European science conversations
by the community, for the community
As waves of researchers’ protest are about to invade the streets of Paris, Rome and Madrid, among others, there is a clear sense of déjà vu in these white coats with large signs walking the avenues of European capitals. What is new, however, is that these protests on longer follow a logic of being centred around national territories. They have become supra-national and aim to target the central power in Brussels as much as national governments.
Some worry basic science will get left in the dust once changes in the new European Commission are set in stone. But before we fret in the wrong direction, should we stop to think about what terms like ‘basic,’ ‘applied,’ ‘innovation’ and ‘society’ translate to in reality? With all arrows pointing to the need for economic growth, many have begun to wonder how changes in the new European Commission will affect the balance between basic and applied research. But scholars in Science and Technology Studies (STS)— a field that investigates the relationships between scientific knowledge, technological systems and society— say that this linguistic dichotomy of ‘basic’ versus ‘applied’ research masks the real issues at stake.
Innovation can be broadly defined as taking new ideas profitably to market. The aspect of novelty is material to it, but so is the financial reward to successful inventors and entrepreneurs. In competitive markets, it is natural that private firms traditionally have preferred to safeguard their position by keeping innovation projects in house as much as possible.
The Internet is still in its twenties—or its 2.0ties. We are now witnessing the emergence of a ‘social mind’ thanks to digital tools and new media. This new phenomenon facilitates the application of collective intelligence and creativity to devise innovative solutions in academia, industries and policy environments. As part of the Socientize project, we are focusing on enabling citizens to actively participate in science.
Peter Tindemans, secretary general of grassroots scientists’ group EuroScience, shares his views on the forthcoming battle of the budget for Horizon 2020. Should cut be imposed on the initial budget plan, they should be made in a considerate manner, by avoiding duplication of effort and ensuring that the funding schemes are run in a leaner way.
The European Council, the European Parliament, the Council of Ministers, the European Commission, have all gone out of their way to stress that Europe can only find the path to recovery if it keeps investing in education, research and innovation.
Do you want to fly around the Earth in a space orbit? Are you lacking the 20 million Euro the Russian Space agency requires to take you into orbit? Do you have a yard full of metal, plexiglass, cables, and other strange technical objects? Why not built your own rocket capable of carrying a human into space?
EuroScientist journal 
