Science|Business Widening Newsletter No.41 | Sign up here
09/10/2024
“The Widening” is a product of Science|Business and is not related to EU institutions or programmes.

Focus on central and eastern Europe

Welcome to a new edition of The Widening newsletter, a roundup of news and analysis of research and innovation policy and investments in central and eastern Europe, delivered to your inbox twice a month. Sign up here.

Edited by Florin Zubașcu

This week we take a look at Viktor Orbán’s attempt to force the European Commission to unlock Horizon Europe and Erasmus+ funding for Hungarian researchers. Then we have a report from Skopje on R&D collaboration between the EU and Western Balkans, and an overview of Poland’s struggle with the reform of its Academy of Sciences.  

The latest news

HERE WE GO AGAIN: Viktor Orbán is having a blast in Strasbourg, scolding bureaucrats in Brussels for what he calls EU “blackmail” over Hungary’s participation in Erasmus+ and Horizon Europe. Speaking in Strasbourg on Tuesday, Orbán accused the Commission of using the Horizon Europe funding ban as leverage in political disagreements. “Of course, it would be better to finance [research] from the European money, but we would not like to give up important values of the Hungarians in exchange of that kind of decisions, which we consider blackmail anyway," Orbán said. Read the full story here.

WESTERN BALKANS: Science ministers in the Western Balkans and the EU agreed to intensify collaboration in research and innovation during a meeting in Skopje last week. However, researchers and stakeholders say underinvestment, brain drain and political disagreements are slowing down attempts to boost research and innovation performance in the region. Read the story here.

POLISH REFORMS: The Polish Academy of Sciences has hit back at government plans to reform the structure of the academy, claiming the ministry of science is attempting to impose political control. The government says the goal is to “democratise” the academy. Anna Rzhevkina has the story.

HAVE SOMETHING TO SAY? We welcome opinion pieces and other contributions on R&I policy in central and eastern Europe. Send yours to news@sciencebusiness.net.

In other news

A GLASS HALF FULL: The centre for Eastern Studies has published a report on new sources of economic growth in central Europe. According to the report, central Europe needs to invest more in innovation and take a more active role in shaping EU policies to strengthen its economic competitiveness. Read the full paper here.

NEW WIDENING PAPER: ERRIN, the network of innovative European regions has published a position paper on the future of the Widening programme in the EU’s next research framework programme, FP10. According to the paper, the Widening schemes should continue to be a part of FP10. “Reaching the full R&I potential of Europe requires unlocking the potential of all its territories. As some of them lag behind, there is a need for actions that would contribute to building research and innovation capacity in these places,” the paper says.

CZECH-SWISS COLLABORATION: The Czech Science Foundation and the Swiss National Science Foundation announced four new international projects that will receive joint funding from January 2025. The proposals were evaluated through a ‘lead agency model and each agency will finance the expenses of scientists from its own country. Read more about the projects here.

THREE SLOVENIAN CITIES: Ljubljana, Kranj and Velenje have partnered under the Climate KIC’s pilot cities programme to develop and test new technologies and services to tackle their most pressing environmental challenges. The three will work on energy retrofitting, sustainable mobility and renewable energy sources. More details are available here.

Mark your calendars 

BRUSSELS, 10 OCTOBER: The Slovak liaison office for research and development in Brussels will celebrate its 10^th anniversary. Signe Ratso, deputy director general for research and innovation at the European Commission will give a keynote speech. More details here.

WARSAW, 29-30 OCTOBER: The Deep Tech CEE Summit offers a chance to dive into the goings on in central and eastern Europe and connect with like minded entrepreneurs. There is also an investors’ day on 28 October. Find out more here. 

ONLINE, 5 NOVEMBER: Commercialisation Reactor invites scientists to the award-winning commercialisation programme. The Reactor is an international platform for science commercialisation, recognised by the EIT deep talent initiative. The next training course will start on 5 November.  

Science|Business Widening group

Did you know that we host a meeting of the founding members of our Widening initiative once a month, during which we discuss the latest progress and the future of the community? You can find out more about becoming a member at this link.

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