The Widening News

As the first moves are made in shaping the 2028 – 2034 R&D programme, there are informal discussions about shifting the focus of Widening measures away from country level and using this initiative to support all less-advanced regions across the EU

With former president of the European Council Donald Tusk set to lead a coalition government, academics eye fundamental changes in the long-term strategy for science, greater academic freedom and more research funding

With plenty of start-ups to choose from, CEE business angels are increasingly comfortable putting their money into deep-tech

The EU ban on some Hungarian institutes receiving new Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe funding is now having a knock-on effect on counterparts that are not on the banned list. They are calling for the Commission to make it clear they are exempt

A sustained effort to diversify funding sources has enbled steady progress. Now, almost 40 years after joining the EU, that Portugal is in sight of meeting the target of spending 3% of GDP on research by 2030

A debate on how the EU’s Widening measures, which aim to close the east/west innovation divide, should be reformulated in the next framework research programme is heating up, with the Commission already hinting at possible changes

The step up in funding is an opportunity to take a bigger role in ESA’s projects and grow Poland’s space sector. But the industry says without a national Polish space programme it will lack a sense of direction

Two open letters have been sent to Poland’s president and prime minister in an attempt to prevent the National Science Centre - the main basic research funding agency - from closure

The campus opened in 2020 after Brexit made it harder for EU students to go to the UK. From an initial cohort of 12 the university expects to enrol 180 – 200 students in the coming academic year

The aim is to build networks across the EU, but universities in eastern Europe say structural problems make it harder for them to get involved - and some fear it promotes brain drain