It has been an intense and fruitful year despite the difficult circumstances we have faced regarding the pandemic. Nevertheless, on behalf of the Danube Rectors’ Conference, we would like to wish you Happy Holidays and a successful New Year!

The Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, Science and Research (BMBFW) and the Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe (IDM) are pleased to invite you to join the Danubius Awards 2020 Virtual Ceremony taking place on 6th of November 2020 at 13:00 via YouTube livestream.

You can follow the Danubius Awards 2020 Ceremony by clicking on the YouTube link below.

JRC enlargement and integration workshop: expectations and concerns about connected and automated vehicles

15-16 October 2020

Connected and Automated Vehicles (CAVs) can improve transport and reducing its negative impacts.

CAVs are expected to

• be safer,
• more energy efficient,
• increase the road network capacity.

To discuss about expectations and concerns, we organise a co-creation workshop about connected and automated mobility.

Call for Applications

We invite representatives who work in relevant sectors in

• academia, industry, NGOs and national ministries and are from
• Enlargement and integration countries, including:
  Candidate and potential candidate countries (Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, North Macedonia, Kosovo* – This designation is without prejudice to positions on status, and is in line with UNSCR 1244/1999 and the ICJ Opinion on the Kosovo declaration of independence – Montenegro, Serbia, Turkey),
  European neighbourhood policy countries Associated to Horizon 2020 (Armenia, Georgia, Moldova, Tunisia, Ukraine), and new EU Member State (Croatia)

To apply, please send your CV and supporting letter to JRC-EI-CCAM@ec.europa.eu.

Deadline: 31 August 2020

The number of places is limited to a maximum of 30 participants.

The workshop will be organised as an online participatory event.

Objectives

• Update participants on the EU's policy on development of cooperative, connected and automated mobility.
• Discuss about main factors that can help or hinder the introduction of CAVs on the market.
• Identify regional differences in the attitudes towards CAVs

You can find more information on the programme here.

We are pleased to announce that the Danube University Krems is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year. The official celebration ceremony will take place on October 2, 2020 in Krems, Austria. The number of participants is limited, however, the entire event will be broadcast online. An official invitation will follow soon.

The DRC Secretariat congratulates the Danube University Krems on a successful 25 years of continuing education and scientific excellence and wishes her success in the years to come.

Call for a GYA membership from 2021 is open until 15 September 2020 (22h:00 UTC).

Applications are sought from young, independent scholars who combine the highest level of research excellence with a demonstrated passion for delivering impact.

The GYA is a global organization that places a high value on its diversity. We encourage applications from all qualified candidates. All applicants receive consideration and will not be discriminated against with regard to race, colour, ethnicity, religion, creed, sex, marital status, ancestry, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression, physical or mental disabilities, or other factors. We especially encourage women and applicants from different minority groups, and from diverse disciplines including the natural, physical and social sciences as well as the arts and humanities and people working in government, industry, and non-governmental sectors to apply.

More information on how to apply and our online application form can be found here:

http://globalyoungacademy.net/call-for-new-members/

About the Global Young Academy

The GYA was founded with the vision to give a voice to young scientists around the world. By empowering early- to mid-career researchers to lead international, interdisciplinary, and intergenerational dialogues, the GYA mobilises talent from six continents for capacity-building, mentoring, providing science advice, engaging in science policy and improving the existing research environment. Members are chosen for their demonstrated excellence in scientific achievement and their commitment to service. Currently, there are 200 GYA members and 298 alumni from 86 countries. The GYA Office is hosted at the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, in Halle (Saale), Germany.

According article VII of the DRC statute the DRC Presidency shall be composed of Rectors of universities that are full members of the DRC. The Presidency is elected by the DRC General Assembly, following nominations sent to the DRC secretariat after a call for candidates has been sent to all members.

Therefore, we are here intending to call to nominate the candidates for DRC Presidency for 2021-2022. The nominations should be sent to DRC secretariat.

The election will take place during the General Assembly for all DRC member universities that will be held as an online meeting on 6. November 2020 10:00 CET.

According to Article VI.2 the President of the DRC calls for a Permanent Committee meeting to be held as an online meeting on 22nd of September 2020 at 15:00 CEST. The draft agenda will be sent accordingly.

Information about the Permanent Committee is available on our website.

The guest of the IDMonSite discussion on 7th of July 2020 was Maurizio Fermeglia, Full Professor at and former rector of the member university of the DRC University of Trieste. As member of the Programme Committee of the EuroScience Open Forum (ESOF) 2020, Prof. Fermeglia gave insights to the reorganization of the ESOF taking place in Trieste, Italy, and originally planned for 5-9 July.

In addition to the presentation of the ESOF, Daniel Martínek (IDM, DRC Secretariat) discussed with the renowned scientist the role of science and research during coronavirus times and the (un)preparedness for the environmental crisis that awaits us in the years to come.

Watch the discussion in the video below!

Given the travel restrictions and other difficulties the universities are facing in relation to the Covid-19 pandemic, the DRC Presidency, after careful consideration and in consultation with the Uzhhorod National University, agreed unanimously on the postponement of the Annual Conference scheduled to take place on 4.-6. November 2020 at the Uzhhorod National University to 2021. The new date for the 2021 Annual Conference will be announced in due time.

The General Assembly for all DRC member universities will be held as an online meeting on 6. November 2020 10:00 CET.

Information regarding the registration as well as the draft programme will be available in the upcoming weeks on the DRC website.

We look forward to seeing you during our General Assembly in November!

"Your university created a link between Europe and its region, between science and society."

On the occasion of the 30 years since the foundation of the Vasile Goldis Western University of Arad, Friedrich Faulhammer, Rector of the Danube University Krems and DRC Vice President, send his message wishing ongoing academic success and prosperity.

Do you want to learn more about sustainable construction, renewables and alternative building? The Danube Rectors Conference – as a partner of the Green.Building.Solutions. Online Summer University – offers two fully funded scholarships for participation! Be sure not to miss this unique opportunity and apply until 21 June, 2020 here!

The Danube Rectors’ Conference (DRC) organizes a summer school every year, hosted by one of the DRC member universities. Recently, the Danube:Future project has been integrated into the DRC structure, and it has been agreed that the summer school will be organized alternately between DRC and Danube:Future. This year the Danube:Future Summer School, for the first time under the auspices of the DRC, was about to take place in Cluj-Napoca, Romania. 

All the more we regret to announce that, given the current situation regarding measures to combat the spread of COVID-19 disease, we are forced to postpone the 17th edition of the DRC Summer School “Sustainable development in the Danube Region. Where we are and how we tackle future challenges?”, scheduled to take place 6-12 July 2020 to 2021. We will announce a new date in due time.
 
We are fully aware of the complexity of the challenges faced by universities at present, and therefore we have decided to take this step to save the additional efforts of all people involved. We very much regret this decision, since the DRC Summer Schools represent a long record of successful cooperation among young promising scientists from the Danube Region. However, we believe that the positive track of the DRC Summer Schools will be followed up next year when the situation is settled.

We thank you for your understanding and are looking forward to the 17th DRC Summer School in 2021!

The Danube Rectors’ Conference (DRC) is pleased to announce that the Call for applications for the "Sharing Future" Residence scholarship 2020 of the International Elias Canetti Society is now open!

Also in 2020, the DRC is funding one residence scholarship that enables the scholarship holder to pursue his/ her artistic work within one month in the summer of 2020 at the Canetti House in Ruse, Bulgaria.

The Canetti Artist Scholarship is aimed at artists from all over Europe. The fact that it is also advertised to artists from neighboring countries - from the Western Balkans and Turkey, should in particular provide opportunities for international, artistic exchange. Various different forms of arts should be fostered by the scholarship: painters, photographers, writers, performance artists, translators and musicians can apply for it. The slogan of the scholarship “Sharing Future” aims at a collaborative creation and cooperation for a joint Europe and a common future.

The scholarship is advertised for one month a year.

The scholarship holder can

-   pursue his/ her artistic work undisturbed in the spring / summer of 2020 in Ruse

-   use the historic Canetti house as work place with various possibilities for artistic expression using the space (photos attached)

-   get to know the local cultural scene in Ruse and Bulgaria and use the resulting synergies and artistic realization

-   live in an apartment provided by the IECS

-   receive 1200 € for contribution and 300 for € travel expenses or 1500 € for both combined

Application documents to be submitted:

•  artist curriculum vitae

•  significant illustrations of the artistic works in personal catalogs or a portfolio

•  brief outline of the planned project

The application with all documents should be sent to eliascanetti@eliascanetti.org not later than the 30.3.2020.

You can find additional information in the attached document.

We are pleased to inform you that the Joint Research Centre (JRC) has published the second call for expressions of interest for the Collaborative Doctoral Partnerships (CDP) in the following fields:

1.       Digital Governance

2.       Smart, connected and clean mobility  

3.       EU Energy Transition  

4.       Development of methods to monitor progresses, design transformations and identify solutions to achieve SDGs  

5.       Secure and sustainable supply of raw materials for strategic value chains  

6.       Artificial intelligence for earth observation  

7.       Graphic causal models for hybrid threats  

8.       Resilience of built infrastructure to natural and man-made hazards  

9.       Health promotion and prevention of non-communicable diseases (NCDs)  

10.     Non-power nuclear and radiological technologies to achieve the SDGs 2030 Agenda  

11.     Synergies of qualitative and quantitative methods for anticipation activities  

12.     Behavioural insights applied to policy-making  

13.     Robustness in complex data analysis and statistical modelling

The call is opened to higher education institutions/universities from EU Member States and countries associated to the EU Research Programme Horizon 2020.

The application for the upcoming Intercultural Staff Training 2020 of Eötvös Loránd University, organized by the Department of Erasmus+ and International Programmes and the Institute of Intercultural Psychology and Education (IIPE), Faculty of Education and Psychology IS NOW OPEN.

The training will be held from 8th to 12th June 2020 and targeted mainly at staff members of higher education institutions who work with international students and staff on a day-to-day basis and have at least one year of work experience in this area. The training program aims to promote intercultural skills and competencies especially for those who engage in intercultural encounters in their everyday work and feel that they need to further develop their skills to be more successful.

Those who participate in the whole training receive a Certificate of Attendance at the end. The participation fee is 150 EUR, which includes the complimentary lunch of the first day, welcome package, work materials, cultural programs, coffee breaks, and farewell dinner.

The application deadline is 16th February 2020.

For more information and registration please visit the homepage of the Intercultural Staff Training 2020.

If you need further information, do not hesitate to send an email to erasmus@elte.hu (Subject: Intercultural staff training 2020)

The European Commission has opened its JRC Nanobiotechnology Laboratory for Training and Capacity Building for access to applicants from Enlargement and Integration Countries:

2020-1-TCB-NanoBiotech

Opening of the call: 2020-01-16

Closure of the call: 2020-03-16

The European Commission’s Joint Research Centre (JRC) opens for the purposes of training and capacity building its scientific laboratories and facilities to people working in academia and research organisations, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and more in general to the public and private sector.

Applicants from institutions and organisations located in countries associated to the Framework Programme H2020: Albania, Armenia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Faroe Islands, Georgia, Iceland, Israel, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland, Tunisia, Turkey, and Ukraine are welcome to apply to the calls of the Training and Capacity Building at JRC Research Infrastructures programme.

Climate change is THE hot topic all around the world – concerning everyone, everywhere. How are you contributing to a green future? The DRC, as a partner of the GBS summer university, offers one scholarship for participation – be sure not to miss this unique opportunity!

Taking place for the 10th time in 2020 from July, 18th to August, 9th in Vienna, you learn about sustainable construction, renewables and alternative building from renowned Austrian experts! In this way, YOU can make the world more sustainable.

Application until April 30, 2020 at https://summer-university.net/study-abroad/green-building-solutions-vienna/!

Want to learn more about how the economic system contributes to climate change and what we can do about it? As a partner of the Alternative Economic and Monetary Systems summer school, the DRC offers one scholarship for participation – be sure not to miss this unique opportunity!

From 20 July to 7 August in Vienna, at the AEMS summer school you learn about the interactions between the environment, society and economy, as well as about possible reform approaches for the economic and monetary system.

Application until April 30, 2020 at https://summer-university.net/study-abroad/aems-vienna/application/

On January 13, 2020, the joint Jean Monnet project of the DRC with the Institute for the Danube Region and Central Europe (IDM) was launched with the kick-off event on "Democracy Is (No!) Fiction: Developing Concepts and Strategies For an Inclusive and Participatory Europe".

The event was opened, among others, by the DRC President and Rector of the University of Belgrade Prof. Dr. Ivanka Popović, who emphasized the importance of education on the formation of a stable, sensitive civil society composed of critically-minded and socially engaged citizens.

On behalf of the DRC were also involved the DRC Vice-President and Rector of the Danube-University Krems Mag. Friedrich Faulhammer as well as the DRC Secretary General Mag. Sebastian Schäffer.

You can find the programme of the conference as well as further information here.

We are looking forward to future project steps!