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Using the GSDR to Guide a Credible and Effective Second Half of the 2030 Agenda
Using the GSDR to Guide a Credible and Effective Second Half of the 2030 Agenda
The 2023 Global Sustainable Development report sets the stage for transformative action in achieving the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030. Can world leaders translate these insights into concrete actions?
Viewpoint: Horizon Europe Missions Are a Long-term Game
The Horizon Europe Missions won't deliver results without widespread change in how policy is made in Europe.
Seize the Moment: Researchers Have a Rare Opportunity to Make Progress in Protecting Global Biodiversity
Seize the Moment: Researchers Have a Rare Opportunity to Make Progress in Protecting Global Biodiversity
A quiet revolution is taking place to incorporate the costs of biodiversity loss into economic planning. It needs researchers to be engaged.
European Universities Brace for Mountain of Bureaucracy After US National Institutes of Health Changes the Rules
European Universities Brace for Mountain of Bureaucracy After US National Institutes of Health Changes the Rules
European universities and research institutes say rule changes by the US's main health research funder will force them to hire staff to deal with vast amounts of new paperwork, potentially delaying projects and weakening transatlantic collaboration.
EU-China: Commission and China Hold Second High-Level Digital Dialogue
EU-China: Commission and China Hold Second High-Level Digital Dialogue
The EU Commission held its second High-level Digital Dialogue with China.
Swiss Expect to Wait Until at Least 2025 for Association After UK Horizon Europe Deal
Swiss Expect to Wait Until at Least 2025 for Association After UK Horizon Europe Deal
Swiss university leaders expect to have to wait until at least 2025 before associating to Horizon Europe after the UK struck a deal with Brussels last week. Switzerland, like the UK, has been excluded due to wider political disagreements with the EU. But while the UK solved its dispute over the Northern Ireland protocol in February this year, Switzerland hasn't even formally re-started talks with Brussels that could pave the way for association.
Co-benefits of Climate-SDG Synergies Far Outweigh Trade-offs: UN Report
Co-benefits of Climate-SDG Synergies Far Outweigh Trade-offs: UN Report
A UN report prepared by a group of independent experts calls for governments to tackle the climate and sustainable development crises together, to maximize the impact of policies and actions.
Harnessing Scientific Evidence and Decision Making to Accelerate the SDGs
A joint statement summarizes insights from the first-ever Science Day held to accelerate progress on the SDGs.
The World's Goals to Save Humanity Are Hugely Ambitious - but They Are Still the Best Option
The World's Goals to Save Humanity Are Hugely Ambitious - but They Are Still the Best Option
Not one of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals looks set to be achieved by 2030. But deadlines can help focus the mind, and scientists should double down on their work to support the goals.
Scientists Are Trying to Teach AI How to Smell
A team from the US taught a neural network how to map and describe popular smells, with the hopes of digitizing them someday.
How Science Bolstered a Key European Climate-change Case
A group of older women in Switzerland has taken the government to court over its inaction on climate change. Our experience of preparing evidence for the case offers six lessons for researchers.
Calls for New Manhattan Projects Overlook Crucial Aspects of the World War II Crisis Innovation Model
Calls for New Manhattan Projects Overlook Crucial Aspects of the World War II Crisis Innovation Model
The Manhattan Project is often invoked as a model for mission-driven research projects, such as the search for a Covid-19 vaccine. Daniel P. Gross and Bhaven N. Sampat argue that the broader U.S. approach to mobilising science and technology in World War II, led by the Office of Scientific Research and Development (OSRD), provides a better analogy for some contemporary R&D problems.
How the UK and EU Did a Deal over Horizon Europe
The UK now has guarantees that it won't have to make more than a 16% net contribution to Horizon Europe, according to UK and EU sources, a reassurance that has allowed today's deal to go ahead. Since February, negotiators have been locked in discussions over a technical part of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA), agreed back in 2020 setting out post-Brexit relations, including what the UK will pay for association.
UK finally rejoins Horizon Europe research funding scheme
After years of excruciating delays, elated scientists welcome the new agreement.
Ivanova's To-do List: Time to Lay the Foundations for the Next EU Research Programme
Pending Parliament's approval, Iliana Ivanova will take the reins as commissioner for research, innovation and education later this month. With European elections due in June 2024, interest groups in Brussels now want her to look beyond what will be a short tenure and focus on the first phases of shaping the next EU research framework programme, due to start in 2028.
UN Invasive Species Report Reveals Scale of Threat to Nature and People - and How to Manage It
UN Invasive Species Report Reveals Scale of Threat to Nature and People - and How to Manage It
Not all alien species are a significant hazard to people and ecosystems.
US Extends Science and Technology Agreement with China, Buying Time to Renegotiate the Deal
US Extends Science and Technology Agreement with China, Buying Time to Renegotiate the Deal
The US has extended a historic science and technology agreement (STA) with China by six months, but now needs to renegotiate the deal to mollify concerns that it aids Beijing's technological and military rise and fails to ensure a reciprocal research relationship.
Austrian Minister Calls for Science to Be Better Conveyed to Public
Austrian Minister Calls for Science to Be Better Conveyed to Public
Austria's Martin Polaschek pushes for move to combat public scepticism.
Work on Creating a Single European Market for Research Enters the Next Phase
Work has started on the 2025 - 2027 policy agenda of the European Commission's ERA Forum for Transition, the expert group set up to shape the European Research Area (ERA) and create a borderless, single market for research, science and technology.
Closer ties for German U15 and Canadian Unis
The German U15 group of research-intensive universities has signed a long-term agreement to support closer ties between researchers and universities at its Canadian counterpart, U15 Canada.
Universities of Applied Sciences Are Shaping Up to Boost EU Research Outputs
Universities of Applied Sciences Are Shaping Up to Boost EU Research Outputs
There's a new player in Horizon Europe - the universities of applied sciences (UAS), a broad term for second tier higher education institutes such as polytechnics, regional colleges and institutes of technology that were set up as teaching-only bodies but which over time have moved into research. Given their roots, UAS were historically left out of the EU's research programmes but are slowly improving their standing as EU-funded research becomes more policy-heavy and market-oriented.
Commission's Research Directorate to Develop a New Artificial Intelligence in Science Policy
Commission's Research Directorate to Develop a New Artificial Intelligence in Science Policy
The European Commission is to add a new unit with a brief to set down guidelines for the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) in science, according to a leak on the upcoming restructuring of the research and innovation directorate general, DG RTD.
The US and China May Be Ending an Agreement on Science and Technology Cooperation
The US and China May Be Ending an Agreement on Science and Technology Cooperation
China's success in science and technology propelled it to the forefront of many fields. Now, the US wants to pull back from years of intense cooperation.
Evidence-based Politics: WHO and the European Parliamentary Forum for Sexual and Reproductive Rights (EPF) Sign Memorandum of Understanding
Evidence-based Politics: WHO and the European Parliamentary Forum for Sexual and Reproductive Rights (EPF) Sign Memorandum of Understanding
The MoU has three key areas:
technical support to promote evidence-based laws and policies aligned to WHO normative guidance, advocacy to mobilize parliamentarians on awareness raising for sexual and reproductive health, with particular support to low- and middle-income countries, capacity building to strengthen the way WHO and parliamentarians work together.
UK Facing 'Brain Drain' of Cancer Researchers After Failure to Join EU Scheme
UK Facing 'Brain Drain' of Cancer Researchers After Failure to Join EU Scheme
Delay joining the Horizon Europe programme making it more difficult to attract and retain the brightest scientists.
If AI Becomes Conscious: Here's How Researchers Will Know
Many researchers say that AI systems aren’t yet at the point of consciousness, but that the pace of AI evolution has got them pondering: how would we know if they were? A checklist derived from six neuroscience-based theories could aid in the assessment.
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