EU Promotes Collaboration

Research and funding organizations pledge to support a new system to support cross-border collaboration within the European Union.

Written byJef Akst

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The European Commission, in concert with key research organizations and funding agencies in the European Union (EU), yesterday (July 17) signed a statement and memorandum of understanding pledging to help EU researchers cross European borders to conduct research—a long-standing goal of many EU organizations that have pushed for the creation of the European Research Area (ERA).

“Today marks an important milestone and a basis for a new era," Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, EU commissioner for research, innovation, and science, declared at yesterday’s ceremony in Brussels. "The ERA is an idea whose time has come."

“Almost 80 percent of the research community has indicated that a lack of open and transparent recruitment hinders international mobility,” Robert-Jan Smits, the European director general for research, added at a press conference. “We are asking member states to step up the pursuit of joint research agendas, enhance competitive funding for institutions and projects and invest efficiently in ...

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Meet the Author

Jef Akst
Jef (an unusual nickname for Jennifer) got her master’s degree from Indiana University in April 2009 studying the mating behavior of seahorses. After four years of diving off the Gulf Coast of Tampa and performing behavioral experiments at the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga, she left research to pursue a career in science writing. As The Scientist's managing editor, Jef edited features and oversaw the production of the TS Digest and quarterly print magazine. In 2022, her feature on uterus transplantation earned first place in the trade category of the Awards for Excellence in Health Care Journalism. She is a member of the National Association of Science Writers.
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