The Subtle Art of Scientific Diplomacy
Switzerland and the UK play an important role in scientific projects that bring countries together.
Send us a link
Switzerland and the UK play an important role in scientific projects that bring countries together.
The EU and US have reached an agreement in principle on facilitating data flows, including research data, across the Atlantic. Steady data sharing has been hampered since the EU's Court of Justice struck down the old rules due to concerns about US government surveillance in July 2020.
The UK has followed much of the rest of Europe and announced its own scientific sanctions against Russia, leaving the US, which has still not issued any centralised guidance, increasingly isolated in its inaction. After reviewing its Russian links, the UK has said its research and innovation funding organisations will not start any new projects with Russia. Payments to existing projects "with a Russian dimension" have been paused pending an assessment of which ones "benefit the Russian regime."
When JET, the Joint European Torus, announced a breakthrough in the production of fusion energy in February, the celebrations could be heard across Europe. Although based in the UK, the project belongs to a much wider fusion research community.
The European Commission today launched a portal that pulls together information and support services for researchers in Ukraine and those fleeing the Russian invasion of the country, amid calls for coordinated EU action. The portal offers help with finding housing, job opportunities and recognition of education qualifications.
Russian scientists who oppose the war against Ukraine say that while they have some understanding of the reasons for European scientific sanctions, stopping international collaboration may be counterproductive in the long term.
A new batch of unapproved drafts of Horizon Europe work programmes obtained by Science|Business reveals details about upcoming funding calls for climate research, improving research excellence in poorer EU countries and strengthening research infrastructures.
Russian researchers are losing access to vital lab equipment and computing power as western sanctions against the country begin to bite, potentially crippling Russia's scientific base.
The UK has extended its funding guarantee for Horizon Europe applicants until the end of the year, providing a measure of security for researchers caught in limbo by the country's failure to associate to the programme.
As the world cuts Russia off from more and more joint research and innovation projects following its invasion of Ukraine, there's been deafening silence from the ITER megaproject that is seeking to demonstrate the potential of nuclear fusion by building the world's largest tokamak in south west France.
EU research ministers signed a declaration laying out common principles and values for international cooperation in research and innovation in Marseille on Monday, but these rules arrive as the rapid pace of geopolitical change threatens to render them useless in selecting scientific collaborators from outside the EU.
For about 20 years, Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet has maintained a partnership with one of Russia's main cardiology clinics, the Almazov National Medical Research Centre in St. Petersburg. This institutional tie was abruptly suspended on 2 March, as part of Sweden's sanctions for the war in Ukraine.
As Ukrainian refugee numbers mount, universities in Europe are starting to grapple with how best to help the Ukrainian academic community.
The European University Association (EUA) has suspended 12 Russian universities whose rectors signed a statement supporting president Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine and parroting the Kremlin's justification for the assault.
The goal is to get Russian scientists to "look at the facts".
The European Commission has suspended payments to Russian institutions involved in EU-funded research and innovation projects. In addition, the EU will not launch any new cooperation projects with Russian universities, research institutes and companies.
"We respect Ukrainian statehood … and we treat the European choice of our neighbours with understanding." So said some 650 Russian scientists and science journalists in an open letter last week criticising Moscow's onslaught against Ukraine.
Science in Ukraine has come to a halt. Russia's invasion has crippled the country's newly established research agency and forced its leader to a bomb shelter in Kyiv.
Governments, universities and individual academics across Europe over are being forced to choose whether to cut research ties with Russia after Moscow shocked the scientific community with its assault on Ukraine. Germany, Russia's second biggest research collaborator after the US, has said it will halt all scientific cooperation, while the UK is reviewing its links.
"We respect Ukrainian statehood … and we treat the European choice of our neighbours with understanding." So said some 650 Russian scientists and science journalists in an open letter last week criticising Moscow's onslaught against Ukraine.
A leading German member of the European Parliament urged the EU to sever all scientific relations with Russia, stepping up pressure from Berlin to use science as a diplomatic weapon against Moscow.
Engaging citizens in research will be a big priority for the new Horizon Europe funding programme. Horizon Europe includes a €2 million research call for recommendations to strengthen societal trust in science, research and innovation, while the programme is also seeking to encourage more public participation in scientific research.
Spain has set out to improve the lives of its researchers after years of hand to mouth existence and a brain drain that has significantly weakened the public research sector. A reform of a 2011 law will see young researchers getting permanent contracts, recognition of experience gained abroad and new labour rights. At the same time, there will be increased public spending on research.