On 7th – 8th of November 2013, our annual meeting took place at the University of Agricultural Sciences and Veterinary Medicine (USAMV) in Cluj-Napoca in Romania. About 100 guests participated in the conference, among them numerous rectors and other representatives of the 56 member universities. From 2014 on, eleven new members will join our Network. The new memberships were approved during the DRC General Assembly.

In the period 2013-2015, the University of Trieste in cooperation with Alpen-Adria-Universität Klagenfurt, BOKU Vienna (University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences) and University of Novi Sad offers a unique opportunity for young career researchers to familiarize themselves with issues pertinent to the sustainable development of the Danube River Basin. The 2014 edition will focus on “The Role of Natural Heritage for the Sustainable Development of the Danube Region”. PhD Students and Post-Doc Research Fellows from AARC and DRC Universities from all countries of the Danube Basin are welcome to apply. The organizing universities will issue a certificate of 3 ECTS for the completion of each DIANET school.

Area Science Park, in the framework of the EU project “DIAnet - Danubian Initiative and Alps Adriatic Network”, organizes three thematic seminars  that will be held in Trieste, from November 11th to 13th, 2013.

The Danubius Award is intended to honour persons with extraordinary achievements in their scientific activities in relation to the Danube Region.  This year our former DRC President Prof. Dr Miroslav Vesković received the Danubius Award. Founder of this award are the Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe in cooperation with the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science and Research (BMWF).

Smart specialisation is a concept that can make a valuable contribution to the integrated approach which macro-regional strategies such as the EUSDR rely on. In this context, the flagship activity proposed by the JRC will use the Danube Region as a pilot area to study and foster the integration and coordination of regional or national research and innovation strategies for Smart Specialisation at macro-regional level. This seminar is the kick-off event of the work outlined above.

The DRC Summer School promotes regional co-operation among young social scientists to establish a network of young scientists who deal with the issue of regional co-operation. The 10th edition of the Summer School lies its focus on the countries of the Danube region.

In the framework of the EU project “DIAnet - Danubian Initiative and Alps Adriatic Network” AREA Science Park, the multi-sectoral Science and Technology Park in Trieste (north-eastern Italy) organizes 15 thematic seminars focused on internationalization, innovation and tools to support mobility, addressed to sharing good practices and transfer competences, intended firstly for technical, administrative and managerial staff working for the DIAnet network member institutions. The first three seminars will be held in Trieste, from May 6th to 8th, 2013.