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

The United States Capitol building and dome, the headquarters of the United States Congress, in Washington, D. C.

US midterms: what a new Congress could – and could not – change for Europe

Waya Quiviger, IE University

People smash shop windows in Paris on October 17, 2026, as part of a nationwide movement bringing together former "yellow vests," high schoolers and students, climate activists and even farmers.

France’s ‘casseurs’: why the term fails to do justice to the extent of looting and spiralling unrest

Paolo Stuppia, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne

Secondary school students protest in Paris

French students are showing us what protest looks like in the age of viral spectacle

Sara García Santamaría, Universitat de València

Preparing a vaccine to be administered into a woman’s arm

Is it better to vaccinate against COVID and flu together, or separately?

Ángela Domínguez García, Universitat de Barcelona; Isabel Aguilar Palacio, Universidad de Zaragoza, and Pere Godoy, Universitat de Lleida

How the ‘geopolitical stigma’ associated with Putin’s Russia is affecting ordinary Russians

Marina Yusupova-Ryder, Edinburgh Napier University

A crowd of people walk through a public square in Moscow.

New long-clawed British dinosaur is the first of its kind in Europe

Charlie Scherer, UCL and Cassius Morrison, UCL

Image of green scaly reptile like dinosaur

Political power without balance leads to the erosion of democracy, what Montesquieu can teach modern-day France

Céline Spector, Sorbonne Université

A protester kicks a tear gas canister during a high school student protest on Place Vauban in Paris, on October 13, 2026, as part of the high school student movement.

A photo of a camouflage military jacket with an EU badge sewn on the sleeve.

Why Europe’s new defence agenda depends not only on armies, but also on citizens

Monika Sus, European University Institute

An elderly woman with her hand outstretched and open

Elderly women are often victims of gender-based violence. Why is it so hard for them to get help?

Jorge Gracia Ibáñez, Universidad San Jorge

At a high school student demonstration in Paris, young people hold up a sign on which is written: "Night time is for dreaming not revising."

France’s student uprising and young people’s mental health – what are the common causes?

Maria Melchior, Inserm; Sorbonne Université and Camille Davisse-Paturet, Inserm; Sorbonne Université

Maricarmen Abascal: how a disabled, evicted 87-year-old woman became a political football in Spain’s upcoming election

Dolors Palau-Sampio, Universitat de València

A small memorial to Maricarmen Abascal stands at the housing camp in the Puerta del Sol in Madrid, Spain

Navi Pillay’s Nobel Peace Prize is an example of how international law trumps the law of the jungle

Chloé Maurel, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne

French student protests: comparisons with 1968 will only serve the political extremes

David Lees, University of Warwick

A Paris street full of protesters carryng banners

Spain’s snap election: will Pedro Sánchez’s latest gamble pay off?

Asbel Bohigues, Universitat de València

Pedro Sánchez speaking into a microphone on a lectern.

Can AI feel safer than human advice for consumers who face discrimination?

Arash Talebi, EDHEC Business School and Sylvain Riffe-Stern

A question mark hesitates between a human brain and an artificial intelligence chip

Menopause is a biological transition that’s become a lucrative consumer business

Jennifer Takhar, SKEMA Business School and Anna Schneider-Kamp

A woman is focused on her phone screen where she follows videos, chats, social networks, etc.

People demonstrating in Paris as part of the France's student-led movement.

Why the student protests in France and the government’s response are unprecedented and unpredictable

Robi Morder, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ) – Université Paris-Saclay

A screenshot of a computer screen showing Puerto Rican musician Bad Bunny.

How one of the world’s biggest music stars is transforming the Spanish language

Lourdes Moreno Cazalla, Universidad Nebrija

An Afro American woman using dating app on her smartphone

Five ways to beat dating algorithms at their own game

Stefania Masè, IPAG Business School; Alisa Minina Jeunemaître, EM Lyon Business School, and Jamie Smith, Escola de Administração de Empresas de São Paulo da Fundação Getúlio Vargas (FGV/EAESP)

Protesting students, one holds a traffic cone like a megaphone

French school protests: a rite of passage – and the result of genuine concerns

Joseph Downing, Aston University

Women are more emotionally intelligent than men, and that’s a problem – landmark study

Mary M. Hausfeld, University of Limerick and Jochen Menges, University of Zurich

Two sets of hands clasped together over a table

China and the EU could turn Morocco into a surprise global hub for electric vehicles

Linda Calabrese, ODI Global and Jodie Keane, ODI Global

Aerial view of industrial buildings in the desert.

Inside two prison systems: why Denmark and the UK punish so differently

Julie Laursen, University of Copenhagen

Donald Trump aligns with Vladimir Putin yet again, leaving Ukraine – and US relations with Europe – under pressure

Stefan Wolff, University of Birmingham

US president Donald Trump and Russian president Vladimir Putin stand togather on a red carpet in Alaska.

Nobel physics prize awarded for discovery of ‘ghostly messengers’ from the cosmos

Noelia Noël, University of Surrey

Optogenetics wins the Nobel – one neuroscience breakthrough in a line of technological innovations helping scientists map and control the brain

Kimberlee D'Ardenne, Arizona State University

Illustration of brain with several threads of light passing through it

The UK and Denmark: a dentist assesses the state of the nations’ teeth

Vikram Niranjan, University of Limerick

A camera combined with AI could help further diagnosis of movement disorders like spinal muscular atrophy in newborns

Imen Trabelsi, École pratique des hautes études (EPHE); François Jouen, École pratique des hautes études (EPHE), and Jean Bergounioux, Université de Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines (UVSQ) – Université Paris-Saclay

A close-up of a newborn baby’s feet, wearing a pink hospital wristband.

EU flag and symbols (Justice, Institutions, Friendship…).

What Europe’s EU Inc. framework for boosting competitiveness can and should learn from startup fraud in the US

Nevena Radoynovska, EM Lyon Business School and Tim Weiss, Imperial College London

Vehicles drive along a road during heavy rainfall.

How Spain’s torrential rainstorms put sewage into its rivers and seas

Elisenda Ballesté, Universitat de Barcelona

Satellite image showing destroyed buildings in the coastal region of the Gaza Strip

October 7: a Palestinian-Israeli memoir seeks to break the cycle of violence

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

Russia is using Ukraine’s children to win its occupation – and the wider war

Vladyslav Havrylov, King's College London

A child wrapped in a Ukrainian flag in a damaged building.

As Baltic states face Russian hybrid aggression, our research shows what Europe can do

Alex Hardy, University of Liverpool

A man wearing spectacles covers his mouth as he looks at a computer screen.

Demonstrators march through the centre of Madrid carrying placards to protest against high house prices and rents and to demand measures to tackle the housing crisis

Spain’s housing crisis is a warning for all of Europe – rights mean nothing if they’re not enforced

Andrei Quintiá Pastrana, Universidade de Santiago de Compostela

How World Trade Organization reform could help address the EU-China trade imbalance

Kunhao Yang, European University Institute

One in three Ukrainian civilians estimated to meet the criteria for PTSD or complex PTSD – new study

Gwendolyn Sasse, Centre for East European and International Studies (ZOiS); University of Oxford and Deirdre MacManus, King's College London

A woman stands at the side of the road and covers her moouth with her hand as she cries. There are soldiers in the background.

How three colonial powers gained – and then lost – control over the straits of Hormuz and Bab el-Mandeb

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

Boats sail through a stretch of sea between rocky cliffs.

Stripped titles? Compensating rivals? How the Manchester City cheating scandal could play out

James Skinner, University of Newcastle and Danny F Hill, Providence College

Erling Haaland celebrates a goal for Manchester City in the English Premier League in 2025.

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A view of the Ventoux forest from the roadside below.

Without water, forests lose their ability to absorb CO₂

Nicolas Martin, Inrae; Hervé Cochard, Inrae; Isabelle Maréchaux, Inrae, and Julien Lamour, Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS)

A German soldier points a machine gun out to sea from a boat off the coast of Norway.

Why Europe wants to boost its Arctic presence

Klaus Dodds, RAND Europe; Middlesex University

trees lining residential street in Freiberg Germany

‘Small, flowering islands’: German city reveals how nature thrives when neighbours care for street tree beds

Kelly Baldwin Heid, University of Freiburg and Rita de Sousa e Silva, Leiden University

Pope Leo XIV’s Europe

Jean-Pierre Darnis, Université Côte d’Azur

A close-up shot of Pope Leo XIV delivering his homily.

How do Denmark and the UK compare when it comes to alcohol and drinking habits?

Peter Jepsen, Aarhus University

Cartoon Danish and British flag with a pint.

Water is precious – this Swedish city separates different waste sources to reuse more of it

Isabell Fritz, Lund University and Ashley Hall, Lund University

modern buildings in city district by clean blue river

How the emojis and fashion choices of Germany’s far-right supporters get around the ban on Nazi symbolism

Tom Birkett, University College Cork; Felix Lummer, University College Cork, and Timothy Liam Waters, University College Cork

From east to west: Why Turkey is playing both sides

Spyros A. Sofos, Simon Fraser University

A man speaks from a podium next to red flags. A NATO banner is behind him.

Xenia Fedorova, or how Russian propaganda turns free thinking on itself

Antoine Marie, Sciences Po and Maxime Audinet, Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales (Inalco)

Picture of Xenia Fedorova's book featuring at the 2025 Paris Book Fair.

Greater job security can make inventors less creative

David Wehrheim, IESE Business School (Universidad de Navarra) ; Eduardo Melero, Universidad Carlos III, and Neus Palomeras, Universidad Carlos III

Two people waving as they walk out of a glass door, with small crowds of people on either side applauding.

Silhouette of a woman seated in a gallery with a room decorated with red walls.

Museums on prescription: how cultural activities are becoming crucial to the public health debate

Maria Elena Buslacchi, Aix-Marseille Université (AMU)

From French outpost to Euro-Canadian corridor? Why Carney and Macron met in Saint-Pierre-et-Miquelon

Paco Milhiet, Institut catholique de Paris (ICP)

A man with short grey hair and a man with short dark hair clasp hands standing front of the Canadian and French flags on a sunny day.

Google’s content recommendation algorithm is a black box. Here’s how it decides what to show you

Olaya López Munuera, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and Carlos Lopezosa, Universitat de Barcelona

A mobile phone screen, with the Google and News apps on the homescreen.

What might Canada’s EU ‘associate membership’ look like, and is it even a possibility?

Kenneth Armstrong, University of Cambridge

Mark Carney delivers a speech in front an EU flag.

Why banning AI in the classroom will not be enough to remedy poor reading skills in a post-literary society

Michael FitzGerald, European University Institute

Pope Leo leaving the papal aircraft as he arrives in Spain.

Which spiritual and political issues will be the focus of Pope Leo XIV’s visit to France?

Xavier Boniface, Université de Picardie Jules Verne (UPJV)

A destroyed car sits on the Zhytomyr highway on a foggy day.

As Ukraine rebuilds amid constant Russian attacks, small towns and villages are being sidelined

Doug Specht, University of Westminster; Elena Orap, Bern University of Applied Sciences, and Rob Sharp

Friedrich Merz looks dejected as he addresses the media following regional election defeats.

Two more election defeats pile pressure on German chancellor Friedrich Merz

Ed Turner, Aston University

How a traditional Nordic way of eating could help you live longer

Daniel Borch Ibsen, Aarhus University; Christina C. Dahm, Aarhus University, and Michael Fridén, Aarhus University

A smiling man with short grey hair stands next to a woman with blonde hair. a canadian and EU flag are behind them

Thanks, Trump: Why Canada may become the European Union’s first ever ‘associate member’

Stewart Prest, University of British Columbia

Pedro Sánchez, with representatives of the State Security Forces at the Tarajal border (Ceuta), looking at screens showing the border

How Spain’s socialist-led government fumbled the Ceuta crisis, and put itself on the back foot

Asbel Bohigues, Universitat de València

How war and sanctions are reshaping how Russia governs its vast territory

Sofia Borushkina, European University Institute; Monash University

PISA 2025 rankings: are we asking the right questions about schooling?

Claude Diebolt, Université de Strasbourg and Romain Diebolt, University of Southampton

Could victory for the AfD spell the end of wind farms in Germany?

Bastien Fond, Humboldt University of Berlin; Université de Caen Normandie

Fields of rapeseed in the foreground against a backdrop of housing with wind turbines in the distance.

How Germany’s far-right AfD is courting the voters it promises to deport

Deniz Torcu, IE University

A group of women wearing headscarves walk down the street in Berlin.

Several astronauts are debating on stage before the summit participants.

Europe can’t achieve space sovereignty alone. Here’s why

Audrey Rouyre, Montpellier Business School; European Academy of Management (EURAM)

Meta is changing Instagram and Facebook to protect teens’ mental health. Are the new measures backed up by science?

Ingrid Mosquera Gende, UNIR - Universidad Internacional de La Rioja ; José A. Morales García, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, and Luis M. Rojo Bofill, Universitat de València

Lonely seafarer on board of the cargo ship, he is looking into the open sea thinking about his home and family.

Strait of Hormuz crisis: how danger and uncertainty can affect the mental health of seafarers

Patricia Kennedy, University College Cork; Anita Rayegani, University of Hamburg, and Eka Siradze, Tbilisi State University

Sweden elections: why immigrants are underrepresented at the polls

Derek Stanford Hutcheson, Malmö University

Voters queue to cast their votes in Sweden's general election outside a polling station.

A Swedish ghost story

Katarzyna Herd, Lund University

hooded figure seen from behind walking through a dark forest.

Sweden’s prison population has doubled in a decade, and is set to spike even further – here’s why

Tova Bennet, Lund University and Sigrid Nikka, Lund University

Image of the Swedish flag flying behind a barbed wire fence

Europe’s e-waste is a valuable resource – let’s not throw it away

Nils Pauliks, Leiden University

old electronic devices in pile for recycling

France: the far-right’s proposed headscarf ban in public places breaches religious freedom and anti-discrimination principles

Lauren Bakir, Université de Strasbourg

People react to exit polls during the far-right Alternative for Germany election party.

Germany: why the AfD won in Saxony-Anhalt – and what happens next

Ed Turner, Aston University

A woman is exercising on the floor of her home whilst looking at a laptop

Is calisthenics as good as weight training? Here’s what the science says

Alejandro J. Almenar Arasanz, Universidad San Jorge and Marta Diarte Oliva, Universidad San Jorge

A mother and her son at the doctor’s office

Why cancer affects children differently to adults

Lydia Begoña Horndler Gil, Universidad San Jorge

Fire and floods are usually treated as separate hazards. Portugal’s Pinhal Interior shows why they are part of the same cycle

Afonso Nuno Martins, University of Beira Interior

People taking measures and samples in the forest.

Galileo, Copernicus, Cleansky, IRIS² must work together to secure Europe’s place in the space race

Audrey Rouyre, Montpellier Business School; European Academy of Management (EURAM) and Anne-Sophie Fernandez, Université de Montpellier; European Academy of Management (EURAM)

Two engineers standing in front of equipment from the ExoMars programme.

Noise exposure is linked to chronic stress and heart disease. It’s time to make peace and quiet a public health right

Julia Almazán Catalán, Universidad CEU San Pablo and Carmen Morais Moreno, Universidad CEU San Pablo

A woman covers her ears in the middle of the streets of a city

Climate change images are getting scarier – could fear help drive action?

Joshua Garland, Lund University

Why France’s illustrious history of cheesemaking is full of holes

Dominique Frère, Université Bretagne Sud (UBS)

Man in his bed having trouble sleeping wearing a smart sleep band

Brain-reading wearables will soon be ordinary. What will this mean for the new generation of ‘neurotechnological natives’?

José M. Muñoz, IE University

People resting on benches in a city park.

Ceuta crisis: anti-migrant ‘invasion’ rhetoric threatens Europe’s food supply and economy

Diana Tung, Universitat de Barcelona and Seth M. Holmes, Universitat de Barcelona; ICREA; University of California, Berkeley

A rotogravure of a hysterectomy being performed by French surgeon Paul Segond at Paris' Salpêtrière hospital.

Endometriosis: a long-ignored disease, despite symptoms that can be traced back to ancient times

Nadjib Mohamed Mokraoui, Inserm; Université Paris-Saclay

Palaces and the Pope: the fascinating story of how Renaissance Rome was rebuilt

Alyssa Rusonik, HEC Paris Business School

Europe needs to fight back against US software dominance – and now is the time

Francesco Grillo, Bocconi University

How climate change affects different modes of transport – from roads to railways

Vahid Aryanpur, University College Cork

woman sat on train platform, straw hat on her face, hot, no trains

A black fungus is thriving in the midst of Ireland’s whiskey boom – we need to know more about it

Jenny Lawler, Dublin City University

Volodymyr Zelensky speaks during a press conference in Kyiv.

Why holding elections now may not be the best safeguard for Ukrainian democracy