Phosphorus, politics and water for a more resilient world
ERC frontier research at work in science diplomacy When scientists follow their curiosity, they rarely picture their work turning up in policy briefings or on negotiation tables. Yet ERC Synergy Grants projects, which bring together teams of…
Who controls the science of the high seas?
When diplomats finalised the UN’s landmark BBNJ treaty on high-sea biodiversity, it was widely hailed as a triumph for marine conservation. For Alice Vadrot, it also reveals how science and diplomacy have become inseparable and how knowledge itself…
Hashtags and handshakes: diplomacy in the age of platforms
Diplomacy has absorbed digital platforms into its rituals - while facing new risks, new power struggles and new geopolitical fault lines. Rebecca Adler-Nissen explores how diplomats and tech companies navigate this new world, turning science…
Science diplomacy: from utopia to pragmatism
The growing fragility of multilateralism is forcing new ways of handling conflicts and shared global challenges, and science diplomacy is set to play an increasingly critical role, writes Sir Peter Gluckman.While the current conflicts in Ukraine,…
A world of data in a few hands
Drawing on the ERC-funded research project NEWORLDatA, Simone Turchetti explains why EU science diplomacy cannot ignore global data inequality. The European Framework for Science Diplomacy aims to transform international research into a driving…
Research diplomacy in action: the debate on a united Ireland
The renewed, post-Brexit, debate on possible referendums on a united Ireland is a good example of research diplomacy in action, writes John Doyle. Faced with an unanticipated and highly sensitive constitutional question, researchers mobilised across…
Editorial - From curiosity to global responsibility
International collaboration has always been an integral part of the work of scientists. Science thrives when people, institutions and governments share ideas, data and resources across borders.Acting on this knowledge has become much more…
Europe’s next frontier for independent research
The research community is at the forefront of holding platforms accountable, shaping a viable data-access regime and advancing Europe’s digital sovereignty ambitions, Brandi Geurkink writes in her op-ed. Thirty-five years after the invention of the…
Auditing moderation
Stefano Cresci wants platforms to be honest about their moderation – and he is using data from the Digital Services Act (DSA) to check. His research shows that bans and removals work for most users, but a vocal minority becomes more aggressive in…
