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

Interview

Collaboration between Europe and North Africa could mean more resources in the Mediterranean region for green energy projects, says InnoEnergy’s Claude Ayache. Image credit: Flickr/dirvish
interview | environment | open to the world | energy
01 February 2017

EU, North Africa green energy tie-up draws closer - Claude Ayache

An experimental project connecting renewable energy researchers in the EU with colleagues in Morocco and Tunisia could help pave the way for a market in renewable energy and energy efficiency that spans the Mediterranean, according to Claude Ayache, senior advisor for European affairs at the EU’s public-private green energy partnership, InnoEnergy.

Vladimir Baulin has demonstrated how nanoparticles cross a lipid membrane and says we need to find out how exactly they affect living organisms.
industry | health | interview
25 January 2017

Nanotechnology is like the early days of radioactivity when it comes to knowing the risks – Dr Vladimir Baulin

When radioactive materials were first introduced into society, it took a while before scientists understood the risks. The same is true of nanotechnology today, according to Dr Vladimir Baulin, from University Rovira i Virgili, in Tarragona, Spain, who together with colleagues has shown for the first time how nanoparticles can cross biological - or lipid - membranes in a paper published in the journal Science Advances.

Dr Gonzalo Murillo says that piezoelectric materials, like nano flakes, could lead to self-powering microchips. Image credit: Dr Gonzalo Murillo
energy | interview
09 January 2017

Energy all around us could power under-skin implants and sensors in aircrafts – Dr Gonzalo Murillo

There is unlimited kinetic energy all around us and harnessing it could change the way we interact with the world forever, according to Dr Gonzalo Murillo from the National Microelectronics Center of Spain, whose research into piezoelectric materials has earned him an award for the most novel innovator under 35 in Europe 2016 from the MIT Technology Review, US.

We should prevent banks from being too big to fail in order to avoid another financial crisis, according to Prof. Eckhard Hein. Image courtesy of Prof. Eckhard Hein
social sciences | interview
04 January 2017

Banks should be small and boring – Prof. Eckhard Hein

We need to return to a diverse, small-scale banking system in order to reduce the risk of another financial crisis, according to Professor Eckhard Hein from the Berlin School of Economics and Law, Germany, who was involved in the EU-funded FESSUD project examining the causes and consequences of the 2008 - 2009 financial and economic crisis.

Prof. Hans Joachim Schellnhuber says that limiting global warming to 2 degrees Celsius will not be enough to avoid all tipping points. Image credit: Mercator 2009
environment | interview
19 December 2016

We need an Apollo-style programme to tackle climate change – Prof. Hans Joachim Schellnhuber

Europe needs a climate research plan as focused as the US Apollo space programme that took astronauts to the moon, according to Professor Hans Joachim Schellnhuber, founder of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research in Germany, who in 1995 first proposed that we should limit the increase in the earth's temperature to 2 degree Celsius above pre-industrial levels.

Dr Leonardo Santos Simão is the High Representative South of the European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership, which brings together 14 European countries and 14 African countries in an effort to find new ways to fight diseases. Image credit: EDCTP
interview | health | open to the world
14 December 2016

Malaria, HIV vaccine achievable ‘in one or two decades’ – Dr Leonardo Santos Simão

We will see vaccines for malaria and HIV within the next one or two decades, predicts Dr Leonardo Santos Simão, the former health minister of Mozambique, who has been appointed High Representative South of the European & Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP), which aims to accelerate the development of new treatments, vaccines and diagnostic tools for diseases in sub-Saharan Africa. 

Prof. Giulio Di Toro says predicting the exact time, magnitude and location of big earthquakes may never be possible. Image courtesy of Prof. Giulio Di Toro
interview | environment | frontier research
08 December 2016

Big earthquakes may never be predictable - Prof. Giulio Di Toro

It is very, very difficult to predict when a big earthquake will hit. And we may never be able to forecast precisely the time, magnitude and location of destructive quakes such as those that tore through central Italy in August and October. But our understanding of how they happen is improving dramatically, says Giulio Di Toro, professor of geology in the School of Earth and Environmental Sciences at the University of Manchester, UK.

Working with Pacific states can teach European researchers about climate change, emerging diseases, deep sea mining and blue growth, according to Prof. Jean-François Marini. Image credit: ZMT/Rathke
interview | environment | open to the world
22 November 2016

The Pacific region is a perfect example of science diplomacy in action – Prof. Jean-François Marini

The Pacific region can serve as an exemplar of how science diplomacy could work, according to Professor Jean-François Marini, coordinator of the EU-funded PACE-Net Plus project and former adviser to the French government on science diplomacy.

People see colours differently according to the way their language categorises them, according to Prof. Anna Franklin. Image courtesy of Prof. Anna Franklin
interview | health
15 November 2016

How we perceive colour depends on our culture and language – Prof. Anna Franklin

Our ability to see a colour is limited by the words we have to describe it, and understanding more about colour categorisation could help improve how colour-blind children learn and develop, according to Anna Franklin, professor of visual perception and cognition at the University of Sussex in the UK, who is studying the relationship between language development and colour perception.

European Commission Vice-President Maroš Šefčovič is charge of ensuring that Europe has secure, affordable and climate-friendly energy. Image courtesy of the European Union, 2015
interview | energy | policy | open innovation
08 November 2016

We could turn energy transition into a revolution – Vice-President Šefčovič

The energy sector could see a revolution along the same lines as the digital sector, but we first need to scale up breakthrough technologies and train more experts in areas such as smart grids, storage and renewables, according to Maroš Šefčovič, Vice-President of the European Commission, in charge of Energy Union.

Pages