The EU Delegation to Israel, together with the Israel-Europe Research and Innovation Directorate (ISERD) and the Israel Innovation Authority​, celebrated scientific cooperation under the Horizon 2020 program with an awards ceremony on June 4th at the Peres Center for Peace and Innovation in Jaffa. Awards were presented to 423 Israeli companies and researchers that won Horizon 2020 grants in 2018. Grants totaling over 742 Million Euro have been awarded to 1,062 Israeli projects since the beginning of the program through the end of 2018.

The Horizon 2020 program is the largest research and innovation program in the world, amounting to approximately 80 Billion Euro over seven years.

 

International cooperation in research and innovation is a strategic priority for the EU. It allows for tackling global societal challenges more effectively, creates business opportunities, and makes scientific diplomacy a driving force for the external policy of Europe.

 

Israel has been a partner in the EU’s research and innovation framework programs since 1996 and was the first non-European country to join it. Over the years, the EU-Israel partnership has strengthened Israeli academic and industrial excellence, led to investments in research infrastructure, and enabled long-term, innovative research

 

The program has enabled Israeli companies, researchers, and innovators to gain access to European partners, to integrate into an extensive infrastructure of European research, and participate in flagship projects in the fields of quantum technologies, graphene and brain research. The European Research Council (ERC), which is part of Horizon 2020, supports ground-breaking research at the frontiers of human endeavour. Israeli researchers have been extremely successful in the ERC programme and Israeli universities and research institutes can be found among the top 10 organisations, worldwide, hosting ERC grantees.

 

EU Ambassador to Israel Emanuele Giaufret said: “Every year, we celebrate EU-Israeli collaboration in research and innovation and honor the Israeli winners in the EU's research and innovation program, Horizon 2020. We hosted a 'plastic-free' ceremony and event to show support for a critical area where the EU has taken on global leadership. Policies promoting sustainability of the planet for future generations need to be supported with technologies, research, and innovative solutions, where EU-Israel cooperation can play a key role.”

 

Dr. Ami Appelbaum, Chief Scientist at the Israel Ministry of Economy and Industry, Chairman of the Israel Innovation Authority, and Chairman of ISERD's Steering Committee noted that: “The prestigious European Framework Program enables industry and academia in Israel to compete in the world of excellence and innovation. The average success rate for eligible applicants is only about 14%, so winning a grant in the program is a sign of quality and excellence for both researchers and companies. The European Framework Program allows for individual proposals and combined proposals with European partners, opening the door for research and business cooperation with European entities beyond the significant funding they already receive."

 

Nili Shalev, Director General of ISERD, added: “The European Framework Program provides companies and researchers with numerous advantages besides the generous funding grants. It elevates the quality of research, enables recruitment of high-quality workers, provides investment in advanced equipment, and facilitates work at international standards. The grant enables companies to cut the time it takes to go to market and enables interaction with many potential customers. The program places participants at the forefront of global research on issues of environmental and social importance. The program offers a wide range of opportunities and benefits, and we are calling on all interested parties to contact the ISERD director, who serves as a gateway to the program.”

 

Projects and research that received funding in 2018 include:

Israeli company Vectorious received funding via the European SME Instrument Phase II program in early 2018 to conduct clinical trials and continue developing its V-LAP product – a miniature wireless heart implant that monitors heart function, accurately measures left atrial pressure (LAP), and sends all data directly to the HMO or the hospital where the patient is receiving treatment. For the first time, physicians can make informed decisions and provide their patients with better treatment based on real-time clinical data.

 

Optima Design Automation from Nazareth was granted approximately 2.5 Million Euro to continue development and scale-up of its innovative product: a software platform for chip manufacturers designed to ensure functional safety of chips used in autonomous cars.

 

A joint project of the Agricultural Research Organization (ARO) - Volcani Center  and the company Fluence for a decision support-based approach for sustainable water reuse applications in agricultural production (DSWAP) that aims to find holistic solutions for wastewater irrigation that ensures environmental safety and health with minimal energy investment. This project included research groups from Israel, Germany, Cyprus, Spain, France, Italy, and Portugal.

 

Triox Nano from Jerusalem won a 2 Million Euro grant to continue development of its new drug delivery platform SMARTIOX, which combines material and DNA techniques to provide breast cancer treatment for women by injecting the active ingredient used in chemotherapy directly into the tumor area alone. This platform could be applied to other disease treatments as well in the future.

 

The PlaMOS project, led by Mellanox and IBM’s Haifa Lab, is developing a powerful integrative platform that allows an eight-fold increase in the speed of optical transmitters and receivers used in datacenters. PlaMOS relies on small-scale wafer integration of novel ferroelectric-based plasmonic-photonic modulators, silicon germanium photodetectors, and BiCMOS electronics combined in a super-fast, micrometer-scale optical engine capable of transmitting and receiving data at the world’s fastest speed of 200 Gbit/s per optical channel.