European Commission and Cyprus strengthen research links
On 22 July 2014, in Brussels, the European Commission's in-house science service, Directorate-General Joint Research Centre (DG JRC) and the Cyprus Institute hosted an official signing ceremony of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in order to further strengthen the collaboration of DG JRC with Cyprus. The MoU specifies advancing science, technology and innovation in fields of mutual interest including environment, climate change, energy, water and technological advances and standardisation in cultural heritage preservation. The MoU was signed by Costas Papanicolas, President of the Cyprus Institute and Vladimír Šucha, Director General of DG JRC in the presence of the Commissioner for Education, Culture, Multilingualism and Youth, Androulla Vassiliou. New Cypriot Members of the European Parliament, Costas Mavrides, Demetris Papadakis, Christos Stylianides and Neoklis Sylikiotis, were also present.
The participants commented on the importance of the signature of the MoU between the European Commission's Joint Research Centre and the Cyprus Institute as the beginning of a fruitful and promising partnership. Commissioner Vassiliou emphasised that signing of the MoU is a step in the right direction since it covers joint activities in strategic areas directly linked to today's global challenges. She expressed her confidence that this cooperation would bring added value to science and innovation in Cyprus and place it closer to the heart of European science community.
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The Deputy Permanent Representative of Cyprus to the EU, Maria Hadjitheodosiou, stressed the importance of scientific research to provide new pathways for the country, in particular for the next generation, and contribute to growth through effective investment in research and innovation. The Director General of DG JRC, Vladimír Šucha, pointed to the collaboration as an essential aspect in addressing complex global challenges where the knowledge and expertise of each partner offers valuable input for successful solutions, and he highlighted the important role played by Cyprus in the region. The President of the Cyprus Institute Costas Papanicolas stated that the MoU is the beginning of a collaborative effort with the laboratories and the scientists of the Commission and highlighted that transforming Cyprus economy into a knowledge economy must be one of the ways out of the economic crisis that the country is facing. Both parties agreed to the next steps of the collaboration. In the autumn a technical visit of key Cypriot scientists to the JRC Institutes located in Ispra, Italy will be organised, in order to promote specific cooperation projects in the areas of climate change, sustainable development, energy efficiency of buildings and digital issues for cultural heritage. Further information: JRC/Cyprus collaboration: EL: https://ec.europa.eu/jrc/sites/default/files/jrc_country_leaflet_cy_el.pdf |
Official signing ceremony of a Memorandum of Understanding between the European Commission's Joint Research Centre and the Cyprus Institute. Standing from the left: Costas Mavrides, Christos Stylianides, Maria Hadjitheodosiou, Neoklis Sylikiotis, Costas Papanicolas, Androulla Vassiliou, Vladimír Šucha, Demetris Papadakis, Themis Cristophidou and Philippe Busquin. |
