Efficient electricity storage, artificial organs to replace damaged ones and robots to make our lives easier were chosen by citizens as the most important scientific challenges in the near future. The results of the vote organised by the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU have been announced during the Research Council in Brussels.

Last April, the Science and Innovation Citizens Agenda presented 14 scientific and innovation challenges, presented by 14 leading European figures who have “changed our lives” thanks to their innovation, ideas or discoveries. Citizens are called to choose among those challenges the one that should be prioritary in EU's scientific policy.

Voters could choose since April 22 their favourite from among fourteen challenges proposed by prominent European scientists and innovators such as Paulina Beato, an authority on energy markets, Rafael Matesanz, a transplant management innovator, the architect Norman Foster, the biologist Jane Goodall or the physicist Juan Ignacio Cirac.

On 26 May, with EU research ministers in attendance, the outcome of the voting was announced and displayed on an electronic scoreboard located in the Atrium of the Council headquarters in Brussels. A total of 107,309 votes were cast. "This is significant participation by the citizens. It shows that it is possible to get the importance of science across to the public," said Cristina Garmendia, Spanish minister for science and innovation, at a press conference.

Finally, a more efficient electricity storage, with 14% of votes, has been chosen as the most important challenge for european science. Artificial organs to replace the damaged ones and robots that make our lives easier received 13% and 12% of votes, respectively. All the results can be viewed at the website of the initiativ e.