There is a refreshing new tone both in the Italian Parliament and Government. A rejuvenated politics, with a shot of populism generated a government of Parties bitterly opposing until the very last minute. The new, Yellow-Green Government, known as “Government of change”, is leaded by a coalition between the two Parties “League” and “Five Stars Movement”; they signed a “Government contract” of about 50 pages and 30 points. We do some considerations on the Research strategy proposed in the contract with specific attention to human resources in research. Talents attraction represents a point of concern. A short comment on Trieste ESOF is also included. Read more [...]
The next Science March will take place in Washington, Göttingen and many other cities throughout the world on the 14th April 2018. This research activism movement born last year is set to gain momentum. It is a reminder to the science community that researchers need to make their voices heard Read more [...]
Too much is at stakes in European science for people managing research—particularly in the UK—to leave it up to politicians to determine their future. Brexit or no Brexit, there are signs that further integration of the UK scientific activities into the European research fabric is underway. Indeed, universities across the UK are establishing new partnership deals in education and research with European and Commonwealth universities. Whether this move will allow UK research institutions to remain attractive to European collaborators remains to be seen. Read more [...]
The Marie Curie Alumni Association and EuroScientist are hosting a round table “What does 'open science' really mean?” on October 3 2017 at 13:30 CEST. Read more [...]
On April 22nd, on the eve of the first round of the French presidential elections, an event brought together more than one million citizens worldwide. In France, it was supported by more than forty scholarly societies, including the Académie des Sciences, Read more [...]
Political populism, with its accompanying "fake news" and pseudoscience, leaves scientists distraught. But maybe scientific research itself needs a reboot.
Research can no longer win public funding on the mere promise of a possible contribution to society. Read more [...]
Six years ago, the Spanish parliament approved Law 14/2011, known as the Science Law, aiming to modernise and harmonise different aspects of scientific activity in Spain, by a virtually unanimous vote. Today, Spanish scientists are still waiting for the law to be fully implemented; more than three and half years after the deadline for implementation has passed. In this article, the 5s6s Platform, a grassroots movement of Spanish scientists, including about 400 tenured scientists working in OPIs, supported by another >1300 scientists working in different Spanish Universities and other research institutions, denounces this untenable situation and requests that the Government finally implements the law. Read more [...]
Politics is not an exact science: moral choices, traditions, communication and many other aspects play important roles. But working on politics without caring for scientific evidence is almost certainly a recipe for failure. In the last few years, the European Union has struggled to find its own, formal model for conveying scholarly knowledge in its policies. After a tangled attempt to concentrate this task into a single Chief Scientific Advisor (CSA), the Commission opted in 2015 for a much more complex Scientific Advisory Mechanism (SAM). The High Level Group at the top of the mechanism was appointed in November 2015. The seven prominent scholars that form the committee discuss their first year and a half of work in a debate at the European Conference for Science Journalists, taking place in June in Copenhagen, Denmark. Read more [...]
In 1973, a group of scientists published a report linking rising CO2 with global warming and some of the resulting meteorological patterns. It was one of the first publications on what would later be called ‘climate change’. Surprisingly, the report’s authors worked at Munich Re, one of the big players in the global insurance business. “Our industry […] started monitoring this issue long before the public even noted that there was a problem,” says Peter Höppe, head of the company’s Geo Risks Research division based in Germany. Höppe will join the roundtable “Climate: facts, figures and future” at the 4th European Conference of Science Journalism. Read more [...]
When it comes to science diplomacy and grassroots research movements, beware of disingenuous initiatives that increase the gap between perception and reality warns Amaya Moro-Martín, who is the founder of Spanish activist group Investigación Digna and an astrophysicist currently working in Baltimore, Maryland, USA. In this opinion piece, she explains how the Spanish government has created a network of seemingly grassroots scientific associations to serve its branding needs, without serving the interests of Spanish scientists on the ground. Read more [...]
Given the size of its economy, the participation of the UK as FP Associated Country would be expensive. These are the kind of issues on which a debate entitled 'Brexit: the scientific impact' are due to focus on, on 8th May at the Royal Institution, London, UK. Read more [...]
Last week I was in Oslo, invited by the organising committee of Eurodoc2017, to give an introductory talk on Open Science [1]. One thing that became apparent during this two-day event was that, although irresistibly trendy, Open Science remains an elusive Read more [...]
European science conversations by the community, for the community
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