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Interview

The EU stand at the AAAS 2013 in Boston. © Horizon Magazine
interview | frontier research
17 May 2013

For research, Europe is the place to be

With the ‘Destination Europe’ initiative, the European Union is trying to attract new brains from around the world. The message is clear: research and innovation culture in Europe is vibrant and exciting. Alan Leshner, Chief Executive Officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), agrees. ‘Europe is developing a coherent research area,’ he said during the annual meeting of the AAAS. ‘And good science anywhere is good for science everywhere.’ 

Dr Geneviève Almouzni is Deputy Director of the Institut Curie in Paris, France. © Pedro Lombardi/Institut Curie
interview | women in science
26 April 2013

What’s in a prize?

Dr Geneviève Almouzni is Deputy Director of the Institut Curie in Paris, France. She is the laureate of the 2013 FEBS | EMBO Women in Science Award, a joint initiative of the Federation of European Biochemical Societies (FEBS) and the Euro­pean Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO). Launched in 2007, the aim of the award is to highlight the major contributions made by female scientists to life sciences research. We asked Dr Almouzni what she thinks about such awards specifically dedicated to female scientists.

Rolf-Dieter Heuer, Director General of CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research based in Geneva. © CERN
interview | frontier research
20 March 2013

Dark matter: the next quest of Europe’s Large Hadron Collider

After the discovery of the so-called ‘God particle’, scientists could turn the world's biggest particle accelerator to uncovering dark matter, or even shedding light on parallel universes.

Professor John B. Gurdon was the joint winner of the 2012 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine © Gurdon Institute
interview | health
18 March 2013

Nobel Prize winner who nearly flunked science advises perseverance

‘You will never become a scientist!’ For his teachers, a science career for John Gurdon, was no more than hypothetical. But the British professor who won the 2012 Nobel Prize for Medicine has only one piece of advice for aspiring researchers: ‘Don’t give up!’

Christian Bason is the head of MindLab in Copenhagen © MindLab
interview | innovation union
18 March 2013

Innovative thinking on how to run public services

How do you encourage civil servants to take a long, hard look at what they do so as to improve public services for citizens? And how do you kick-start new thinking to address society’s plague of problems? For a start, you need to discover users’ thoughts about basic design problems in the services they use, according to Danish political scientist Christian Bason.

interview | frontier research
18 March 2013

Empathy: from spiders to psychopathy

Professor Christian Keysers first saw the film Dr. No as a teenager. Watching the scene where James Bond wakes up to discover a large, hairy, poisonous spider crawling up his arm, he thought he could almost feel the spider on his own skin.

Marisa Matias, MEP and member of the GUE/NGL group © European Union 2007PE-EP
interview | women in science
18 March 2013

Why science should be calling out for women

Marisa Matias is a Portuguese MEP of the European United Left / Nordic Green Left group (GUE/NGL). A social scientist by training, she is very active in the areas of public health, science and research. Why should science be calling out for women? She believes it will help tackle Europe’s brain drain. ‘It will help jugulate the brain drain Europe is suffering and boost gender equality,’ she says.

Professor Jocelyn Bell Burnell is a UK astrophysicist and a campaigner for the cause of women in science. © IOP
interview | frontier research | women in science
18 March 2013

Grants only to 'female-friendly' labs

Grants should only be given to research organisations who have received an award for female-friendly policies, according to a UK scientist who was overlooked for a Nobel Prize on pulsars even though she did much of the work.

Peter Zemsky (L), Deputy Dean INSEAD, France and Tim Hunt (R), Professor, Cancer Research UK, United Kingdom discuss during the session 'An insight, an idea with Tim Hunt' at the Annual Meeting 2013 of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, 26 January 2013 © World Economic Forum swiss-image.ch / Photo Mirko Ries
interview | frontier research
13 March 2013

How to make a scientist: Sir Tim Hunt’s recipe

Should we rethink education to foster curiosity, creativity and competitiveness? At the last World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Sir Tim Hunt, member of the ERC Scientific Council and Nobel laureate in 2001 proposed some guidelines.

Professor Frances Ashcroft is a physiologist at the University of Oxford © Robert Taylor/www.taylor-photo.co.uk
interview | health | women in science
13 March 2013

From wild orchids to injection-free diabetes treatment

It all started with the chance discovery of a country lane full of wild orchids by an inquisitive young girl in rural England. That young girl, Frances Ashcroft, would go on to become one of Europe’s leading diabetes researchers.

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