EU-LIFE’s vision for the next European Programme FP9
Excellent scientific research should be prioritised as the major booster of innovation by significantly increasing the funding of the highly successful European Research Council. To raise the potential for disruptive innovation, collaborative, open-ended research across Europe should again be a focus of the next framework programme. It will be crucial to initiate a clear deviation from current push for short-term impact of research by clearly supporting all technology readiness levels (TRLs) in the innovation cycle and building a strong, silo-breaking approach of knowledge and technology transfer. FP9 should also support and strengthen the pool of talent and infrastructure that is at the heart of ground-breaking research & innovation.
In particular, EU-LIFE members highlight the need to refocus on strong support to excellent research irrespective of its technology readiness level. “We, the Directors of 13 leading research institutes that are members of the EU-LIFE alliance, call the European Commission to recognize that for research & Innovation to be impactful beyond 2020, excellent science must be prioritised at all levels of the innovation cycle.”, says Jo Bury, current Chair of EU-LIFE and Managing Director of VIB, the Flemish Centre of life sciences in Belgium.
“H2020 has created a new paradigm in research and innovation. We are happy to support the drive for more and better impact of R&I in Europe, but there still are key aspects to be improved if we want excellent research to address crucial societal challenges in fields such as health, environment or social equality,” states Marta Agostinho, EU-LIFE coordinator.
Source: EU-LIFE press release
Further information
- Read the full EU-LIFE statement about FP9
- The Website of EU-LIFE
See also
About EU-LIFE
EU-LIFE is an alliance of 13 European research centres in life sciences to support and strengthen research excellence. Representing over 7200 researchers, partners in EU-LIFE are renowned research centres across Europe operating with similar principles of excellence, external reviews, independence, competitiveness, and internationality, contributing to pushing European science forward. Kicked off in May 2013, the alliance has established as a voice for research institutes in European policy, currently participating in the two stakeholders’ organizations platforms which advise regularly Commissioner Moedas and European Commission’s DG RTD – the Open Science Policy Platform and the European Research Area Stakeholders’ platform.
