Invest in researchers and their careers

Research and innovation have recently moved up several notches on the European Union’s agenda. How serious Europe is about these two priorities will be clear from, among other things, the budget allocated to research in the future.

As one of the European Commission’s most important tools for stimulating research and innovation, spending on the next Framework Programme (FP8) needs to be increased to match the demands of the knowledge society. In particular the European Research Council (ERC) should receive extra funding. Europe needs excellent researchers and new ideas. An investment in researchers and their career opportunities is crucial to increase Europe’s competitiveness in the longer term.

A focus on more directed, top-down research, often linked to the important societal challenges, is very important for European research policy. But ensuring enough space and funding for bottom-up research initiatives is essential if we are to tackle future, as yet unknown, challenges.

The entire chain of innovation - from basic research to the exploitation of research - needs to be taken into account in each future funding programme. When coordinating research funding within the so called Grand Challenges through different top-down funding mechanisms (both within and outside FP8), the need to invest in small- and large-scale, bottom-up, collaborative research programmes should always be foreseen.

The current Future and Emerging Technologies in the FP7-ICT is a good example of this type of bottom-up programme within a top-down funding scheme.

In FP8, like FP7, a specific programme on Cooperation is needed, supporting all types of research carried out by different bodies, and across national boundaries, with the aim of gaining or consolidating leadership in key scientific and technology areas.

The FP7 Cooperation programme is successful in stimulating collaboration between academia and business because it allows them to work together on an equal basis. Equal involvement and accountability, as well as balanced intellectual property rules are at the heart of effective collaboration between different sectors.

FP8, and EU research funding overall, must be driven by excellence. This not only means funding excellent researchers, but also appointing excellent peer reviewers and selecting topics for directed funding in a transparent way, and after consulting the top scientists.

It will be especially important when it comes to the upcoming Joint Programming Initiatives, that the European Commission acts as a gatekeeper, establishing efficient and harmonised governance and ensuring transparency.

Investing in researchers and their career opportunities is crucial to increase Europe’s competitiveness in the longer term. Alongside the ERC, the Marie Curie Actions are the key channel for this investment in FP7, and we believe Marie Curie needs to be reinforced in FP8. To build on the strengths of the Marie Curie programme, the focus on research must be maintained. And the training of young researchers, PhD students and postdocs needs to be regarded as a professional, and not as educational activity.

To ensure the best researchers, institutions and companies are attracted to participate in FP8, it is essential to simplify the financial regulations and harmonise the rules of participation. Many of the proposals in the recent EC Communication on Simplification, such as the removal of the requirement for timesheets, changes on claiming interest on pre-financing and the proposed reduction in the variety of funding rules across the different programmes, are important steps in the right direction.

But the Commission also needs to guarantee financial sustainability for universities participating in FP8. At the moment matching funding is often required. This is harmful to excellent research groups and leaves universities with serious funding shortfalls. The EC must recognise that it is not (yet) possible for all European universities to move to a system of full-costing. Increased flexibility on cost calculation is therefore needed, and the option of lump sums based on actual costs should be expanded.

A sharp move towards output-based research funding should be avoided, or at least be discussed in depth. It carries the risk of relocating the associated administrative burden from the institution to the researchers themselves. Therefore, a thorough discussion on how to define and measure outputs would be needed.

As universities are already commonly controlled and frequently audited by a multitude of governmental agencies, a trust-based certification approach, with radically reduced reporting procedures for institutions with reliable track records, could be a good alternative.

We are planning to be actively engaged and to share the expertise of the LERU member universities in the coming years, to support the development of FP8 and the simplification measures wherever possible.

Stijn Delauré is EU policy advisor of the KU Leuven and lead author of the LERU advice paper ‘Towards an effective 8th Framework Programme for Research’. Laura Keustermans is Policy Officer, LERU