All posts by Leila Sattary

Leila is a freelance science writer specialising in science funding and research policy. She is a former editor of EuroScientist. She writes for a variety of online and print journals including news and features for Chemistry World, her Lab Rant column for Laboratory News and many more. In her day job she works as a Project Officer at the University of Oxford with particular interest in research policy, knowledge exchange and impact.

More money on the horizon

The next EU research funding programme, Horizon 2020 will maintain the core principals of its predecessor Framework 7. The proposed future programme will fund excellent science (€24.6 bn), industrial leadership (€17.9 bn) and societal challenges (€31.7 bn). It also includes consolidated and revised funding guidelines as the EC continues to strive for simplified funding applications, reporting and auditing. The proposal for Horizon 2020 was presented to the European Commission on 30 November 2011. Read more [...]

Urban trees not just for show

Trees in London are not just for decoration - they are playing an essential role in filtering out pollution particulates from the air. Published this month in the journal Landscape and Urban Planning, this is the outcome of the BRIDGE ('Sustainable urban planning decision support accounting for urban metabolism') project, which has won over 3 million Euros under the Environment Theme of the EU's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). Read more [...]

An independent Turkish Academy of Sciences in serious jeopardy

In August 2011, a reformed Turkish Academy of Sciences (TÜBA) was established under governmental management and scientists across the world fear it will no longer act as an independent academy of science. In response to the changes in governance, many TÜBA members have threatened to resign and start their own academy independent of the government. Read more [...]

Agreement will catalyse life sciences infrastructure

This week, ELIXIR has taken a step closer to becoming the central research infrastructure for life-science information in Europe. Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Sweden and the United Kingdom plus the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding to kick start the construction of ELIXIR. Read more [...]