The European Union’s €54 billion research budget for the next seven years may not be approved in time for the beginning of next year – if Slovenia carries out its threat to oppose the funding of stem cell research.

The technology-transfer unit of Imperial College London, continuing preparations for its stock-market debut on 31 July, said it has completed a £25 million private placement and set a public share price that would value the business at £181 million.

The pressing need for alternative energy sources is driving investment into nanotechnology devices for energy applications such as photovoltaic solar cells.

The stock-market debut at the end of July of Imperial College London’s tech-transfer office is the best news for academic reform in years.

Two companies that began life in laboratories at Cambridge University have merged to form a new medical diagnostics company, to be called Pronostics Ltd.

China has now set its sights on developing its scientific prowess in the same way - and at the same rate – as it has modernised its economy.

Researchers developing compounds designed to prevent allergens from entering the body are seeking investment to move to the next stage of development.

Norwegian researchers want to commercialise an easy-to-use technology that diagnoses the cause of snoring and measures the effectiveness of treatments.

Imperial College London is set to become the first university to float its technology-transfer office directly on the stock market.

This week the European Investment Fund took the first step in its ambitious new plan to unleash a wave of technology transfer across Europe. In doing so it endorsed a model pioneered in the UK.