Send us a link
After another year of conflict and war in 2023, there is a ray of hope for a peaceful New Year: the emergence of the EU's Horizon Europe programme as an extraordinary engine of global scientific cooperation.
The pressure for EU legislation to protect academic freedom ramped up towards the end of 2023 when the European Parliament's STOA panel for the future of science and technology set out its plan of action. Amongst other measures, STOA is calling for a formal definition of academic freedom and a monitoring system to ensure these principles are enforced.
2023 has been one of the most interesting and intense years in European and international research and innovation policy.
EU leaders failed to reach a deal on a seven-year budget review, postponing until January a decision that includes potential cuts to Horizon Europe.
With EU relations patched up, UK researchers and policymakers are planning the next moves. There are no firm plans for AI legislation, but an international collaboration fund set up during the wilderness years will continue, and there will be a focus on South American links.
Documents leaked to Science|Business show the EU research programme could lose as much as €5.3B, as member states scramble to find money to pay back recovery fund loans.
After lengthy negotiations, the EU and Canada reached agreement for Canadian researchers to join Horizon Europe research programme from next year.
Swiss university leaders have welcomed the European Commission's announcement that it will finally open exploratory talks on Horizon Europe association, with hopes this could lead to an agreement as early as next year.
Following Moscow’s invasion of Ukraine a fear of working with the West, sanctions, visa restrictions, travel issues and an exodus of academics have forced Russia to retreat from the global scientific conversation.
Funding doctoral training can be a driving force for innovation, especially if it involves industry, according to a new European Commission study.
Europe’s open access advocates set out a vision for system-level reform to make scientific publishing faster, more open and scholar-led.
A special member state task force set up to help shape framework programme 10 (FP10), has compiled the first draft. The documents set out in broad strokes the ideas for FP10, including a call for the EU to be a global research and innovation powerhouse by 2034.
Governments are strengthening security safeguards – sometimes with unintended consequences. It is time for an open dialogue where these are brought to the table.
