Craig Nicholson

1 week ago | researchprofessionalnews.com | Craig Nicholson

European Research Council leaders take proactive action in bid to secure funder’s ongoing autonomyThe leaders of the European Research Council have asked the European Commission to give the ERC legal independence, amid fears that politicians are seeking increased influence over EU research and innovation funding. Created in 2007, the ERC is currently a semi-autonomous entity.

1 week ago | researchprofessionalnews.com | Frances Jones |Craig Nicholson

Christian Ehler, who led push for legislation, calls for dedicated legal actIncluding scientific freedom in the European Research Area Act being prepared by the European Commission will not provide sufficient legal protection, prominent MEPs have warned. “The ERA Act might become obsolete. The freedom of scientific research is much more fundamental,” MEP Christian Ehler, who led the European Parliament’s push for the EU to protect scientific freedom, told Research Professional News.

1 week ago | researchprofessionalnews.com | Craig Nicholson

Europe’s research and higher education institutions must learn from the chaos in the USThe consequences of Donald Trump’s return to the US presidency can be seen all around at the moment, with the impacts especially harmful for American academia. European research and higher education institutions—and their supporters—should take heed of the chaos, not only out of compassion for their US counterparts but also for the warnings the situation offers for their own future academic security.

1 week ago | researchprofessionalnews.com | Craig Nicholson

Cesaer university group says act should boost research careers and help researchers commercialise their workThe EU’s planned European Innovation Act, which is designed to help innovative small companies grow, should include measures to boost research, a university group has argued.

1 week ago | researchprofessionalnews.com | Craig Nicholson

Commission proposes simplifications to speed up fund applications and adoption of its innovationsThe European Commission has judged the EU’s defence R&D fund to be a success so far, and is seeking to build on its achievements by making it faster and simpler. The European Defence Fund was launched in 2021 so that the EU could fund collaborative defence R&D projects at scale for the first time, in recognition that individual member state investments were fragmented and duplicative.