Weekly Advocacy News Roundup

E.U. Research Funding Boosts Scientific Excellence and Competitiveness, Report Finds

January 25, 2016 | European Commission

The evaluation of FP7, the E.U. research funding program for 2007-2013, was conducted by an independent group of high-level experts which analyzed the economic and societal impact of the program.  The evaluations main findings show that the €55 billion invested over 7 years into E.U.'s research and innovation proved highly attractive to private sector participants, including a record number of SMEs, which helped strengthen competitiveness of European industries. The program also set up five Joint Technology Initiatives in key areas like innovative medicine and hydrogen and fuel cells.

• See more about the government funding of neuroscience research at SfN.org.

Science Budget Hike Offers Short Cut to Journal

January 27, 2016 | SciDevNet

Developing countries can take a shortcut to improving the impact of their research by simply increasing national science budgets, a study finds.   A newly developed model, which looked at publications in ecology, shows that the amount spent on research in developing countries directly correlates to the number of publications from these countries in top journals.  

• Find information on global advocacy programs for neuroscience at SfN.org

Control of CRISPR, Biotech’s Most Promising Breakthrough, is in Dispute

January 13, 2016 | The Washington Post

The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office has agreed to review the patent for the gene editing technology known as CRISPR.  The judge's declaration of "interference," a technical term meaning that a conflict exists between a patent application and another patent or application, draws CRISPR, one of the hottest discoveries in biology, into a drawn-out process that will determine who invented it.

• Read about a congressional briefing that discussed applications for CRISPR at BrainFacts.org.

Germany’s Excellence Program Gets Good Grades

January 29, 2016 | Science Magazine

The Excellence Initiative, a decade-long program intended to boost German universities to world-class status, presented an evaluation of the program this week.  Since 2006, the federal government has poured €4.6 billion into this initiative in an effort to reshape the country’s publicly funded universities.  Although the initiative hasn’t yet reached its goals, the evaluation reports a very positive influence on the German higher educational system.

• Learn about the public funding of neuroscience at SfN.org.

Like Mother, Like Daughter--the Science Says So, Too

January 26, 2016 | Scientific American

A new study of 35 healthy families has shown that the brain’s corticolimbic system, responsible for the regulation of emotion is more likely to be passed down from mother to daughter than from mother to son or father to child. This finding, which supports past evidence from animal research and clinical studies on depression, could provide a better understanding of the role genetics play in mood disorders allowing better identification of at-risk groups and preventive measures.

• Learn more about the study of mood disorders at BrainFacts.org.

Reliance on Numbers for Funding Threatens to Stifle U.K. Science

January 26, 2016 | Royal Society of Chemistry

A new report funding research at only top performing universities is a recipe for stagnation, according to a new report. For the U.K. to sustain a flexible science base then assessments, such as the Research Excellence Framework, need to recognize the value of research diversity.

• View science funding advocacy tools at SfN.org.

Scientific Research Needs More Funding, But Also Smarter Spending

January 26, 2016 | Footnote¹  

While the NIH received its biggest raise in more than a decade, when adjusted for inflation the 2016 budget is actually 15 percent smaller than it was in 2006. The need for increased government funding for research is clear, yet we must also consider how existing funding can be spent more effectively.

• Join the advocacy network to stay informed and take action on issues related to neuroscience research at SfN.org.