The future of international space cooperation is being put to the test, as tensions mount between Russia and the rest of the world.

As Ukrainian refugee numbers mount, universities in Europe are starting to grapple with how best to help the Ukrainian academic community.

The European University Association (EUA) has suspended 12 Russian universities whose rectors signed a statement supporting president Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine and parroting the Kremlin's justification for the assault.

The European Commission has suspended payments to Russian institutions involved in EU-funded research and innovation projects. In addition, the EU will not launch any new cooperation projects with Russian universities, research institutes and companies.

Science in Ukraine has come to a halt. Russia's invasion has crippled the country's newly established research agency and forced its leader to a bomb shelter in Kyiv.

Governments, universities and individual academics across Europe over are being forced to choose whether to cut research ties with Russia after Moscow shocked the scientific community with its assault on Ukraine. Germany, Russia's second biggest research collaborator after the US, has said it will halt all scientific cooperation, while the UK is reviewing its links.

Engaging citizens in research will be a big priority for the new Horizon Europe funding programme. Horizon Europe includes a €2 million research call for recommendations to strengthen societal trust in science, research and innovation, while the programme is also seeking to encourage more public participation in scientific research.

Spain has set out to improve the lives of its researchers after years of hand to mouth existence and a brain drain that has significantly weakened the public research sector.   A reform of a 2011 law will see young researchers getting permanent contracts, recognition of experience gained abroad and new labour rights. At the same time, there will be increased public spending on research.   

Discussions are underway in Brussels over whether Russia should be cut out of future Horizon Europe projects after president Vladimir Putin recognised two separatist-held parts of Ukraine as sovereign states and requested permission from parliament to send in troops on a mission.

The UK has launched a research and development competition with South Korea, the latest in a string of recently announced collaborations with countries outside the EU. It comes as Brussels announces that it has entered official Horizon Europe association talks with South Korea and New Zealand.

Slovenian universities and research stakeholders are decrying government interference in the appointment of a new head of the Slovenian Research Agency (ARRS). The agency's management board appointed cardiologist Mitja Lainščak as acting director on Saturday 28 January, a few days after the government replaced four members of the board who disagreed with that decision, and had instead twice proposed economist Lidija Tičar Padar for the job.

As he was re-confirmed on February 9 as head of France's biggest research organisation, Antoine Petit floated a few attention-getting ideas in parliament - such as the possibility of starting a television channel for science.

France is now working with the European Commission and science and university associations to push for a new system of evaluating research in Europe, launching the Paris Call on research assessment.

President Biden's efforts to remake US R&D policy took a hit Monday, as his chief science adviser, Eric Lander, unexpectedly resigned following an internal White House investigation of claims he had bullied members of his staff.

The vast majority of research-focused EU bodies have never had a top leader from central or eastern Europe finds a new report that is demanding "affirmative action" to broaden the distribution of jobs across the bloc. This is a problem across the whole EU apparatus and risks bolstering political parties in central and eastern Europe that are hostile to Brussels, the report warns.

EU member states have voted to break the political deadlock that has been holding back the European Innovation Council's (EIC's) 2022 work programme. 

Disagreements persist over the use of lump sum funding in Horizon Europe, as the European Commission gears up for broader implementation over the next couple of years. At a meeting organised by the European Parliament's panel for the future of science and technology (STOA), Horizon Europe rapporteur Christian Ehler MEP debated the pros and cons of lump sum funding, with policymakers in the Commission. Meanwhile, research stakeholders continue to call for caution and a slower rollout of the new system.

A number of national research organisations have been taken aback by the urgency of a request by the European Commission to appoint representatives to negotiate a new research assessment system in Europe.

The US has unveiled a range of measures to make it easier to attract people in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields, in a further effort to move away from the exclusionary rhetoric of the Trump era. They include a new initiative to facilitate researcher exchange, and a host of tweaks to visa rules to make entry easier.

Germany's Jülich Supercomputing Centre has added a quantum computer to its existing high performance computing infrastructure, enabling the centre to get involved in practical applications of quantum computing at a very early stage, as the technology moves out the lab and into commercial use.

Start-ups and SMEs promised equity funding by the European Innovation Council (EIC) will have to wait "a number of months into 2022" for the financing, as the European Commission struggles with setting up the fund under Horizon Europe.

Switzerland-based early career scientists awarded funding by European Research Council (ERC) grants may have to move to another country to do their research.

The EU urgently needs better intelligence about China's science and technology system to avoid being taken advantage of, warns a new report.

What are the main six debates to watch this year in European research policy?