Europe needs a common approach to assessing research careers

A coherent but flexible framework would boost excellence across the continent, says Jan Palmowski

The pandemic made the move to open science inescapable. Scientists, students and the public alike relied on free access to academic papers, at a time when libraries struggled to switch to online-only provision. Indeed, the global sharing of data has been critical in fighting Covid-19.

The past year has also highlighted the need to make Europe’s science more effective. The desire to overcome fragmentation made existing plans to revitalise the European Research Area and better integrate Europe’s national research and innovation systems all the more pressing.