Science|Business Reporting

EPFL start-up OsmoBlue was awarded CHF130,000 by Venture Kick, an investor providing pre-seed capital to spin-offs from Swiss universities. The funding will be used to build a pilot plant to demonstrate the company’s technology for converting low-temperature heat sources into electricity

Being popular is a usually a good thing. But the European Research Council may have too much of a good thing.

In times of shrinking public spending, the 8th Framework Programme offers more money for R&D. With this show of faith comes an explicit new mandate for universities: Be engines of growth

A new study indicates that roughly 35 per cent of jobs in the EU rely on sectors that build their products and services around patents, trademarks and copyright

There’s still a lot of work required to create the European Research Area. The R&D landscape remains fragmented and even the best institutions have much to do to meet the 2014 deadline, says a progress report this week

Electric vehicles, hydrogen and other alternative technologies will be niche solutions until advances bring costs down – while existing engine efficiency can still be improved by 20 per cent.

Harmonising green technologies across the Atlantic to be a key step in realising the low-carbon economy

The Energy Biosciences Institute has been granted its first patent since its establishment in 2007

Despite the continuing economic crisis, R&D spending is ahead of 2008 levels and home grown innovation is prospering ahead of me-too models, according to the index

Europe needs a better framework for translating biological research into new drugs and treatments. It’s essential to collaborate and share best practice said experts at a workshop on advancing translational medicine at the Medical University of Warsaw