We know as well as anyone that Europe(both the EU and non-EU bits) and the North America(the United States and other bits) are far from perfect societies. And we know the historic wrongs and mistakes which have plagued our planet’s history. But the mere fact that we can sit here writing critical thoughts should, in the last analysis, be the ultimate vindication of those societies. Consider what civilisations like Iran and Russia do to dissidents, [1] [2]even in third countries. For all their faults, Europe and the US try to make an effort. And nowhere is this more clearly seen in the EU’s Horizon programme, which is now attracting adherents from all around the world. Let Nature Briefings explain
South Korea will join Horizon
South Korea will become the first East Asian country to join the European Union’s €95-billion (US$102-billion) Horizon Europe research-funding programme. The country’s researchers will be eligible to apply for grants from a €53.5 billion pot of funding for research into global challenges in health, energy, climate change and industrial competitiveness. Last year, New Zealand became the first country to ‘associate to’ Horizon Europe, Canada will be signing on later this year, and Singapore and Japan are in preliminary discussions with the European Commission.Science | 4 min read
Despite the seemingly unstoppable rise of populists and dictators, some countries still place their bets on learning and the free flow of information. Facts are facts. The rules of logic are unbreakable. The moon is made of rock, whatever the monster in the Presidential Palace says. And we think there is a chance that prizing honest knowledge above group think may in the long term win out. Because in a free society a kilogram of anything is a kilogram. In somewhere like Russia , a kilogram can be whatever one of Putin’s buddies says it is. If you question it, you will be murdered as an enemy of the state. In such circumstances, how can anyone safely order concrete, buy data or even trust the results of a football match? Such societies will stagnate, as did the USSR and China in the Cultural Revolution.
It’s true that free countries are under threat. We have to circle the wagons. Widening Horizon is one small part of that. But if we win through the world can once again return to uninterrupted technological and social progress. And the Dictators will be the Dinosaurs of the past.
#Horizon #EU #USA #science #free trade #markets #dictator #populism #iran
Learning, Science and Society 