Panel for the Future of Science and Technology (STOA)

🇺🇸 Tensions between the US administration and major American universities have reached a critical point. From legislative restrictions on teaching and frozen grants to political pressure on university governance, academic freedom in the United States faces unprecedented challenges.   🏛️ STOA’s annual lecture brought together experts and policymakers to assess how the current situation in the US impacts international research collaboration, and to identify key lessons for Europe in safeguarding the independence of its research institutions and universities. 👉 Learn more about #EP4AcademicFreedom and STOA's Academic Freedom Monitor: https://lnkd.in/eDuva2sv

Can the EU establish a ‘European Intelligence Body’ to defend its democracy against cyberattacks, disinformation, and foreign interference? 🛡🔒   𝗥𝗲𝗴𝗶𝘀𝘁𝗲𝗿 𝗡𝗢𝗪 for the STOA workshop on 𝗰𝘆𝗯𝗲𝗿𝘀𝗲𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗰𝗼𝗼𝗽𝗲𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 and join the debate on cybersecurity tools that could help the EU build digital & societal resilience and better enforce digital rules 👉 https://lnkd.in/e2hZTrAQ   📅 Wednesday, 4 February 2026, 15:00-17:00 CET 📍 European Parliament, Brussels - SPAAK 7C50 With introductory remarks by EU Commissioner for Space and Defence, Andrius Kubilius. #DigitalEU #EUcybersecurity #DigitalResilience #CyberDefense

⏰ Don’t forget to register for the STOA workshop on the 𝗶𝗻𝘁𝗲𝗴𝗿𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝘀𝗼𝗰𝗶𝗮𝗹 𝘀𝗰𝗶𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗵𝘂𝗺𝗮𝗻𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗶𝗻 𝗿𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 & 𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 on 3 February!   Join experts and policymakers to discuss how to: ▶️ improve interdisciplinarity for a more human-centric R&I; ▶️ integrate social sciences and humanities expertise in European R&I projects and programmes to ensure that innovation benefits society as a whole; ▶️ measure societal wellbeing to devise an inclusive and sustainable EU research strategy that effectively informs policymaking.   With a keynote speech by Prof. Patrizia Isabelle Nanz, President of the European University Institute.   📅 Tuesday, 3 February 2026, 15:00-16:30 CET 📍 European Parliament, Brussels - SPAAK 4B1 ✍️ Registration and programme: https://lnkd.in/gzQk2wqy #EUResearch #EUInnovation #HorizonEurope #BeyondGDP #SocialProgress #SSAH

For their first meeting of the year, the STOA Panel will explore the potential of 𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗻𝘁𝘂𝗺 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵𝗻𝗼𝗹𝗼𝗴𝗶𝗲𝘀 to accelerate decarbonisation in the EU and bridge the existing innovation gap to achieve climate neutrality by 2050 🌍 Vasco Ferreira will present the main takeaways from the upcoming STOA briefing on whether #quantumtechnologies can support the EU's energy and climate goals 🇪🇺 📊 The STOA Panel will also address disparities in research and innovation across EU Member States and discuss the effectiveness of 𝘄𝗶𝗱𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗺𝗲𝗮𝘀𝘂𝗿𝗲𝘀 in #HorizonEurope programmes. Prof.dr. Reinhilde Veugelers, from KU Leuven, will present the main results of this STOA study on the innovation capacity of 'Widening countries' to close the gap, to be published soon. ⏰📺 Join STOA online this 𝗧𝗵𝘂𝗿𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆, 𝟮𝟮 𝗝𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗮𝘁 𝟬𝟵:𝟯𝟬 𝗖𝗘𝗧, to follow both presentations! 👉 https://lnkd.in/eC7DWR6g

📢 Register now for the STOA workshop on EU cybersecurity cooperation on 4 February at the European Parliament!   Don’t miss this opportunity to exchange with experts and stakeholders on the future of EU cybersecurity and the technological feasibility of a European Intelligence Body 🌐   Hosted by José Cepeda García de León, MEP and STOA member, with introductory remarks by Andrius Kubilius, EU Commissioner for Defense and Space.   📅 Wednesday, 4 February 2026, 15:00-17:00 CET 📍 European Parliament, Brussels - SPAAK 7C50 ✍️ Registration and programme: https://lnkd.in/e2hZTrAQ With the participation of Florian Pennings - European Union Agency for Cybersecurity (ENISA) and Francesca Musiani - CNRS.

“Planetary Health serves as a policy compass and the EU needs to lead globally by example”🧭🇪🇺 STOA organised a workshop on ‘Planetary Health’ yesterday, hosted by MEP Nicolás González Casares and moderated by Dr. Vanessa Harris, that highlighted the link between our planet’s health and the wellbeing of society, and how destabilising the Earth natural systems is threatening human health. 🌎 Seven out of nine planetary boundaries have been breached, five of which primarily due to food systems. Keynote speaker Prof. Johan Rockström pointed out that adopting healthy diets and transitioning away from fossil fuels could restore the planet’s health and bring it back within all its planetary boundaries. Experts Prof.dr. Pim Martens, Dr. Chiara Cadeddu and Prof. Josep M Anto stressed that ‘Planetary Health’ ensures our existing policies are future-proof, as this cross-disciplinary field bridges science, societal values, and policy. It helps to move from fragmented action to coherent decision-making: it strengthens prevention, reduces long-term costs, and improves policy resilience 🛡️ 📢 Participants called for increased investment in public awareness and Planetary Health knowledge, and a Planetary Health Framework to support preventive, integrated policies that protect both human health and the environment in the EU 🇪🇺 📺 Rewatch the event: https://lnkd.in/gq_uuBtA 📰 Read the ESMH interview with Dr. Vanessa Harris: https://wp.me/panTdn-4ss

🇪🇺🇺🇸 At its annual lecture yesterday, STOA looked into the state of Academic Freedom in the United States and what it could mean for European universities and academia. Keynote speaker Prof. David Rabban, from the The University of Texas at Austin, urged Europe to view the attacks against academic freedom in the US as a warning and to push back against government intrusions into the intellectual life of universities. 📢 MEP and STOA Chair Christian Ehler, and Prof. Kurt Deketelaere - Secretary-General of the League of European Research Universities (LERU), called for stronger guardrails around academic freedom to protect European research integrity, diversity, and unity. The discussion also highlighted the need for a clearer definition of ‘academic freedom’ to be able to better protect it, ideally within a specific legal act representing the consensus on academic freedom in the EU.   📺 Rewatch the event: https://lnkd.in/giMg8jP9 📰 Read the ESMH interview with Prof. David Rabban: https://lnkd.in/e-ZsfkPr 🏛 Learn more about #EP4AcademicFreedom and the Academic Freedom Monitor: https://lnkd.in/eDuva2sv 📆 Don’t miss STOA’s 𝗔𝗰𝗮𝗱𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗰 𝗙𝗿𝗲𝗲𝗱𝗼𝗺 𝗖𝗼𝗻𝗳𝗲𝗿𝗲𝗻𝗰𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝟰 𝗠𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 and stay tuned for updates 👉 https://europa.eu/!KPFDh8

To ensure its stability and prosperity, the EU needs to rethink economic narratives to include the social dimension of progress.   💡 Join STOA on 3 February at the European Parliament to explore sustainable and inclusive well-being ‘beyond GDP’, and how to better integrate humanities and social sciences in EU research priorities and key policy initiatives 🇪🇺   📅 Tuesday, 3 February 2026, 15:00-16:30 CET 📍 European Parliament, Brussels - SPAAK 4B1 ✍️ Registration and programme: https://lnkd.in/gzQk2wqy With the participation of Annelien Bredenoord - President of Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam, Gabi Lombardo - Director of EASSH – European Alliance for Social Sciences and Humanities, and EU Science, Research and Innovation Deputy Director Henriette Van Eijl and JRC scientific officer Peter Benczur. #BeyondGDP #SocialProgressIndex #EUInnovation #HorizonEurope #EUResearch

Human well-being depends on the stability and resilience of ecological and biophysical systems 🌱🌍   Ahead of next week’s 𝗦𝗧𝗢𝗔 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸𝘀𝗵𝗼𝗽 𝗼𝗻 '𝗣𝗹𝗮𝗻𝗲𝘁𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝗛𝗲𝗮𝗹𝘁𝗵', Dr. Vanessa Harris highlights the importance of conceptualising policies beyond just health systems and taking into account planetary boundaries to better protect against disease outbreaks and safeguard all life on earth.   📰 Read our latest ESMH interview to discover how human health is intertwined with earth’s natural systems and why preventive actions & integrated approaches are needed to secure the well-being of mankind👉 https://wp.me/panTdn-4ss   📺 Follow the STOA workshop online next 𝗪𝗲𝗱𝗻𝗲𝘀𝗱𝗮𝘆 𝟭𝟰 𝗝𝗮𝗻𝘂𝗮𝗿𝘆 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 at 14:00 CET 👉 https://lnkd.in/gq_uuBtA

⏰ LAST DAYS TO REGISTER ⏰ Don’t miss the opportunity to exchange with policymakers and scholars on the state and future of Academic Freedom in the US! 🇺🇸 Learn more about the roots of the tensions between the Trump administration and US elite universities, the implications for research integrity and international cooperation, and how the EU can safeguard academic freedom in a rapidly evolving geopolitical landscape. ✍️ Registration: https://lnkd.in/g3DbV-jA 📆 Tuesday, 13 January 2026, 15:00–17:00 CET 📍 European Parliament, Brussels - Info Hub 📺 Webstream: https://lnkd.in/giMg8jP9 Opening and closing remarks by MEP and STOA Chair Christian Ehler. https://lnkd.in/gC5BZmhg