The ambition of the PIANOFORTE Partnership is to improve radiological protection of members of the public, patients, workers and environment in all exposure scenarios and provide solutions and recommendations for optimised protection in accordance with the Basic Safety Standards. Research projects focusing on identified research and innovation priorities will be selected through a serie of three competitive open calls. The input to define the research priorities will be based on the priorities defined in the Joint Road Map (JRM) developed during the H2020 CONCERT EJP but also on the results of ongoing H2020 projects and on the expectations expressed by other actions carried out in other European programmes, in particular the SAMIRA action plan. High priority will be dedicated to medical applications considering that 1) medical exposures are, by far, the largest artificial source of exposure of the European population and 2) the fight against cancer is a top priority of the present European Commission. In order to ensure an appropriate continuity in the research goals and methodologies, in line with the contents of the CONCERT JRM, two other priorities have been identified to further understand and reduce uncertainties associated with health risk estimates for exposure at low doses in order to consolidate regulations and improve practices and to further enhance a science-based European methodology for emergency management and long-term recovery. Once the research priorities defined, the open call system will promote excellence in science and widening participation through a process open to the whole radiation protection community. Beyond the research actions, the selected projects will be able to benefit from the system of sharing and mutualisation of infrastructures that will be implemented at the European level. This will be accompanied by education and training schemes for health workforce and young scientists to increase Europe’s research capacity in the field.

Personalised medicine (PM) represents a paradigm shift away from a ‘one size fits all’ approach to the treatment and care of patients with a particular condition, to one which uses emergent approaches in particular technological areas such as diagnostic tests, functional genomic technologies, molecular pathways (etc.) to better manage patients’ health and to target therapies. Nowadays the challenge for national and regional authorities is to enable the shift from a REACTIVE healthcare system (based on episodic and acute care model) to a PREVENTIVE (stratifying at-risk individuals and ensure that preventive action is taken to intervene well before the onset of symptoms, let alone illness) and PREDICTIVE (leverage and integrate cutting-edge technologies to not only stratify risk, but even predict risk and intervene even further upstream) system – the so called Personalised Health (PH). In the face of this potential huge leap forward, the fact that personalised health lacks the cooperation and coordination needed to organise the still very fragmented field is a severe drawback to its development and to the placement of investments in an effective manner. For this reason, it is crucial to direct major efforts towards coordinating and aligning relevant stakeholders in personalised health action across Europe and beyond; create a participatory approach; build trust; enable a multi-stakeholder process; channel investments towards Personalised Health. All this considered, Regions4PerMed will coordinate regional policies and innovation programmes in Personalised Medicine and Personalised Health to accelerate the deployment of PH for citizens and patients. The project will reinforce the cooperation between H 2020 and ESIF on PH aspects; Strengthen industrial specialisation areas in Europe and allow PH to flourish as an Emerging Industry; Enable interregional joint investment on PH, including a stable link with Vanguard Initiative and with the European Innovation Council.

M-ERA.NET 3 aims at coordinating the research efforts in the participating EU Member States, Regions, and Associated States in materials research and innovation, including materials for future batteries, to support the circular economy and Sustainable Development Goals. A large network of national and regional funding organisations from 25 EU Members States, 4 Associated States and 6 countries outside Europe will implement a series of annual joint calls to fund excellent innovative transnational RTD cooperation, including one call for proposals with EU co-funding and additional non-cofunded calls. Continuing the activities started under the predecessor project M-ERA.NET 2 (3/2016-2/2021), the M-ERA.NET 3 consortium will address emerging technologies and related applications areas, such as - for example- surfaces, coatings, composites, additive manufacturing or integrated materials modelling. Research on materials supporting the large scale research initiative on future battery technologies will be particularly highlighted as a main target of the cofunded call (Call 2021) with a view to supporting in particular SDG 7 (“Affordable and clean energy”) by enabling electro mobility through sustainable energy storage technology and SDG 9 (“Industrial innovation and infrastructure”) by enhancing scientific research and upgrading the technological capabilities of industrial sectors. Several relevant action plans and initiatives will serve as programmatic guides for M-ERA.NET 3 when defining the joint activities, such as the Circular Economy Action Plan, the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and its 17 Sustainable Development Goals, the EC communication “A clean planet for all”, and the “European Green Deal”. The total mobilised public call budget is expected to reach 150 million € with additional private investment of 50 million €. Thus, the leverage effect of the EU contribution will reach a factor of 13, exceeding by far the minimum required factor of 5.

The ERA-Net “Cofund on BioTechnologies” (ERA CoBioTech) aims to better use synergies between current mechanisms of biotechnology research funding in Europe, to highlight the benefits of a bio-based economy for society, and to thus maintain and strengthen Europe’s global lead in modern biotechnology. The co-funded call will focus on application-oriented research in: a) Synthetic biology approaches to design and construct new biological parts, devices and systems b) Systems biology approaches to metabolic engineering and optimisation of biological processes c) Identification and use of the metabolic potentials of genomic data d) Chemical and biotechnological approaches to transform bio-based molecules into molecules with high added value. Bundling three predecessor ERA-Nets in the area of biotechnology, ERA CoBioTech significantly increases public funding (call volume ~ 30 Mio €), intensifies collaboration across relevant sectors and countries, and thus - advances RD&I in industrial biotechnology - establishes systems and synthetic biology as technology drivers in applied biotechnology, and - enhances the potential for exploitation through active industry involvement. Necessary steps and measures to achieve these goals will be encompassed in a joint Strategic Agenda. With a “European Biotechnology Hub”, ERA CoBioTech realises an entirely new concept, reaching out to key actors and stakeholders from multiple biotechnology-related areas in order to align different European strategic instruments with the goals of the KET biotechnology programme under Horizon 2020 and to increase public awareness of biotechnology for industrial uses. ERA CoBioTech will implement additional funding activities without EC co-funding, which will advance RD&I in industrial biotechnology in line with the Strategic Agenda and the outcomes of the "European Biotechnology Hub." ERA CoBioTech thus provides biotechnology stakeholders with tailor-made support regarding information, communication, networking and funding.