Broadening Aims and Building Support in Science, Technology and Innovation Policy: The Case of the European Research Area (original) (raw)

A key moment for European science policy

Journal of Science Communication

We argue that the commitment to science-society integration and Responsible Research and Innovation in past European framework programmes has already made considerable progress in better aligning research and innovation with European societies. The framework programmes have important socialisation effects and recent research point to positive trends across key areas of Responsible Research and Innovation within academic organisations. What appears to be a step away from the concerted efforts to facilitate European citizens' meaningful contribution to research and innovation in the upcoming Horizon Europe framework programme seems counter-productive and poorly timed.

Evaluation of European Research Area: Governance aspects

The European Research Area (ERA) is emerging as a powerful political driver for changes in research and innovation policies. Several ERA-driven initiatives were approved and implemented but their success depends on their governance structures. This Study analyzes the governance issues of the ERA initiatives created under articles 169 and 171 of the EU Treaty and other new ERA approaches. After defining a general framework for ERA governance and the description of individual initiatives, the Study proposes a set of recommendations for improving current situation.

European Action Plans for Science–Society Relations: Changing Buzzwords, Changing the Agenda

Minerva, 2019

This project began with the changes in the names of the European Commission's action plans for the relationship between science and society. Analysing the main relevant documents in the last four European science policy framework programmes (FP5, FP6, FP7, H2020), we asked how much terminologies, meanings, and foci of attention have changed. A more detailed look confirms the growing importance attached to this area of intervention and the transformation in the priorities and conceptions orienting these policies. This gradual change not only largely reflects the academic debates on the need for more participatory and dialogical ways of bringing science and society closer together, but also poses new challenges when interpreting the ultimate goals and potential implications of the plans. Issues of governance of science and the transformation of scientific institutions are gaining ground compared to those of science education and public communication of science. Equally clear is the progressive incorporation of the questions of innovation and the markets into this area of political action, in a way reconfiguring the balance between aims related with democracy and participation, on the one hand, and economic competitiveness on the other. The range of social actors involved in these actions has also changed. Employing a discourse that is often vague, these plans tend to call for a certain de-differentiation of the roles traditionally attributed to the Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (

Europeanization of Research and Innovation Policies: Big Achievements but Still a Lot to Do

There has been the common research and development policy in the European Economic Community and the Euratom since their establishment in 1957. Within the Joint Research Centre, several Institutes were set up in the member states. The first framework programme, introducing cross-border collaboration projects, was launched in 1984. The post-socialist Central and Eastern European countries (CEECs) joined the framework programmes already in their accession phase. With EU membership, they enjoy full 'membership' in the EU's research and innovation policies as well. However, evidence shows that there is still a long way to go to reach the real and full integration of the CEECs into these policies. As a matter of fact, the Southern periphery of the Eurozone is not in any more favourable position in this respect. Whether we look at participation in framework programme projects, the location of JRC sites, or participation in the newly formed Knowledge and Innovation Communities ...

Science and Technology Policy Research in the EU: From Framework Programme to HORIZON 2020

Social Sciences, 2019

Science and Technology policy is regarded as an essential factor for future growth in the EU, and Horizon 2020 is the world’s most extensive research and innovation programme created by the European Union to support and encourage research in the European Research Area (ERA). The purpose of this study is to analyse and evaluate the changes to the EU’s science and technology policies from Framework Programme to Horizon 2020 and to provide vital information to research organisations and academia to conceive and conduct future research on international cooperation with the EU. Through a policy analysis, this study summarised the four science and technology policy implications: (1) building ecosystems through mutual complementation among industries, (2) solving social problems through science and technology, (3) strengthening SMEs’ participation, and (4) sharing knowledge and strengthening collaboration with non-EU countries.

New socio-political environments and the dynamics of European public research systems

2002

The performance of science and technology is being challenged by new socio-political environments. The changes in science policy are influenced by a more systemic view of the understanding on how science and technology evolve. The concept of risk society is mediating the links between science and society. Comparative analyses cast doubts about the possibilities of European institutions to cope with the challenges of the new environment.

Might Europe one day again be a global scientific powerhouse? Analysis of ERC publications suggests it will not be possible without changes in research policy

Quantitative Science Studies, 2020

Numerous EU documents praise the excellence of EU research without empirical evidence and in contradiction of academic studies. We investigated research performance in two fields of high socioeconomic importance, advanced technology and basic medical research, in two sets of European countries, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain (GFIS), and the UK, Netherlands, and Switzerland (UKNCH). Despite their historical and geographical proximity, research performance in GFIS is much lower than in UKNCH, and well below the world average. Funding from the European Research Council (ERC) greatly improves performance in both GFIS and UKNCH, but ERC-GFIS publications are less cited than ERC-UKNCH publications. We conclude that research performance in GFIS and in other EU countries is intrinsically low, even in highly selected and generously funded projects. The technological and economic future of the EU depends on improving research, which requires structural changes in research policy within the...