Short answers, pulled from the story.
The European Parliamentary Research Service (EPRS) is the in-house research department and think tank of the European Parliament. It provides independent, objective analysis on EU policy to members of parliament, parliamentary committees, and the institution as a whole. All its publications are freely available to the general public.
The European Parliamentary Research Service was established on the 1st of November 2013 as a new directorate-general within the European Parliament's permanent administration. Its creation was driven by Klaus Welle, then the Parliament's Secretary-General, following a review of how members received research support.
Anthony Teasdale was the first Director-General of the European Parliamentary Research Service, appointed when it was founded in November 2013. The current Director-General is Anders Rasmussen.
STOA, the Panel for the Future of Science and Technology, consists of twenty-seven Members of the European Parliament focused on assessing the impact of new technologies. It identifies long-term strategic policy options for parliamentary committees and carries out all its work in partnership with external specialists. The Scientific Foresight Unit within the EPRS's Directorate B supports its assessments.
In 2019, the European Ombudsman awarded the EPRS its Award for Good Administration in the category of excellence in communications. The award recognized the 'What Europe Does For Me' initiative, an interactive multilingual website presenting hundreds of notes on how EU decisions affect people across different regions and professions.
All publications produced by the European Parliamentary Research Service are freely available to the general public. Citizens with questions about the Parliament can also contact the AskEP service, which handles direct enquiries about the Parliament and EU issues.