Europe has one of the richest potential of grey matter in the world. Unfortunately, science seems to attract less and less young people and if they have chosen to dedicate their career to science, many young people are still tempted to leave the old continent for countries which offer them better working conditions and more funding. The 'brain drain' has not yet been overcome.

Yet, over 200 big research projects have recently been launched by the EU, some of them with a budget of over €30 million. The EU relentlessly repeats the same message: we need to invest more in research. Not only financially, but also in terms of human resources and infrastructure. All these efforts will be vain if science is not better communicated to its citizens.

To give a new impulse to research and to the way it is communicated to citizens, the European Commission has planned to release a Communication on 7 May on the importance of science and technology for Europe's future. It will offer new guidelines to support and promote research in the EU.

The Communication will focus on key areas: basic research, long-term research, space research, security research, human resources and infrastructure and, last but not least, coordination of national activities and policies.

To underline the importance of communicating research efficiently, a two-day conference will take place on 11 and 12 May.