After sifting through 1,600 suggestions, the European Commission has unveiled a shortlist of names for its next research funding programme, due to start in 2014. The possible names - Discover 2020, Horizon 2020 and Imagine 2020, will be put to a public online vote, with the final choice due to be announced around June 20.
The winner will replace the long-standing Framework Programme moniker, with the current Framework Programme 7 being the last of a long-lived dynasty. The new R&D programme will also pull in the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme and the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT).
The aim of the competition is to find a catchier name than Framework, which will also convey something of what the EU research programme is about. Other requirements are that the new name is memorable and easy to spell, is understandable across the EU, and has the resonance to become a brand name.
The research commissioner Maire Geoghegan-Quinn announced the shortlist at a conference on Friday (June 10), held to wrap up the public consultation on the Green Paper on innovation, to which more than 2,000 responses were submitted.
The Commission is now examining these responses in detail, as it designs the future research and innovation programme and how the components will fit together. “That’s the work we have to do between now and the autumn,” Geoghegan-Quinn said.
Spanning the innovation chain
In bringing most of the research and innovation activity it funds under one umbrella, the EU aims to create a streamlined set of programmes, spanning the whole of the innovation chain in a seamless manner. The promise is that this will simplify procedures, make rules more consistent and predictable, and remove overlap and duplication between programmes.
The Structural Funds that are currently devoted to research infrastructures - €86 billion in the 2007-2013 period - will not be included in the overall research and innovation programme. However, there will be close alignment, Geoghegan-Quinn said.
A major concern raised at the conference was the extent to which the 2014 – 2020 programme will help countries with less-developed research infrastructures to catch up. One speaker suggested for countries with strong national research structures to mentor countries that need to improve their R&D systems.
On the subject of the EIT, Geoghegan-Quinn was quick to dismiss any suggestion that bringing the institute into the overall EU research and innovation funding programme would lead to more rigidity. “We have to make sure that there’s the flexibility that the EIT needs,” Geoghegan-Quinn said. “Consistency where possible, flexibility where needed.”
One plea repeated many times at the conference was to put R&D at the centre of the next EU budget - currently under negotiation – as the route to promoting economic growth and competitiveness.
As a reflection of this priority, the keynote address was given by the Commissioner for Economic and Monetary Affairs, Olli Rehn, who emphasised that fiscal consolidation must not happen at the cost limiting expenditure on research and innovation. “In a world of decreasing resources, innovation is our best guarantee for Europe’s future standard of living,” he said.
Messages from the public consultation
- There is support for the Common Strategic Framework concept to bring research and innovation closer together in order to enhance the impact of EU funding.
- Simplification is a key priority
- EU funding for research and innovation should be directed towards problems such as climate change, the ageing population and energy, food and water security.
- The successful elements of the Framework Programmes, notably the European Research Council and Marie Curie programmes, the emphasis on collaborative research centred on themes and challenges, should remain as core elements
- Funding opportunities should be less prescriptive and more open, with scope for smaller projects and consortia
- The EU should support all stages in the innovation chain, with instruments that are fit for purpose
- SMEs should be able to benefit from EU research and innovation funding
- Basic and applied research must work - and be funded - in tandem
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