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09 - 10 / 2008
Highlights
Five Greek enterpr i ses
among the leaders in R&D
investment
Five Greek enterprises are featured in the
list of 1,000 Eeuropean enterprises leading
the way in R&D investment, according to
the European Commission’s 2008 EU
Industrial R&D Investment Scoreboard.
These are: Intralot (545th place) ,
Pharmathen (685th place), Zenon SA
(719th place), Lavipharm (740th place)
and ALTEC (921th place). The enterprises
were evaluated according to thei r
investments in R&D during the financial
year 2007/2008.
R&D investments in the EU have increased
by 8.8% which, according to Research
Commissioner Janez Potocnik, is a positive
indication, particularly in the context of
the decrease aton international level. The
overal l per formance of European
enterprises has improved in the last year:
sales are up by 7% and profitability by
12.2%.
Future researchers
participated in the EU
Contest for Young
Scientists
87 innovat i ve and or iginal research
projects from all scientific fields were
presented during this year’s EU Contest
for Young Scientists. Young people, aged
14-21, from Europe, Brazi l , Canada,
China, Mexico, New Zealand and the US
participated. The winners shared the
46,500 EuroURO prize, with the first
three f i rst (17- year-old Magdalena
Bojarska from Poland, 20- year-old
Martin Tkac from Slovakia and 18- year-
old El i sabeth Mul ler f rom the UK)
receiving 7,000 EurosURO each.
Among the winners was 17- year-old
Greek student Nikos Passalis, who won
the EIRO Forum special award for his
project “Developing distributed systems
using XO”. In the interview he gave us,
he talks about his experience from the
contest and his plans for the future.
∆he Greek website for Open Access
i
European Union Contest
for Young Scientists
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Newbone: developing new
and durable bone
bioimplants
The Newbone project aims to develop
new synthet i c mater ial s for the
production of durable bioimplants that
wi l l exhibi t the same phys i cal and
mechanical characteristics as human
bones. 16 research organizations from 9
European countries participate in the
project , among whi ch i s the Greek
company Pyrogenesis S.A.
According to the Newbone researchers,
synthetic materials are the future of bone
implants. They will help patients suffering
from osteoporosis, bone cancer and severe
bone fractures by improving their quality of
life, by reducing the need for post-op care
and the chance of possible complications.
Biomimetic bone implants will minimize the
chance of rejection and will also allow the
regeneration of natural bone. The
Newbone project will produce prototype
implants for the femur and the calf bone. It
will also look into the potential of using
these materials in implants for the pelvis,
the knee and the spinal cord.
Newbone i s funded by the EU’s 6th
Framework Programme and i ts f inal
results will be published in 2011.
Newbone project
Pyrogenesis S.A.
i
The 2008 EU Industrial R&D
Investment Scoreboard
i
INNO
VATION
RESEARCH
TECHNOLOGY
&
Open Access: knowledge
meets society
Open Access i s an ini t iat ive of the
academic and research community for the
free, immediate and permanent online
access to digital scientific content. Its aim
is to facilitate the exchange of scientific
information, to reinforce research and to
ut i l ize research resul ts. The main
infrastructures through which Open
Access is realized are Repositories and
Scientific Journals.
Open Access Repositories are infra-
structures of organized digital content,
providing free and unlimited access to
scientific and research material. Institutional
Repositories hold materials produced by /
or relevant to an academic or research
organization. Thematic Repositories are
subject- centrered and their holdings focus
on specific scientific fields.
Electronic scientific journals are freely
accessible online and follow peer-review
procedures, while authors are able to
retain copyrights. They emerge either
through traditional publishing houses, or
through the open access publ i shing
procedures, or even through the use of
new publishing schemes.
The Benefits of Open Access include:
ñ
Direct and free access to academic and
research results
ñ
Dissemination and utilization of research
results as a public good
ñ
Reinforcement of communication within
the scientific community
ñ
Increase of visibility and citation impact of
scientific work at national and global level
ñ
Empowerment of the inst i tut ions '
status and value by showcasing their
scientific output (in repositories)
ñ
Long-term preservation of digital content
ñ
Contribution to innovation, competiti-
veness and economic growth
The National Documentation Centre (EKT)
develops nat ional open access
infrastructures for the organization and
dissemination of scientific knowledge,
under the project "National Information
System for Research and Technology-
Phase III, 3rd CSF". These are:
ñ
Hel ios- Nat ional Hel lenic Research
Foundation Repository
ñ
Humanities and Health Sciences Thema-
tic Repositories
ñ
National Archive of PhD Theses Repository
ñ
Scientific Journals
This issue hosts two interviews regarding
Open Access: Professor Keith G. Jeffery,
President of euroCRIS (the professional
association of Current Research Information
Systems –CRIS- experts) talks about
interoperability issues and the future of
Open Access, while Dr Evi Sachini (Head of
EKT’s Strategic Planning & Development
Department) talks about the National
Documentation Centre’s actions and
initiatives in this field.