Tag: Research

The Irish EU presidency yesterday (25 June) reached an agreement in principle with the European Parliament and the Commission to ring-fence €70.2 billion for the research budget from 2014-2020, resolving a number of squabbles over the so-called Horizon 2020 programme.

In order to fight obesity, the European Union needs to engage not only governments and academia, but also various industries in the area of prevention, according to an American obesity expert. "The most important thing you can learn from us [Americans] is what not to do," he told EurActiv in an interview.

Since the European Commission tabled its proposal to revise the Clinical Trials Directive last July, the focus in the debate has broadly shifted from supporting European research to patient safety and transparency, suggesting health campaigners have gained the upper hand over big pharmaceutical firms. The legislation will be debated in the European Parliament’s Environment Committee on 24 April.

The high quality of academic research in Switzerland, recognised at the highest levels of the European Research Commission, is largely due to the open manner in which it is organised, says Patrick Aebischer. 

The European Commission will provide €144 million of new funding for 26 research projects, with the objective to deliver 200 new therapies for rare diseases by 2020, the EU's executive announced today (28 February).

Research institutions must realise that there are smarter ways to use the funds they have. The entire focus of the European Gender Summit is to highlight gender as a tool for making research more effective and for achieving results of a higher quality, says Curt Rice.

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) has launched a review of scientific studies and risk assessments related to the decline in bee populations worldwide and in Europe. A final report next year will identify information gaps and research needs in the field.

Supporters of a big increase in the EU's research budget fear innovation will slip down the agenda as talks over the next seven-year budget heat up, a new survey suggests.

Following last month’s Bologna Process Ministerial Conference, Professor Helena Nazaré writes that expenditure in higher education should be deemed an investment rather than a cost, and exhorts governments not to ignore higher education as a by-product of the wider financial crisis.

Improving management practises is essential for boosting research and innovation in Europe at a time when everyone's moto is "more for less", writes Richard Straub from EFMD.

The European Commission presented today (30 November) its €80-billion research funding programme for the decade - Horizon 2020 - with the aim of boosting research, stimulating innovation and simplifying the way scientists and smaller businesses can get funding for EU-backed projects.

A consortium of industry groups working on laser systems has proposed one of the largest ever public-private partnerships (PPPs) in European research, putting €5.6 billion on the table in return for a €1.4 billion injection of EU R&D cash.

Deciding how to carve up the newly boosted research budget – expected to reach at least €80 billion in the post 2013 Multi-Annual Financial Framework (MFF) – is likely to cause internal power struggles at the European Commission, according to MEPs.

Climate change, energy, health and SMEs will form the centre of European Commission proposals for research funding within the new Common Strategic Framework (CSF), which will be renamed today (10 June) at a 700-strong stakeholder event.

Prototype solar-powered military uniforms, skyscrapers built from energy-harvesting glass and waterways covered with floating panels are all being developed as innovators seek to match photovoltaics and industrial demand.

Obesity should be formally recognised as a chronic disease, campaigners urged this week, saying Europe is in the grip of an "obesity epidemic" with half its citizens overweight.

An EU-funded research programme has claimed a breakthrough in malaria research, opening the door to a possible cure for the lethal disease.

The European Commission on Wednesday (9 February) requested public recommendations on how to cut the duplication and bureaucracy that hobble innovation in Europe. 

European development funds should be tapped to build research labs and bio-banks in Africa, according to a leading African research expert. Scientists are also urging policymakers to invest in Europe's own scientific infrastructure in order to maintain global competitiveness.

University researchers have criticised the €2 billion public-private Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI), claiming their participation is at risk unless major changes are made to financial and intellectual property arrangements. 

The EU commissioner for research and innovation, Ireland's Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, announced yesterday (19 July) nearly €6.4 billion of investment in research and development to be spent by the end of 2011.

Applying the EU's target of raising investment in R&D to 3% of GDP by 2020 is seen in the Czech Republic as attainable, even at national level. Surprisingly, the caretaker government proposed a 2.7% national target, higher than the more modest 2.3% proposed by the European Commission. EurActiv Czech Republic reports.