RECENT POSTS 
Kosovo may soon be allowed to take a greater part in EU research funding programs after the country signed an EU-brokered reconciliatory deal with Serbia last month (19 April), following years of conflict, reports Science Insider. After the signing of the deal, the European Commission formally proposed to let Kosovo participate in 22 EU programmes, including the €55 billion Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) for R&D, which is expected to also apply to its successor, Horizon 2020. If EU member states... Read more
The tiny nation of Kosovo has a new science law, which mandates the government to invest 0.7% of its budget in research. This is great news for the nation of less than two million which has been through a bloody break-up with its bigger neighbour Serbia. A previous law that regulated science funding, from 2004, said that government should devote "up to 0.7%" of its budget to science. But critics say that this ambiguous wording allowed it to often invest... Read more
The dreaded brain drain from the Western Balkans may actually be good for development, according to a report which finds that most students emigrate only to return more educated within five years, bringing back newly acquired skills. "Skill migration should be viewed [...] as the export of intermediate goods to be processed in advanced countries and re-exported to the countries of origin," says the report published earlier this month. But in order for countries to fully benefit, their 'brain gain'... Read more
Croatia's investment in science from 2005-2011 as a percentage of GDP has dropped, singling it out in the EU, according to the 'Science, technology and innovation in Europe - 2013 edition' report published by the European Commission this month (12 April). Croatia's average annual growth rate in science investment was around minus two per cent compared with an EU average growth rate of around three per cent. The percentage of GDP that goes to R&D in Croatia - around 0.75%... Read more
The worrying brain drain from Eastern Europe and poor participation of scientists from the region in the EU's research projects could be reversed if the scientists were paid salaries equal to those of their Western colleagues, a paper published this week (17 April) argues. Such a move would come at a minimal cost to the EU's research budget but would level the playing field, allowing the East to retain and even attract talent, says the paper in Journal of Health... Read more
In just three days more than 3,000 of Serbia's scientists have signed a petition aimed at the Serbian Government and Ministry of Science to preserve access to journals thorough a Serbian library service KoBSON, following loss of access to Oxford University Press materials earlier this month (9 April). The service first announced its funding woes last December, when most databases and publishers gave it three months' grace period. Yet the government did not provide the funding in time, which led... Read more
Croatia is becoming the 28th member of the EU on 1st July 2013, yet its science sector has been awaiting reforms for years now, with little progress. Lack of political will and under-funding are keeping research from achieving its potential as a socio-economic driver. But what is on Croatian scientists' minds - and which things get them fired up? A virtual meeting place that has over 2,200 members so far - equivalent to around 20% of the Croatian scientific workforce... Read more
A Balkan Association of Science Journalists has been launched in Novi Sad, Serbia, following a meeting in Tirana, Albania in June 2012. The association comes after a launch of an informal Balkan Network of Science Writers after two sessions dedicated to the region's science media at the 12th International Public Communication of Science and Technology Conference (PCST2012) in April 2012 in Florence, Italy. It is also the latest move in a recent push for a greater regional networking and collaboration in... Read more
UNESCO's Venice Office is behind a new drive to get science journalism on the agenda of science ministers in the Balkans. A recent two-day UNESCO meeting in Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina (22-23 November) brought together experts, including science journalists and EUSJA members, to draft and present a list of priorities for regional collaboration and funding to science ministers from Albania, BiH, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, Montenegro, Moldova, Romania, Serbia, and Turkey. Supporting science journalism was one of the five priorities... Read more
A new science law that would pave the way for more research funding for Kosovo's scientists suffered a blow two weeks ago (20 February) when the parliamentary committee on finance sent it back to the ministry because of "big budgetary implications that were not planned for in the 2013 budget or for spending in the medium term". The proposed law which would mandate the government to set aside a certain portion of its budget for research – for the first... Read more
Posted in 