The European Molecular Biology Laboratory is teaming up with the Spanish government to create a new center for the development of mathematical models of living systems. [Courtesy of Science News]
BACK TO THE FEATURE INDEX How do you lower barriers to interdisciplinary research? Start by creating a cadre of new investigators committed to working across professional and scientific boundaries, then build a structure for large-scale research projects. In the last few years, the National Institutes of Health's (NIH's) Office of Research on Women's Health ( ORWH) has been an innovator in stimul...
Reposted with permission from Science News, 22 April 2005 BERLIN--A bitter dispute over who has responsibility for German universities is blocking a federal government plan to spend nearly €2 billion on cutting-edge research. On 14 April, the latest attempt at compromise ended in disappointment for scientists and university administrators who have been anxiously awaiting the start of a so-called ...
Reprinted with permission of Science News, 25 June 2004 BERLIN--Researchers got some good news from the European Union last week, but with a sting in the tail. The European Commission (EC), the E.U.'s executive body, committed itself on 16 June to creating a new funding body that will support fundamental research based on quality alone, something researchers have wanted for several years ( Scienc...
BRUSSELS--A few weeks later than expected, Europe has a new leader at the helm of science policy. Slovenian economist Janez Potocnik will oversee a $22 billion research fund, Framework 6, as well as development of its successor, Framework 7. If the new commissioner gets his way, that program will double in size during his 5-year term. Potocnik and the other 24 members of the European Union's lead...
Reposted with permission from Science News, 15 April 2005 European Union officials have proposed a €73 billion, 7-year funding program with money for individual grants and promises of less red tape. But will researchers believe them, and will political leaders foot the bill? Promising to mend its bureaucratic ways, the European Commission has unveiled what it hopes will be a new and improved vers...
This article appears in the April 17, 2001 issue of Science magazine. BERLIN--Ambitious and controversial, Edelgard Bulmahn has been a major force in German science and higher education since becoming research minister in 1998. A member of the "Red-Green" coalition government, Bulmahn has proposed an overhaul of Germany's university rules--seeking merit pay and "junior professorships" that would ...
