First Policy Round Table in Piraeus, Greece was a success
On January 19th the FIRES-partners at the university of Piraeus, Greece, hosted the first in a series of 10 policy round tables in which FIRES-researchers engage with policy makers around Europe to discuss the reform proposals the FIRES-consortium has formulated. In this round table the participants discussed proposals to reform the intellectual property rights system, the role of universities and various aspects of R&D policy with a small but expert panel of top level policy makers in Greece. The round table, planned for 2 hours, lasted well over 3 hours as the participants took their time to carefully comment on the proposals and underlying analyses.
The panel also appreciated the FIRES-consortium making fundamental reform proposals that challenge the status quo that is too often taken for granted. That, of course, did not imply the panelists agreed with the more radical proposals discussed, but the discussion helped them and us think through important aspects of knowledge institutions in Europe. A full report and summary of the discussion can be found here.
In the next round, they were drawn to play against Anderlecht for a place in the quarter-finals of the competition. Anderlecht won the first leg with 5–1 and Olympiacos’ task seemed impossible. In the second leg in Greece, however, Olympiacos put on a dominant display and almost reached a winning score in a match that was marked by referee Karoly Palotai ‘s decisions.