Hamburg Science Summit 2025: Europe’s science and innovation model revisited
Europe’s science model values academic freedom and the common good – but struggles to turn research into innovation and avoids political alignment. Should it open up to stronger strategic direction, or adapt its values to meet today’s economic and security challenges?
Rooted in the Enlightenment and Humboldt’s ideal of Bildung, Europe’s model of scientific enquiry has been shaped by the principles of academic freedom and a commitment to the common good. This contrasts with other models of science that place greater emphasis on economic utility or political control. Yet Europe faces a notorious underperformance in translating scientific discovery into marketable innovation, and appears to discourage scientific engagement with political priorities — most notably in areas such as defence. Should Europe revise the principles that have long guided its research culture — and, more broadly, the social contract between science and society — by opening science to stronger political and economic direction? Or can its normative foundations be reimagined to meet today’s economic and strategic demands?
- Lidia Borrell-Damián Secretary-General, Science Europe
- Robbert Dijkgraaf President-elect, International Science Council; former Minister of Science, Netherlands
- Sheila Jasanoff Harvard University
- Moderated by Helen Czerski
