In the past few weeks, European elections debates to elect members of the European Parliament (EP) have been in full swing. The vote will take place between of the 22nd to 25th May 2014, depending on the country. In most territories, the mainstream press appears to have little concern over higher education, research and innovation. It is also worth distinguishing the debate taking place in academic and research circles. There, the debate is only touching a few of the issues pertaining to research and education that would need to be addressed.The EuroScientist following its vocation as a participatory magazine, has called upon its network of loyal readers, supporters and reporters to gather an overview of issues that are relevant to scientists debated during the various campaigns across Europe. Read more […]
When it comes to innovation, in particular, the dominant discourse during the debates taking place in the running up to the vote to elect members of the European Parliament was about bringing Europe on the path to economic recovery and to ensure economic sustainability. Among all the parties contributing to the mainstream media debate, very few come up with truly specific measures to support economic recovery based on research and innovation. The lack of details also plagues the pledge of investment in research and innovation made by parties on both sides of the political spectrum. Besides, higher education is mainly present in the mainstream media debate on the topic of the expansion of the Erasmus+ programme. Read more […]
The debate in the running up to the 22nd and 25th May 2014 vote to elect members of the European Parliament, is also taking place among academic and research circles. Opinions and analyses have been published in the specialist press and on the pages of science and higher education advocacy groups across Europe. A few of them have questioned the main political parties about their intentions in relation to topics relevant to scientists, innovators and academics. Below are outlined the key issues featured in this debate, ranging from the ERA, mobility, higher education, H2020 funding and the national target of investing 3% of GDP in R&D. Read more […]
In the past few weeks, European elections debates to elect members of the European Parliament (EP) have been in full swing. The vote will take place between the 22nd to 25th May 2014, depending on the country. In most territories, the mainstream press appears to have little concern over higher education, research and innovation. It is also worth distinguishing the debate taking place in academic and research circles. There, the debate is only touching a few of the issues pertaining to research and education that would need to be addressed.The EuroScientist following its vocation as a participatory magazine, has called upon its network of loyal readers, supporters and reporters to gather an overview of issues that are relevant to scientists debated during the various campaigns across Europe. This article will give our readers food for thought by providing an overview and some anecdotal evidence of the debates that have taken place both in the mainstream press and in academic and research circles. Read more […]
Like the wavy lines of the painting illustrating this issue, reinventing research funding may not follow a straight path. It may not happen overnight either. In this special issue of the EuroScientist, we explore the two facets of funding mechanisms that need to be revisited: at the macro level, where R&D policy shapes the way research funding is allocated, and at micro level, where peer review shapes the way research funding is distributed. Read more […]
The research ecosystem is in constant evolution. Funding policy tools, however, have not evolved as fast as the research activity itself. At the macroscopic scale, the policy shaping the way research funding is allocated could be improved by gaining more precise evidence-base of the potential effect of policy choices in achieving desired research objectives. Indeed, the science underpinning the research funding policy—also known as the science of science policy—is in infancy. Read more […]
Today, investments in R&D—be it through higher education institutions or science-industry networks—are expected to immediately produce high commercial returns. Science policymakers, innovation managers, and even the public are often disappointed and raise legitimacy issues, when such returns fail to materialise promptly. These situations show the limits of conventional steering, control and policy making associated with research funding. Better solutions to help improve returns from research funding are therefore needed. Unfortunately, what is referred to as the science of science policy is still in its infancy. Read more […]
The inability to predict the financial crisis has raised a debate on an important toolkit of economists: economic models. How reliable and useful are they? To what extent can policy makers rely on model analyses in forming policies? And to what extent, can they be used, for example, for science policy to ensure most effective allocation of limited funding resources? Read more […]
Recently, national governments in several European countries have merged their ministry for science and research, with the portfolio of economic affairs. This is true, at least for the moment, in the UK, in Spain, and in Austria. So far, these three countries stand out as an exception in the European map. Does this mean that research has been reduced down to being the object of mere economic considerations? Read more […]
Over the past two decades, concerns about the relation between science and society at European and Member State levels have gone through a number of shifts. Previously, science enjoyed a large degree of freedom to pursue curiosity-driven inquiries without facing the scrutiny of democratic accountability. Then, a new social contract pushed the idea that scientific production should be demonstrating that it is beneficial for the public good. Read more […]
Some sceptics believe that the public is not qualified to participate in the decisions concerning which research gets funded. An initiative by EPSRC, the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council, in the UK, indicates otherwise. Back in 2008, the council conducted a public dialogue, which had a clear impact on the award of research grants. Read more […]
In Germany, solutions to provide independent, participatory research support in response to civic concerns appeared on the agenda already 30 years ago. But it is merely as recently as five years ago that research engagement with civil society became prominent for a larger group of actors. One of the solutions to better interact with citizens has been provided through Science Shops Read more […]
European science conversations by the community, for the community
