“Missions” will be introduced as a central new tool in the architecture of FP9, though many think they already exist in prior Framework Programmes. They can provide a new perspective but it is quite an exaggeration to say that “most technologies have emerged from missions”: curiosity-driven research led to many. Several issues need more elaboration.
EuroScience calls together with ALLEA, HERA (Humanities in the European Research Area, an initiative of National Funding Agencies), and several other organisations for a major role for social sciences and humanities in the missions that most likely will be a cornerstone for FP9.
Here are some brief impressions of members of the Governing Board of EuroScience who participated in Marches for Science in several European cities.
EuroScience, Academia Europaea and the Royal Institution (with support from Elsevier) are organising an important debate on Brexit: the facts behind opportunities & challenges for both the UK & European Science Establishments.
A large number of major European organisations in the area of science, research, innovation and higher education have written an Open Letter to European Prime Ministers, ministers responsible for those same areas, as well as the President of the European Council and of the European Commission, and Commissioner Carlos Moedas for Research and Innovation to express their concern about recent developments in the US.
We shared our concerns about the repression of democratic and academic freedoms in Turkey. We endorse the Call for Solidarity by Academics for Peace. Members of “Academics for Peace” and Education and Science Workers Union (EğitimSEN) have been removed from their positions in public higher education institutions permanently!
We call on all governments and institutions of the Free World to condemn the recent actions of the Turkish government in the strongest possible terms and to withdraw any support for President Erdogan until civil liberties are restored in his country.
The Initiative for Science in Europe and EuroScience call for an inclusive and open dialogue with the European Commission on the Horizon 2020 Interim Evaluation while identifying five areas of opportunity and concern.
Six leading science organisations from across the world have identified three important principles for continuing and optimising public investment in science and engineering. These principles were presented to Carlos Moedas at ESOF 2016 in Manchester, UK.
In an Open Letter to Turkish President Erdogan, EuroScience expresses great concerns about the threats to the openness, independence and autonomy of the scientific and educational endeavour in Turkey.