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 evidence recently published by the 2011 Pharmaceutical R&D Factbook indicates that the pharma industry's productivity is continuing to decline. Fewer new molecular entities were launched in 2010 than in any other year in the past decade. The number of drugs entering Phase I, II and III clinical trials is also declining. R&D expenditure has also dropped to a three year low of $68 billion. Read more [...]
The current budget for The European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) is not enough to attract private sector partners to the Knowledge and Innovation Communities (KICs). The EIT is now calling for their funding to be increased dramatically to €4 billion in the 2014 – 2020 budget. Read more [...]
The American Geophysical Union (AGU) is organising their upcoming AGU Fall Meeting in San Francisco, USA for the 5-9 December 2011. A current call for presentations is out for the "Earth Science Communication in a Changing Media Landscape" (PA03) to share experiences in the area of successful communication and interpretation via blogs and podcasts. The AGU Fall meeting is all about Earth Sciences (and geophysics in particular), but there is also a focus on science communication and science interpretation. Read more [...]
EuroScience, as a grassroots organisation, recently responded to the EU Green Paper on a Common Strategic Framework for Research and Innovation. Read more [...]
Following an online naming competition, the next round of EC Framework funding is going to be called "Horizon 2020". Three names were shortlisted. Horizon 2020 received 3,055 votes against, 2,785 for Imagine 2020, and 2,478 for Discover 2020. In total, 8,318 votes were received. The full name being put forward this year as part of the legislative proposal for the new programme is "Horizon 2020 - the Framework Programme for Research and Innovation". Read more [...]
A group of volunteers ate half a kilo of strawberries every day for two weeks to demonstrate that eating strawberries improves the antioxidant capacity of blood. The study, carried out by Italian and Spanish researchers, showed that strawberries boost red blood cells' response to oxidative stress, an imbalance that is associated with various diseases. Read more [...]
The European Commission is scaling back ambitions to create a single EU patent as Spain and Italy launch a legal appeal for language discrimination. Read more [...]
The vote to establish a new organisation uniting the European Heads of Research Councils (EUROHORCs) and the European Science Foundation (ESF) fell short. Read more [...]
An international study warns that nitrogen pollution is putting wildlife in Europe at risk. More than 60% of the EU’s most important wildlife sites receive aerial nitrogen pollution inputs above acceptable levels. There is evidence of impacts on semi-natural grasslands, heathlands and forests across Europe. This threat is set to continue unless there is further action on emissions of polluting nitrogen gases. Read more [...]
Today in the Britain and across the world, we will be celebrating the marriage of Prince William and Catherine Middleton. Despite an indifferent attitude here (bred by a ridiculous media overhype), I feel a connection of sorts after attending University with the couple in St Andrews. Read more [...]
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