Over the past two decades, Sub-Saharan Africa has stepped up its scientific production and its investment in higher education.

Life scientists are often oblivious to the risk of creating deadly new pathogens that could escape from the lab, a new World Health Organisation (WHO) report has warned, as the body draws up new global safety guidelines.

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.

The UK is working on a "bigger, better" rival to the European Research Council as part of an alternative to the Horizon Europe, in response to growing fears that the country will not associate to the framework programme.

The invasion of Ukraine has helped open the door for Japan, Canada, South Korea and New Zealand to join Horizon Europe, according to Brussels lead negotiator Signe Ratso, as the EU tries to bolster research ties with likeminded democracies. Last year, it appeared that the Commission's efforts to convince these science powers to associate had stalled.

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.

NSF Engines, a new programme of the US National Science Foundation, aims to spread the tech wealth more broadly across the nation – tackling a regional policy problem common to many countries

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has urged universities in the US to provide the expertise in defence, cybersecurity, aeronautics and healthcare that is needed to rebuild his country's war-torn economy and infrastructure.

Europe's universities and research organisations are going green, with some bidding to be at the forefront of Europe's 2050 net zero ambition.

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 Biden Administration is planning a campaign to attract Russian scientists and engineers to the US, in an effort to further weaken Russia's science and technology base. It also plans to help Russian physicists at the CERN nuclear lab continue working there, rather than return home when their normal visas expire, if they wish.

UK-based researchers have been awarded 45 grants in the European Research Council's (ERC) latest funding round for experienced researchers, but in the absence of UK association to Horizon Europe, it is on the condition they move to institutions in the EU.

The European Court of Auditors criticised the EU for "shortcomings" in its system to protect industrial designs, trademarks, and unique agricultural products  - and, the auditors added, appears to charge too much for the service.  

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.

NATO has launched a new research programme called DIANA to bring industry, start-up companies and academia together to research new dual-use technologies that address both societal problems and national security issues. The Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) is focusing on technologies such as artificial intelligence, big data processing, quantum-enabled technologies, autonomy, biotechnology, novel materials and space.

The European Research Council (ERC) has asked successful applicants based in the UK to move to an EU institution within the next two months, or else give up their grants. 

An ambitious EU initiative aiming to create a cyber-replica of Planet Earth for climate-impact simulations may not include British or Swiss organisations - and some researchers in the project say that's a problem.

The research community in Europe has rallied behind the Stick to Science campaign, set up in February to push for a rapid resolution to the exclusion of Switzerland and the United Kingdom from EU research and innovation programmes.

The EU and US have reached an agreement in principle on facilitating data flows, including research data, across the Atlantic. Steady data sharing has been hampered since the EU's Court of Justice struck down the old rules due to concerns about US government surveillance in July 2020.

Crucial climate change research in the Artic is in jeopardy after the operation of the Arctic Council that coordinates the work was put on hold following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The UK has followed much of the rest of Europe and announced its own scientific sanctions against Russia, leaving the US, which has still not issued any centralised guidance, increasingly isolated in its inaction. After reviewing its Russian links, the UK has said its research and innovation funding organisations will not start any new projects with Russia. Payments to existing projects "with a Russian dimension" have been paused pending an assessment of which ones "benefit the Russian regime."

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.

The European Commission today launched a portal that pulls together information and support services for researchers in Ukraine and those fleeing the Russian invasion of the country, amid calls for coordinated EU action. The portal offers help with finding housing, job opportunities and recognition of education qualifications.

The European Commission is to review its research agenda to reflect EU-wide policy changes following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. 

Russian scientists who oppose the war against Ukraine say that while they have some understanding of the reasons for European scientific sanctions, stopping international collaboration may be counterproductive in the long term.