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Country : Latvia
Published : 26-Apr-2012
News »
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In April 2012, a Digital Gaming Strategy for Malta was launched by the Prime Minister. The creative industries represent a priority area that the government has identified a potential for economic growth. The Strategy aims to support the establishmen ...
Country : Malta
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Funding of Hungarian innovation restructuredAccording to the second Széll Kálmán package for the modernisation of Hungary the funding of innovation will be restructured. The government decided to abolish budgetary contributions t ...
Country : Hungary
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Nationalisation of the archives of the Institute of Political History and transfer of the Institute to another placeIn the framework of the project approved by the Hungarian Parliament of reconstructing Kossuth square (the square that hosts the build ...
Country : Hungary
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The survival of 96 museums and the related SSH research is jeopardised in HungaryThe survival of 96 museums and 116 exhibition places maintained previously by county level (NUTS 3 region level) municipalities is jeopardised with new changes in their ...
Country : Hungary
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The inaugural meeting of the new Irish Research Council was held on March 30, 2012. The new body replaces the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences (IRCHSS) and the Irish Research Council for Science, Engineering and Technolog ...
Country : Ireland
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The METRIS country report 2011 are available. Not only is the country coverage extended, for teh majority of countries the new 2011 country reports are available. Please see the Documents section. ...
Country : Belgium
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EU language research infrastructure (CLARIN) obtains EU legal status. It now becomes a European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC), which will provide CLARIN with many of the administrative advantages and tax exemptions enjoyed by internationa ...
Country : Belgium
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European Economic Area and Norway grants to support humanities and social sciencesOn March 6, 2012 the government accepted the Cabinet of Ministers regulation on implementing the EEA and Norway grants’ co-funded scholarship and bilateral resear ...
Country : Latvia
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European Economic Area and Norway grants to support humanities and social sciencesOn March 6, 2012 the government accepted the Cabinet of Ministers regulation on implementing the EEA and Norway grants’ co-funded scholarship and bilateral resear ...
Country : Latvia
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Reorganisation of the Ministry of Education and ScienceIn early March 2012 the Minister of Education and Science announced plans for reorganising the Ministry, optimising the number and functions of departments. This move followed the publication of ...
Country : Latvia
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The National Development Plan priorities considered too “soft” by line ministriesThe new National Development Plan priorities for the next six years should have been formulated a year ago, however the political developments (i.a. the sack ...
Country : Latvia
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Contribution of humanities and social sciences gets recognised by the Latvian Academy of ScienceFollowing the call for nominations and the assessment of scientific output by Latvia’s scientists in all disciplines, the Latvian Academy of Science ...
Country : Latvia
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The Baltic Innovation CentreIn late February 2012 the leading research institutions in the Baltic States (including the University of Latvia, Riga Technical University, the Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis and Latvian Biomedical Research and St ...
Country : Latvia
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Joint research programme HERA - Humanities in the European Research Era - published its 2012 call on "Cultural Encounters". For details see: http://heranet.info/hera-joint-research-programme-2 ...
Country : Germany
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The new Humanities and Medical Science (HUMS) programme launched by the university of Malta in February 2012 aims to encourage cross-disciplinary research in the humanities, medicine and the sciences by creating opportunities for dialogue amongst sch ...
Country : Malta
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The Malta Sports Scholarship scheme, launched in February 2012, aims to promote the advancement of sports as a profession and discipline. Eligible applicants include both athletes who intend to pursue a professional qualification to specialize their ...
Country : Malta
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In 2012, the government increased the budget of the Malta Arts Scholarship scheme from €200k to €240k.The scheme, now in its second year running, provides bursaries in study areas related to theatre and music, design, creative writing, film ...
Country : Malta
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In January 2012, the University of Malta launched the inaugural issue of Research Matters, a bi-annual magazine with highlights on the latest developments in research activity at the university. The publication was conceived as part of the University ...
Country : Malta
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Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) have announced the results of a public call they issued for the new project regarding the "science of science policy". The call, which was issued in the summe ...
Country : Japan
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4S & EASST in Copenhagen October 17-20 2012The joint conference of The Society for Social Studies of Science (4S) and European Association for the Study of Science and Technology (EASST) will take place October 17-20, 2012 in Copenhagen, Denmark. ...
Country : Denmark
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Human[i]ties Perspective 2012: Empowerment in a Globalized Society. Roskilde University, Denmark, October 5-6 2012Human[i]ties Perspective is a scientific conference and career orientation event supported by the European Commission aimed at Erasmus M ...
Country : Denmark
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Mega tender for strategic SSH research activitiesThe Hungarian Ministry for National Development announced a mega tender for strategic SSH reseach, communication and opinion polls related taks. According to the call HUF 30 million (EUR100,000) per mo ...
Country : Hungary
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Establishment of a new universityThe Hungarian government decided about the establishment of a new university: from January, 2012 the National Public Service University will be launched, through the consolidation of the Miklos Zrinyi National Defense ...
Country : Hungary
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New Higher Education Act in Hungary The Hungarian government adopted a new Higher Education Act (Act CCIV, 2011) that enters into force on 1st January, 2012. The act will bring about fundamental changes in the Hungarian higher education system.& ...
Country : Hungary
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New National Planning Bureau in HungaryThe Ministry for the National Economy decided about the establishment of a new research institute: the "National Office for Strategic Planning".Staffed with 100 researchers, the ne Office will work in ...
Country : Hungary
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New framework contract for SSH research underpinning government policy-makingThe Hungarian government announced a tender for policy-based SSH research and policy advice. The framework contract, won by the consortium led by Századvé ...
Country : Hungary
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Social Sciences: More Excellence, More ImpactPortuguese SSH council has just published a report on Social Sciences and Humanities in Portugal after having listened to 85 Portuguese SSH research units funded be National Foundation for Science and ...
Country : Portugal
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Collegium Budapest merges into CEU HungaryThe Hungarian government and the Hungarian Academy of Sciences do not fund any more the functioning of Collegium Budapest, an Institute for Advanced Study and a Centre of Excellence (in the field of SSH) that ...
Country : Hungary
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John Wesley Theological College The C. Act on „The Right to Freedom of Conscience and Religion, and on Churches, Religions and Religious Communities” adopted in July 2011 recognised only 14 of the 358 religious groups in Hungary. Groups w ...
Country : Hungary
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Hungary takes the presidency of EUREKA (the European Network for Market-oriented R&D) as of July 1st, 2011.Hungary will chair EUREKA for one year, till June, 2012, it will represent the network in international events and negotiations, chair EURE ...
Country : Hungary
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8th International Conference on “Workplace Bullying and Harassment: Towards future Challenges” in Copenhagen, DenmarkThe conference will be held at the University of Copenhagen, Faculty of Social Sciences, in Denmark on June 13 - 15, 2012 ...
Country : Denmark
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Establishment of new SSH research institute A new institute dedicated to research on the status of democracy in Central and Eastern Europe was established in Budapest. (The official inauguration takes place on 28th June, 2011).The mission of the inst ...
Country : Hungary
About METRIS
METRIS - Monitoring European trends in Social Sciences and Humanities - has now an extended country coverage. The service, launched by the European Commission, DG-Research and Innovation, covers now all EU-27 couhntries and a large number of non-EU c ...
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Some of the main developments include the change of government in 2006, when Lars Leijonborg (Liberal) became minister of higher education and research. In 2006 a globalisation council was founded, including high level representatives from a number of sectors of society and chaired by the minister of research. The research and innovation bill presented during fall 2008, promised a large funding increase in the coming period.One important policy change is that a larger proportion of the public spending will be allocated directly to HEIs. Approximately 40 % of the funding increase is supposed to be allocated to strategic research areas. These areas are identified by the government as already internationally competitive and they have the poten ...
Sweden
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A first National Programme for the Development of Humanities was announced by the Ministry of Science and HIgher Education in June 2010 with additional funding of around €18m in the pilot phase and around €13m annualy.The programme will consist of three moduls:Modul A - Research, aiming at:Support of documentary, editing and research activities of fundamental relevance for the Polish culture and heritage;Support of interdisciplinary and international research collaboration.Modul B - support of young researcher in the humanities, aiming atSupport of research conducted by teams of PhD researchers in interdiscplinary, international and interinstitutional collaboration;Research grants for Post-docs researchers participating in relevan ...
Poland
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In July 2011, the SNSF launched a call for the fourth series of National Competence Centres in Research (NCCRs). The submission deadline for draft proposals will be 16 January 2012. The call will be thematically open. The question is: how will the SSH be faring? In the past the SSH did not do very well in NCCR calls. In April 2010, only one out of eight NCCRs selected was in the social sciences, none in the humanities. In teh first call in 2000, none of the NCCRs selected (out of 14) was in the SSH, which led to a huge outcry in the SSH community and subsequently a separate NCCR call for the SSH. As of 2013, the Federal Department of Economic Affairs will be solely responsible for education, research and innovation (at federal level). ...
Switzerland
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The most important development in the governance of SSH research has been the evolution of the SSH Committee of TUBITAK into the ‘Social Sciences and Humanities Research Group’ (SOBAG) under the ‘Research Support Programmes Directorate’ in 2004. The SOBAG has been provided with a dedicated budget and increased number of personnel to stimulate SSH research. As a result, the number of projects supported in the field increased from 6 in 2000 to 129 in 2010.The National Science, Technology and Innovation Strategy 2011-2016 has been issued following the 22nd meeting of BTYK in December 2010. The strategy mainly outlines the roadmap for overall improvement in S&T by focusing on the areas with the highest R&D and in ...
Turkey
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1.1.1 New SSH policy developments With the instalment of the new government (2010), the six Societal Innovation Agenda’s have been replaced by policy on nine Top Sectors: Food, Agriculture, Horticulture and Starting Materials, High Tech, Energy, Logistics, Creative Industry, Life Sciences, Chemistry and Water. The Netherlands has a strong position in these sectors internationally. Businesses and knowledge institutes that are involved have established a great amount of knowledge and already collaborate in innovative projects. Another aspect of these sectors is that the products and technologies contribute to solving societal issues. Both the Grand Challenges and the Top Sectors hardly focus on SSH, with exception of projects on Sec ...
Netherlands
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Normal 0 21 false false false CS X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 ...
Czech Republic
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Normal 0 21 false false false HU X-NONE X-NONE ...
Hungary
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The recent developments in SSH research concern the establishment of three new Centres for Environment- friendly energy research with focus on social sciences launched (FME-Samfunn) on February 2011. The new centres were added to the eight previous centres established in 2010 and which are mainly focusing on technological aspects of energy. The three new FME Samfunn centres are:· Centre for Sustainable Energy Studies (CenSES). Host institution: Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), Trondheim.· Strategic Challenges in International Climate and Energy Policy (CICEP). Host institution: Center for Internatio ...
Norway
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The new policy developments relevant for SSH as well for the entire research and higher education system are:The MSES has proposed and released into the public debate in October 2010 three important laws: the Law on Science, the Law on Universities and the Law on Higher Education that were rejected by the academic community and thus did not enter into the parliamentary procedure. In April 2011, the Ministry of Science has issued the updated version of the laws. While public institutes this time support theamended legislation, the universities still reject the new legal framework.The National Foundation for Science (NZZ) has launched in April 2011 two new programmes for supporting excellence in scientific research both in social and natural ...
Croatia
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In recent years, the UK Government has placed greater emphasis on SSH research as a source of policy advice and as a source of solutions to address the complex challenges it faces. The Government’s ten-year ‘Science and Innovation Investment Framework 2004-2014’[1](SIIF), examined the priorities of different GovernmentDepartments for science and research over the next decade, finding that increasing demand for social and humanities research to inform policymaking was an apparent cross cutting issue. It was also noted that the policy objectives of these departments were already supported by research, including social science research (e.g. climate change, energy research, security and anti-terrorism research). Government De ...
United Kingdom
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On October 3 2011, Morten Østergaard (Social Liberal Party) was appointed as the new Minister for Research, Innovation and Higher Education.The former Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation has been renamed the Ministry of Science, Innovation and Higher Education. As a result, the ministry's fields of responsibility have been altered.The following areas will be transferred from other ministries to the current Ministry of Science, Innovation and Higher Education:From the Ministry of Education the responsibility for cases concerning higher education at the professional bachelor's degree level, including higher education for adults pursuing open education.From the Ministry of Culture: the responsibility for cases concern ...
Denmark
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The latest policy developments in France are linked to:Governance: the ministry’s will to improve the research programming coordination in SSH through the creation of a new actor (the Alliance), and the development of a new lexicon of social sciences[1]Funding : New funding was made available for research at the ntaional level, in particular through the « investments for the future »[2], a €22 billion investment in higher education and research to be awarded on specific projects from 2010 to 2012.One of the main new development in SSH policies, is the establishment of a dedicated Humanities and Social Sciences Alliance. Alliances are new bodies lanched in 2009. Their aim is to gather the different a ...
France
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Lithuania
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The recent developments in the field of SSH research policy have not been too significant. The main trend has been that social sciences and humanities are increasingly seen as connected with natural sciences and technology and different kinds of interdisciplinary issues have emerged.When looking and the Academy of Finland funding decisions in 2010 (the main funder for competitive academic research), there was a slight decrease in the funding for SSH research. In 2010 the research funding from social sciences dropped 5% from 2009. The funding for research in humanities increased 3%, however at the same time total research funding decisions from the academy increased 6%.Some policy developments can be identified during 2011. In the new govern ...
Finland
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In Mach 2011 after elections of Parliament the new Minister of Education and Research Mr Jaak Aviksoo, was nominated. He said that the portfolio of the Ministry of Education and Research is the most complicated one. Mr Aviksoo was the Minister of Education and Research (1995-1996) and has also been elected twice as the Rector of the University of Tartu.The Estonian Research Infrastructures Roadmap was prepared by the Ministry of Education and Research and the Estonian Academy of sciences and approved by the Government in 2010. Five objects are directly linked with the European Strategy Forum of Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) objects, two with SSH infrastructures. ...
Estonia
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In 2010 the Directorate for Science and Directorate for Technology were merged to a single Directorate for Science and Technology. This was understood as a signal to the possible redefinition of the science policy, but so far there were no drastic changes. More intensive organisational as well as contextual changes are envisaged in the RISS, but the document remains at the level of ideas and objectives of R&D & innovation policy and doesn’t give specific organisational solutions. What is planned is the merger of the two advisory councils to the government: the national science and technology council and the national council for higher education; to reflect closer integration of the two sectors. Also, some reorganisation in ter ...
Slovenia
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On november 4, 2011, the Federal Ministry of Science and Research (BMWF) and the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW) signed a performance contract., covering the periode 2012-2014. This performance contract is based on the development plan of the ÖAW defined in April 2011, and defines a related budget for the 3 years periode, as well as the focus areas of the ÖAW. In the domain of SSH, the following five centres stnad in the focus: Centre for Ancient History, the Sentre for Asien Sciences, the Centre for Historical Sciences, the Centre for Cultural Sciences and the Centre for Social Sciences. In automn 2010, the minister of research announced to stop basic funding to the mentioned private not for profit organisations in S ...
Austria
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Two initiatives with major impact on the German science system were agreed upon by the Federal Government and the Laender and initiated in 2005 and extended in 2009. The "Joint Initiative for Research and Innovation" focuses on the major science and research organisations which are co-financed by the Federal Government and the Laender (Helmholtz Association (HGF), Max Planck Society (MPG), Fraunhofer Society (FhG), Leibniz Science Association (Gottfried Wilhelm Leibniz Science Association, WGL), and the German Research Association (DFG) – through the initiative, their funding is – in the second phase of the initiative – to increase by 5% yearly between 2011 and 2015. While under the umbrella of this joint initiat ...
Germany
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Although there are no bodies or institutions specifically devoted to the Humanities and Social Sciences -there is only one government department to do so- in recent years there have been some changes in relation to science policy in these areas. These can not be considered structural changes but they involve a certain evolution of the area.Ex post evaluation has recently been introduced for humanities and social sciences projects financed through the National plan. These evaluations are used as a basis for decision-making about future funding, support for groups, etc. This policy has previously never been implemented in SSH.The 2008-2011 Nat ...
Spain
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The implementation of SSH objectives, as part of the broader national RDI system, has been influenced by important legislative and institutional changes adopted by MERYS/NASR in 2011, with impact on higher education research and RDI activities.In Higher Education (HE) In 2011, a comprehensive education legislation package was introduced in Romania, including Education Law no. 1/5 January 2011 and a broad range secondary legislation aimed to implement it:· Government Decision no. 536/18 May 2011 regarding the organization and functioning of MERYS; · &nbs ...
Romania
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The implementation of SSH objectives, as part of the broader national RDI system, has been influenced by important legislative and institutional changes adopted by MERYS/NASR in 2011, with impact on higher education research and RDI activities.In Higher Education (HE) In 2011, a comprehensive education legislation package was introduced in Romania, including Education Law no. 1/5 January 2011 and a broad range secondary legislation aimed to implement it:· Government Decision no. 536/18 May 2011 regarding the organization and functioning of MERYS; · &nbs ...
Romania
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Since mid-2007, there have been no new major trends as such in research policy in Belgium, neither from a general point of view nor with regard to research in SSH. The major developments build on the trends of the past years, including:increased use of fiscal instruments to address the high cost of labour for researchers (federal responsibility); increased concern for an efficient functioning of S&T intermediary systems, with the implementation of assessments and monitoring procedures (in both Wallonia and Flanders);growing attention towards internationalisation of the research system: openness of research programmes; conclusions of international research agreements (e.g. between Flanders and the Netherlands); and development of pr ...
Belgium
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Currently, there are no SSH-specific policy developments under way in Iceland. A new general policy for science and technology from the STPC will be introduced in 2013. Different external factors can also influence policy developments, for instance the network constituted by the Nordic Countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden) for research collaboration, which includes research priorities on social sciences and humanities. ...
Iceland
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The State R&D Programmes (SRDPs) have been major instruments for large-scale research in particular fields of Science. The SRDPs themes are set in major documents on the science and technology policy policies. The Slovak Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Sports (MESRS) is responsible for SRDPs design, launching, management, monitoring and evaluation. The MESRS co-operates with the SRDPs Councils. The council members include professionals in relevant fields and representatives of relevant chapters of the state budget (the higher education institutions and the Slovak Academy of Sciences). The SRDP are implemented via specific programme projects. Slovak higher education institutions (HEIs) the Slovak Academy of Sciences (SAS), n ...
Slovakia
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Japan
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In January 2011, the NRF welcomed a new Secretary General, Prof. Marc Schiltz. The progamme Aid for Research Training (Aides à la la Formation-Recherche, or AFR), which provides funding to PhDs and post-docs and is administered by the NRF, announced it would receive an additional €4.28 million in co-funding for post-docs from the EU for the period 2012-2015 [7]. The instrument, COFUND, supports national or regional mobility of researchers. The co-funding is in addition to the programme’s committed budget of €9.96m for PhD funding and €4.57m for post-doc funding in 2010.In line with the recommendations of the OECD review of Luxembourg’s national research system [8], a second set of performance contracts for ...
Luxembourg
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At the national level, the Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST) has drafted the new National Research & Innovation Strategic Plan (2011-2020) and issued the draft document for public consultation in December 2011. The plan is giving central importance to innovation as a broad concept, the framework conditions for research and innovation, societal challenges and the involvement of all key actors. It provides a policy framework for the coming decade, and will take into consideration, among others, ongoing work in the preparation of thematic plans in several sectors, including health research, participation in the EU's Framework Programme and value-added manufacturing.In the specific sector of health, MCST has set up si ...
Malta
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In June 2010 the Bulgarian government adopted a National Strategy for the Development of Scientific Research in the framework of Europe 2020 strategy, where it set the national targets in the area of R&D. These include reaching a level of R&D spending of 1.5% of GDP by 2020 ; attaining 76% employment rate among those aged 20 to 64; keeping school dropout rates below 10%; ensuring at least 40% of the younger population have attained a higher-education degree. The government however has not yet spelled out specific measures to achieve these targets, and no distinction has been made as to how they apply to SSH. However, new data from the National Statistical Institute has shown recently that the Bulgarian government cut its spend ...
Bulgaria
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On March 1, 2012, the Government launched its research prioritisation plan to target the majority of the State's €500m annual expenditure on research and development on areas with the greatest potential for success. The research prioritisation plan focuses on 14 specific areas and while most of these focus on science and technology, a number relate to the social sciences and humanities including Smart Grids and Smart Cities and Innovation in Services and Business Processes. The research prioritisation plan was based on the report of a research prioritisation steering group headed by Mr. Jim O'Hara, former general manager of Intel Ireland. The Government also announced the establishment of a Prioritisation Action Group, cha ...
Ireland
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On November 14, 2006 the Council for Higher Education adopted a report regarding the status of the humanities in Israel. This report (internal report of the council) analysed the structure of the humanities and gave an overview of the difficulties faced in this field. In summary the findings were that due to the fact that in particular technological sciences are gaining in interest, attracting more funds and resources, and students, the humanities are suffering a decline. Furthermore, the Israeli Academy is going through a difficult phase current as seen by the cuts in its budgets and a reduction of faculty members. The recruitment of new members is rather slow and there are plans to shut down libraries.According to the government, Is ...
Israel
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The recent university reform (Law 30 December 2010, n.240) has introduced several changes at the level of universities organization and governance structure which are going to be implemented through changes in HEIS statutes, although they do not concern specifically SSH. As well the reform specifies the tasks and duties of the ANVUR, the National Agency for the Evaluation of University and Research. As far as SSH are concerned, the following two developments can be highlighted, particularly as they refer to the sphere of social sciences, since they point out certain dimensions to be taken into account in social research, such as young people, gender studies and socially disadvantaged people. The National Agency for Youth (Agenzia ...
Italy
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The US House of Representatives Science, Space, and Technology Subcommittee on Research and Science Education conducted a hearing on 2 June 2011 to determine whether the NSF should fund social, behavioural, and economic research. The title of the hearing was “Social, Behavioral and Economic Science (SBE) Research: Oversight of the Need for Federal Investments and Priorities for Funding.” The panel was concerned with whether it was an appropriate role for the federal government in general and the NSF in particular to fund SBE research. The panel also addressed the quality of the peer review system. Prior to this hearing, US Senator Tom Coburn issued a report in April 2011 entitled “The National Science Foundation: Und ...
USA
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Federal S&T StrategyThe most significant research policy development in recent years has been the implementation of the federal government’s S&T strategy. The document Mobilizing Science and Technology to Canada's Advantage [1], published in May of 2007, articulates the various R&D priorities attached to the strategy (see 'Thematic priorities at national level' section) and provides a framework to guide Canada’s present and future S&T policy. The strategy conceives S&T as broadly encompassing the natural sciences, social sciences, humanities, health sciences and engineering, and it notes that all of these areas will be mobilised to support the R&D priorities. However, the SSH discip ...
Canada
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The major recent developments with influence over SSH research are linked to the following main registered changes:The increasing incentive to aggregate the best research units, with a view to rationalize resources and increase chances for internationalization;The increase in the number of research programmes in SSH until 2009, provided by The Foundation for Science and Technology (Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia);The increase importance of evaluation for funding attribution;The creation of the National Agency for Higher Education Evaluation and Accreditation (Agência National de Avaliação e Acreditação).In 2010 the SSH research units association was formally created. It proi ...
Portugal
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Latvia
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