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What makes a global top 10 university?

What makes a global top 10 university?

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is in first place in the latest league table of the world's best universities.

A pioneer as elusive as his particle

A pioneer as elusive as his particle

When the Nobel Prize in Physics was to be announced, Peter Higgs decided it would be a good day to get out of town. Unfortunately, his car wasn't working.

How can we trust scientific publishers with our work if they won't play fair?

How can we trust scientific publishers with our work if they won't play fair?

I have never liked how scientific journals charge us to read the research that we produce. But that is another debate for another day. What I really hate is how they abuse this power to stifle debate in the name of their business interests.

Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted

Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted

Are there any lessons to be learnt from the field of healthcare quality which could improve our approach to assessing research quality?

Faut-il supprimer le conseiller scientifique de la Commission Européenne ?

Faut-il supprimer le conseiller scientifique de la Commission Européenne ?

Faut-il un conseiller scientifique en chef pour la Commission Européenne ?

Welcome to my genome

Welcome to my genome

George Church is a genetics pioneer whose research spans treating diseases, altering bodies and a desire to breed woolly mammoths

Entretien avec Gisou van der Goot, nouvelle doyenne de la faculté de Sciences de la vie

Entretien avec Gisou van der Goot, nouvelle doyenne de la faculté de Sciences de la vie

Gisou van der Goot, professeure à l’EPFL, a récemment été confirmée dans son poste de doyenne de la faculté de Sciences de la vie de l'EPFL.

Policy design and implementation monitoring

Policy design and implementation monitoring

We know that those Open Access policies that work are the ones that have teeth. Both institutional and funder policies work better when tied to reporting requirements.

Scientific Foresight blog

Scientific Foresight blog

The Scientific Foresight (STOA) Unit analyses the implications and options for future policy-making in science and technology related fields for the European Parliament.

The validation of peer review through research impact measures

The validation of peer review through research impact measures

The number of funded applications per year was found to correlate well with total annual citation impact, suggesting that improving funding success rates by reducing the size of awards may be an efficient funding strategy to optimize the scientific impact of research program portfolios.

Social capital in academia

Social capital in academia

This paper provides useful insights for the design of networks that promote research productivity. Overall, dense networks negatively affect the creation of new knowledge. In addition, the analysis shows that a division of labor in academia, in the sense of interdisciplinary research, increases the productivity of researchers. It is also found that the position in a network is critical. Researchers who are central tend to create more knowledge.

Where is the brain in the Human Brain Project?

Where is the brain in the Human Brain Project?

Europe's €1-billion science and technology project needs to clarify its goals and establish transparent governance.

Why null results rarely see the light of day

Why null results rarely see the light of day

Researchers have put numbers on the “file drawer” phenomenon, in which scientists abandon results that they believe journals are unlikely to publish.

Put focus back on basic research, say science unions

Put focus back on basic research, say science unions

Survey of 12 countries shows discontent with governments that prioritize short-term rewards.

Die Schweiz bleibt das kompetitivste Land

Die Schweiz bleibt das kompetitivste Land

Zum sechsten Mal in Folge belegt die Schweiz den ersten Rang auf der Rangliste der kompetitivsten Länder des WEF. Der Mangel an Fachkräften könnte die Kompetitivität in den nächsten Jahren allerdings beeinträchtigen.