Frontiers news
18 Dec 2023
In September, the European Parliament Committee on Industry, Research and Energy (ITRE) published a draft report on academic freedom in the European Union. Frontiers welcomed the recommendations put forward. Recently, an amended version of the report has been adopted.
Frontiers news
06 Oct 2023
Academic freedom is an ironclad principle in the scholarly world. Yet, we have observed that academic freedom has come under pressure in recent years. On 25 September 2023, the European Parliament Committee on Industry, Research, and Energy (ITRE) published a draft report on the promotion of the freedom of scientific research in the European Union (EU). This sentiment was echoed by Germany’s Minister of Science Bettina Stark-Watzinger in a guest article published in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung the same day. Photo credit: Frontiers Days earlier, on 19 September 2023, the European Parliament Committee on Industry, Research, and Energy (ITRE) convened to delve into a critical initiative championing the freedom of scientific research within the European Union (EU). Spearheaded by German rapporteur Christian Ehler, Member of the European Parliament for the European People’s Party, this initiative underscored the pivotal role of safeguarding academic freedom. The discussion resonated with concerns about academic liberties, especially in light of events like the expulsion of “a Hungarian university,” highlighting the paramount importance of upholding the rule of law. Christian Ehler shared insights into a worrying precedent set by the Hungarian university case, where academic freedom faced a disconcerting threat. The name of the university was […]
Health
12 May 2023
Approximately 69 billion euros is spent on healthcare issues related to dealing with overweight or obese patients in Europe every year. Obesity increases the likelihood of physical illnesses and mental health issues such as: diabetes, coronary artery and stress and depression. Moreover, according to WHO, 50% of the adult population is overweight (23% of women and 20% of men being classified as obese). Current treatments for obesity have limited effectiveness. Treatments for obesity focus on trying to change the patient’s behaviour, predominantly with respect to diet and exercise. However, these treatments have been shown to be largely ineffective with most patients failing to lose weight in the medium to long term. Telemedicine has been proposed as an alternative to this, with some Virtual Reality solutions beginning to penetrate the market. However, these solutions are essentially the same lifestyle behaviour change treatments in a VR environment instead of in reality. Over time, the patient returns to their previous weight. SeminarHostRegistration linkTackling the Obesity Crisis with VR: Introduction to the study of obesityPilar Lusilla Palacioshttps://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_qckvhEetSRyEixNVyl4mvwTackling the Obesity Crisis with VR: Technical solutions to the representation of bodiesElena Álvarez de la Campahttps://zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_k5X-YFO7Qj2-ZdF27BPdLgTackling the Obesity Crisis with VR: ConVRSelf and the idea of using […]
Open science policy
29 Jan 2019
How to foster a transparent and competitive scholarly communication market in the digital era and incentivize researchers to use open science practices
Open science policy
15 Nov 2018
Frontiers and like-minded open science stakeholders call on the European Parliament to safeguard the open science provisions of the European Commission’s Horizon Europe proposal.
Open science policy
26 Oct 2018
Open Science offers both competitive and collaborative advantages, and is vital to boost the impact of Horizon Europe.
Open science and peer review
29 Aug 2018
Dr Kamila Markram joined the stage with Robert Jan Smits from the European Commission and leading academics at the 2018 EuroScience Open Forum.
Top news
28 Jun 2018
What is needed for a full transition to Open Science in the European Union? Frontiers CEO Kamila Markram will outline the priority actions during ESOF 2018.
Frontiers news
30 Apr 2018
130 academic, advocacy and policy experts discussed how Europe can unleash the full benefits of open research data in health, at the Frontiers Data Services Workshop 2018
Frontiers news
06 Mar 2018
Frontiers will host its second Data Services Workshop on 24 April 2018, in collaboration with the EU Horizon 2020 projects OpenMinTed and OpenUp and SwissCor
Open science policy
23 Nov 2017
Leading figures from policy, science, publishing and advocacy discuss how open science can maximise the value of research and innovation for our societies.
Frontiers news
05 Oct 2017
Frontiers, along with 11 other Open Science stakeholders, will be providing strategic advice to the European Commission on the future of scholarly publishing and communication.
Frontiers news
07 Jul 2017
The future of Europe and its economy is based on research and innovation. Over 700 scientists, innovators, business people and policy makers came together at the recent conference, Research & Innovation – Shaping our Future, hosted by Carlos Moedas, EU Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, to discuss the vision and recommendations proposed by a High Level Group on maximizing the impact of EU research and innovation programs. A range of visionary speakers, including Nobel Prize winners, major industry experts, researchers, innovators and policy makers, were invited to discuss how research and innovation could transform our economy and improve our society. Frontiers’ CEO Kamila Markram, along with Jeremy Farrar, Director of the Wellcome Trust and Fabiola Gianotti, Director-General of CERN, were asked for their feedback on two specific recommendations within the report: Design the EU R&I program for greater impact Better capture and communicate impact During this session, Maintaining World Class Scientific Excellence, Frontiers CEO, Kamila Markram, proposed two key messages for consideration by the European Commission in the next framework program: A common vision Open Science A common vision to inspire researchers, industry and citizens. Markram recommended that a single European vision will inspire and unite its citizens. “Quality of […]
Open science policy
07 Jul 2017
High Level Group calls for doubling of R&I funding and a renewed focus on impact, with ‘openness’ a key factor The report of the European Commission’s High Level Group on maximising the impact of EU Research and Innovation Programmes was published on the 3rd July 2017. Based on the interim evaluation results of Horizon 2020 – the EU’s biggest Research and Innovation programme – the European Commission set up a High Level Group of 12 leading experts, tasked with advising them on how to maximise the impact of the EU’s investment in the next Framework Programme. To launch the report, Pascal Lamy, Group Chair and President Emeritus of the Jacques Delors Institute, presented the group’s vision and recommendations at the Commission organised conference, Research & Innovation – Shaping our Future. Hosted by Carlos Moedas, Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, over 700 scientists, innovators, business people and policy makers also attended the event to discuss how research and innovation will shape the future of Europe. Frontiers’ CEO, Kamila Markram, spoke at the event as part of the session on maintaining world class scientific excellence. Key findings: Double the funding for R&I. The report issues 11 recommendations for the future of EU R&I, […]
Frontiers news
11 Jan 2017
To innovate effectively, the results of research must be open to all of society. Today, there is exponential growth in the knowledge produced by scientific, medical and technical research, and new tools are being developed that can exploit these data in powerful ways. One of the most promising of these tools is text and data mining (TDM), i.e., the automated computational analysis of digital content. The European Commission recognises the potential of TDM and is currently considering updating and clarifying the legal provisions for its use. Frontiers, as well as the other signatories of the attached position statement, urge European legislators to support a copyright exception that clearly includes all research bodies (i.e. businesses and SMEs, as well as universities, institutions and citizen scientists) which have lawful access to the digital content. The use of TDM should be made as broad and explicitly unrestricted as possible so as to benefit European society by accelerating scientific progress, innovation and economic growth. The full Statement is provided below and can be accessed as a PDF. We are pleased that, to date, the following open-science stakeholders have agreed to sign in support of the Statement: Frontiers (Frederick Fenter, Executive Editor) ContentMine (Peter Murray-Rust, Director) Electronic Information for Libraries (Teresa Hackett, Copyright and Libraries Programme Manager) eLife (Mark […]