RESEARCH AND INNOVATION - New ways to work together: en route to boosting participation and synergies in EU research

How to get the best out of EU research and innovation programmes? This is a key question for many countries that still do not reach their potential in accessing and making best use of all EU funding available to support research and innovation. A new Mutual Learning Exercise (MLE) on National Practices in Widening Participation and Strengthening Synergies, launched in October 2017, is already well advanced in its work to bring countries together, support new actors in joining the EU research programmes and find synergies with EU regional funding.

date: 05/12/2017

Some European countries still under-participate in EU-funded research programmes; how can this be improved to widen the range of participants? In addition, many countries are not taking advantage of the opportunities that European structural and investment funds (ESIF) offer to support the building of a knowledge economy.

Learning and exchanges progressing well

The MLE is now well under way. The first country visit – to Spain – took place in January 2018. During this mission, MLE participants met Spanish research and innovation stakeholders to discuss two of the MLE’s seven key topics: ‘support for skills development, information sharing, communication and training’ (aiming to widen participation), and ‘how to enable an effective and structured dialogue between Structural Fund managing authorities and Framework Programme authorities’ (in order to identify and maximise synergies).

A second country visit – to Zagreb, Croatia – took place in early February. Here, participants met Tome Antičić, the Croatian State Secretary for Research, to obtain an overview of the Croatian science and technology (S&T) system. Two more topics – ‘Attracting qualified R&D staff in the public and private sectors’ and ‘Synergies at an operational level between national managing and FP authorities’ – provided the basis for lively discussions. Presentations of different country experiences enriched the visit.

A third country visit – to Dublin, Ireland – will take place in late March. The MLE group will be hosted by the Irish authorities, who will share their experiences in building the Irish science, technology and innovation (STI) system using the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and strategically targeting FPs. In addition, the topic on ‘Improving Networking’ for better participation in FPs will be discussed and different good practices will be presented.

The MLE, sponsored by the Horizon 2020 Policy Support Facility, facilitates exchanges of good practice at national and operational level among the 13 participating countries: Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Hungary, Latvia, Poland, Portugal, Slovenia, Spain, Sweden, Turkey and Germany (as observer).

Overall, the seven topics to be covered in this MLE are:

Attracting qualified R&D staff, in business as well as academia
Boosting science-business cooperation
Improving networking through increased participation in European initiatives
Supporting skills development, communication and training
“Breaking silos” – enabling dialogue between ESIF and Horizon 2020 managers
Finding synergies at policy and strategy level
Finding synergies at the operational level.

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