The freedom of running your own company can make it easier to combine work with family. That’s according to human geneticist and entrepreneur Dr Saskia Biskup, the first-prize winner of the EU Prize for Women Innovators 2014. She is the co-founder of CeGaTGmbH, a leading German biotech company that conducts diagnostic testing for genetic diseases.

Dr Phil Reeves, managing director of Econolyst, a global 3D printing consultancy, believes research needs to be coordinated across the EU to push forward 3D printing and give us mass-personalised goods made locally, on demand.

High-tech LED technology and sophisticated optical systems are being used to recreate natural sunlight.

Researchers are developing ways to repair skull fractures – or reconstruct faces damaged in accidents - by using live cells in 3D-printed implants.

In April, Horizon learns about devices that can print liquefied food, machines to make personalised spectacles, and the research that is paving the way for the printing of implants using live cells.

French winemakers are looking at buying potential future vineyards in Scotland - it’s one example of how companies need to use climate services to help them adapt to climate change, according to Yvo de Boer, former head of the UN’s Framework Convention on Climate Change, who now works as global chairman of Climate Change and Sustainability Services at advisory firm KPMG.

Imagine the scenario, an earthquake strikes a small Mediterranean city, forcing people out of their homes and shattering roads. Then, violent aftershocks cause a landslide, burying one of the city suburbs, but rescuers can’t get in because the roads have been damaged.

Researchers are developing ways to treat killer diseases like cancer using nanotechnology.

New optical techniques use light to make diagnoses from a single drop of blood, or to guide surgeons during operations.

Imagine the scenario, an earthquake strikes a small Mediterranean city, forcing people out of their homes and shattering roads. Then, violent aftershocks cause a landslide, burying one of the city suburbs, but rescuers can't get in because the roads have been damaged.

The weather is becoming more extreme, and that means Europe needs better coastal and river flood forecasting and smarter building design to help contain the cost of flooding.

Scanning the earth’s surface to check for volcanic changes will improve volcano early warning systems when combined with ground-based measurements, according to Dr Giuseppe Puglisi, of Italy’s National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology. Dr Puglisi manages the EU-funded MED-SUV research consortium which brings together monitoring techniques so that it can warn decision-makers when there’s a hightened risk of an eruption.

Robots could scour avalanche sites, enter burning buildings or secure city streets contaminated by poisonous chemicals, saving lives and increasing the effectiveness of rescue missions.

Tsunamis are not very frequent events, but they can have a terrible impact on human life and on the economy of a country. They occur as a result of earthquakes, usually at the bottom of the sea, but at present such earthquakes cannot be foreseen.

A new type of plastic electronics made from organic materials is lighter, cheaper, and more flexible than any of today’s technology. Such circuits could be worn on clothing or placed inside medical sensors.

Europe must do more to encourage a culture of entrepreneurialism if it is to keep moving forwards – that’s according to some of the participants at the Innovation Convention 2014 who were interviewed by Horizon.

Innovation must cut across all sectors, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso told the Innovation Convention 2014, an event organised by the EU to enable people to discuss new ideas.

A researcher who discovered variations in a gene involved in Parkinson’s disease received the first prize at an award for women innovators, as entrepreneurs, scientists and policymakers gathered in Brussels for the EU’s Innovation Convention 2014.

Manoeuvring a satellite into its housing inside an Ariane space launcher is almost as difficult as rearranging the order of the planets that orbit around the sun.

Bunker Roy is the founder and director of Barefoot College, a non-governmental organisation offering training to rural communities. He believes that establishing a sense of community, as well as a culture that encourages people to learn from failure, can help drive innovation and productivity. Roy, who was selected as one of TIME Magazine’s 100 most influential figures, will be speaking at the EU’s Innovation Convention on 10 March, 2014.