Widening newsletter 1

Research and innovation performance is not evenly distributed across the EU, nor should it be. Not all parts of the continent can have the same capacity for innovation, but where potential is visible, the EU and member states should do a better job exploiting it.

EU member states in central and eastern Europe are still struggling to get their R&D expenditure above 1% of GDP and lag behind western states in EU funding competitions.

Yet the potential in those countries is huge, with multinationals investing there, long academic traditions ready to foster young scientists, and a promising crop of tech start-ups, spin-offs and projects springing up from Tallinn to Sofia.

All of which begs the question: how can the EU ever assert its science and technology prowess on the global stage when it is wasting so much potential, with half the continent trailing the other half in research and innovation?

We will try to explore this conundrum in a brand-new newsletter that we are launching today. The newsletter will keep track of which countries are doing best, and worst, in the European R&I race and which are the hot labs and companies in these countries.

WHAT IS WIDENING? It’s the name for the European Commission’s €3.3 billion plan to broaden the networks and opportunities for R&D cooperation across the EU and bridge the east-west innovation gap. The programme is not new but got a budget boost in 2021 after eastern European MEPs complained about low success rates under Horizon Europe. In the preceding research programme, Horizon 2020, just 5.7% of the funding went to the EU-13 countries.

Our EU news reporter, Goda Naujokaitytė, has written an overview of the programme and what is expected to achieve.

THE VIEW FROM BERLAYMONT: In an exclusive op-ed, EU research and innovation commissioner Mariya Gabriel explains why and how the EU should do a better job at exploiting the R&I potential of member states that joined the bloc after 2004.

THE ERC GAP: Less than 8% of central and eastern European applicants won European Research Council grants between 2007 and 2021, compared to between 15% to 16% of applicants in the Netherlands, Germany and France, our contributor Thomas Brent reports. R&D experts in the region point to a lack of funding, poor access to networking and cultural factors as reasons for the low success rate.

ACADEMIC FREEDOM: Hungarian and Polish academics raise concerns over academic freedom in Europe, as governments continue to tighten controls over universities and research institutes. Our correspondent in Poland, Anna Rzhevkina, interviewed academics in the two countries on the dangers of government interference in higher education and science.

Emerging innovations

THE ECOSYSTEM: Medical biotech in Poland is having a Goldilocks moment. Its companies are hot enough to drive a significant local ecosystem thanks to abundant EU funding, but structural weaknesses are making it difficult for them to grow and mature. Our news columnist Ian Mundell has the story.

INNOVATION PROFILE: The coronavirus pandemic, the Suez shutdown in 2021 and the war in Ukraine made governments and businesses realise how fragile the world’s existing supply chains are. Bulgarian software company Transmetrics says there is slack in the system if you know where to look and artificial intelligence can make shipping more efficient.

Thanks to a multi-million grant from the European Innovation Council, Transmetrics hopes to see its product grow into a comprehensive logistics planning tool that can help shipping companies make better use of their resources and reduce costs. 

In other news

LASER SHOW: ELI-ERIC, the largest research infrastructure consortium in central and eastern Europe has published its first annual report. The consortium wants to use three large laser research labs in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania to attract and keep the brightest science and technology minds in the region. The project has been plagued by delays at the Romanian facility, caused by political wrangling. A story on how the project got stuck in Romania will be available in the next Widening newsletter. Sign up here to be among the first to read it.

NEW ROUND OF REFORMS: Romania has kicked-off a debate on how to reorganise its research and innovation system. Government officials and representatives from the European Commission and World Bank met yesterday at the Polytechnic University of Bucharest to help research and industry strengthen ties. Romania is one of Europe’s poorest innovation performers and spends less than 0.2% of GDP on public R&D funding. Research minister Sebastian Burduja said the conference is “a turning point” for the Romanian research and innovation system.

EXTENDED DEADLINE: Poland’s National Science Centre has extended the deadline for submitting proposals for a scholarship programme dedicated to students and researchers without a PhD degree from Ukraine. Applicants who fled to Poland in the wake of the Russian innovation have until 16 September to submit their proposals. The grants will be paid through the Basic Research Programme under EEA and Norway Grants. More details about the call can be found here.

SOUTHEASTERN RESEARCH FOR EU GREEN TARGETS: Research facilities in the Czech Republic, Poland, Romania and Slovenia will host experiments for the ReMade@ARI project. Backed by €13.8 million in EU funding, researchers will develop and test new materials for the circular economy at four labs coordinated by the Central European Research Infrastructure Consortium, CERIC-ERIC.

INAUGURAL EVENT: The first annual meeting of the Czech association of research managers CZARMA takes place today in Prague, at the Technology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences.

Mark your calendars

BELGRADE SUMMIT: The University of Belgrade will host the 6th meeting of rectors from southeast Europe and the western Balkans. University heads will discuss strengthening international cooperation and proposals for a three-year action plan.

TALTECH BUZZING: The Estonian university will host the European Institute of Innovation and Technology’s innovation conference later this month. Academics, policy makers and innovators will meet in Tallinn to debate the policies and investments needed for the digital transformation of Europe’s industry.

QUANTUM MEETING IN KRAKÓW:  Researchers and quantum industry representatives from Europe, Israel and Turkey will meet in Poland this month for the QuantERA strategic conference. The summit will take place on 20 -21 September.

The Widening newsletter is a roundup of news and analysis of research and innovation policy and investments in central and eastern Europe, delivered to your inbox twice a month. Sign up here.