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The chair of an expert group charged with advising the European Commission on the next Framework Programme for research and innovation has called for a campaign of “scientific activism” to implement independent governance models across the programme.

The European Research Council (ERC) is “the jewel of the crown” of EU research funding thanks to its independent Scientific Council, which draws up its own work programmes, Manuel Heitor said during a panel on competitiveness through frontier research organised by the ERC and the University of Copenhagen on October 7.

The former Portuguese research minister was more critical of the collaborative instruments in Horizon Europe and its predecessor, Horizon 2020. The Framework Programme “has become an excellent tool to distribute money, but it is not necessarily the best tool to do science, or to address industrial competitiveness, or to address emerging societal challenges,” he said.

According to his advisory group’s report, collaborative projects accounted for 78% of funding under Horizon 2020 and involved 11 participants on average, each receiving average funding of €127,000 over approximately three years. The remaining 22% of funds, which mostly support single beneficiaries, have had a greater impact, largely thanks to the ERC’s autonomy, Heitor said.

He urged the scientific community to speak to citizens and national and EU policymakers to show that the ERC is a “clear example of how to govern the rest of the Framework Programme.”

His report recommended strengthening the independence of the European Innovation Council and creating two new councils with independent boards, one on industrial competitiveness and technology, and the other on societal challenges, to steer collaborative research. However, this idea was not picked up by the Commission in its proposal for the post-2027 Horizon Europe programme.

Instead, there are concerns that collaborative research and innovation will come under even closer control by the Commission, which plans to link calls to the funding priorities of the future European Competitiveness Fund.

It’s also unclear what the push to simplify the EU funding landscape will mean for the ERC. Its president, Maria Leptin, previously expressed concern that plans for a single rulebook to be applied across Horizon Europe and the Competitiveness Fund would restrict the ERC’s flexibility to implement its own processes. However, in a recent interview with Science|Business, Leptin revealed that the ERC had received reassurance from the Commission that it would not fall under a common rulebook.

In June, before the Commission presented its proposal for the continuation of Horizon Europe, the ERC’s Scientific Council sent a letter to its president, Ursula von der Leyen, and research Commissioner Ekaterina Zaharieva requesting even greater independence and a stable, long-term budget.

Protecting fundamental research

During the Copenhagen conference, Denmark’s science minister, Christina Egelund, underlined the importance of “bold investments in innovation,” starting with fundamental research. The Danish presidency “will make sure to bring [Horizon Europe] negotiations forward and not to lose sight of frontier research,” she said.

This is reflected in the Commission’s proposal for the next Horizon Europe programme, which foresees a significant budget increase for the ERC.

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The ERC is also at the centre of the EU’s efforts to lure disaffected scientists from the US, but speaking at the conference Leptin insisted there will be no winners from the US government’s budget cuts and assaults on academic freedom.

“We’re all going to suffer,” she said, pointing to US cuts to climate data stations and model organism databases. “We attract these scientists over, and then we say, sorry, no databases [. . .] There is no benefit to be gained.”

Until the US situation improves, Europe should offer scientists a “haven,” in a “non-selfish manner,” Leptin said. “If they come and spend half time here, that’s enough, that reinforces collaboration.”

Lottery funding

The following day, Copenhagen hosted a life science summit under the Danish presidency of the EU Council, where competitiveness was once again on the agenda.

Europe needs more fundamental research, but it also needs bold ideas to make public funding more efficient, said Margrethe Vestager, former commissioner for competition and now chair of the board of the Technical University of Denmark.

“There are so many great ideas for the public funding, and I think it feels like a lottery as to whether you get it or not, so why not make it a lottery?” she said. “Then, if you don’t get funding that year, you can get more points, so you have a better chance the next year.”

The objective should be to reduce the time and resources required to obtain funding, she added. 

The Commission has made simplification a priority, and Zaharieva has said it is “exploring” the idea of introducing lottery funding in the next iteration of Horizon Europe.