A group representing various research centres in Portugal met, on 27th July 2015, the recently appointed president of the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology (FCT), Maria Arménia Carrondo. This was a plea to reverse the latest round of budget cuts to research centres. Unfortunately, the meeting did not produce positive results. Meanwhile, a report by an international panel that evaluated FCT’s policy and functioning in quite a eulogistic manner, also failed to address this issue of budget cuts in detail. So what needs to happen? Read more [...]
Last time I spoke with Mariano Gago, it was a few weeks after we published the open letter “They have chosen ignorance”. It ended up being a one-hour phone-call! He was horrified by the recent research cuts in Portugal. He was also very concerned Read more [...]
A new episode in the controversy related to the evaluation of Portuguese research units has recently been played out. The high profile resignation of the president of the Portuguese funding agency FCT in March 2015, is yet another chapter in an unfinished murky business. Now that half of the country’s research units have been earmarked for closure, the science community is attempting to fight back to save the fate of the country’s research talents, built over the past few decades by pouring large amounts of tax payers’ money to create such science expertise. Read more [...]
Scientists from different European countries in Europe, including Spain, France, Italy, Greece, Portugal, the UK and Germany have just published an Open Letter aimed at national governments and at the European Commission, as well as the Parliament. Read more [...]
The recent election of Jean Claude Juncker and the nomination of Portuguese national Carlos Moedas, as Commissioner-designate for Research, Science & Innovation, raise important questions about the role of science in Europe. Moedas was part of a government that undertook the biggest attack ever made to the Portuguese scientific system, carried out by Miguel Seabra, the new head of Brussels-based association of European research funding and performing organisations, Science Europe. As a result, Portugal is now facing a political and administrative reduction of 50% in the number of the Research Units—namely scientific laboratories and university centers—funded by the Government, with severe future consequences. Read more [...]
A recent panel discussion discussed the necessary steps that need to be taken to lead Europe out of the recession. It was held at an event entitled “homo scientificus Europaeus: the search for a sustainable future for European science,” held at the Ateneu of Barcelona, in Spain, on 8th November 2013. It brought together some of Europe's most active scientists committed to the defence of the science on the continent. Read more [...]
So much about scientific knowledge and education being the building blocks of long-term economic growth! That is just empty rhetoric, in Portugal as in EU. The upcoming Horizon 2020 is going to finance mostly applied science, involving a large number of SMES, which makes one think whether EU is not actually financing economy through science budgets. Read more [...]
The recessionary climate has disturbed research cycles. All the testimonies gathered for this special Euroscientist issue covering research austerity in Southern Europe concur. If we draw a parallel with Nature, we observe that disturbance in seasonal cycles imposed by climate change is responsible for the disappearance of biodiversity. Unlike animal species, however, European scientists have a fantastic ability to adapt to the disruptions in their research environment. Read more [...]
A line of people in white coat queuing in front of Valencia’s train station is quite an unusual sight. Yet, this scene was not part of a movie rehearsal. Rather, it was reported in prime time news on Spanish television, on 19th December 2013. This action was part of a scientists’ protest taking place in 20 cities in Spain.This reflect how scientists are increasingly deploying activists’ techniques to fight back the effects of the recession on research. Read more [...]
Early this year, the news hit the Portuguese scientific community as a cold blow: the national agency for science and technology FCT was unable to fund all of the research projects rated as excellent. Needless to say, this unprecedented event immediately caused uproar among researchers across all disciplines. But as often happens, where some scream outrage, others see a ray of sunshine. Read more [...]
In Portugal, science friendly policies continue in current times of severe financial restrictions. Indeed, public budgets were preferentially spared and re-directed to the essentials. And a more efficient spending has brought more money to the system than in previous years. The decision of Pedro Passos Coelho, the Portuguese Prime Minister, to create and chair a new advisory body: the National Council for Science and Technology, in 2012 brought another positive initiative to support science in Portugal. Read more [...]
Portugal has experienced outstanding scientific progress among EU and OECD countries. Despite the last two decades of amazing scientific progress, our extremely young National Research System still lacks a strong scientific structure. As such, it is quite fragile and highly sensitive to external and internal changes. While this was already the case before the recession, the current situation imposes high levels of stress on researchers and institutions thereby amplifying existing weaknesses. Read more [...]
European science conversations by the community, for the community
This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.
Strictly Necessary Cookies
Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.
If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.
EuroScientist journal 