By Xinyi Li, EDITOR
March 28th, Chongqing held the China-EU Research and Innovation Stakeholders Tour 2019, which was sponsored by China Science and Technology Exchange Center and the Delegation of the European Union to China under the guidance of the Department of International Cooperation, Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’ Republic of China. At the conference, relevant personnel from China and the EU interpreted and publicized the scientific research plans and policies of both sides to scientific research institutions, science, and technology parks, and enterprises of Chongqing.
Chinese researchers can participate in the EU “Horizon 2020” independently
To open up cooperation fields and channels with China
According to Philippe Vialatte, Minister Counsellor for Science and Technology of the Delegation of the European Union to China, the EU and China have maintained good interaction in the field of scientific research and conducted cooperation in various fields. Meanwhile, the EU and China are facing such common challenges as the aging of population and climate changes, which also create opportunities to strengthen mutual exchanges and cooperation.
“Now, the ‘Horizon 2020’ launched by the EU allows the independent participation of Chinese researchers, and we hope to cooperate with more of them to solve common problems faced by both sides,” said Philippe Vialatte.
The ‘Horizon 2020’ launched by the EU allows the independent participation of Chinese researchers
In 2015, the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’ Republic of China and the DG-RTD launched China-EU joint funding mechanism for scientific research innovation. The two sides launched a three-year flagship cooperation project for scientific and technological innovation in 2018. In this project, the EU specially opened up cooperation fields and channels with China under the “Horizon 2020”, so as to promote more equal and mutually beneficial cooperation between China
The total amount of a single project is up to EUR 2 million
The relevant responsible person of the Embassy of Austria in Beijing introduced the latest Austrian international cooperation project of “Crossing Europe”.
It is a bilateral exploratory and cooperative scientific research project for various fields, which is open to all countries apart from the EU and relevant EU countries. Additionally, each project involves at least two parties, with Austria playing a leading role. Currently, the first round of the funding for the project is EUR 4.6 million, 20% of which is available for other countries except for Austria. With a total amount for each project of about EUR 100,000 to EUR 2 million, researchers in Chongqing are welcomed to actively apply for and participate in all projects concerned.
Biological pesticide R&D becoming an international cooperation project
According to Chongqing Science and Technology Bureau, in the past two years, 5 projects of Chongqing have obtained the funds from national key R&D plans and key special projects of intergovernmental international cooperation in science and technology innovation of the Ministry of Science and Technology. With the funding of over RMB ten million, these projects involve fields like modern agriculture, advanced manufacturing, energy science, and information technology, and two of them are under the joint implementation with European countries.
“Our project mainly utilizes biological pesticides to reduce the loss of late blight in plants such as potatoes, which is based on the R&D of intelligent early warning system of late blight of new biological pesticides and potato varieties.” said the responsible person. The utilization of this biological pesticide will reduce the use of chemical pesticides, so as to reduce its pollution on plants, water, and soil. Additionally, this project approved this year will conclude in 2021.
Source: CQCB