HORIZON BLOG: European R&D policy newsbytes (archived)

The new fund will aim to increase the size of European venture capital funds to enable them to scale up more promising technology companies. 

France and Germany intend to commit €1 billion each to the fund in the hopes to reduce European tech companies’ on foreign investments. “Innovative #ventures should be able to choose between EU and non-EU investors,” Germany’s finance ministry tweeted. 

The fund was announced at the conference for the Scale-Up Europe initiative initiated by French President Emmanuel Macron, which brings together over 150 tech founders, investors, researchers, corporate CEOs and government to find ways to secure Europe’s digital sovereignty. By 2030, Scale-Up Europe, hopes to help grow 10 technology companies each valued at more than €100 billion. 

More scientists need to advise cities and local authorities, the chief scientist of Quebec has argued, and not just focus on federal or regional governments.

Rémi Quirion, speaking today at Science|Business’s annual conference, told the audience that this type of role was often very different from the strategic policy advice given at the national level.

If a city floods, “you can’t write a PhD thesis about flooding”, he said – local authorities need advice immediately.

“We don’t have much capacity in terms of the type of advice you need to give a local government,” he warned.

“We have to have experts in every department of government,” he told the conference.

Following the surprise resignation Monday of President Biden’s chief science advisor, a senior international science advisor questioned whether a Cabinet-level position is appropriate for such a job. At a Science|Business conference 8 February, Rémi Quirion, chief scientist of Quebec and president of the International Network for Government Science Advice, was asked about Lander’s title:

“Is it a good thing to be (a scientist and) at the same time a kind of Cabinet level? I would say no. My own bias would be that you need to be close to the elected official, but also at some distance. You need to be transparent with government and the public.” As an example, he noted that in Quebec he is cautious about on which occasions scientists appear with a government minister in a press conference. “Always to be together is too close,” he said.

The White House has not yet said who would be named to succeed Lander as director of the White House Office of Science & Technology Policy, or whether that person would retain Lander’s Cabinet-level status.

Swiss Federal Councillor Guy Parmelin and UK Research Minister George Freeman on Monday discussed strengthening research cooperation between the two countries currently excluded from the EU's Horizon Europe research programme.  

The policymakers discussed cooperation on international research infrastructures, the space sector, and between research and innovation promotion agencies. Following the European Commission move to exclude non-EU organisations from most space and quantum calls, the two countries are also exploring potential collaborations in quantum physics, space and nuclear fusion. 

“Various possibilities for intensifying cooperation in research and innovation were discussed during the talks. Both parties are seeking a Memorandum of Understanding as part of this strengthening process,” the press release stated. 

The chair of the European Commission’s Group of Chief Scientific Advisors has said far more needs to be done to give scientists career incentives to provide their expertise to policymakers.

Speaking at Science|Business’s annual conference today, Nicole Grobert said that offering advice often conflicted with the other day-to-day duties scientists have.

“From a career perspective, it’s sometimes quite hard for scientists to embark on scientific advice,” she said, when researchers also had to write up their research papers and apply for funding.

Instead, there needed to be a “systematic approach” to increase the rewards for offering scientific advice.

“We need to create an environment where science becomes a strong component of culture,” she said.

But not every scientist should be expected to give advice. “Not everyone is good at it,” said Professor Grobert, a materials scientist at the University of Oxford.

Swedish research shows that trust in research has improved following the COVID-19 pandemic, according to data from Vetenskap & Allmänhet, Swedish association promoting dialogue between citizens and researchers.

“We saw that healthcare professionals and researchers, there’s a lot of confidence among ordinary people towards those professional groups,” said Cissi Askwall, secretary general of Vetenskap & Allmänhet, speaking at the Science|Business annual conference.

Askwall added similar trust is observed in other countries. At the same time, she noted, trust in journalists and politicians is down.

To further foster this trust in science, Askwall advised researchers to be transparent about the research process and highlighted the importance of the way research is communicated.

The European Research Council (ERC) has awarded 166 researchers in the latest round of proof of concept grants for bringing the results of fundamental research projects to early stages of commercialisation.  

The grants can be used to verify the practical viability of scientific concepts, explore business opportunities, or prepare patent applications. Today’s grantees will explore a biopsychosocial model to uncover and understand causal pathways to harmful adolescent behaviours; using the power of bubbles to achieve more sustainable wastewater treatment; and a process to help medical practitioners read and analyse DNA in real time, among other projects. 

The grants, worth €150,000 each, are available to researchers in any field who have previously received one of the ERC’s grants for fundamental research projects. Once the grant is complete, researchers can further apply for the European Innovation Council’s transition grants which fund proof of concept grantees wishing to further mature and validate their innovations or develop a business case and model. 

The European Innovation Council’s (EIC) work programme detailing the calls, their budgets and scope for this year will be out on 9 February following delays.  

The new work programme is expected to set the first cut-off date for EIC Accelerator call for start-ups and SMEs on 23 March. Meanwhile, the first deadline for the EIC Pathfinder call for early-stage research on breakthrough technologies is to be set sometime in early May. The details will be confirmed once the work programme is out and clarified during the applicants’ day on 22 February.  

The release of the 2022 work programme was delayed after the future of the European Commission-run EIC Equity Fund got caught in political infighting over its management. The dispute also blocked off equity financing for companies selected for funding last year as Commission officials argued over the terms on which the fund should be run. Last week, EU member states broke the policy deadlock after deciding the EIC should stick to the old management rules for this year while the policymakers look for a solution.   

With the original rules extended, the move has unlocked equity financing for the 102 companies chosen for funding in 2021, with investment decisions expected to be concluded in spring and summer 2022. The same equity rules will also apply to the companies selected for funding in the first cut-offs of this year.  

The European University Association (EUA) has set out a three-year plan for helping its members transition towards open science practices. The EUA Open Science Agenda will prioritise evidence-based advocacy, good practice recommendations, dialogue with stakeholders and information sharing. 

The new agenda builds on more than a decade of EUA’s support for universities as they transition to open science. The transition promises to enable universities to better address global challenges, enhance higher education performance and create a more level playing field in the sector.  

Academia Europaea, an association of leading researchers, has elected Marja Makarow as its first female president, set to lead the association in its mission to advise EU policymaking through its role in the European Commission’s Science Advice for Policy by European Academies (SAPEA). 

A biologist, Makarow is a former vice-president for research at the University of Helsinki and has held various high-ranking positions in Finland’s public research sector. She is also a board member of the European Innovation Council, the EU’s newest innovation fund. 

Makarow named five priorities for her new role: better opportunities for researchers in the EU's Widening countries, promoting multi-disciplinary research collaboration, supporting young researchers, translating research findings into benefits for society, and fostering closer collaboration with the European Commission. 

Makarow highlighted the importance of supporting fundamental research in delivering on these goals. “These priorities have a common denominator; they cannot be realised without the Principal Investigator and their publicly-funded research. The balance in Horizon Europe is tilted towards programmes and innovation, and therefore long-term investment in Principal Investigator-driven research at national levels is as vital as ever,” she said.