From saving sight to next-generation logistics: meet the 2026 EU Women Innovators

More than 30 years ago, Europe made a decision: back researchers, trust their curiosity, and see where it leads. The results have been remarkable.

From predicting climate change to developing new medicines, supercomputers underpin modern science. Europe and Japan are now working together to make them even more powerful and reliable.

Across Europe, libraries are being reimagined as community hubs and creative spaces for the digital age, as researchers join forces with local communities and creatives.

More than half of Europe’s soils are degraded. Researchers are showing that restoring soil through better farming makes both ecological and financial sense.

A new European-led telescope could map the dusty, hidden half of the universe, all without using fossil fuels.

EU-funded researchers are investigating how parents’ online sharing is reshaping childhood, privacy and identity, and the long-term consequences for children growing up online.

As digital nomads rethink where to live, researchers are exploring whether their choices can help close Europe’s urban–rural divide. New research suggests the shift to remote working could support rural regions, but only where infrastructure and policy align.

Once considered impossible, restoring movement after paralysis is becoming a reality thanks to EU-funded researchers who have developed a device that reconnects the brain to the body.

Rare neuromuscular diseases often lack treatments because developing targeted drugs is slow, costly and risky for companies. A new approach using AI and stem cell models could finally shift the balance.

For more than a century, vast mammoth bone deposits in Central Europe have puzzled scientists. Now EU-funded researchers are revealing what they tell us about how Ice Age humans hunted and survived.

Across Africa, efficient use of water is increasingly crucial. Researchers and local communities have joined forces in six countries to restore land, water and livelihoods through nature-based solutions.

EU-funded researchers have developed a soft robot that moves like an elephant's trunk – precise enough to pick fresh fruit, yet powerful enough to help lift a patient.

From city air to drinking water, microplastics are becoming impossible to avoid. EU-funded researchers are now exploring how these tiny particles interact with our bodies and assessing their long-term health impact.

From wildfire-resistant landscapes in Spain to flood warning systems in Denmark, researchers are working with local communities to find, test and deploy practical ways to live with climate change – and to share what works across borders.

EU-funded researchers are turning carbon emissions from urban waste into everyday household products – from cleaning liquids to leather.

From war zones to coal mines and prison camps, a new generation of video games is helping museums bring history to life and reach audiences far beyond their walls.

From recycling old satellites in space to turning rocket parts into fuel or beaming debris back to Earth, researchers are exploring new ways to tackle the growing problem of space junk.

At the EU’s Science is Wonderful! fair in Brussels, top researchers used superheroes, soap bubbles and dance music to wow children – and encourage tomorrow’s scientists.

Although powerful treatments exist for rheumatoid arthritis, doctors can’t always predict which drug will work best for each person. An EU-funded initiative aims to change that by optimising and personalising care.

In a world full of deepfakes and fake news, EU-funded researchers are building tools to help journalists tell what’s real and what’s not.