For scientists submitting their papers to journals, there’s an all-too-familiar drill: spend hours formatting the paper to meet the journal’s guidelines; if the paper is rejected, sink more time into reformatting it for another journal; repeat. Now an analysis has put a price tag on all that busy work.

Half of postdocs say they don’t have access to social security and many don’t have permanent contracts either. Now campaigners are putting pressure on the EU to lean on member states to improve working conditions for Europe’s young scientists.

Are science and technology policies targeted at early-stage technologies what is needed for net-zero emissions?

Researchers from the Centre for Studies on Dictatorships and Democracies (CEDID) of the UAB participate in the recently launched Horizon Europe project ARENAS (Analysis of and Responses to Extremist Narratives).

The European Commission plans to designate 100 locations across Europe as Regional Innovation Valleys, in a bid to strengthen innovation in EU priority areas and encourage collaboration between more and less advanced regions. 

Sarvenaz Sarabipour is tired of academics understanding mentorship through anecdotes. The scientific community “needs a minimum set of standards for good mentorship,” says the Johns Hopkins University systems biologist, which can only be achieved by studying it systematically.

The news that Commission vice president Margrethe Vestager will temporarily take over the innovation and research portfolio following the departure of commissioner Mariya Gabriel has been met with mixed feelings.

Bacteria and fungi recently discovered in the Swiss Alps can digest biodegradable plastics at low temperatures. This ability, if upscaled to an industrial scale, will save money and energy during recycling, say scientists.

The European Research Council is revamping its project evaluation process from 2024 in line with the EU-wide push for a less prescriptive approach to evaluating scientific impact.

On 2 May 2023, State Secretary Martina Hirayama and British Minister of State for Science, Research and Innovation, George Freeman, opened the first meeting of the Joint Swiss-British Committee for Science and Innovation. This meeting between the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI) and the British Department for Science, Innovation and Technology was mainly centred on bilateral cooperation in research and innovation.

Members of the University and College Union (UCU) are continuing a marking and assessment boycott over pay and working conditions. The BBC spoke to students and staff at the University of Cambridge about how the situation is being handled there.