Viewpoint

Innovation policy is hot in Brussels, says Science|Business editor Richard L. Hudson. Hot enough for so a confusing array of proposals, white papers, conferences and task forces.

This month the European Research Council is launched – and if it succeeds, it will usher in radical change in university research.

You would think that the launch of Framework 7 would be an opportunity to publicise the virtues of science. On the other hand, if you’re the UK government, maybe not.

Europe needs to knock down national boundaries, share technology and build a competitive defence industry, Commissioner Gunter Verheugen told the recent European Defence Agency conference in Brussels

Europe’s companies increasingly recognise that they need to switch from fierce protection to licensing widely to generate revenues.

Science is an international affair, of course. But a few recent news tidbits highlight just how fast that international dimension is expanding.

Everybody wants more energy research – so why isn’t it coming fast enough?

The latest OECD research on Japan provides a warning to Europe that merely spending more does not make innovation spring forth.

A conference in Brussels separates the fact from myth in technology transfer.

For six years, policy-makers around Europe have been talking about the “Lisbon Agenda”. Is anybody listening? Even in Lisbon?