Academic freedom, which confers scientists some autonomy on how they wish to conduct research and to teach has been gradually eroded as research has increasingly become more of an industry, managed like a business. Now, there is some hope that some of the biases introduced in this process could soon be alleviated thanks to open science. But it may be too soon to realise what the actual implications are.
Text and data mining (TDM) techniques are increasingly used by researchers to explore the tremendous amount of scholarly publications. By automating this type of search, scientists can have an edge over competing teams. Yet, new copyright legislation due to be discussed later on this year in Europe, could hamper their work.
A recipe for how to stimulate breakthrough research would include the following ingredients: long-term commitments, large flexible grants, trust, and the funding body’s continuing interest in the research. This is precisely the approach that the Danish National Research Foundation (DNRF) has adopted with its ‘Centres of Excellence’ concept, over the past 22 years. The foundation’s core activity is to fund frontline research in highly creative environments. By recognising and trusting the talent of top researchers, the foundation expects them to deliver potentially ground breaking results.
Interview with Peter Piot, Director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and Special Advisor to the President of the European Commission on the response to the coronavirus and COVID-19: how science has been feeding into policy-making?
Sukarma Rani Thareja writes that before the 2020 lockdown due to the covid-19 pandemic, women in science had already experienced other forms of lockdown.
An ecological civilization should care for the natural and built environments, the cultural heritage, the collective bonds, education, health, ethics, aesthetics, equity and justice. But this involves many actors, in a planet united only by the media and ‘globalization’ and divided by confrontation and competition.
On the 23rd April 2020 – on the day of a critical meeting of the European Council – President Giscard d’Estaing together with leading representatives from the World of politics, academia and civil society from the Board of Re-Imagine Europa call European leaders to show courage and ambition.
Scholars at Risk’s latest Free to Think 2019 report describes the contours of a global phenomenon of attacks on higher education that impacts scientists everywhere. These attacks hamper scientific progress across the globe and challenge everyone’s right to think and share ideas. Given the gravity of this phenomenon, the report sets out tangible actions stakeholders including students, universities, faculty, and scientific associations can take to respond.
European science conversations by the community, for the community
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