Türkiye Horizon Europe launch event hosted by TÜBİTAK takes place

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On 21 March 2022, following the signing of the Horizon Europe association agreement between the European Commission and Türkiye, the Horizon Europe Launch Event was held in Istanbul, Türkiye. The event introduced Horizon Europe objectives after the transition from the Horizon 2020 Framework Programme and signalled the launch of Horizon Europe to increase awareness of opportunities available to Turkish research entities. The event’s main objective was to highlight the opportunities that exist and are available to Turkish participants in Horizon Europe. Keynote addresses at the launch event were delivered by Mustafa VARANK, Minister for the Ministry of Industry and Technology, Ambassador Faruk KAYMAKCI, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Director for EU Affairs, Prof. Hasan MANDAL, President of TÜBİTAK and Mariya GABRIEL, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth.

 

Participating in the event virtually, Mustafa Varank, Minister for the Ministry of Industry and Technology, emphasized the importance of the Horizon Europe Programme.

 

“948 projects including 1349 Turkish executives, managed to receive around 300 million Euros of funding from the EU under Horizon 2020”

 

Emphasizing that Türkiye has received more than it paid to the EU programmes, with Horizon 2020, for the first time since 2004, Mustafa Varank, said:  “We maintain our "science diplomacy" initiatives to develop Türkiye’s science and technology capability in line with our national and foreign policy priorities. Signed in October, the association agreement enabling our participation in Horizon Europe, which is the world's most widespread civil R&D and innovation programme, is the most concrete result of these initiatives.”

 

As also cited by Mustafa Varank: “Contrary to past experiences, 29 Turkish coordinators are now able to carry out large-scale consortium projects including many organizations from Europe. In addition, recently, the rate of Turkish researchers holding the European Research Council (ERC) grants, which is considered the most prestigious research support in Europe, has increased. Today, we know that 30 of our researchers have been supported by the European Research Council so far – a very important achievement for our country.”

 

“We create innovative policies by the National Technology Initiative vision”

 

Highlighting that participation in union programmes also provides integration of Europe and the Türkiye Research Area, Mustafa Varank, added: “Stakeholders in our national ecosystem take part in projects which will shape the future technologies by collaborating with the best researchers and institutions. International projects and the movements of researchers provide the development of trained human capacity both in academia and in the private sector. Through the union programmes, Turkish entrepreneurs can be able to gain early access to industrial standards and regulations in target markets in a way that they can have a competitive advantage.”

Mustafa Varank strongly suggested participants follow up on the event announcements, attend face-to-face meetings, information days and international brokerage events, disseminate the events and keep in touch with TÜBİTAK National Contact Points.

 

“We have decided to join 13 programmes and agencies of the EU in the 2021-2027 period in principle”

Speaking at the event, Faruk Kaymakcı, Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Director for EU Affairs said: “Participating in and benefiting from the EU programmes in the most effective way are the prior issues. Accordingly, we have decided to participate in 13 programmes and agencies of the EU in the 2021-2027 period in principle. We have already joined 5 of them so far.”

Director for EU Affairs Ambassador Faruk Kaymakcı, while underscoring that EU Programmes are being used as alternative public diplomacy tools and playing a crucial role in the alignment of domestic policies with those of the EU, stated in his speech that “by ensuring a mutual flow of basic knowledge and technologies between EU and Türkiye, Horizon Europe Programme is enabling the stakeholders in our country to set up stronger cooperation with their counterparts in the EU.”

Türkiye is a privileged European partner in research and innovation

Speaking at the event, Mariya Gabriel, European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth, said: “Next year we will celebrate 20 years of Turkish participation in the European Research and Innovation Programmes and it is clear to us that Türkiye is a privileged European partner in Research and Innovation. Today we can say that the cooperation of Research and Innovation between the European Union and Türkiye is a success story and we hope for even more potential in the future.”

 

President of TÜBİTAK Prof. Hasan Mandal speaks at the event

Mentioning TÜBİTAK's goals for a sustainable and smart future, Dr Hasan  Mandal directly claimed that: “TÜBİTAK continues to activate the ecosystem, including its goal of increasing the number and interaction of High-Tech Platforms on green, environmentally friendly technologies. In the past, science and technology-based R&D studies were choice or advantage, but now they have become a necessity.” He also emphasized: "There is a great need for a science and technology-based transformation, not traditional but innovative information production methods. Türkiye's climate agenda this year focuses on updated nationally determined contributions in line with the Paris climate agreement and a roadmap to reach the 2053 net-zero emissions target, which is one of the most important motivations for TÜBİTAK. In order to reach this goal, the public, university and industry should act together.”  

Over 750 participants from various Turkish businesses and research entities attending the meeting shared their experiences of receiving support from the EU and utilizing the opportunities offered by Horizon Europe. The event was crowned with the award ceremony for the projects that showed outstanding success in the 8th EU Framework Programme, Horizon 2020. You may find the list of recipients via the following link; https://ufukavrupa.org.tr/sites/default/files/2022-03/ufuk2020-program-odulleri_v2.pdf 

 

11.05.2022