ScienceGeist

OLAF, the EU's anti-fraud agency, this week confirmed an unnamed Greek scientist de-frauded the European Research Council (ERC) of roughly €190,000. "A complex fraud involving a Greek scientist and her network of international researchers has been uncovered by investigators," OLAF said.

Mauro Ferrari resigned unexpectedly as president of the European Research Council, triggering a noisy public spat over why and how he left.

Universities across Europe are grappling with digital problems, after the COVID-19 pandemic forced campuses to shut down and move research and teaching online. Digital capabilities are not distributed equally across European universities, and deficiencies have delayed implementing systems for online teaching. Bandwidth and student access to computers is also an issue.

Swiss scientists fear a number of political obstacles could block their path into the EU's next big research programme.

A hugely successful research system is being tested by a dispute over immigration and a deteriorating relationship with the EU.

Emmanuel Macron has urged EU member states to put more money into the collective Brussels pot so Europe can invest in key technologies of the future. The French president said he is "not frustrated but impatient" for the EU to take on bigger projects.

Mauro Ferrari says scientists should get rid of ‘disciplinary goggles’ and combine expertise to create new fields of scientific research.

The Trump administration fired a diplomatic shot across the European Commission's bow, with a public warning that it may reject an offer for the US to join the EU's next big research programme.

And so it is finally happening: tomorrow at midnight central European time, the EU bids farewell to the UK. After a tortured three-and-a-half year plod to the exit, the country heads into an eleven month transition period where everything stands still, and then into the unknown of the yet-to-be negotiated Future Relationship. In light of the historic moment, Science|Business contacted science figures around Europe, to find out:

The European Open Science Cloud, an enormous repository of research results that is due to go live later this year, will add new value to vast stores of unused data, Ursula von der Leyen, European Commission president pledged on Wednesday.

Conservative MPs have voted against an amendment that would have required the government to negotiate continuing full membership of the EU's Erasmus+ programme, which helps students study in other countries.

The European Union's new innovation chief, Mariya Gabriel, wants to "revitalise" efforts to create a real single market for research, education and innovation, bridging the performance gap between eastern and western Europe.

The European Union's top research official telegraphed a message to the UK's Brexit negotiators: When it comes to a post-Brexit deal on research cooperation, there can be "no cherry picking."

Science ministers of the Central European Initiative, a group of countries in central and south-east Europe, have signed the 'Trieste Declaration on Science', an agreement to work together to boost participation in Horizon Europe and strengthen international research cooperation in the region.

The UK's share of EU research funding has fallen dramatically because of Brexit uncertainty, with the country's take home from the EU Horizon 2020 programme cut by almost €500 million since 2015, according an analysis by the Royal Society.

A major push by science funding agencies in Europe to make the research they back freely available at the point of publication is the world's best chance of fundamentally altering scientific publishing, says the new coordinator of Plan S, Johan Rooryck.

In the aftermath of the European elections, the calculators are starting to come out in labs and universities around Europe that depend on the EU for research funding: Will it mean more or less money for science and technology? The answer so far: fuzzy maths.

According to the latest data from the European University Association (EUA), only few higher education institutions have policies on research data management in place. 

EU Commissioners approved on 30 April details of an experimental new "matrix" design for their research policy department, which its chief says will force staff to work together across bureaucratic lines. "This is really about establishing an agile, modern, cross-cutting administration, which really can elaborate policies and projects differently," said Jean-Eric Paquet, director-general of DG Research and Innovation, known as DG RTD.

The upcoming European Parliament elections that will shape EU politics for the next five years and beyond will be fought on many issues, including science.

UK-based researchers won the largest share of 222 advanced research grants announced by the European Research Council on 28 March. The grants have a total value of €540 million.

In creating a new innovation council, the European Commission is experimenting not just in policy but also in management.

The ethical issues swirling around artificial intelligence (AI) are under-researched, with surprisingly little serious academic investigation into AI ethics, despite the huge amount of money pouring into the field and the rampant pace at which the technology is advancing.

India's annual multi-million-euro outlay on scientific publishing is a bad deal for the country, says Krishnaswamy VijayRaghavan, principal scientific adviser to the government.

A high-ranking EU civil servant leading the administrative wing of the European Research Council (ERC) announced his early retirement to staff on Monday, citing policy disputes.

EU research chief Jean-Eric Paquet lays plans to refocus staff on policy goals, efficiency and cooperation with other parts of the Commission.

Robert-Jan Smits is pitching the Plan S vision to transform academic publishing to the world’s big science funding bodies.

The change is intended to enable researchers to access structural funds for projects reviewers say are excellent, but which don’t make the cut for Horizon Europe grants.

Commission concedes it will need more time to resolve long-term budget negotiations – but it remains committed to its plan boosting R&D subsidies

Embracing a global view of EU research infrastructures could boost science diplomacy and break down walls put up by divisive politics. But new rules on cooperation and more funding are needed to deliver the vision.