ERC awards 60 grants as top-up funding to explore the commercial or innovation potential of the results of their EU-funded frontier research. The funded projects cover a variety of topics, ranging from new health therapies to regenerate nerves, to prototyping soft robotic system for industrial handling, to building a charity promoting welfare and job quality of digital workers etc. ERC Proof of Concept grants worth up to €150,000 each out of the total budget for 2018 call - € 24 million. The grantees have been funded in the 3 rd round of the call, in which 173 applications were registered in total. The next deadline for ERC Proof of Concept grants is 22 January, 2019 . Please, find the list of the grant holders by country and host institutions on the link .

On December 27, 16:00 - 18:00, conference with poster presentations will be held in Tbilisi Open University (2 University St), within the frame of “Rustaveli-DAAD” Joint Fellowship Programme. The fellowship programme aims to facilitate: postdoctoral researchers and doctoral candidates in developing their scientific-research potential; their integrity in international educational and scientific society; providing doctoral education of high quality through sharing best scientific experience and through improvement of international exchange processes; creation of scientific network and strengthening scientific collaboration in terms of interdisciplinary field. The grant call for „Rustaveli-DAAD“ Joint Fellowship Programme 2018 was announced in February. 38 proposals were submitted within the frame of the call, out of which 18 received funding. On the summarizing conference winners will do poster presentations on activities and results received during their research internship in Germany. The speakers will provide stands and they will describe research results through discussion. Among the attendees will be: Director General of LEPL Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia – Prof. Dr. Zviad Gabisonia, the Minister of Education, Science, Culture and Sport of Georgia –Dr. Mikheil Batiashvili, ambassador of Germany/attache of German Embassy in terms of education and economics, rectors of higher educational institutions of the winners, SRNSFG grant holders, etc.

Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation disseminates information about the Innovative Medicine Initiative ( IMI ), which regularly publishes and updates information about future topics and official call launches. The  Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI)  is a partnership between the European Union and the European pharmaceutical industry. IMI facilitates open collaboration in research to advance the development of, and accelerate patient access to, personalized medicines for the health and wellbeing of all, especially in areas of unmet medical need. Regular update of the information will give an opportunity to possible applicants to start working actively on proposals and forming consortia. The calls, published by the IMI as follows: Optimizing future obesity treatment Open access chemo genomics library and chemical probes for the druggable genome Intelligent prediction and identification of environmental risks posed by human medicinal products  To keep up the announced calls and other information, applicants can register on IMI newsletter and follow on the Twitter.  For the additional information, please visit IMI website    

Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia Disseminates information about the phasing of the Participation Portal and replacing it with Funding and Tenders Portal in the EU Framework Programme “HORIZON 2020” The Participant Portal was established, at the beginning, for the EU Research & Innovation Programme (Horizon 2020) only. Other EU programmes joined later. The new Funding & Tenders Portal to allow searching for EU funding and tender opportunities, and managing grants and contracts in one place and it will cover calls for tender and the related procurement contracts.  Funding and Tender Opportunities Portal look and feel a bit different, it still gives access to the electronic workflows that you are familiar with. It is also possible to continue using existing username and password. You will find all your assets that you had in the old portal and all functions for managing them. Please visit Funding and Tenders Portal and test out new site and its functions For the additional information, please see European Commission’s Website

SRNSFG disseminates information about the “Matsumae International Foundation’s” Research Fellowship program, which offers 3-6 months fellowship opportunities for non-Japanese citizens in the fields of Natural Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. Applicant must hold a PhD degree or be recognized by MIF as possessing equivalent academic qualifications. The applicant must be at the age of 49 years or younger when submitting the documents. Applicants are free to select host institutions in which they carry out their research, however applicants are reminded that they are obliged to obtain acceptance from host institutions prior to submitting their applications. Applicants should be in employment in their home counties and must return to their countries upon completion of their MIF fellowship tenure. Application must be submitted from the applicant’s home country, MIF accepts documents submitted by POST. Electronically submitted applications cannot be accepted. The fellowship should be implemented between April 2020 and March 2021 period. Application deadline: July 31, 2019. Fellowship covers allowance for research and stay costs up to 220 000 JPY, insurance and air transportation fees. Please, find the application form  and detailed information  about the program.    

SRNSFG disseminates information about the 5 th webinar planned in frames of the EaP PLUS project entitled as “EaP Plus Webinar 5 - Opportunities for developing Research Infrastructures in H2020”, Research infrastructures are facilities, resources and services that are used by the research communities to conduct research and foster innovation in their fields. They play an increasing role in the advancement of knowledge and technology and their exploitation. The European approach to research infrastructures has made remarkable progress in recent years with the implementation of the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) roadmap, integrating and opening national research facilities and developing e-infrastructures underpinning a digital European Research Area. The webinar will discuss the Horizon 2020 calls presented in the  Work Programme 2018-2020  for European research infrastructures (including e-Infrastructures) with the deadlines in 2019. The webinar will be conducted by the experts of the Polish NCP. The language of the event is English and participation is free of charge. Join the webinar  on  December 13, 2018  at  11:00 CET  using the following link:  Research Infrastructures webinar link    (Please  check  your connection in advance in order to join the webinar on time.

Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia disseminates information regarding highlighted projects funded by ERC in frames of Consolidator Grants call 2018 ERC 2018 CONSOLIDATOR GRANTS HIGHLIGHTED PROJECTS Refugee protection in East-Central Europe in the 20th century During the 20 th century, East-Central Europe became a destination for numerous people fleeing war and persecution. During the WWI and after the dissolution of the Habsburg Monarchy, nation states and their societies were repeatedly forced to negotiate the meaning of asylum and take decisions about the protection of vulnerable refugees. Today we also witness the worldwide phenomenon of a large-scale forced migration. According to the UNHCR , 68.5 million people are forcibly displaced in all corners of the world, posing a challenge to countries and international organizations to take action and see human beings behind the statistics. However, in the context of the current refugee crisis, East-Central Europe does not appear as an open and accepting refuge. In this project, an international research team led by Dr. Michal Frankl will study the multifaceted aspects of refugee migration and reception in the 20th century, using comparative historical research combined with multi-disciplinary approaches. The focus on responses to forced migration over a long period of time and a wide territory rather than specific groups and instances will enable the researchers to gain major insights which could significantly contribute to the field of global refugee history. The research aims to embed the current discussion of refugee protection in the historical context of East-Central Europe and thus provide impulses and cultivate the current and future scientific and political debate. Funding: € 1,995,950 for five years Improving quantum cryptography Securing digital communication channels is an important issue in the modern world, given the amount of sensitive data that we exchange every day. Up to now, this was achieved via the use of cryptographic protocols, based on the assumption that it is very difficult for computers to perform certain mathematical operations. The near-future advent of quantum computers, with their new computational capabilities, will require abandoning classical cryptography for novel quantum protocols. Proving the mathematical propositions involved in their development is quite challenging, especially given the fact that the human intuition is better adapted to reason within the classical world, and is more prone to errors in the quantum realm. Prof. Dominique Unruh will develop new methods for verifying the cryptographic security of these mathematical proofs with the help of computers. This will require designing novel logics and software tools, to be applied to classical protocols to secure them against quantum computers, as well as to proper quantum protocols. The aim is of the project is to improve the security of cryptographic protocols in the upcoming quantum age, and to remove one possible source of human error. It will also give researchers new ways to test the validity of their mathematical proofs. Funding: € 1,716,475 for five years  

Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia disseminates information regarding upcoming CTBT Science and Technology 2019 Conference (SnT 2019) which will take place from 24 to 28 June 2019, at the Hofburg Palace in Vienna, Austria. The Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) is an international organization that will be established upon the entry into force of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty, a Convention that outlaws nuclear test explosions. Its seat will be Vienna, Austria. The organization will be tasked with verifying the ban on nuclear tests and will operate therefore a worldwide monitoring system and may conduct onsite inspections. The Preparatory Commission for the CTBTO, and its Provisional Technical Secretariat, were established in 1997 and are headquartered in Vienna, Austria. Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) relies on innovation to enhance the capabilities of the Treaty ’s verification regime as well as to help move the Treaty closer to universalization and entry into force. As the seventh event in the CTBT: Science and Technology conference series, SnT2019 will bring together around 1000 scientists, technologists, academics, students, CTBTO policy makers, members of the media and representatives of organizations involved in research and development that is relevant to all aspects of Treaty verification. Goals of the conference are defined as follows: Broadening and strengthen the engagement of the scientific communities working in test ban monitoring, including young scientists, and to enhance the geographic and gender representations of these communities supporting the exchange of knowledge and ideas between the CTBTO and the broader scientific community Identifying opportunities and possible solutions to continuously improve nuclear test monitoring and verification Identifying how scientific developments and cooperation can support national needs and frame policy objectives in support of the CTBT Promoting the wider civil and scientific applications of techniques and data used for test ban verification. Conference is divided into 5 discussion themes: Earth as a complex system; Events and nuclear test sites; Verification technologies and technique application; Performance optimization; CTBT in a global context. Conference will be held on June 24-28 2019 in Vienna Austria. Deadline for abstract submission is January 31, 2019. For additional information please visit the web-site. In case of further questions please contact organizers on following e-mail address: SnT@ctbto.org

Shota Rustaveli National Science Foundation of Georgia disseminates information about the ,, EU Prize for Woman Innovation”. The Award Contest is carried out under the EU Framework programme of Research and Innovation ,,HORIZON 2020” – Pillar of Social Challenges work programme 2018 -2020 . This award aims to strengthen woman’s role in the field of innovation and the "EU Prize for Women Innovators" will be awarded to up to four women innovators in total (three women and one young woman innovator, so-called 'rising innovator') who have created the largest impact on the innovation ecosystem by transforming ideas into new and advanced products and/or services for the benefit and wealth of the European citizens. EXPECTED RESULTS The prizes will boost public awareness of the potential, importance and contribution of women to the innovation ecosystem and create strong role models inspiring other women to become innovators themselves. PRIZE AMOUNTS Three prizes of EUR 100,000 each for the Women Innovators category and EUR 50,000 for the Rising Innovator category. The award contest is open to women innovators from the EU member states and countries associated to HORIZON 2020 (including Georgian participants). The participant must be the founder or co-founder of an existing and active innovative company which was registered before 1 January 2017. Application can be submitted via Participation Portal , and the deadline is January 16, 2019. For additional information please find the rules of contest .