The Conversation: In-depth analysis, research, news and ideas from leading academics and researchers.

Venezuelan president, Nicolás Maduro, gestures to the crowd as he gives a speech.

US snatches Maduro in raid on Caracas: what we know so far

Andrew Gawthorpe, Leiden University

Trump’s new world order is taking shape in Venezuela. Five keys to understanding the US military attacks

Juan Luis Manfredi, Universidad de Castilla-La Mancha

Brigitte Bardot defined the modern woman and defied social norms

Ben McCann, University of Adelaide

Screens and social media are damaging kids’ conversation skills. Here’s why this matters, and how to get them back

Estrella Montolío Durán, Universitat de Barcelona

The hidden health dangers of electric scooters: how ‘assisted mobility’ is making us less mobile

Javier Brazo-Sayavera, Universidad Pablo de Olavide; Javier Molina García, Universitat de València; Mario Jordi Sánchez, Universidad Pablo de Olavide, and Palma Chillón Garzón, Universidad de Granada

Primer plano de la parte inferior de un patinete eléctrico.

European Council president Ursula von der Leyen speaks at a podium

EU agrees €90 billion loan to Ukraine, but squabbles over frozen Russian assets expose the bloc’s deep divisions

Richard Whitman, University of Kent; Royal United Services Institute and Stefan Wolff, University of Birmingham

Is democracy always about truth? Why we may need to loosen our views to heal our divisions

Frank Chouraqui, Leiden University

A black and white illustration of a fictional city.

Slop, vibe coding and glazing: AI dominates 2025’s words of the year

Gail Flanagan, University of Limerick

Image of a pile of people, dripping in and consuming green goo, all looking at their phones

Is your dog or cat getting old? These simple gestures could help them live longer and happier lives

Sara Hoummady, UniLaSalle

Very beautiful ginger cat sleeping on a blanket on a sofa

How Europe’s new carbon tax on imported goods will change global trade – and our shopping habits

Simona Sagone, Lund University

Hand drawn international trade illustrated.

One ‘single and simple’ set of EU-wide business laws: everything you need to know about Europe’s 28th regime

Antonio Aloisi, IE University and Sara Kabiri, IE University; King's College London

UK to re-join Erasmus+ – here are six benefits of the European exchange scheme

Sascha Stollhans, University of Leeds

America’s anti-European attitudes are centred on perceptions of military weakness and the decline of native populations

Roman Birke, Dublin City University

What makes people welcome or reject refugees? What research in Germany reveals

Tobias Hillenbrand, United Nations University

Think you know Hans Christian Andersen? Four experts pick his weirdest fairy tales to read this Christmas

Ane Grum-Schwensen, University of Southern Denmark; Holger Berg, University of Southern Denmark; Jacob Bøggild, University of Southern Denmark, and Sarah Bienko Eriksen, University of Southern Denmark

‘Extreme melting’ episodes are accelerating ice loss in the Arctic

Josep Bonsoms, Universitat de Barcelona

Landscape of peripheral glaciers and glacial lakes in western Greenland.

Europe must reject Trump’s nonsense accusations of ‘civilizational erasure’ – but it urgently needs a strategy of its own

Francesco Grillo, Bocconi University

Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron talking while Donald Trump looks in the other direction.

What the US national security strategy tells us about how Trump views the world

Andrew Gawthorpe, Leiden University

Images of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin next to each other.

Why the rise of a new far-right party in Catalonia spells danger for the Spanish government

Asbel Bohigues, Universitat de València

A group of people with Aliança Catalana flags gathered in a square

Why does lettuce go bad so quickly? Our new study has the answer

Victoria Fernández, Universidad Politécnica de Madrid (UPM); Ana Cros Stötter, Universitat de València, and Jaime Colchero, Universidad de Murcia

How neuromuscular training helps growing teens to retain their motor skills

Elena Mainer Pardos, Universidad San Jorge and Rafael Albalad Aiguabella, Universidad San Jorge

Un adulto y un adolescente apoyados en los antebrazos.

Germany’s plan to deport Syrian refugees echoes 1980s effort to repatriate Turkish guest workers

Michelle Lynn Kahn, University of Richmond

A row of teenagers all using their phones.

Social media, not gaming, tied to rising attention problems in teens, new study finds

Torkel Klingberg, Karolinska Institutet and Samson Nivins, Karolinska Institutet

Reptiles are neglected and mistreated. Here’s how we can take better care of them

Alicia Bartolomé, Universitat de València

Painting of ancient Scandinavian sailors in a rough sea.

How we unlocked the secrets of Denmark’s oldest plank boat – with the help of an ancient fingerprint

Mikael Fauvelle, Lund University

Sweden’s mining industry is threatening the Indigenous Sami people’s way of life

Georgia de Leeuw, Lund University

Reindeer grazing on a snow covered hill.

How European colonisation has created more animal hybrids

Lachie Scarsbrook, University of Oxford; Greger Larson, University of Oxford, and Laurent Frantz, Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich

Why our physical bodies may be a core part of conscious experience – new research

Renzo Lanfranco, Karolinska Institutet

Girl does exercises to strengthen her body and spirit.

An empty gold-coloured frame hangs on a white wall, with the word "sold" written in red marker within the frame.

Why art is a prime target for organised crime

Guergana Guintcheva, EDHEC Business School and Bertrand Monnet, EDHEC Business School

A man wearing a business suit stands next to a glass wall with his image appearing in it.

‘Is my boss a narcissist?’ How researchers look and listen for clues

Ivana Vitanova, EM Lyon Business School

Aerial view of Tottenham Hotspur Stadium.

Premier League football matches can be crime hotspots – but community sports centres have the opposite effect

Yijing Li, King's College London and Rui Wang, King's College London

Climate change is affecting your food – and not in your favour

Sterre ter Haar, Leiden University

DNA from soil could soon reveal who lived in ice age caves

Gerlinde Bigga, University of Tübingen

Excavation at Hohle Fels cave in Germany.

Internet of beings: the dream of digitising human bodies for healthcare (and the nightmare)

Francesco Grillo, Bocconi University

Scene from the film Fantastic Voyage where the patients head is being prepped.

Flu season has started early this year – a new variant might be to blame

Ignacio López-Goñi, Universidad de Navarra

Why meetings can harm employee well-being

Willem Standaert, Université de Liège

Collage of different faces and bodies talking.

Why we remember the source of an opinion better than the source of a fact – new research

Daniel Mirny, IESE Business School (Universidad de Navarra)

Coastal regions and climate change: how better risk assessment can help protect infrastructure and livelihoods

Anthony Schrapffer, PhD, EDHEC Business School

A man stands on land that has been devastated by Hurricane Melissa.

How technology is reshaping children’s development – the good, the bad and the unknown

Valentina Fantasia, Lund University and Joanna Rączaszek-Leonardi, University of Warsaw

Little girl holding smart phone and smiling.

Our food has too many toxins and not enough nutrients – but we already have the tools to fix it

Marta López Alonso, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela

Small grey stones on a red Chinese yuan banknote

Europe’s Achilles’ heel: how rare earths leave the EU wide open to economic blackmail from China

Gracia Abad Quintanal, Universidad Nebrija

Before trips to Mars, we need better protection from cosmic rays

Zahida Sultanova, University of East Anglia

Two astronauts in spacesuits walk toward research station, colony or scientific base on Mars.

How a desperate lie saved a Gustav Klimt portrait from the Nazis – and helped shape its record sale price

Benedict Carpenter van Barthold, Nottingham Trent University

Portrait of a woman surrounded by blue and a crowd of people

Food insecurity is on the rise: a look at the world’s ‘hunger hotspots’

José Miguel Soriano del Castillo, Universitat de València

A crowd of people with pots, pans and containers gather to receive food.

What teenagers want adults to know about their digital lives

Leo Ziegel, Karolinska Institutet and Carl Fredrik Sjöland, Karolinska Institutet

EU proposal to delay parts of its AI Act signal a policy shift that prioritises big tech over fairness

Jessica Heesen, University of Tübingen and Tori Smith Ekstrand

Denmark’s prime minister has led the country’s hardline migration policy – now she is trying to influence the rest of Europe

Mette Wiggen, University of Leeds

‘Digital sovereignty’: why the EU may be shifting from internet regulation to building homegrown tech

Michael FitzGerald, European University Institute

A man and a woman stand behind lecterns on a stage. The woman is speaking.

A black clock sits on a dinner plate, with a fork and knife on either side. It is almost 6 o'clock.

Should we eat dinner earlier in winter? Why timing might matter more than you think

Catherine Norton, University of Limerick

How authoritarian states sculpt a warped alternative reality in our news feeds

Aiden Hoyle, Leiden University

European nations have no choice but to raise retirement ages – our case study shows why

Javier Díaz Giménez, IESE Business School (Universidad de Navarra) and Julián Díaz Saavedra, Universidad de Granada

The truth about Vikings and mead might disappoint modern enthusiasts

Simon Trafford, School of Advanced Study, University of London

H5N1 bird flu cases spike in Europe. How worried should we be?

Ignacio López-Goñi, Universidad de Navarra

The science of weight loss – and why your brain is wired to keep you fat

Valdemar Brimnes Ingemann Johansen, University of Copenhagen and Christoffer Clemmensen, University of Copenhagen

Person's feet on scales on top of patterned rug.

Delegates at the UN general assembly debate on women, peace and security, October 2025.

Involving women in peace deals reduces chance of a conflict restarting by up to 37%

Giuditta Fontana, University of Birmingham; Argyro Kartsonaki, Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy, University of Hamburg; Natascha Neudorfer, Heinrich Heine Universität Düsseldorf, and Stefan Wolff, University of Birmingham

Migrants wrapped ni red blankets and Spanish police Civil Guard officers.

‘We have to regularise them’: Europe’s deportation-first border policy, as told by the judges and police who enforce it

Olga Jubany, Universitat de Barcelona and Sevda Tunaboylu, Universitat de Barcelona

‘Minimalist’ lifestyles may not effectively tackle overconsumption. Can performance management help?

George Kassar, Ascencia Business School and Ahmed Benhoumane, Ascencia Business School

Two adults appear to be looking into each other’s eyes while standing next to each other in an elegant, sparsely furnished room.

Why are so many millennials getting cancer?

Lydia Begoña Horndler Gil, Universidad San Jorge

Un médico mira una radiografía de un joven (sentado al fondo con cara de preocupación).

Legal highs: these new drugs are cheap, dangerous, and just a click away

Martalu D Pazos, Universitat de Barcelona and David Pubill Sánchez, Universitat de Barcelona

Is it dangerous to catch a cold… or was Jane Austen just being dramatic?

Ana Fernandez Mosquera, Universidade de Vigo

Illustration of a woman in bed while other people talk around her.

Voices from the sea, part one: people rescued in the Mediterranean tell their stories of survival in ‘onboard workshops’

Morgane Dujmovic, Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS)

‘You and the Atom Bomb’: how George Orwell’s 1945 essay predicted the Cold War and nuclear proliferation

Ibrahim Al-Marashi, IE University; California State University San Marcos

Black and white photo of a plane flying over clouds

Academic freedom: how to defend ‘the very condition of a living democracy’ in France and worldwide

Stéphanie Balme, Sciences Po

A demonstration in support of science in Toulouse, France in April 2025.

How Europe is using taxes to slow down fast fashion

Albert Navarro García, Universitat de Girona

Una pantalla de móvil muestra productos en venta en una tienda online

Wild honeybees now officially listed as endangered in the EU

Arrigo Moro, University of Galway

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US snatches Maduro in raid on Caracas: what we know so far

Trump’s new world order is taking shape in Venezuela. Five keys to understanding the US military attacks

Brigitte Bardot defined the modern woman and defied social norms

Screens and social media are damaging kids’ conversation skills. Here’s why this matters, and how to get them back

The hidden health dangers of electric scooters: how ‘assisted mobility’ is making us less mobile

EU agrees €90 billion loan to Ukraine, but squabbles over frozen Russian assets expose the bloc’s deep divisions

Is democracy always about truth? Why we may need to loosen our views to heal our divisions

Slop, vibe coding and glazing: AI dominates 2025’s words of the year

Is your dog or cat getting old? These simple gestures could help them live longer and happier lives

How Europe’s new carbon tax on imported goods will change global trade – and our shopping habits

One ‘single and simple’ set of EU-wide business laws: everything you need to know about Europe’s 28th regime

UK to re-join Erasmus+ – here are six benefits of the European exchange scheme

America’s anti-European attitudes are centred on perceptions of military weakness and the decline of native populations

What makes people welcome or reject refugees? What research in Germany reveals

Think you know Hans Christian Andersen? Four experts pick his weirdest fairy tales to read this Christmas

‘Extreme melting’ episodes are accelerating ice loss in the Arctic

Europe must reject Trump’s nonsense accusations of ‘civilizational erasure’ – but it urgently needs a strategy of its own

What the US national security strategy tells us about how Trump views the world

Why the rise of a new far-right party in Catalonia spells danger for the Spanish government

Why does lettuce go bad so quickly? Our new study has the answer

How neuromuscular training helps growing teens to retain their motor skills

Germany’s plan to deport Syrian refugees echoes 1980s effort to repatriate Turkish guest workers

Social media, not gaming, tied to rising attention problems in teens, new study finds

Reptiles are neglected and mistreated. Here’s how we can take better care of them

How we unlocked the secrets of Denmark’s oldest plank boat – with the help of an ancient fingerprint

Sweden’s mining industry is threatening the Indigenous Sami people’s way of life

How European colonisation has created more animal hybrids

Why our physical bodies may be a core part of conscious experience – new research

Why art is a prime target for organised crime

‘Is my boss a narcissist?’ How researchers look and listen for clues

Premier League football matches can be crime hotspots – but community sports centres have the opposite effect

Climate change is affecting your food – and not in your favour

DNA from soil could soon reveal who lived in ice age caves

Internet of beings: the dream of digitising human bodies for healthcare (and the nightmare)

Flu season has started early this year – a new variant might be to blame

Why meetings can harm employee well-being

Why we remember the source of an opinion better than the source of a fact – new research

Coastal regions and climate change: how better risk assessment can help protect infrastructure and livelihoods

How technology is reshaping children’s development – the good, the bad and the unknown

Our food has too many toxins and not enough nutrients – but we already have the tools to fix it

Europe’s Achilles’ heel: how rare earths leave the EU wide open to economic blackmail from China

Before trips to Mars, we need better protection from cosmic rays

How a desperate lie saved a Gustav Klimt portrait from the Nazis – and helped shape its record sale price

Food insecurity is on the rise: a look at the world’s ‘hunger hotspots’

What teenagers want adults to know about their digital lives

EU proposal to delay parts of its AI Act signal a policy shift that prioritises big tech over fairness

Denmark’s prime minister has led the country’s hardline migration policy – now she is trying to influence the rest of Europe

‘Digital sovereignty’: why the EU may be shifting from internet regulation to building homegrown tech

Should we eat dinner earlier in winter? Why timing might matter more than you think

How authoritarian states sculpt a warped alternative reality in our news feeds

European nations have no choice but to raise retirement ages – our case study shows why

The truth about Vikings and mead might disappoint modern enthusiasts

H5N1 bird flu cases spike in Europe. How worried should we be?

The science of weight loss – and why your brain is wired to keep you fat

Involving women in peace deals reduces chance of a conflict restarting by up to 37%

‘We have to regularise them’: Europe’s deportation-first border policy, as told by the judges and police who enforce it

‘Minimalist’ lifestyles may not effectively tackle overconsumption. Can performance management help?

Why are so many millennials getting cancer?

Legal highs: these new drugs are cheap, dangerous, and just a click away

Is it dangerous to catch a cold… or was Jane Austen just being dramatic?

Voices from the sea, part one: people rescued in the Mediterranean tell their stories of survival in ‘onboard workshops’

‘You and the Atom Bomb’: how George Orwell’s 1945 essay predicted the Cold War and nuclear proliferation

Academic freedom: how to defend ‘the very condition of a living democracy’ in France and worldwide

How Europe is using taxes to slow down fast fashion

Wild honeybees now officially listed as endangered in the EU

Get the Conversation Europe newsletter, direct to your inbox every Thursday

Most read this week

Brigitte Bardot defined the modern woman and defied social norms

US snatches Maduro in raid on Caracas: what we know so far

Trump’s new world order is taking shape in Venezuela. Five keys to understanding the US military attacks

The hidden health dangers of electric scooters: how ‘assisted mobility’ is making us less mobile

Screens and social media are damaging kids’ conversation skills. Here’s why this matters, and how to get them back

Our Members

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