions which will bring improved quality of life to citizens while demonstrating significant efficiency gains in health and care delivery across Europe.
Deadline: 14 November 2018

Various Horizon 2020 Calls in the Marine field
Deadline: 23 January 2019

ERC grants
Are you a researcher with an excellent scientific profile and with visionary research projects in mind that you want to realise in Europe? The European Research Council (ERC) has a funding scheme that will meet your needs.

Starting, Consolidator, Advanced, Synergy and Proof of Concept Grants

Find out more:
- Call open! Deadline 30 August 2018
- Call open! Deadline 11 September 2018
- The next call will be announced in summer 2018
- The next call will be announced in summer 2018
- The next call will be announced in summer 2018

SPIN - The New Research Funding Software!