Knowledge News Informal Meeting of Ministers for Competitiveness Research Informal Meeting of Ministers for Competitiveness Research
- 19/07/2007
In the scope of the Portuguese Presidency of the EU, the Informal Meeting of Ministers for Competitiveness – Research will be held on 19th-20th July 2007, as part of the Portuguese Presidency of the EU’s desire to contribute towards implementing the Lisbon Strategy in the Science and Technology field by providing a new impetus and to strengthen this topic’s standing on the European agenda seven years after the March 2000 European Council in Lisbon defined the strategic objective for the next decade of “making the EU the most dynamic and competitive knowledge-based economic area in the world, while providing sustainable economic growth with more and better jobs and more social cohesion.”
The meeting shall deal with the following issues:
- Europe needs more scientists. To maintain a sustained number of qualified researchers in Europe, what measures have Member States taken to encourage young people to study Science and Technology, to create attractive conditions on the labour market (training, research environments and career perspectives), to eliminate regulatory mobility barriers and to promote flexibility in career paths? What measures has each Member State taken to avoid the brain drain and stimulate the brain gain?
- The Council will also gauge Member States’ implementation of the Lisbon Strategy Science and Technology targets concerning the objective of 3% investment in R&D by 2010, with 2% from the private sector. What are the barriers to growth of private investment in R&D and the Member States’ main policies and programmes to encourage private investment in R&D and to consolidate public investment in R&D?
A series of guest specialists will make presentations, namely:
- António Câmara, founder and CEO of the YDreams company (see New Technology Enterprises), and Professor at the Faculty of Science and Technology of the Universidade Nova de Lisboa.
- Epifânio da Franca, founder and CEO of the Chipidea company (see New Technology Enterprises), and Professor at the Instituto Superior Técnico of the Universidade Técnica de Lisboa.
- Fotis Kafatos, President of the ERC – European Research Council, Professor at Imperial College of London, and Director-General of EMBL – European Molecular Biology Laboratory from 1993-2005.
- Manuel Heitor, Portuguese Secretary of State for Science Technology and Higher Education, Professor at the Instituto Superior Técnico of the Universidade Técnica de Lisboa, and founder and Director of the Innovation, Technology and Development Policies Study Centre from 1999-2005.
- Paul Caro, member of the Académie des Sciences de France and founding member of the Académie des Technologies de Paris, Director for Research at CNRS until 2001 and part of the EU’s High Level Group on Human Resources in Science and Technology in Europe which produced its respective report in 2004.
- Frédéric Sgard, administrator of the OECD’s Global Science Forum project, where he manages activities including the Declining Interest in Science Studies Among Young People project, member of the Governing Board of the Association Française pour l'Avancement des Sciences (France), and Vice-President of the Euroscience Association from 2002-2006, where he was responsible for science and technology policy issues.
The Informal Ministers’ Meeting will be chaired by the Portuguese Minister for Science, Innovation and Higher Education. The European Commission will be represented by the Commissioner for Research, Janez Potočnik, and there will be a delegation from Portugal including the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Higher Education, the President of Science and Technology Foundation (FCT), the President of Knowledge Society Agency (UMIC) and the President of the Innovation Agency’s Governing Board.