Europe to promote venture capital
The commission hopes that by making capital accessible to companies, Europe can help reduce the high level of unemployment affecting the continent. Unlike the US, where a large number of venture capit...
European Science Foundation publishes four year plan
The European Science Foundation is an association of 62 major national funding agencies devoted to scientific research in 21 countries. The ESF assists its member organizations in two main ways: by br...
Under funding of UK research nears “crisis proportions”
The Implications of the Dearing Report for the Structure and Funding of University Research calls for the government to immediately invest £410 – £430 million in the UK’s researc...
EU investment falls behind
The report, which analyses data ranging from global trends in R&D expenditure to patterns of research mobility, was published by the European Commission last month. It aims to inform and guide fut...
New agendas need new visions
“Physicists are doing very, very well, ” says Richard Brook, sitting in the chief executive’s office at the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council. “We put more of ...
A tale of two councils
Two of the acronyms most frequently used by physicists in the UK celebrate their fourth birthdays this month. Between them the EPSRC and PPARC fund most of the research projects performed by physicist...
Defence diversification agency to be created
DERA has an annual turnover of £1bn, 90% of which comes from the Ministry of Defence, and is active in many areas of physics including semiconductors, materials and optics. The agency would encou...
UK science minister praises physics
The UK government is committed to basic science, said Battle. “The ongoing comprehensive spending review gives us the opportunity to spell out our commitment to the science base, ” he adde...
France fails to innovate
The figures are from the French Science and Technology Observatory. “The connection between research and innovation is really bad, ” says Rémi Barré, director of the observatory,...
Germany predicts future markets
The “Delphi 98” report contains the views of more than 2000 experts from industry, research and education, who were asked to predict what they thought would be the most important developme...
