“Horizon Europe” is the framework programme through which the European Union (EU) has been advancing research and innovation since 2021. It expires in 2027, and negotiations on the successor package are in full swing. Professor Dr Maria Leptin, President of the European Research Council (ERC), and Professor Dietmar Harhoff, PhD, are closely involved in this process — and are among those preparing the joint ERC and Leopoldina conference “Towards the European Fifth Freedom and Global Competition: Voices from Science” on 29 June.

Partial agreement on the next Horizon Europe sets Council on collision course with Parliament in upcoming negotiations

From AI to biotechnology, today’s scientific breakthroughs raise ethical and social challenges that technical expertise alone cannot solve.

With universities relying on disclosure models and deficit framing to address awarding gaps, racism and ableism aren't distortions of the system - they're built into it. 

Ten years after Brexit, the UK must decide how to engage with the EU’s next research programme (FP10, starting 2028) – and whether full association makes sense.

A proposed overhaul of US federal grant rules has been debated mainly as a fight over political control of science. But, Rob Johnson argues, it would also reshape how publicly funded research is communicated and shared across borders, with consequences far beyond the United States.

Rather than haphazardly using artificial intelligence for research, scientists and decisionmakers should take a deliberative approach.

Borys Budka says Horizon Europe evaluation criteria should reward scientific merit, not access to grant writing infrastructure.

Sayasat Nurbek tells Science|Business why he thinks the EU is missing a trick in its collaboration with Kazakhstan

New proposal quietly published last week would amount to ‘devastating blow’ for science, experts warn.

The scientific enterprise must be willing to reflect on and dramatically overhaul its processes if they do not work.

In penning their national AI strategies governments are not only deciding how to regulate AI. They are also defining what AI should deliver, from economic growth to public-sector transformation. 

If hiring organizations must ask for references, they should do so closer to the end of the process.

The U.S. government has recently convicted multiple postdocs from China for improper shipments of biological materials. Some see a replay of the 2018 China Initiative

Research sector urges Council to consider Parliament’s ideas for future research and innovation instruments as agreement is delayed.

Researchers hope to build a facility with thousands of robots capable of performing experiments independently by 2040.

Technical excellence does not automatically lead to professionalism. Trainees must learn human skills like communication and accountability to achieve scientific success.

The Pentagon's new flu vaccine policy revives a debate over whether to prioritize individual choice or public health.

Three new papers in Nature from the SCORE project find that around half of social science studies hold up under replication, reproducibility, and robustness tests. Many commentators have read this as failure. Might there be a more optimistic reading, and one that points to where social science needs to go next?

This UCS blog post challenges the narrative that AI will be a climate savior, cautioning that focusing on hypothetical future tech could distract from proven climate solutions.

New guidelines for predicting a patient's risk for heart disease are rooted in science and health equity.

An open access book mandate is one Research Excellence Framework (REF) cycle away. If implemented, research funders should focus on enabling infrastructure rather than compliance.