The drivers leading to responsible research and innovation are poorly understood. Now, empirical work done in the EU project “Governance of Responsible Innovation” (GREAT) has investigated the factors influencing the uptake of responsible research aspects in EU-funded research and innovation using an agent-based simulation approach to analyse the impact of responsibility measures. Results reveal, for example, that the involvement of civil society organisations does not necessarily tilt the balance towards greater responsibility in research as initially thought. Instead, what appears to be of vital importance is the capability of any research partner to perform research responsibly. Read more […]
The huge public funds made available for scientific research after the second World War, were expected to lead to industrial development, economic growth and a general improvement of living standards. Yet, this model has been questioned for a few year. Everywhere in the world, revisiting the social contract between science and society is becoming urgent; it is time to adapt such contract to the realities of the 21st century. Read more […]
Personal data is a vital resource for research, including studies in medicine, public health and social science. Over decades, researchers have developed approaches to use this data safely and securely to improve our understanding of society, health and disease. Reform of European data privacy laws is now threatening the way that data is used in research. In this article, Beth Thompson, policy adviser at the UK-based Wellcome Trust, explains why we need your help now, to ensure a positive outcome for research. Read more […]
Horizon 2020 has as a notable ambition to address grand societal challenges. It fits in Europe’s strategy for jobs and growth, called Europe 2020, where research and innovation play a key role. In this context, several questions have arisen. Read more […]
Research and innovation constantly change our world. From the Internet and mobile phones, to climate change and new cancer treatments, science and technology have the potential to transform our lives. These developments also create new risks and new ethical dilemmas. Responsible research and innovation (RRI) seeks to bring these issues into the open. It also aims to anticipate the consequences and directions of research and innovation. Read more […]
The phenomenon of e-cigarette has caught regulators flat footed. The devices vaporise a solution, allowing vapers to inhale nicotine. Their popularity has surged and regulators are running to catch up. However, around the world countries are adopting different approaches as people begin to get into the vaping habit. What is certain is that they are proving controversial. And they have split tobacco-control community. Some see them as life savers, others as a pathway to normalisation and more tobacco use. Read more […]
Pablo Echenique-Robba stared his political career back in January 2014. Until then, his day job was to work as a physicist for the public research agency CSIC, working, among others of the issue of proteins folding. He is involved in a citizen democracy movement, called Podemos. Echenique shares his view on science in Spain and in Europe in an exclusive interview to the EuroScientist. Read more […]
More than 120 papers have been withdrawn from subscription databases of two high-profile publishers, IEEE and Springer, because they were computer generated thanks to the SCIgen software designed to generate random computer science research papers. The trouble is that they had no meaning at all. All of them were labelled as peer reviewed and all of them were published in proceedings of actual conferences. Read more […]
A quick look at the back catalogue of the EuroScientist provides an illustration of the wide range of issues that affect the working lives of scientists today. Previous articles have covered research evaluation, the open access movement, career structures and responsible innovation, among many others. These issues are often dealt with individually—and rightly so given their complexity. But considered as a whole, they help to make up a culture. And scientists must work within this culture to do what they set out to do: usually, to produce high quality, ethical research that is of benefit to society. Read more […]
History reveals a succession of many dawns and twilights, in different facets of human activity. Looking at the past, we can date and understand the reasons for the birth of science, specifically fundamental science. However, we do not know precisely when its twilight will take place. Nevertheless, clues of the advent of such twilight are already in the air. This article presents the underlying rationale suggesting that we are now past the golden age of pure science, and how we need to accommodate our research to this new era. Read more […]
The SOM Institute at the University of Gothenburg conducts annual surveys of the Swedish public. It explores, among other things, media consumption, confidence in societal institutions and different professional groups. Since 2002, an independent and influential Swedish non-profit membership organisation that works to promote dialogue and openness between researchers and the public called Vetenskap & Allmänhet—which stands for Public and Science—has added a section to the SOM survey to study public confidence in science and scientists. The results of a study, which examines the hypothesis that media reports of research misconduct will have an impact on public confidence in science and scientists, are about to be uncovered at the ESOF 2014 conference, in June, in Copenhagen, Denmark. Read more […]
Cultural differences among nations are not to be taken lightly. Especially, when it comes to innovation. A debate related to the influence of culture on innovation started in the 1980s’. We now live in a world where globalisation and international collaboration increasingly shape research and innovation. It is still difficult to gauge how the advent of open innovation will be influenced by national cultures. Even though the jury is still out on this debate, one thing is certain: open innovation is not happening in a vacuum. Read more […]
European science conversations by the community, for the community
