Grants of up to €2.4 million will be awarded to universities and research institutions in less developed regions of Europe under a new ERA Chairs pilot program. The program aims to support excellence in research and help institutions compete internationally. If successful, the Commission plans to significantly expand ERA Chairs funding under the Horizon 2020 program.

1. Post-lunch wake-up exercise
Anna Mossolova

2. Description of the task
Please try to translate a piece of the European
Commission’s press-release text into a micro-blog, a FB
post. Extract the most important information and make a
post, which is:
1. short;
2. catchy;
3. relevant to researchers, i.e would make them“like” or
“share” it!
Each group gets it own text to transform.
Try to compose MORE THAN ONE micro-blog!

3. Challenge #1
Grants of up to €2.4 million will be awarded to universities or
research institutions in less developed regions in Europe, under
a pilot programme of the European Commission. The ERA
Chairs initiative will support universities and other eligible
organisations to achieve the level of research excellence
needed to be competitive at international level. They will have
to demonstrate that they can provide the facilities and
environment for excellent research in line with the European
Research Area (ERA). The pilot stage for ERA Chairs will test
the concept. If successful, the Commission proposes to fund a
much larger number of ERA Chairs, depending on the size of
the budget for the future framework programme Horizon 2020
(2014-2020).

4. Challenge #2
The European Commission has today, on Rare Disease Day
2013, announced €144 million of new funding for 26 research
projects on rare diseases. The projects will help improve the
lives of some of the 30 million Europeans suffering from a rare
disease. The selected projects bring together over 300
participants from 29 countries in Europe and beyond, including
teams from leading academic institutions, SMEs and patients'
groups. The goal is to pool resources and work beyond
borders, to get a better understanding of rare diseases and find
adequate treatments. The 26 new projects cover a broad
spectrum of rare diseases such as cardiovascular, metabolic
and immunological disorders.

5. Challenge #3
Although the proportion of female researchers in Europe is
increasing, the under-representation of women in scientific
disciplines and careers still persists. This is the message of the
latest edition of the "She Figures", published today by the
European Commission. Women represent only 33% of
European researchers, 20% of full professors and 15.5 % of
heads of institutions in the Higher Education sector. climbing up
the ladder of the academic career, women represented 44 % of
the researchers with a PhD at the first grade of an academic
career and only 20 % of the researchers at the top grade of an
academic career. Promoting gender equality is one of the key
priorities set by the Commission for the achievement of the
European Research Area (ERA).

6. Challenge #4
Better job opportunities and more rewarding careers for
researchers is at the heart of establishing a well functioning and
borderless European Research Area. Creating the Fifth
Freedom—the free movement of knowledge—is a top priority
and Europe's political leaders have prioritised modernising
labour markets and investing in knowledge and innovation to
deliver on the EU's Lisbon Strategy for Growth and Jobs. The
"European Charter for Researchers and the Code of Conduct
for the Recruitment of Researchers” provides a means to
achieving a transparent and open labour market for
researchers. While 900 institutions in 24 participating countries
have signed up to the Charter and the Code, a new support
measure would encourage more institutions to take better
ownership of the Charter and the Code in their own human
resources policy.

7. Challenge #5
Consultation on the ERA Framework: Areas of untapped
potential for the development of the European Research Area
(ERA). The consultation aims to reinforce the Commission
analysis of the key issues to be addressed as well as to gather
views on their importance: researchers' careers and mobility,
research infrastructures, cross-border operation of research
actors, knowledge circulation, International cooperation and
cross-cutting governance issues. The outcome of the
consultation will help the Commission to decide on those issues,
which should be addressed as priorities when preparing by 2012
the ERA Framework, which will set out the focused,
proportionate and effective measures to be taken to realize
ERA. We welcome contributions from citizens, organisations
and public authorities.

8. Now it’s time to “like” and “share”!