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Does International R&D Cooperation Under Institutional Agreements Have a Greater Impact Than Those Without Agreements?

Does International R&D Cooperation Under Institutional Agreements Have a Greater Impact Than Those Without Agreements?

Funding agencies (FAs) have increasingly engaged in international cooperation agreements (ICAs) to encourage world-class research and achieve more promising outcomes in the context of increasing competition for research resources. While the benefits of International Research Collaboration are largely supported by literature, less attention was paid to the influence of ICA on scientific and technological outputs. 

The World's Top Chemical-Weapons Detectives Just Opened a Brand-New Lab

The World's Top Chemical-Weapons Detectives Just Opened a Brand-New Lab

The international body that banned chemical weapons is due to celebrate its first major milestone sometime this year — the completed destruction of the world’s declared stockpiles of banned substances. But at the organization’s brand-new facility in the Netherlands, scientists from around the world will continue its work to prevent, spot and respond to chemical warfare.

Shifting Geopolitics Prompts Germany to Offer Researchers Extra Help on International Collaboration

Shifting Geopolitics Prompts Germany to Offer Researchers Extra Help on International Collaboration

In 2019 the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) set up a new service, the Competence Centre for International Academic Cooperation (KIWi). It's been hugely popular, and the DAAD believes it's time to give it a boost.

War in Ukraine Prompts Shifts in Thinking About International Cooperation in Science

War in Ukraine Prompts Shifts in Thinking About International Cooperation in Science

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.

New Global Body Aims to Improve Biosecurity and Biosafety

New Global Body Aims to Improve Biosecurity and Biosafety

A new global organisation is trying to prevent dramatic advances in bioscience from unleashing engineered pathogens from the lab, and wants research funders, scientists and journals to help. The International Biosecurity and Biosafety Initiative for Science (IBBIS) warns that scientists might be able to order the DNA of dangerous pathogens like smallpox from unregulated companies, and wants much tighter screening of the industry.

Commander Cristoforetti: International Space Station is a 'beacon of Hope'

Commander Cristoforetti: International Space Station is a 'beacon of Hope'

Italian astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti is the fifth European to take command of the ISS. She says the space station gives her hope for peace on Earth.

EU Called Out for Bureaucratic Obstacles to Cross-Border Researcher Mobility

EU Called Out for Bureaucratic Obstacles to Cross-Border Researcher Mobility

The lifting of pandemic restrictions on travel and increased requirements in EU research programmes for researchers to spend time abroad is drawing renewed attention to the way in which blanket EU rules for managing labour flows are getting in the way.

New Scheme Will Allow Thailand-based Researchers to Join European Research Council Teams

New Scheme Will Allow Thailand-based Researchers to Join European Research Council Teams

Thailand and the EU last week signed off a new scheme allowing researchers from Thailand to join European Research Council-funded projects. ERC already has a number of such arrangements with countries including Australia, Brazil, China, India and the US, but this is the first time it has cooperated with Thailand's National Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation Policy Council.

A Double-edged Eco Sword

A Double-edged Eco Sword

Climate change affects us all yet not equally. The plight of those forced to migrate as a result - often called 'climate refugees', though not officially - has become contested ground between human rights/environmental activists and anti-asylum lobbyists. Could 'ecologically displaced', avoiding racialization, xenophobia and division, be a viable alternative?

Experts Warn UK is Becoming Less Attractive for International Research Talent Post-Brexit

Experts Warn UK is Becoming Less Attractive for International Research Talent Post-Brexit

The UK government's plan to increase R&D spending requires a skilled workforce which its universities and research institutes will struggle to assemble, expert witnesses told the House of Lords' science and technology committee today. "The attractiveness of the UK as a destination for scientists might have decreased in recent years," said Maggie Dallman, vice president for international affairs and associate provost for academic partnerships at Imperial College London.

Machine Translation Could Make English-only Science Accessible to All

Machine Translation Could Make English-only Science Accessible to All

UC Berkeley scientists and students looked at current artificial intelligence translation systems and found that, though flawed, they have become good enough for researchers to broadly translate their work into other languages, at least the languages of the coauthors and the country in which the research was conducted. One problem: how to get permissions to translate and share, and where will these translations live online.

Global Food Insecurity and Famine from Reduced Crop, Marine Fishery and Livestock Production Due to Climate Disruption from Nuclear War Soot Injection

Global Food Insecurity and Famine from Reduced Crop, Marine Fishery and Livestock Production Due to Climate Disruption from Nuclear War Soot Injection

Calorie availability and extent of food shortages for each nation are estimated following regional or global nuclear war, including impacts on major crops, livestock and fishery production.

How to Keep Science Open - but Also Secure? G7 Nations Work on an Answer

How to Keep Science Open - but Also Secure? G7 Nations Work on an Answer

In recent years, the world's leading industrialised nations have been moving to defend their science and technology from perceived threats from China, Russia and elsewhere. Now, they're trying to counter another risk: that their security measures could harm their own science.

Nature Addresses Helicopter Research and Ethics Dumping

Nature Addresses Helicopter Research and Ethics Dumping

New framework aims to improve inclusion and ethics in global research collaborations amid wider efforts to end exploitative practices.

Leading Countries in Global Science Increasingly Receive More Citations Than Other Countries Doing Similar Research

Leading Countries in Global Science Increasingly Receive More Citations Than Other Countries Doing Similar Research

This article studies international citation and text similarity networks across 150 fields and find that some countries increasingly receive more citations despite researching similar topics as others.

UK Announces Russia Sanctions in Line with EU Measures

UK Announces Russia Sanctions in Line with EU Measures

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."

Russian Participation in ITER Nuclear Fusion Project 'not an Easy Subject' in Wake of Invasion

Russian Participation in ITER Nuclear Fusion Project 'not an Easy Subject' in Wake of Invasion

As the world cuts Russia off from more and more joint research and innovation projects following its invasion of Ukraine, there's been deafening silence from the ITER megaproject that is seeking to demonstrate the potential of nuclear fusion by building the world's largest tokamak in south west France.