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Eurolight, a new venture capital firm set up to specialise in photonics start-ups in Europe, outlined its investment plans as members of the industry gathered to discuss the state of play in this critical technology. Photonics has been singled out by the Commission as one of five fields central to future growth prospects

For the second year in a row, Germany was this week declared world leader in solar photovoltaics. The country has also led Europe in nurturing start-ups in other areas of cleantech. But now funding for new companies may be drying up.

Entrepreneurs, investors and industry leaders attending the third annual Science|Business Academic Enterprise Awards (ACES) conference earlier this month called on European politicians and universities to do more to support entrepreneurship on campus and help seed a new generation of world-class technology companies.

The governing board of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT) has elected Alexander von Gabain, founder of the Austrian vaccines company Intercell as its next chairman.

The European University Association (EUA) has published a report on how to ensure the financial sustainability of Europe’s 5,000 universities in the face of public sector cuts.

Member states need to step up their efforts in support of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and entrepreneurship, according to a review of progress in implementing the Small Business Act (SBA), which came into force in 2008.

John Holdren, Director of the White House Office of Science and Technology, told ScienceBusiness the large one-off increase in science funding in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 has delivered in terms of new facilities and research outputs.

The arrival of European Research Council (ERC) grants means that for the first time there is competition between European Universities in different member states. “Before they couldn’t care less; they were stuck in their own country,” Helga Nowotny, President of the ERC, told the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Washington, DC. The arrival of competition is forcing universities to change, and do more to support younger scientists.

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.

EU research funding is enabling scientists to work anywhere in the EU. Now, the Innovation Union strategy agreed earlier this month, will increase the level of scientific collaboration and joint funding with countries beyond Europe, Robert-Jan Smits tells the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Washington, DC.