Romania

Concerted efforts to increase success in winning grants from the research programme are bearing fruit. While still low in the EU league table, the two countries now have the networks and support systems in place to make further headway 

Some university heads are saying the country should follow the French model of consolidation after the only university to have featured in the research-focused ranking drops out

Despite government efforts to lure the science diaspora back home, many researchers are not convinced Romania can improve its scientific culture and move past the reputational damage done by a series of high-level plagiarism cases

Romanian MEPs on the research and industry committee say the European Defence Fund should allocate grants more evenly across member states

Concentrated diplomatic efforts win the day as Romania is made a ‘founding observer’ in the ELI ERIC consortium. The move is a huge step forwards after a long-running row that seriously held up the largest research infrastructure in eastern Europe

With targeted programmes of support and a new accelerator, Romania aims to build a deeper ecosystem for healthcare start-ups

Science expat networks in eastern Europe aim to turn brain drain into brain circulation, support mobility and narrow the gap between Widening countries and western Europe. But intermittent funding threatens the future of these grassroots initiatives

A new deal brings hope a €300M EU investment in eastern Europe’s largest research laboratory will not be lost to management problems

The country is set to triple its participation in Horizon Europe but further upgrades to the research and innovation system are needed to boost its overall performance

Policymakers in Bucharest are renewing efforts to get all components of the laser research facility up and running before EU fines for delays kick in