The EU is working on defining a new agenda for science diplomacy in the face of increasing geopolitical instability on the continent.

The EU and US have set out a joint roadmap to find common ways to define and evaluate artificial intelligence (AI), though critics say they are still not going far enough to make sure AI protects democracy and human rights.

Along with New Zealand, Canada will soon be the first country to join Horizon Europe under new rules that allow "like minded" democracies with strong science systems to associate, regardless of where they are in the world.

The European Parliament has launched a permanent forum to debate new policies and laws to protect academics in the EU against interference from government or other sources, after experts raised the alarm over the erosion of academic freedom in Europe.

Ukrainian researchers are planning for a brighter future for their country, despite ongoing bombing and electricity shortages. A delegation from Ukraine's research community, led by first deputy minister for education and science, Andrii Vitrenko, came to Brussels last week for the first joint meeting on research and innovation with the European Commission. 

Arctic scientists are scrambling to modify projects that had involved Russian researchers as the war in Ukraine wears on, leaving questions about whether a data gap from such a key partner might be harmful to the ongoing body of scientific knowledge in the region.

EU policymakers have reached a deal on the budget for next year, and with the focus squarely on tackling the fallout from the war in Ukraine and the energy crisis, research and innovation do not feature at the top of the policy priorities.

The EU moved to exclude the UK from Horizon Europe calls on sensitive quantum projects in October due to doubts over the country's willingness to provide EU researchers with reciprocal access to UK programmes and to comply with intellectual property rules. The move reverses the EU's previous decision to accept UK participation in more mature quantum projects with high 'technology readiness levels'.

Ukraine urgently needs new doctoral schools to train its next generation of academics, according to a senior Ukrainian science administrator. He warned that, without that and other measures to stop "internal brain drain", many researchers are fleeing universities for better paid IT jobs in order to make ends meet. Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February, European countries have launched countless schemes and scholarships to help displaced Ukrainian students and academics.

The EU has been pushing for convergence in the university sector for several decades, but when it comes to collaborating transnationally, universities struggle to deal with the patchwork of national regulations governing higher education. The European University Association (EUA) has taken stock and listed the biggest barriers to transnational collaboration in a briefing paper last week.

George Freeman has been reappointed as UK science minister four months after he resigned from the post when former prime minister Boris Johnson lost power. Jan Palmowski, secretary general at The Guild of European Research Intensive universities welcomed the news, telling Science|Business, Freeman knows the science sector and "gets the importance of Europe."

The impact of the war in Ukraine is reverberating through research infrastructures, with rising energy costs and shortages of equipment manufactured abroad hitting these important shared facilities and forcing some to temporarily close their doors.

US and EU officials agreed to expand R&D collaboration on cancer, climate change, green aviation and other fields, signaling a further warming of transatlantic science relations.

New Zealand and the European Commission announced they will enter formal negotiations on joining Horizon Europe, the EU's €95.5 billion research and innovation programme. Along with Canada, New Zealand was the first highly industrialised country to start exploratory talks with the EU on becoming an associated country in Horizon Europe. In the previous research programme, Horizon 2020, New Zealand participated as a 'third country' a status that does not offer the full benefits of association.

The European Research Area (ERA) Forum is about to enter its implementation phase, after mapping out priorities across twenty R&I policy actions proposed by the European Commission.

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.

Fundamental science is a gamble. Scientists set out on projects in pursuit of knowledge, hoping to answer questions that no one has answered before. But in 2007 the EU decided it would give billions to the pursuit. Fifteen years on, the European Research Council (ERC) can justly claim to be doing well. Last week, three scientists who have received ERC funding won Nobel prizes.

It's all here. The draft work programmes for the next two years of the EU's Horizon Europe research programme, which the European Commission has been keeping under wraps - for the most part - have been leaked.

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.

Targeted financial help to support researchers in Ukraine would get cash strapped institutions in the west of the country back up to speed and have a more immediate impact on the research system as a whole.

Science|Business has published an exhaustive but unapproved draft Horizon Europe work programme detailing the calls for climate and mobility projects for the next two years and an early draft outlining bioeconomy, food and environment calls.

The White House sent a report to Congress urging that the US do a better job supporting international research collaboration - and saying that currently it is losing out to China and other competitors because of poor organisation.