The Joint Research Centre JRC is the European Commission s science and knowledge service which employs scientists to car

The Joint Research Centre (JRC) is the European Commission's science and knowledge service which employs scientists to carry out research in order to provide independent scientific advice and support to European Union (EU) policy.

Leadership

The JRC is a directorate-general of the European Commission under the responsibility of Iliana Ivanova, the European Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth. The current acting Director-General of the JRC is Bernard Magenhann. Its Board of Governors assists and advises the Director-General on matters relating to the role and the scientific, technical and financial management of the JRC.

Structure

Composed of strategy and coordination, knowledge production, knowledge management and support directorates, the JRC is spread across six sites in five EU countries: in Belgium (Brussels and Geel), Germany (Karlsruhe, Institute for Transuranium Elements), Italy (Ispra), the Netherlands (Petten), and Spain (Seville). Their responsibilities are:

to create, manage and make sense of knowledge to support European policies with independent evidence
to develop innovative tools and make them available to policymakers
to anticipate emerging issues that need to be addressed at EU level and understand policy environments
to share know-how with EU countries, the scientific community and international partners
to contribute to the overall objective of Horizon 2020
to conduct Euratom-funded research on nuclear safety and security to contribute to the transition to a carbon-free economy.

A portion of the budget of the EU under the Framework Programme is allocated directly to the JRC.

History

The Italian Centre in Ispra originally belonged to the Comitato Nazionale per l'Energia Nucleare (CNEN) and was officially transferred to the Community on 1 March 1961. Since 1973, non-nuclear research evolved rapidly, especially in topics related to safety and the environment. After 16 years of research, the nuclear reactor at JRC Ispra was shut down in 1983.

At the beginning of the 1980s, a re-examination of the mandate and evaluation of the activities of the JRC began. Future activities were to continue to support the commission's implementations of Community policies. In 1987, journalist Richard L. Hudson published an article on the home page on The Wall Street Journal, which featured the opinions of a remote sensing expert employed at JRC, along with some insights drawn from an external report commissioned by the Directorate-General. These opinions where combined to express deep concern about the center's state at the time, describing it as a disaster hindered by dysfunctional bureaucratic constraints. The then JRC director of projects, Raymond Klersy, criticized the article, claiming they were biased and incomplete in their representation of the situation.

In 1992, the results of a study led to a proposal to convert the JRC Ispra site into an environmentally-optimised model site; the "ECO Centre". The JRC employs around 2787 staff with an annual budget of 372,5 million euros for 2017.

List of Directors General

Bernard Magenhann (Acting): 2024-
Stephen Quest: 2020-2024
[sk]: 2014-2019
Dominique Ristori: 2010-1013
Jean-Albert Dinkespiler: 1982-

Science areas

As of 2024^[update], the JRC research activities are clustered in six areas, based on the priorities of the 2019–2024 European Commission, with 33 subtopics.

A European Green Deal: research around carbon neutrality
A stronger Europe in the World: international relationships
A Europe fit for the digital age, such as AI and cybersecurity
Promoting our European way of life, such as health and crisis management
An economy that works for people, including skills and governance
European democracy: innovative policy making

References

"Joint Research Centre's website".
Organisation – Joint Research Centre. Retrieved on 2020-05-13
"The Joint Research Centre". STI Review Special Issue on Public/Private Partnerships in Science and Technology. OECD. 1998. p. 258. ISBN 978-92-64-17209-8.
History of the Joint Research Centre, Ispra Site. YouTube (21 December 2009). Retrieved on 2013-09-05.
Essai Orgel (ESSOR), 1969. YouTube (30 July 2012). Retrieved on 2013-09-05.
JRC ISPRA: A 50 Year Pictorial History (PDF). JRC European Commission. ISBN 978-92-79-09696-9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 January 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2024.
Migliorino, Gianni (22 August 1987). "il centro di ispra? un vero disastro scientifico". Corriere della Sera (in Italian).
"JRC Annual Report 2017 – European Commission". European Commission. Retrieved 26 October 2018.
"Bernard Magenhann European Commission CV". European Commission. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
"Stephen Quest European Commission CV". European Commission. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
"Vladimír Šucha Biography" (PDF). IAEA. Retrieved 28 February 2025.
Dominique Ristori appointed new JRC Director General, European Commission, 17 November 2010.
New Scientist April 1982
"JRC science and knowledge activities". EU Science Hub – European Commission. Retrieved 11 November 2024. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

External links

Joint Research Centre (JRC) – EU Science Hub

[:0-1] "Joint Research Centre's website".

[2] Organisation – Joint Research Centre. Retrieved on 2020-05-13

[3] "The Joint Research Centre". STI Review Special Issue on Public/Private Partnerships in Science and Technology. OECD. 1998. p. 258. ISBN 978-92-64-17209-8.

[4] History of the Joint Research Centre, Ispra Site. YouTube (21 December 2009). Retrieved on 2013-09-05.

[5] Essai Orgel (ESSOR), 1969. YouTube (30 July 2012). Retrieved on 2013-09-05.

[6] JRC ISPRA: A 50 Year Pictorial History (PDF). JRC European Commission. ISBN 978-92-79-09696-9. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 January 2012. Retrieved 11 November 2024.

[7] Migliorino, Gianni (22 August 1987). "il centro di ispra? un vero disastro scientifico". Corriere della Sera (in Italian).

[8] "JRC Annual Report 2017 – European Commission". European Commission. Retrieved 26 October 2018.

[9] "Bernard Magenhann European Commission CV". European Commission. Retrieved 28 February 2025.

[10] "Stephen Quest European Commission CV". European Commission. Retrieved 28 February 2025.

[11] "Vladimír Šucha Biography" (PDF). IAEA. Retrieved 28 February 2025.

[12] Dominique Ristori appointed new JRC Director General, European Commission, 17 November 2010.

[13] New Scientist April 1982

[14] "JRC science and knowledge activities". EU Science Hub – European Commission. Retrieved 11 November 2024. Text was copied from this source, which is available under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.