European STI councils hosted in Ghent

On November 16 and 17, VARIO's European sister councils were hosted in Ghent for the annual autumn meeting of the STI councils (Science, Technology and Innovation councils). A visit to the VIB was on the program on Thursday. Jerôme van Biervliet, managing director, explained the VIB to the foreign guests, after which Saskia Lippens, Deputy Technology Director, showed them around the Bio-imaging Core. On Friday it was time for the actual work, the theme of the meeting being 'The strategic orientation towards 'Europe'. Kurt Vandenberghe, Director-General - Directorate-General Climate Action, talked in an inspiring keynote about the important role of science and innovation in the European Green Deal. In a second keynote, Luc Van den Hove, CEO of Imec, highlighted the functioning and future vision of Imec and the important role of this strategic research centre in the European Chips Act. AWTI and VARIO then explained their respective advisory reports on Europe. Dutch AWTI chairman Eppo Bruins then moderated a session about a possible 'joining of forces' of the advisory councils at European level. On which themes could we work together to make a stronger voice heard and to make Europe stronger in a competitive world? After the lunch, each council provided an overview of its recent advisory reports and activities.