Science|Business Reporting

Europe's Eureka research programme will invest €33 million to fund 25 new collaborative R&D projects. The agreement was announced at a meeting in Eilat, under Israel's chairmanship of Eureka.

A shift in the global research landscape will reposition the US as a major partner, but no longer the dominant leader, in science and technology research in the coming decade. However, the US could benefit from this research shift if it adopts a policy of knowledge sharing with the growing global community of researchers.

The European Parliament gave its approval for a common European patent, allowing the system to move ahead despite objections from Italy and Spain

The first European repository of nanomaterials has been launched to support safety assessments and promote consumer confidence in nanotech based products

DFG has agreed to set up nine new research units in topics ranging from engineering to social sciences. Five of the new groups will be involved in international projects.

A new design of optical fibre network developed in an EU Framework 7 project, was unveiled last week. The design will mean faster networks with a wider reach.

The European aerospace group EADS announced it is to collaborate with scientists at Glasgow University, to work on making the use of solid hydrogen for fuelling planes a commercial proposition.

The UK will contribute funding to the pan-European biosciences infrastructure head-quartered in Cambridge, in order to help provide open access for use in academic and industrial research.

Knowledge transfer association ProTon Europe has elected Pat Frain, the former director of University College Dublin's technology transfer division, as its new Chair.

Ad EU-wide effort to increase agricultural productivity on a global scale will focus on increasing the productivity of grains and the biomass of grasses.