Science|Business news & analysis
Welcome to the weekly Science|Business roundup of the most significant news in R&D policy and funding, tailored for our LinkedIn audience.
In this week’s main R&D policy news:
The European Commission has launched two strategies hoping to speed up the adoption of artificial intelligence and strengthen Europe’s competitiveness and innovation capabilities. The Apply AI strategy focuses on integrating AI across key sectors of the economy, while the AI in Science strategy aims to put the EU at the forefront of AI-driven research.
In a speech ahead of the launch, EU research Commissioner Ekaterina Zaharieva said AI could boost materials science patents by up to 40%. Her source, however, appears to be a retracted preprint from a PhD student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
On a related note, the EU’s €20 billion plan to build so-called gigafactories to train world-leading AI models has come in for criticism from industry groups, which worry there isn’t a plan for what they will be used for or how they will be financially sustainable.
Meanwhile, Manuel Heitor, chair of an expert group charged with advising the Commission on the next Framework Programme for research and innovation, has called for a campaign of “scientific activism” to implement independent governance models across the programme.
France’s Sorbonne University has also announced its plans to leave the Times Higher Education Rankings, adding its name to a growing number of universities rejecting lists that play one institution off against another. Its president told us why.
Finally, Gregor Majdič, rector of the University of Ljubljana, says the EU needs to urgently increase investment in fundamental research and strengthen the transfer of knowledge from universities to society and industry.
Read the key highlights from this week’s Policy Bulletin:
In funding news:
We look into the draft calls for research proposals across five topics which in 2026-27 will act as pilots for the European Commission’s AI in Science strategy, whose main aim is to establish the Resource for AI Science in Europe.
In another field, EU governments want to launch a European Life Sciences Investment Fund, as part of a coordinated strategy to make Europe an attractive place for private research and innovation investment.
We also hear experts say during the All-Atlantic Ocean Research and Innovation Alliance forum that significant gaps are appearing in international efforts to address the state of the oceans.
Amid the European rush to attract disenchanted US researchers, the Volkswagen Foundation is experimenting with a different approach: grants for US researchers to split their time between the US and Germany.
In the Funding Radar, the UK and EU bring forward antimicrobial resistance-related funding calls.
In the Data Corner, we learn that the EU and the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States struck a deal to work more closely together on research and innovation.
Read the key highlights from this week’s Funding Newswire:
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