Welcome to this Special Issue of EuroScientist on: ESOF 2014 Copenhagen!
We hope you will enjoy this issue, which is sponsored by ESOF 2014.
What can a conference like this one bring to you? Those among our readers who have a sweet tooth will agree that such events can be compared to the cherry on the cake of academic life. Once every two years, it is time to enjoy a stimulating flow of discussions. Participants are guaranteed to have fruitful encounters with other people from various horizons. They may not be like-minded but, at least, share similar concerns about European science, policy or science communication. This is what ESOF 2014 is about!
In this special issue of the EuroScientist, we have selected a series of themes from the event that we wish to bring to your attention. These are key issues where renewed discussions are essential to further the debate. We would also like to invite you to comments directly below each article and get the debate going in the running up to the event.
Clearly, communicating among academic peers is not enough for the cause of science to progress. As Anne Glover, Chief Scientific Advisory to the European Union, puts it, in an exclusive Skype interview to the EuroScientist: “One of the things I would really encourage is for scientists to get out and to communicate to people about the value of what we do,” she says.
The truth is that it requires energy and efforts to take action in the wake of these stimulating discussions. So, this year, we hope that ESOF 2014 will truly deliver some progress in the causes that concern all of those involved in European science, and its collaboration beyond our borders.
The conversation is about to begin. So join in!
You can also find out more about the EuroScientist by attending the ESOF 2014 session on the future of science communication.
You can get here a printed edition of this special issue.
The EuroScientist team
Editorial
Multiple perspectives matter in shaping science policy too
By Sabine Louët, editor, EuroScientist.
Scientific advice revisited
Do European countries need a Chief Scientific Adviser?
By Arran Frood, science journalist based in Bristol, UK.
Exclusive Skype Interview of Anne Glover, EU Chief scientific advisor: The art of providing scientific advice to policy makers
By Sabine Louët, editor, EuroScientist.
Risk and uncertainty communication
Handling uncertainties and risks in society requires all actors to cooperate
By Dino Trescher, science journalist based in Berlin, Germany.
Women in Science
Research funding gap: her excellence dwarfed by his excellence
By Liisa Husu, Örebro University, Sweden.
Read also from our previously published related topics:
Towards research excellence rather than excellence itself
By Anthony King, science journalist, Dublin, Ireland.
Evaluation: dogma of excellence replaced by scientific diversity
By Francesco Sylos Labini, ROARS, Italy.
Two myths shattered: the gender differences in leadership and the glass ceiling for women
By Ida Irene Bergstrøm, science journalist, Oslo, Norway.
Do science girls have an image problem?
By Arran Frood, science journalist, Bristol, UK.
Poetry
Exclusive Skype interview of Jean-Patrick Connerade from the European Academy of Sciences, Arts and Letters: Science meets poetry with a Danish flavour
By Sabine Louët, editor, EuroScientist.
Previously published sponsored advance coverage on ESOF 2014
From our special issue on alternative research funding:
Research funding: trust, freedom and long-term vision pay off
By Thomas Sinkjær, Danish National Research Foundation, Denmark.
Economic models: ever evolving target for adequate policy making
By Torben Andersen, University of Aarhus, Denmark.
From our special issue on ethics, values and culture driving research:
Does media coverage of research misconduct affect public confidence in science? Part of ESOF 2014 special sponsored advance coverage
By Maria Lindholm and colleagues, Vetenskap & Allmänhet, Sweden.
Exclusive interview: The pressures making scientists go off-piste: Nicholas Steneck, Michigan Institute for Clinical and Health Research, USA. Part of ESOF 2014 special sponsored advance coverage
By Sabine Louët, Editor, EuroScientist.
Featured image credit: CC BY-SA 2.0 by Guillaume Baviere
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