On 5 July 2016, EASSH took part in the EC Third Stakeholders' Meeting on State of play of Societal challenge 6 and Integration of Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) in Horizon 2020. In this occasion EASSH presented a position paper suggesting an alternative methodology for the analysis of the integration of SSH in the projects awarded in Horizon 2020. The paper was endorsed by other of the stakeholders invited...
EASSH Stakeholders Workshop 010716fnl. More...

The Societal Challenges received a exceptional high number of applications which made the success rates drop. An immediate suggestion has been to have a two stage evaluation process. EASSH is concerned that the two-stage approach will simply exacerbate the existing problem. Read why here. More...

On 30 May, the European Commission launched its renewed agenda for higher education.
As was the case with the 2006 and 2011 Communications, the present agenda outlines the European Commission’s policy priorities for higher education and also proposes some concrete actions, such as a European Graduate Tracking initiative. More...

The assessment phase of the first half of Horizon 2020 is being concluded with the release of the European Commission’s interim evaluation and the European Parliament’s committee report on the implementation of the programme. Both policy making bodies insist that Horizon 2020 remains largely underfunded and therefore is not able to meet the rising tide of excellent proposals submitted by the scientific community. These statements not only echo EUA’s concerns on the lack of efficiency of the programme, but also take into consideration EUA’s estimates of ‘hidden’ costs in submitting proposals. This is a step in the right direction, as there is growing recognition of the financial waste at all levels (European, national and institutional) and missed scientific opportunities to address the crucial challenges being faced by the EU. More...

Universities are the unique places for production and dissemination of new knowledge, which are fundamentally important for society. Universities have been benefitting from, and contributing to the EU research framework programmes (FPs) for decades. More...

The European University Association is worried about the latest developments in Romanian research policy. Universities thrive and contribute to their societies when they can build on research excellence in an open exchange across borders. More...

The discussions of the RPWG referred to recent EUA activities and major developments in European research policy, for example, the update of the EUA Autonomy Scorecard and the association’s recent call for ambitious funding in Europe post-2020. While the two main foci of the meeting were dedicated to taking forward the EUA Vision for FP9 and preparing the next steps in the area of smart specialisation, the RPWG also reflected on the state of play of the interim evaluation of Horizon 2020; underlined the need for new momentum in realising the European Research Area as proposed in the March 2017 joint statement by EUA, CESAER, LERU and Science Europe; and touched upon defence research. More...

Europe’s universities want to do much more together. This is the essence of a discussion I chaired recently between the European National Rectors’ Conferences (the national associations of universities). The debate was generated by the European Commission’s White Paper on the Future of Europe discussing the European project after its 60 years’ anniversary and – importantly – after Brexit. More...

As of beginning of May 2017, 3900 public employees have been arrested, and even larger number suspended according to news reports. Among the sacked are also 484 academic and 98 administrative staff from different universities. As for other sacked public employees, their names have published on the website of the Turkish Official Journal, on Saturday, 29 April. More...