In order to organise the work within EMIRI, the following Focus Groups (FGs) have been established, based on the key technology areas identified by the Initiative to achieve a competitive European advanced materials industry for clean energy and mobility.
- Batteries
- Hydrogen
- Solar Energy Harvesting
- Wind Energy Harvesting
- Low Carbon Industries
- Light weighting for mobility
- Buildings
- Digital and integration technologies for clean energy and mobility
OBJECTIVES OF THE EMIRI FOCUS GROUPS
- Leverage EMIRI’s voice promoting the strongest image of the Advanced Materials for clean and sustainable energy and mobility in every relevant technology area
- Promote the key R&I topics on Advanced Materials technologies enabling clean and sustainable energy and mobility
- Highlight the key impact of Advanced Materials as a leading-edge opportunity for the European industry; to foster the development of these technologies in Europe
- Explore mechanisms for increasing alignment and avoid duplication of efforts within EMIRI and/or member teams and potential disconnects
- Reinforce networking and connections with external stakeholders
COMPOSITION OF THE FOCUS GROUPS
The number of participants in the FGs is not limited but stakeholders should indicate that they are willing to commit time and effort for their active participation. Participants in the FGs are expected to actively contribute to the FGs objectives.
Every EMIRI Industry or Research member can nominate up to 5 employees with the appropriate technical expertise in each FG.
The composition of each FG should reflect the main stakeholders involved in EMIRI with respect to the technology area of the FG. A reasonable balance between Industry and Research members should be respected: the FG Core Team is responsible for ensuring this balance, by liaising with the different EMIRI members and by inviting the necessary experts.
External stakeholders, including from EMIRI associate members, may be invited by the FG Core Team on an ad-hoc basis as technical advisor, to give specific inputs for the preparation of a document and can provide suggestions on the FG’s work.
Members’ experts involved in a Focus Group not showing activity for more than one year will be removed from the FG if no reaction is given to invitations.
The list of member organisations and nominated experts in each Focus Group will be available to all EMIRI members.
GOVERNANCE
Each FG is coordinated by a Core Team which includes up to 2 representatives:
- a FG Chair, ideally coming from the Industry,
- a FG co-Chair, ideally coming from the Research
Any EMIRI member can express interest to be part of the Core Team. A single expert can be elected for a Core team position in maximum two FGs and only 3 candidates from a single EMIRI member can be elected in a core team position, considering all FGs.
The Core Team is elected for a period of 3 years, can be reappointed and may be anticipatively replaced if needed.
The Core Team is responsible, with the support of the EMIRI secretariat, for:
- Coordinating the FG activities
- Delivering on the objectives of the FG
- Building the annual activity plan of the FG
- Chairing the meetings and moderating the discussions of the FG;
- Drawing up the agenda of each meeting;
- Drafting the minutes of the meetings;
- Reporting and providing the consolidated FG inputs to EMIRI governance bodies;
- Representing EMIRI at external meetings and events, once endorsed by the Steerco
KEY ACTIVITIES AND DELIVERABLES
Key activities:
- Update EMIRI Technology roadmap in the relevant focus area
- Build evidence-based recommendations on the priority research needs in the field of Advanced Materials for the relevant focus area
- Identify, draft and prioritise suggested R&I topics for the next Horizon Europe Work Programmes
- Network with relevant Organisations and initiatives at EU, national and regional level; reinforce collaborations with all relevant stakeholders / initiatives / funding instruments across all Horizon Europe Pillars, clusters and partnerships,…
- Organise events (technical workshops, …)
- Follow-up, assess and disseminate the outcomes of relevant EU-funded projects, identify R&I “Success stories” for supporting EMIRI communication
Deliverables:
- Updates of EMIRI Technology Roadmap
- R&I topics proposals for feeding calls of the Horizon Europe Work-Programmes
- Policy papers
- Workshops and events (such as Techtalks/Namec joint events)
- Success stories
METHOD OF WORKING
The FGs will work by consensus. In case of critical matter, the FG Core Team will call the Steering Committee to receive guidance on the way forward.
The FG Core team will call for meetings when judged necessary for the preparation of the documents and activities they are responsible for. In practice, at least one FG meeting every quarter is foreseen.
FGs meetings may be organised by teleconferencing, and consultation on drafts documents and requests for input may be done electronically.
The working documents of the FG will be shared and accessible via EMIRI_Hub, the collaborative platform accessible to all EMIRI members. A dedicated space will be available for each FG.
The minutes of the FG meetings and all documents produced by a FG will be available on EMIRI_HUB to all EMIRI members, including those who are not participating in the FG.