A Regional Innovation Impact Assessment Framework for universities

This report provides a framework to assess the impact of universities on their regional innovation ecosystem. The policy context for this work is provided by: a) the Renewed EU agenda for higher education which argued that universities do not attain their full potential; and b) the report by the High Level Group chaired by Pascal Lamy which called for an additional funding stream to support universities to modernise and increase their innovation impact. This report explores what the assessment framework underpinning such an innovation performance based funding instrument could look like. However, it acknowledges that the final form of such a framework would heavily depend on the regional, national or EU level instrument through which it is implemented. The report proposes a system in which universities draft a case study supported by indicators, through which they present evidence of their contribution to regional innovation. It identifies four impact categories and identifies a list of associated indicators. In this "narrative with numbers the universities can both explain how they reach this impact and contextualise their performance with reference to the development level of their region.JRC.B.7-Knowledge for Finance, Innovation and Growt

Erramu Boneta. Festschrift for Rudolf P. G. de Rijk

Índice / Aurkibidea / Index / Sommaire:- Basque verbal morphology: redefining cases.- Periklesen hitzaldia (Hilen alde egina, Tuzididesek dakarrenez, II. Liburua, 35-46).- Arabako euskal testu zahar gehiago: Gamarra eta Luzuriaga, XVII. mendeko bi Arabarren lekukotza.- Hizketa formula ohikoak.- The functional structure of the Basque noun phrase.- Hitz elkarketa, argumentu egitura eta theta-rolak.- Amerindian tribal names in North America of possible Basque origin.- Napoleon-en kontrako Salvat Monho-ren zenbait bertso.- Tipología de las cláusulas relativas en las lenguas eslavas: el caso del checo.- Suppletion in the old Basque verb “to give”.- On the (im)possibility of prosodic focus marking in embedded context in Northern Bizkaian Basque.- Linking language-particular morphology with Universal Syntax.- Sobre variación lingüística.- Bare indefinites and distribitivity in Basque.- Komunztadura bikoitza eta lekualdatzea.- Euskal gramatika puntu batez: ahalaz eta ezinaz.- Los inicios de la vascología en Holanda.- Nota sobre las inscripciones ibéricas de Aubagnan.- On the position of the auxiliary in O’odham.- Laxotik errabotera.- Regarding Basque postpositions and related matters.- Artzibarko etxe-izenen inguruan.- Euskararen hasperena ikuspegi tipologiko eta diakronikotik.- Zenbatzeko sistemen inguruan.- Ergatiboa definitzen: lehenengo saioa gramatika sortzailean.- Etimologiae (proto)uasconicae LXV.- Egitura desberdina duten “antzeko” perpaus batzuen inguruan.- Aposizioa euskal hitz-elkarteetan.- De l’usage de l’étrangeté syntaxique.- Palatalization revisited: bustidura adieraz garriaren estatusaz ohar batzuk.- Focus of correction and remnant movement in Basque.- Aldi, bide, kide, erdi-arzizkiak?- On the relativisation of the “highest subject position”.- Konposizionalitatea.- Datibo-markazioa.- Hausnarketa batzuk euskararen egoeraren inguruan.- Infinitival complementation in Basque.- Euskal hiztegigintzaren historiarako oharrak.- Hiztegi Hirukoitza-ren kanpoko eta barruko historiaz

Mapping of European transnational collaborative partnerships in higher education

This report aimed to map the existing transnational collaborative partnerships between higher education institutions in Europe. In doing so it surveyed representatives from such partnerships. Their responses provided interesting insights which are analysed in this report.JRC.B.7-Knowledge for Finance, Innovation and Growt

Knowledge Management for Policy: Stocktaking of one year of JRC activities

Improving knowledge management and collaborative working is a priority for overcoming silos mentalities and connecting synergies between portfolios, as envisaged in the Commission Communication C(2016)6626. In its 2030 Strategy, the JRC took up this challenge by 1) introducing a horizontal ‘knowledge management’ layer in the organigram, to mobilise scientific competences from different Directorates around the Commission’s policy goals 2) championing the implementation of new collaboration practices and platforms as well as the development of a knowledge management professionalisation programme; 3) starting to transform itself from a traditional research-producing organisation into a world-leading manager of knowledge for EU policy-making. One year after the reorganisation carried out on the 1st of July 2016 to align the JRC organigram with the new strategy, this report reviews the progress made and describes the main achievements.JRC.H-Knowledge Management (Ispra

Current Challenges in Fostering the European Innovation Ecosystem

The present report discusses innovation challenges under the following headings: The 3% R&D target and industrial structure: is it still a relevant goal? if we cannot achieve the 3% target, does it make sense to keep it? Technology diffusion: how can we combat its sluggishness and speed up adoption? Access to finance: is the large amount of liquidity being funnelled to "zombie" companies instead of highly innovative ones? Universities and skills: are higher education institutions adequately playing their role in driving innovation? The governance of the R&I system: how to remove administrative barriers and increase flexibility? Can SSH research contribute more to shaping R&I policies?JRC.B.7-Knowledge for Finance, Innovation and Growt

China: Challenges and Prospects from an Industrial and Innovation Powerhouse

China is rapidly becoming a major industrial competitor in high tech and growth sectors. Its economic success and related industrial policies have received a high degree of attention, especially in light of its capacity to challenge the leading position of advanced economies in several fields. China aims, through the 'Made in China 2025' strategy, to become a world leader in key industrial sectors. In these sectors, it strives to strengthen its domestic innovation capacity, to reduce its reliance on foreign technologies while moving up in global value chains. This report analyses China's approach to attain a dominant position in international markets through a combination of industrial, R&I, trade and foreign direct investment policies. It offers an assessment of China's current position compared to the EU and US innovation systems across a range of dimensions. It concludes that China has become a major industrial competitor in several rapidly expanding high tech sectors, which may well result in attaining China's goal of becoming an innovation leader in specific areas. As a response, the EU will need to boost its industrial and R&I performance and develop a trade policy that can ensure a level playing field for EU companies in China and for Chinese companies in the EU.JRC.B.7-Knowledge for Finance, Innovation and Growt

Role of age and comorbidities in mortality of patients with infective endocarditis

[Purpose]: The aim of this study was to analyse the characteristics of patients with IE in three groups of age and to assess the ability of age and the Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI) to predict mortality. [Methods]: Prospective cohort study of all patients with IE included in the GAMES Spanish database between 2008 and 2015.Patients were stratified into three age groups:<65 years,65 to 80 years,and ≥ 80 years.The area under the receiver-operating characteristic (AUROC) curve was calculated to quantify the diagnostic accuracy of the CCI to predict mortality risk. [Results]: A total of 3120 patients with IE (1327 < 65 years;1291 65-80 years;502 ≥ 80 years) were enrolled.Fever and heart failure were the most common presentations of IE, with no differences among age groups.Patients ≥80 years who underwent surgery were significantly lower compared with other age groups (14.3%,65 years; 20.5%,65-79 years; 31.3%,≥80 years). In-hospital mortality was lower in the <65-year group (20.3%,<65 years;30.1%,65-79 years;34.7%,≥80 years;p < 0.001) as well as 1-year mortality (3.2%, <65 years; 5.5%, 65-80 years;7.6%,≥80 years; p = 0.003).Independent predictors of mortality were age ≥ 80 years (hazard ratio [HR]:2.78;95% confidence interval [CI]:2.32–3.34), CCI ≥ 3 (HR:1.62; 95% CI:1.39–1.88),and non-performed surgery (HR:1.64;95% CI:11.16–1.58).When the three age groups were compared,the AUROC curve for CCI was significantly larger for patients aged <65 years(p < 0.001) for both in-hospital and 1-year mortality. [Conclusion]: There were no differences in the clinical presentation of IE between the groups. Age ≥ 80 years, high comorbidity (measured by CCI),and non-performance of surgery were independent predictors of mortality in patients with IE.CCI could help to identify those patients with IE and surgical indication who present a lower risk of in-hospital and 1-year mortality after surgery, especially in the <65-year group

Spatiotemporal Characteristics of the Largest HIV-1 CRF02_AG Outbreak in Spain: Evidence for Onward Transmissions

Background and Aim: The circulating recombinant form 02_AG (CRF02_AG) is the predominant clade among the human immunodeficiency virus type-1 (HIV-1) non-Bs with a prevalence of 5.97% (95% Confidence Interval-CI: 5.41–6.57%) across Spain. Our aim was to estimate the levels of regional clustering for CRF02_AG and the spatiotemporal characteristics of the largest CRF02_AG subepidemic in Spain.Methods: We studied 396 CRF02_AG sequences obtained from HIV-1 diagnosed patients during 2000–2014 from 10 autonomous communities of Spain. Phylogenetic analysis was performed on the 391 CRF02_AG sequences along with all globally sampled CRF02_AG sequences (N = 3,302) as references. Phylodynamic and phylogeographic analysis was performed to the largest CRF02_AG monophyletic cluster by a Bayesian method in BEAST v1.8.0 and by reconstructing ancestral states using the criterion of parsimony in Mesquite v3.4, respectively.Results: The HIV-1 CRF02_AG prevalence differed across Spanish autonomous communities we sampled from (p &lt; 0.001). Phylogenetic analysis revealed that 52.7% of the CRF02_AG sequences formed 56 monophyletic clusters, with a range of 2–79 sequences. The CRF02_AG regional dispersal differed across Spain (p = 0.003), as suggested by monophyletic clustering. For the largest monophyletic cluster (subepidemic) (N = 79), 49.4% of the clustered sequences originated from Madrid, while most sequences (51.9%) had been obtained from men having sex with men (MSM). Molecular clock analysis suggested that the origin (tMRCA) of the CRF02_AG subepidemic was in 2002 (median estimate; 95% Highest Posterior Density-HPD interval: 1999–2004). Additionally, we found significant clustering within the CRF02_AG subepidemic according to the ethnic origin.Conclusion: CRF02_AG has been introduced as a result of multiple introductions in Spain, following regional dispersal in several cases. We showed that CRF02_AG transmissions were mostly due to regional dispersal in Spain. The hot-spot for the largest CRF02_AG regional subepidemic in Spain was in Madrid associated with MSM transmission risk group. The existence of subepidemics suggest that several spillovers occurred from Madrid to other areas. CRF02_AG sequences from Hispanics were clustered in a separate subclade suggesting no linkage between the local and Hispanic subepidemics