“It’s all about simplification – radical simplification,” said EU Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, putting forward her vision of how the €79 billion Horizon 2020 programme will chip away at the huge problems of our age, in ageing and chronic disease, energy supply and climate change, and sustainable and adequate food production - and why she expects to see willingness from industry to engage with academics in dealing with these challenges.
A new Participant Portal will make it as easy as a Google search for researchers and businesses to find opportunities for participation, she said, while a reduced time to grant of eight months will help people get their money faster. “At the end of the day, that is what we want,” Geoghegan-Quinn told Science|Business.
Following the conclusion of negotiations earlier this week, the first calls for Horizon 2020 funding streams will go live on December 11 and will run for three to four months. The Commission expects 40,000 applications to the programme every year. “If the inquiries that are being made at the moment are anything to go by, I think we will have an enormous amount of people that want to apply,” said Geoghegan-Quinn.
What’s it all about?
Tackling the so-called Grand Challenges lies at the heart of Horizon 2020. “We have a huge energy challenge at the moment, food security is a huge issue, and healthy ageing is going to be very important,” said Geoghegan-Quinn. “We have to invest in these challenges.” In all, €29.7 billion, or 38.53 per cent of the total budget, will be dedicated to these areas.
Against the backdrop of the Grand Challenges is the more immediate, and for many the more pressing problem, of the on-going economic crisis and crippling youth unemployment, with Europe’s competitiveness fading in comparison to many emerging markets.
This is why Horizon 2020 is placing a greater focus on translating research into innovation, said Geoghegan-Quinn. “It’s important to bring industry back into the programme,” she said, reflecting on the infamous bureaucracy that has discouraged businesses from seeking EU funding. “I have met research groups, universities, and businesses, big and small, right around Europe and the main message from them all was that EU research programmes were too complicated,” the Commissioner noted.
Changes to streamline the process include a single set of rules, flat-rate reimbursement and a reduced time to grant. An important practical change is on the way, in that the Commission is moving away from paper and bringing everything online in a single portal.
“I think people will be pleasantly surprised with the portal,” said Geoghegan-Quinn. “It’s going to be much more user-friendly. I have seen it in action and for me, it’s like any of the good search engines, where you can put in a word or sentence and you get a menu of all the relevant calls.”
Time for researchers to step out of their comfort zone
At a time when member states are cutting national research budgets, funding from Brussels is of increasing importance. Given this, Geoghegan-Quinn believes researchers of all disciplines will be happy to see that the European Research Council as, “the benchmark of excellence”, will receive over €13 billion, a significant boost from Framework Programme Seven (FP7).
The new challenge-based approach in Horizon 2020 means researchers could bid to take part in calls right across the spectrum of the programme, not just those tied specifically to their discipline. “There are no little boxes anymore,” said Geoghegan-Quinn, “Before this, every discipline knew exactly where to go for funding, now they realise they all have to step outside their boxes, and I think that’s a good thing.”
Social scientists, for example, will benefit from increased ERC funding , and will also be involved in each of the seven societal challenges. Within the section of Horizon 2020 focusing on rebuilding Europe’s industrial leaderships, companies will increasingly be looking for external expertise. “Companies are developing things that are going to be different and need to understand what their customer wants and whether there will be acceptance from the customer. To do that, they need the social sciences.”
Working on collaborative projects will increase the dialogue between industry and academia, and the Commissioner hopes this will lead to improved career mobility.
“I think a wonderful thing would be if it was a natural thing for academics to move between academia and industry,” she said. “We’re setting the architecture for that to be able to happen, but at the end of the day it’s going to be up to those who work in academia and those who work in business as to whether that happens or not.”
“It’s a question of not staying pigeon-holed in the same area but being prepared to be bold and brave and to step outside, and that’s what we’re asking people to do,” she said.
A broader impact on Europe
When the money is spent and the reckoning made, Geoghegan-Quinn wants the results of the programme to be felt across Europe. “I’m hoping the money invested in the societal challenges will make my life better as I grow older,” she said, noting energy and food security, as well as better healthcare as factors in achieving this.
But more important is the chance to use the money to give hope to young people, especially the unemployed, or those with a qualification that no longer matches requirements. “I’m hoping that what we do with Horizon 2020 will change that landscape for them,” said Geoghegan-Quinn.
“I also hope that many, many more young people will have chosen to go into a scientific career, because that’s where the highly-skilled, well-paid jobs are going to be. That’s where I want to see my grandchild.”
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