Opinion: European universities still face "far too many" restrictions on their autonomy, hindering them from realising their full potential, according to a recent comparative scorecard on university autonomy.

A year ago, Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine redefined geopolitics in a shockwave that is still reverberating through the science world. The EU research community was quick to cut ties with Russia and lend Ukraine a helping hand - but now it is grappling with resulting instability and uncertainty as the war climbs into its second year.

Funding should incentivize institutions to support healthy careers and to spark collaborations with industry.

The European Commission is making a big push to reform research assessment, but Germany's university leaders are not convinced the call for change from above is the right way to deliver it.

The European Commission is about to embark on assessments of the EU's research programmes, guided by a joint consultation with stakeholders opening in November. Three tasks on the agenda are a new strategic plan for the current €95.5 billion Horizon Europe research framework; evaluation of the first half of Horizon Europe; and the final assessment of the previous research programme, Horizon 2020.

LHC to end 2022 data-taking season two weeks early to save on electricity, among other measures.

As the transnational European university alliances enter their fourth year, the European Commission is pumping in an extra €384 million to keep the initiative going. But the current alliances say the goal should be long-term sustainable support. The fourth call for proposals launched this week, will back existing alliances to expand and to launch new ones, as the scheme edges towards the goal of having 60 alliances with more than 500 member universities by mid-2024.

The European Commission has rejected calls from research leaders on both sides of the English Channel for it to put politics aside and allow Switzerland and the UK to join the EU’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme.

Europe may be missing out on lucrative new products, start-ups, and even potential unicorns.

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.   

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 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.

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.

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.

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.

Europe needs to build eleven new international research labs at a cost of €4.16 billion, according to the latest roadmap from the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI), published on 7 Dec., as the European Commission called for a review of funding sources for the shared facilities.

The European Commission and the European Investment Bank (EIB) are to join the Bill Gates Breakthrough Energy initiative, in a €820 million deal intended to put some impetus behind the scale-up of critical climate technologies developed in the EU and create markets for them.

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