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British foreign secretary triggers formal dispute proceedings with Brussels over British access to EU science programs.
Uncertainty in British politics is a headache for UK researchers
After four years at the helm of the European Commission's research directorate-general, Jean-Eric Paquet is now getting ready to become EU ambassador to Japan on 1 September. Paquet has been steering the directorate-general since three months before the Commission published its proposal for the Horizon Europe programme.
As Brexit dispute deepens, grant winners are forced to reject money or move to Europe.
Russia's invasion in Ukraine has upended long-held dogmas on international cooperation, including in science and technology. The European Commission is now using that momentum to speed up the development of innovation and promote self-sufficiency in critical areas, such as green energy, semiconductors and health, EU research and innovation commissioner told Science|Business.
EU efforts to reduce the east-west gap in research and innovation should be backed by investment and reforms in member states, the EU auditor says in a report reviewing funding schemes set up by the European Commission to help bridge the divide.
EU science ministers signed off an agreement backing research assessment reform in Europe, alongside conclusions on open science, international cooperation and Horizon Europe missions.
Some British researchers who had secured Horizon Europe funding have already been told that their grants will be cancelled.
Member states are set to adopt a position backing research assessment reform in Europe - but they'll stress that any reforms must take into account the diversity of research systems in the EU, according to a draft document seen by Science|Business. Research ministers will meet in Luxembourg on Friday to sign off Council conclusions for research assessment reform in Europe, alongside conclusions on open science, international cooperation and Horizon Europe missions.
A year since the launch of Horizon Europe, the European Commission says its research partnerships with industry and member states are showing first signs of contributing to EU's green, digital and health policy goals.
The EU today launched a pilot project aiming to help regions coordinate regional, national and EU research and innovation policies, and to bridge the many gaps in Europe's fragmented innovation ecosystems.
The European Innovation Council's (EIC) Accelerator funding for start-ups continues to be held up as the Commission's directorates fight over how to manage the new equity fund. The delays are affecting companies selected to receive 'blended finance' - a mix of grant and equity funding - following the June cut-off date last year, the first under Horizon Europe. But the impact may soon be felt by those next in line, which were selected for funding following the October cut-off.
The European Commission officially launched a €25 million direct aid package of Marie Skłodowska-Curie grants for researchers from Ukraine, as it announced a €562 million increase for the Horizon Europe budget in 2022.
The departure of Jean-Eric Paquet, the head of the European Commission's directorate general for research and innovation, has not been officially confirmed as yet, but the Brussels rumour mill is already churning out potential replacements.
In the second year of the Horizon Europe programme, the United Kingdom and Switzerland are not formally associated with the largest research and innovation funding programme in the world.
Switzerland and the UK play an important role in scientific projects that bring countries together.
When JET, the Joint European Torus, announced a breakthrough in the production of fusion energy in February, the celebrations could be heard across Europe. Although based in the UK, the project belongs to a much wider fusion research community.
A new batch of unapproved drafts of Horizon Europe work programmes obtained by Science|Business reveals details about upcoming funding calls for climate research, improving research excellence in poorer EU countries and strengthening research infrastructures.
EU research ministers signed a declaration laying out common principles and values for international cooperation in research and innovation in Marseille on Monday, but these rules arrive as the rapid pace of geopolitical change threatens to render them useless in selecting scientific collaborators from outside the EU.
Projects in jeopardy as EU revokes millions in grant offers after failure of trade talks
A leading German member of the European Parliament urged the EU to sever all scientific relations with Russia, stepping up pressure from Berlin to use science as a diplomatic weapon against Moscow.
Scientific collaboration has become a casualty of Switzerland's and the United Kingdom's tussles with the European Union.
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.
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.
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.
