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Biden Science Adviser Resigns Amid Claims of Workplace Bullying

Biden Science Adviser Resigns Amid Claims of Workplace Bullying

President Biden's efforts to remake US R&D policy took a hit Monday, as his chief science adviser, Eric Lander, unexpectedly resigned following an internal White House investigation of claims he had bullied members of his staff.

Central and Eastern Europeans Missing from Top Leadership in EU Research Bodies

Central and Eastern Europeans Missing from Top Leadership in EU Research Bodies

The vast majority of research-focused EU bodies have never had a top leader from central or eastern Europe finds a new report that is demanding "affirmative action" to broaden the distribution of jobs across the bloc. This is a problem across the whole EU apparatus and risks bolstering political parties in central and eastern Europe that are hostile to Brussels, the report warns.

Plans for Lump Sum Funding Move Forward Amid Scepticism

Plans for Lump Sum Funding Move Forward Amid Scepticism

Disagreements persist over the use of lump sum funding in Horizon Europe, as the European Commission gears up for broader implementation over the next couple of years. At a meeting organised by the European Parliament's panel for the future of science and technology (STOA), Horizon Europe rapporteur Christian Ehler MEP debated the pros and cons of lump sum funding, with policymakers in the Commission. Meanwhile, research stakeholders continue to call for caution and a slower rollout of the new system.

EU to Go Ahead with Reform of Its Research Assessment Process in the Face of Scepticism

EU to Go Ahead with Reform of Its Research Assessment Process in the Face of Scepticism

A number of national research organisations have been taken aback by the urgency of a request by the European Commission to appoint representatives to negotiate a new research assessment system in Europe.

US Launches Measures to Lure STEM Talent from Overseas

US Launches Measures to Lure STEM Talent from Overseas

The US has unveiled a range of measures to make it easier to attract people in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields, in a further effort to move away from the exclusionary rhetoric of the Trump era. They include a new initiative to facilitate researcher exchange, and a host of tweaks to visa rules to make entry easier.

Germany Commissions World Leading Computer As It Eyes Quantum Leadership

Germany Commissions World Leading Computer As It Eyes Quantum Leadership

Germany's Jülich Supercomputing Centre has added a quantum computer to its existing high performance computing infrastructure, enabling the centre to get involved in practical applications of quantum computing at a very early stage, as the technology moves out the lab and into commercial use.

European Innovation Council Fund is Yet to Start Giving out Money

European Innovation Council Fund is Yet to Start Giving out Money

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.

Reform the Way the World Works Together - or Doesn't - on R&D

Reform the Way the World Works Together - or Doesn't - on R&D

What the Manhattan Project's scientific director J. Robert Oppenheimer and his physicist-colleagues went through after the war holds lessons for us today, hoping for the end of our own generation's global crisis.

New Year's Resolution: Research Group Aims to Fix the Way the World Collaborates on Technology

New Year's Resolution: Research Group Aims to Fix the Way the World Collaborates on Technology

With the COVID-19 crisis still underway and a climate crisis looming, an international group of senior researchers is pushing the world's biggest economies to reform the way they manage collaboration on emerging technologies. In coming years, argues a group participant, David Delpy, professor of medical photonics at University College London, the world risks conflict over who controls and benefits from a range of emerging technologies from climate control to 6G wireless networks.

A New Type of Powerful Artificial Intelligence Could Make EU's New Law Obsolete

A New Type of Powerful Artificial Intelligence Could Make EU's New Law Obsolete

The EU's proposed artificial intelligence act fails to fully take into account the recent rise of an ultra-powerful new type of AI, meaning the legislation will rapidly become obsolete as the technology is deployed in novel and unexpected ways. Foundation models trained on gargantuan amounts of data by the world's biggest tech companies, and then adapted to a wide range of tasks, are poised to become the infrastructure on which other applications are built.

What Should Happen to Unspent EU Research Money?

What Should Happen to Unspent EU Research Money?

A row between the European Parliament and the Council over whether unspent money in the previous Horizon 2020 EU research and innovation programme should be rolled into the 2022 Horizon Europe budget remains unresolved - and could repeat itself again next year. 

Putting COVID-19 Patents Aside Would Not Guarantee Vaccines Equity, Say European Academies

Putting COVID-19 Patents Aside Would Not Guarantee Vaccines Equity, Say European Academies

A patent waiver will not help guarantee COVID-19 vaccines equity around the world and instead richer countries should back compulsory licensing, says a new report by the European Federation of Academies of Sciences and Humanities (ALLEA).

Horizon Europe: Bigger and More Complex Than Ever

Horizon Europe: Bigger and More Complex Than Ever

First impressions of Horizon Europe are in, as the research world gets to grips with the €95.5B research programme.

US to Push 'Democracy-Affirming Technology' with Prizes and Research Projects

US to Push 'Democracy-Affirming Technology' with Prizes and Research Projects

The US is set to fund prizes, challenges and research projects to create so-called "democracy affirming technologies" that allow open societies to reap the benefits of innovation without sacrificing privacy or accountability.

Call for Additional €4B Investment in European Research Infrastructures

Call for Additional €4B Investment in European Research Infrastructures

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.

Moves to Stop EU Researcher Mobility Promoting One Way - East to West - Flow of Skills

Moves to Stop EU Researcher Mobility Promoting One Way - East to West - Flow of Skills

Academic mobility has long been trumpeted as the secret to forming international research networks, but support has led to one-way flows. Now, the EU is considering how to balance out the movement of researchers around the bloc.