This week we’re taking a close look at what the appointment of Marc Lemaître at the helm of the European Commission’s research directorate general means for the Widening countries. We’re also looking at the start-up landscape in central and eastern Europe, with a deep dive into Ukraine’s embattled innovation sector.
Latest news
NEW APPOINTMENT: Research stakeholders wonder how Marc Lemaître’s appointment to the Commission’s research department will translate into better prospects and more focus on fixing Europe’s research and innovation gap. So far, the consensus seems to be that Lemaître will use his experience in regional policy to improve the way the EU is trying to make cohesion, pandemic recovery and research funding work in sync. But Lemaître will also have to deal with the Horizon Europe interim evaluation and start planning for the next research framework programme which is due to start in 2028. Thomas Brent has the story.
EU-HUNGARY SPAT OVER UNIVERSITIES NOT OVER JUST YET: The European Commission is playing down claims by the Hungarian government that a series of high-level resignations from university boards will be enough to convince Brussels to unlock suspended Horizon Europe and Erasmus funds.
The Commission said 21 Hungarian universities would lose access to the EU’s main research and academic exchange programmes. The institutions in question operate under the umbrella of public trust foundations, a new form of governance of public institutions, which critics say allows the Hungarian government to appoint high-level politicians to university boards.
After political negotiations in Brussels, the Hungarian government agreed that seven of its ministers will resign from board positions on public trust foundations that run universities, but the Commission still waits for an official confirmation from Budapest. More on this here.
INNOVATION GAP WIDENS: The Commission last week published last week a report on regional cohesion inside the EU. Unsurprisingly, the report finds persisting differences in innovation performance between EU regions. Romania, Bulgaria, Latvia and Poland have the lowest regional innovation performance according to 2021 data.
The report says man regions are lagging behind “due to insufficient investment in research and development and weaknesses in regional innovation ecosystems.”
ON A POSITIVE NOTE: An analysis of Horizon Europe data by Science|Business shows the average success rate of projects from Widening countries is about equal to the EU average.
Slovakia and Latvia have so far had the highest proposal success rate under Horizon Europe of any EU member state, with the most successful non-Widening country, Belgium, having 23.65% of proposals accepted. Under Horizon 2020, the average success rate of Widening countries was 13.1%, compared to 13.9% for the EU 27 average. Read our full analysis here.
The Ecosystem
BEATING THE ODS: A surprising number of Ukrainian start-ups have survived the past year of Russian attacks, and even found ways to drive their businesses forward. Most start-ups surveyed by the Polish-Ukrainian Startup Bridge said their businesses were affected by the war but very few were forced to shut down entirely, while only one third had to lay off staff. Ian Mundell has the story.
START-UP BLUES: A new report finds that start-ups in central and eastern Europe struggle to keep track and adapt to evolving EU regulations. Other structural problems make it difficult for young companies to attract and retain talent. Thomas Brent has a summary of the report.
In other news
‘ENHANCED DIALOGUE’: EU research commissioner Mariya Gabriel and Latvian science Anda Čakša met last week in Stockholm to start high level talks on how the EU can help the Baltic country improve its research and innovation performance. The so-called ‘Enhanced Dialogue’ between the Commission and Latvia are a new way the Commission aims to help member states implement reforms and catch up with richer countries.
Over the past years, the Commission has been working on “policy support” reports for various countries advising governments how to reform their research and innovation systems, but critics say the exercise lacks a long-term monitoring system.
The Stockholm meeting will be followed by technical discussions in Riga next month. Over the coming weeks we will come back to this issue in this newsletter. Stay tuned!
HORIZON PAPER: The European Association of research and technology organisations (EARTO) says the EU should ensure funding schemes that help widening countries boost participation in Horizon Europe are strengthened. The EARTO paper also notes the Commission should work on improving schemes aimed at improving the capacity of research organisations in poorer EU member states.
The paper was submitted to the European Commission, along with other opinions on health research, social sciences and EU research missions as part of the consultation on Horizon Europe in which the Commission is gathering feedback on how the research and innovation programme is performing. Research organisations, funders, universities and companies have until 22 February to submit opinions.
LASER TIME: The three research labs of the Extreme Light Infrastructure (ELI) in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania have opened an EU-funded joint call for users. Researchers from all over the world can apply to do research at the world’s most advanced laser research infrastructure. More details here.
UKRAINE: The European Fund for Displaced Scientists (EFDS) has announced the results of its second round of funding. The money will help 56 Ukrainian scholars who are still in Ukraine, including early-career researchers. In addition, the fund will support six scholars in Poland, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Germany, and Austria.
PRAGUE: Charles University and Czexpats in Science Initiative are launching a forum for young researchers who want to have a go at principal investigator roles. The platform will enable young researchers in the Czech Republic to meet and share their experience navigating the world of competitive international research funding.
APPOINTMENT: Jakub Pawlikowski has won a bid to lead Poland’s research funding agency, NCBR. The result was announced yesterday. We wish him good luck in the new position!
Mark your calendars
BRUSSELS: Research liaison offices in Brussels from Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary and Slovakia are organising a training event for research managers in central Europe. The event, which will take place between 29 and 31 March. Details here.
SOFIA: Bulgaria’s swanky new excellence centre in artificial intelligence is launching a lecture series featuring international experts in the field. Details here.
WARSAW: Science|Business is organising a hybrid roundtable in May to bring research stakeholders together to discuss building attractive centres of excellence in the Widening countries. More details here.
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