R&D News

National governments give the final seal of approval to the EU’s budget for 2014-2020. Now, the first calls for Horizon 2020 grants will go live next week

First EU programme designed specifically for SMEs will promote entrepreneurship, ease access to finance and increase the EU’s GDP by €1.1B per annum, says the Commission

Commission releases working documents for 2014-2015

Researchers can still operate by the rules and norms of science, but under Horizon 2020 they have – with the exception of the ERC - no autonomy to decide what science they do and how the results are applied, says Professor Karl Ulrich Mayer, President of the Leibniz Association

As negotiations come to an end and attention shifts to the finer details, Science|Business examines the Horizon 2020 draft programmes. This week: Spreading Excellence and Widening Participation

The European Parliament agreed the EU’s budget for 2014-2020, as well as the final seal on the Horizon 2020 legislative deal

On balance the public thinks science and technology have a positive influence on society. But most people do not feel well-informed about the outputs of research. This gap must be bridged if Horizon 2020 is to deliver on its objectives

Debt instruments won’t work. To leverage Europe’s excellent science, the EU should back a ‘fund of funds’ to take equity in research-based spinouts, says Cambridge VC and entrepreneur Hermann Hauser in the inaugural Science|Business lecture

Breakthroughs in Horizon 2020 are a bigger role for SMEs and simplification for all. But securing the benefits hangs on implementation. Parliament must track whether SMEs really do find it easier to get funding, MEPs said in a Science|Business webcast

Europe’s open research infrastructures want to up their profile, justify their public investment and open the doors to industry