Widening

Pandemic slowdown, closure of the Suez Canal and a shortage of lorry drivers have exposed the fragility of trade networks. EU-funded Transmetrics says artificial intelligence can help anticipate problems and remove bottlenecks

Experts from the region point to a lack of national research funding, poor access to networking and cultural factors as reasons for the low success rate

The eastern European country is among the first to announce that parts of its pandemic recovery funds will go to researchers who received the Commission’s quality stamp

The rules for blending research and innovation funding are not fully aligned yet, but there has been progress in removing legal hurdles

The east-west innovation divide is now front and centre in EU innovation policy. This pleases the movers and shakers in central and eastern states, but also raises their expectations for action

The Czech presidency of the Council of the EU starts on Friday with plans to focus on research infrastructures, synergies and a new strategy for European innovation

European Court of Auditors says despite good design, moves to reduce the east-west research and innovation gap in Horizon 2020 cannot make up for a lack of reforms and investment in lagging member states

Two research leaders tell Science|Business about their vision for the recovery and modernisation of Ukraine’s R&D system. This work is critical because revitalising the country as a whole will depend on shifting the economy to science-intensive, high added-value technologies

EU scheme will support Ukraine’s tech start-up scene and bring it closer to the EU sector

Research heavyweights in central and eastern Europe met last week to consider how to improve their performance in EU research funding programmes. At present most applicants from the region are rejected at the first stage of evaluation