First impressions of Horizon Europe are in, as the research world gets to grips with the €95.5B research programme.

The US is set to fund prizes, challenges and research projects to create so-called "democracy affirming technologies" that allow open societies to reap the benefits of innovation without sacrificing privacy or accountability.

Europe needs to build eleven new international research labs at a cost of €4.16 billion, according to the latest roadmap from the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI), published on 7 Dec., as the European Commission called for a review of funding sources for the shared facilities.

The research and higher education plans of the new german government include a new national technology transfer agency, better living support for students, and more job security for early career academics.

The UK announced a safety net to make sure Horizon Europe grant winners receive funding if association to the research programme remains on ice.

A new US strategy to expand international science diplomacy gathered speed, as the Biden administration announced collaborations with the Swiss and Canadians, and upcoming discussions with France, Japan and other science partners.

Academic mobility has long been trumpeted as the secret to forming international research networks, but support has led to one-way flows. Now, the EU is considering how to balance out the movement of researchers around the bloc.

This year's budget waltz is over. After months of haggling, MEPs scored a last-minute deal last night on the 2022 budget, convincing member states to allocate some extra cash to Horizon Europe, though in the end the increase was far lower than the European Parliament was bidding for.

Switzerland should agree to a timeline for ironing out broader political disagreements with the EU, the European Commission announced on Monday, signaling a long road ahead for Swiss association to Horizon Europe.

Let's not beat around the bush: science policy is political.

After years of bickering, Washington and Brussels appear to be patching up a disagreement over American researchers participating in the EU's big R&D programmes.

The European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) are to join the Bill Gates Breakthrough Energy initiative, in a €820 million deal intended to put some impetus behind the scale-up of critical climate technologies developed in the EU and create markets for them.

Research and university associations from across Europe have sent a letter to the European Commission calling for the UK to become associated in Horizon Europe without delay.

The new president of the European Research Council (ERC) wants to see the budget doubled to increase its ability to fund excellent science and says the agency must remain independent.

The EU has wrapped up Horizon Europe negotiations with Israel and hopes to sign it up as an associated country before the end of the year, despite pressure from pro-Palestinian academics and objections in Brussels to the country's settlement policies. While the association was expected, the breakthrough comes as uncertainty clouds the status of the UK and Switzerland, two other major potential partners of the research framework.

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Sixteen research and higher education organisations have written an open letter calling on the European Commission to allow them to appoint representatives to the European Research Area (ERA) forum, the body that will establish the governance and policy agenda of the EU's revamped single market for research.

The Swiss parliament has agreed to pay overdue cohesion funds stretching back to 2012 - but this only removes one hurdle to reviving Horizon Europe association talks. 

For nearly 40 years, Germany's voice has been loudest in setting European Union research and innovation policy. Now, a split decision by German voters on Angela Merkel's successor throws into question what that policy will look like, and who will set it.

Official engagements this October have delayed Maria Leptin's move to become president of the European Research Council, by one month. Leptin will now step into the post on 1 November, leaving ERC without a president for two months. Until then, ERC's vice presidents will cover for her.

Switzerland is to draw on its science diplomacy experience to help steer the construction and governance of the South East European International Institute for Sustainable Technologies (SEEIIST), the first large research infrastructure in the Western Balkans.

Switzerland has unveiled details of a funding scheme through which Horizon Europe applicants will still be able to carry on with their projects, despite the country's uncertain status in the EU research programme.

To deliver the transition to a carbon-neutral economy, researchers must rethink funding, global cooperation and how they communicate with policymakers. 

More than 80% of scientific papers stemming from Horizon 2020 funded projects were published in open access journals, according to the European Commission in a new report.

The European People's Party (EPP) is calling on the Commission and member states to fund emergency placements for Afghan researchers and academics at European higher education and research institutions. One of the EPP's lead MEPs, Christian Ehler, said scientists in Afghanistan risk being persecuted by the Taliban, after the islamist group took over the country when the US military and its allies pulled out.

Switzerland will be excluded from Horizon Europe for at least two years, fears Yves Flückiger, president of the country's university association, swissuniversities and rector of the University of Geneva.

Hoping to put pandemic-related delays behind it, Brussels is getting back to R&I policy-making.

With 70% of the EU population now fully vaccinated, European universities are planning to welcome students back to lecture halls and seminar rooms for the 2021-22 academic year, after long months of disruption and distance learning.