Horizon Europe is well underway, but the world of European R&D policy goes well beyond the confines of the €95.5 billion R&D programme. EU climate, digital, agriculture and regional policies all have significant research and innovation components. National governments often come up with new R&D policies, decide to fund new research avenues, and set up international cooperation deals. This blog aims to keep you informed on all of that and more.
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The EU’s next framework programme for research and innovation should fund dual use projects, but only at low levels of technology readiness (TRL), according to a position paper by Forwit, the Austrian Council for Science, Technology and Innovation.
According Forwit, the EU should come up with separate funding schemes for advanced defence R&D projects.
“Within FP10, research projects with high TRL should continue to be exclusively funded for civilian applications, while separate instruments should be established or expanded for defence research, which must then also include necessary security regulations,” the paper says.
The full position paper is available here.
On Monday, 68 deep-tech start-ups were chosen by the European Innovation Council (EIC) as recipients of the EIC Accelerator programme. The companies will receive €411 million in funding that includes up to €165 million in grants and approximately €245 million in equity investments.
The selection process involved 969 full proposals submitted by applicants and 347 interviews conducted by experienced investors and entrepreneurs.
The 68 winners come from 17 countries, but only five are based in a Widening country, a term typically used for EU member states with low-performing innovation systems.
Also, 21% of the winning companies are led by women, highlighting the EIC's commitment to diversity and inclusion.
More details here.
The Italian Agency for the Promotion of European Research (APRE) wants the EU to reflect on the right balance between a top-down and bottom-up approaches to funding research and innovation in FP10.
According to a paper published by APRE, the EU should strike a a better balance between funding projects that stem from political objectives, and funding bottom-up ideas and rewarding the creativity of esearchers and innovators.
APRE’s position paper – the first produced by an Italian organisation – is the result of the work of an Italian Expert Group and of a wide consultation of 162 APRE members, including universities, research organisations, companies, trade associations, regional agencies, broadly representative of the Italian research and innovation community.
The document lists 54 proposals on the future Framework Programme, gathered in two sections: "Vision and Strategy" and "Tools and Implementation."
Read the APRE paper here.
The next EU framework programme for research and innovation, FP10, should attract more participants from industry, according to a paper by the private members of the Chips Joint Undertaking: AENEAS, the European Technology Platform on Smart System Integration (EPoSS), and INSIDE
“Given that large companies account for half of total R&D expenditure in the EU, FP10 cannot simply ignore them. Indeed, the fact that under-investment by industry is the main reason why the EU fails to meet its target of spending 3 per cent of GDP on R&D, underlines the need for FP10 to incentivise also large companies to increase their research budgets,” the paper says.
Read the joint position paper here.
The European Association of Innovation Consultants (EAIC) has published a paper with recommendations for the EU’s upcoming framework programme for research and innovation, FP10.
“EAIC’s position paper offers a roadmap for enhancing the next EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. By addressing these key areas, we can ensure that researchers, innovators, and organisations across Europe have the support they need to drive meaningful advancements and tackle major societal challenges,” said Virginie Robin, EAIC Executive Board Member in charge of advocacy.
The paper is available here.
In a paper released this week, the French National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS), the country’s main research organisation, is backing calls for a budget of €200 billion for the EU’s research and innovation programme.
According to the paper, FP10 should help guarantee the the political, economic and technological sovereignties, as well as the competitiveness of the EU and its member states.
The CNRS wishlist for FP10:
- Keep excellence as the main criterion for funding
- Consider fundamental research as an empowerment of ideas and creativity as well as the vital breeding ground for innovations
- European Research Infrastructures (RI’s) should be a top priority
- Back projects for which intra-European collaborations clearly provide added value
- Collaborative projects, harnessing the EU added value across the whole TRL scale, should transcend the whole FP.
- Boost the mobility of doctoral students by enhancing Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
- Foster international scientific collaborations to make Europe more attractive for scientific talents worldwide.
- Boost collaborations with the African Union.
- Develop and promote open access in research. Develop new indicators to redefine the societal/economic impact of research
- An eco-bonus that would reward projects promoting the reuse of already existing or shared equipment, deterring as much as possible systematic spending for new cutting-edge equipment.
The paper is available here.
The European Research Council (ERC) announced three of its upcoming grant competitions will be open to researchers based in Switzerland.
The Commission’s decision comes in the context of the ongoing negotiations between the EU and Switzerland, which includes discussions on the country’s association to Horizon Europe.
Switzerland has been excluded from Horizon Europe since 2021 but has continued technical discussions, leading in December to a Common Understanding with the EU as a basis for formal negotiations.
Currently, the ERC has an open call for advanced grants which accepts Swiss applications. Advanced grants may be awarded up to € 2.5 million for a period of 5 years, and the deadline to apply is August 29. However, grant agreements can only be signed with successful applicants if the association agreement with Switzerland applies at that time.
More details are available here.
On Friday, the Commission announced it started to scout members for its new Technology Council for Advanced Materials, aimed at coordinating efforts to meet future needs for advanced materials in Europe.
The Technology Council will include representatives from Member States' research and industry ministries, senior figures from academia, research and technology organisations, industry, and the European Commission.
"The Technology Council for Advanced Materials is part of our strategy to work together with the Member States, research organisations and industries to identity and address common needs for European leadership in advanced materials," said research commissioner Iliana Ivanova.
Interested candidates have time until September 9 to apply via this online form.
Read the full announcement here.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has announced on Thursday it will introduce a new open licence giving free access to its data, publications and analyses.
The OECD began granting greater access to its data in 2014 with the launch of its data portal and platform integration, making publications freely available to read online.
“The adoption of an open-access information model is a significant milestone with all OECD data, publications, and analysis becoming freely accessible to everyone, under an open licence,” OECD Secretary-General Mathias Cormann said.
“These developments reaffirm the OECD’s commitment to strengthening our global relevance and impact, by ensuring accessibility of evidence-based data, analysis and best practice policy recommendations to help policy makers deliver better policies and find effective multilateral solutions to the shared global challenges of our time.”
The redesigned website will also allow free access to nearly 30,000 archived items.
Read the full announcement here.
CESAER, a body representing more than 50 of Europe’s leading science and technology universities, published a position paper providing recommendations to shape the future of European Universities Alliances.
Among them, the group urges the Commission to eliminate barriers to participation and engage universities from non-‘Erasmus partner countries’ as full consortium partners. “Adopting such a strategy is crucial for the development of globally relevant Alliances,” CESAER says.
"European University Alliances are crucial for advancing excellence in education, research, and innovation across Europe,” said Roberto Zanino, director of CESAER and senior advisor for international university networks at Politecnico di Torino.
Read the full position here.
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