Directorate-General for Research & Innovation logo Horizon: the EU Research & Innovation magazine | European Commission logo
Receive our editor’s picks

Social Sciences

Prof. Merkel says that despite the challenges presented by right-wing populists, democracies in Western Europe remain deeply rooted in strong liberal civil societies. Image credit - Prof. Wolfgang Merkel. Photograph by: David Ausserhofer
interview | social sciences
25 April 2019

Democracy: ‘Inclusion is the future – not exclusion’

The rise of right-wing populism is being fuelled by polarisation in society that we must address without resorting to the claim of moral superiority, or protest voters will become the permanent supporters of these new parties, says Wolfgang Merkel, director of the Democracy and Democratisation research department at the WZB Berlin Social Science Center, Germany, and professor of political science at the Humboldt University of Berlin.

frontier research | social sciences
24 April 2019

DNA gives insight into prehistoric bonds between dogs and humans

Domestic dogs come in all shapes and sizes, but the animals we now regard as man’s best friend may have originated from just two populations of wolves, research suggests. The findings, along with studies on other domesticated animals, are providing new insights into how our ancestors' lives and movements transformed these creatures forever.

Artificial intelligence can be used to create deep fakes - audio, pictures and videos that make people say and do things they never did. Image credit - PxHere
frontier research | industry | social sciences
15 April 2019

Can artificial intelligence help end fake news?

Fake news has already fanned the flames of distrust towards media, politics and established institutions around the world. And while new technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) might make things even worse, it can also be used to combat misinformation.

Attitudes towards the EU can vary from nation to nation and even moment to moment. Image credit - Ilovetheeu, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0
social sciences
08 April 2019

Critical, informed citizens crucial for the EU to stay relevant

The upcoming European elections will reveal how recent challenges such as immigration, the financial crisis, Brexit and the rise of populist parties will play out in the political arena. But the elections are also providing an opportunity for researchers to understand how to better engage voters and ensure the European Union remains relevant to its citizens.

Parents should not leave it up to kids to decide whether to learn a minority language, says Prof. Anneli Sarhimaa. Image credit - Johannes Gutenberg-University Mainz
interview | social sciences
03 January 2019

The internet is helping to revive minority languages

Europe’s minority languages have been squeezed by nation-building, urbanisation and the ‘lingua francas’ of the internet, according to Professor Anneli Sarhimaa, specialist in Northern European and Baltic languages and cultures at the University of Mainz, Germany. But one lesson she has learned from researching the fate of the Finnic language Karelian, spoken in Finland and north-western Russia, is that digital media can also help revitalise them.

In Germany, the proportion of female supervisory board directors increased from 26% to 33% between 2015 and 2018. Image credit-rawpixels
social sciences
06 September 2018

Quotas get more women on boards and stir change from within

Mandated quotas are raising the number of women appointed to top company posts in Europe and sparking a cultural push for gender equality, but entrenched networks are getting in the way of achieving true boardroom diversity, according to researchers.

lost-coastline
frontier research | social sciences
17 July 2018

Lessons from a real Atlantis

Traces of long-forgotten human settlements claimed by the sea thousands of years ago are being uncovered by researchers along the coastlines of Europe.

young-people-demonstrating
social sciences | security
14 June 2018

Why don’t most people become radicalised?

To understand what leads people into violent extremism, scientists are turning the question on its head and asking why it is that most young people don’t become radicalised.

The 'Fraternal Kiss' mural, by Soviet artist Dmitri Vrubel, emblematic of the Cold War, appeared on the Berlin East Side Gallery, Berlin Wall, 1990. Image credit - Freepenguin, licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0
social sciences
26 March 2018

Confronting cultural history leads to stronger European identity

The act of confronting a troublesome past can be challenging by itself, and the Germans even have a word for it — Vergangenheitsbewältigung. Roughly one-third of current EU Member States spent decades behind the Iron Curtain, and many experienced one-party government for decades, but researchers see confronting uncomfortable history as part of a new common European identity — a shared experience that can bring people closer together.

The Holy Aedicule in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem was restored with the help of a high-resolution 3D model. Image credit - Flickr/Jorge Láscar, licensed under CC BY 2.0
social sciences
21 March 2018

Digital innovation can enhance cultural heritage, hears conference

Digitalisation has a role to play in the conservation and promotion of modern-day cultural heritage but should enhance real-life experiences, rather than replace them, experts say.

Pages