Reflecting on 2024: EU-LIFE’s top stories from last year!
As we step into the new year, we look back at the most impactful EU-LIFE stories of 2024. From celebrating new leadership to advocating for research policy, research mental health, women scientists and project managers’ careers, here are the stories that resonated deeply with our community.
1. EU-LIFE Pathfinder Mentorship Programme for Postdoctoral Women
EU-LIFE celebrated the launch of the 2024’s edition of its mentoring programme to support women at the postdoctoral level to advance their careers. The programme provides access to a pool of over 40 experienced mentors across EU-LIFE institutes in 15 different countries, and focuses on the specific challenges encountered by women in their careers.
Read the full story here.
2. Focusing on researchers’ mental health
In an insightful interview, Simone Lackner presented the STAIRCASE survey on Sustainable Working Conditions in Academia and shed light on the importance of addressing mental health challenges faced by researchers. Simone is a multidisciplinary scientist with a degree in Molecular Biology and a Ph.D. in Systems Neuroscience. She is a ReMO Ambassador, Founder of Soapbox Science Lisbon, and recently launched The Empathic Scientist project.
Read the full story here.
3. A conversation with Jonas Krebs on the crucial role of research managers
In this interview, Jonas Krebs talked about the enormous added value of research managers in science and gave an overview of the policy initiatives to recognise the role of these skilled professionals at the European level. Jonas is Coordinator of the Strategic Projects Area at CRG and founder member of the MCAA Research Management Working Group. He studied Biochemistry and received his PhD in Molecular Plant Biology at the University of Potsdam.
Read the full story here.
4. Shaping the Vision for the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
In the context of the European Commission’s consultation on MSCA, EU-LIFE presented its vision for MSCA in FP10, providing a two-level vision for MSCA that is realistic yet ambitious, i.e. advocating for a strong MSCA keeping its current scope with commensurate budget and envisioning how MSCA could be enriched beyond its current scope with additional funding.
Read the full story here.
5. Welcoming new leadership
As EU-LIFE evolved in 2024, we were thrilled to welcome Giulio Superti-Furga (CeMM) and Marta Miączyńska (IIMCB) as new chair and co-chair of EU-LIFE. Their leadership and vision is helping shape the European research scene, particularly with regard to scientific excellence and with a focus on research policy, the European Research Area and FP10.
Read the full story here.
6. Calling for an ambitious and realistic vision for FP10
In an impactful statement, EU-LIFE put forward 10 guiding principles for the next EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (FP10). It emphasized the need for a programme that is bold, resilient and able to provide Europe with an economic competitive edge worldwide.
Read the full story here.
Here’s to another year of impactful collaborations, scientific breakthroughs and inspiring stories!
