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Hungary takes over the six-month rotating presidency of the EU from Belgium on 1 July. Prime Minister Viktor Orban will chair the summits of the EU's 27 heads of state and government, and ministers will chair the Council of Ministers.

German universities have been successful in the current selection round of the European University Network: Fifteen German universities are participating in the fourteen new networks. Among them are the four Bavarian universities TH Würzburg-Schweinfurt, TH Deggendorf, OTH Regensburg and TH Ingolstadt. The Commission selected the new European University Alliances as part of an Erasmus+ call and will support them with up to €14.4 million each over a period of four years.

The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), part of Horizon Europe, the EU's research and innovation programme, is to launch a new Knowledge and Innovation Community (KIC) from 2026 in the field of water, marine and maritime sectors and ecosystems.

The European Commission has released its 2024 Science, Research and Innovation Performance report. According to this report, the EU is ranked second globally (only surpassed by China) in terms of scientific output.

Martin Reichel, Managing Director of the Bavarian Research Alliance (BayFOR), will take over as Spokesman of the Bavarian Research and Innovation Agency (BayFIA) on 1 July 2024. He succeeds Dr Christian Haslbeck, Managing Director of the Bavarian Research Foundation. This is the third time that Martin Reichel has served as spokesman for the agency - a position he also held in 2016 and 2020.

The EU Commission has identified 151 regions as Regional Innovation Valleys (RIVs), as part of the New European Innovation Agenda (NEIA). These include a total of twelve in Germany, three of which are in Bavaria: "Nuremberg Metropolitan Region", "Oberbayern" und "Niederbayern". BayFOR supported the stakeholders in the RIV "Upper Bavaria" during the application phase and will also actively support the operational phase.

The European Commission has published its annual report on the EU’s research and innovation activities and the implementation of Horizon Europe, and EURATOM in 2023. A large section of the report is dedicated to Horizon Europe highlights (e.g. update on associated countries), including monitoring data on calls launched, success rates and signed grants. In particular, there are focus sections on European Partnerships, the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT), and the EU Missions.

Today at the Digital Ocean Forum (DOF) 2024, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, Iliana Ivanova and other high-level representatives from Belgium, France and the European Commission unveiled the first pre-operational platform of the European Digital Twin Ocean (EU DTO).

10 June 2024 marks the launch of the ERA Talent Platform, a novel solution for researchers and research-performing organisations. This comprehensive online gateway offers seamless access to a range of services, including EURAXESS service centers and portals, the HR Excellence in Research initiative, the RESAVER pension scheme, the Innovation Talent Platform, and the Research and Innovation Careers Observatory.

The 10th EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (FP10) will start in 2028 - the corresponding legislative proposal from the EU Commission is expected in mid-2025. In preparation for this and for research policy discussions at EU level, the BMBF has published a discussion paper from the German federal government with suggestions and key recommendations.