Beyond Horizon 2020: Your Input Matters
Dear MCAA Member,
The EU has opened consultations on the post-2020 budget, the ‘Multiannual Financial Framework’, which includes Framework Programme 9 that will cover research funding from the Directorate General for Research and Innovation (‘DG Research’).
The scientific community has an opportunity to influence decisions on EU science funding for 2021-2027.
We would like to encourage you to contribute to the consultation.
Please note that our input is both important and very urgent: things will be moving within an extremely tight timeline. The EU budget is supposed to be submitted by May 2nd, and the FP9 document by the end of May (with a first draft even sooner). A key moment will be the March 23rd debate on Research and Innovation at the Spring Summit of European Heads of State. It will be crucial that they achieve a consensus for an increased budget for Research and Innovation (and not Innovation alone).
In the words of a well-informed expert: "The absolute urgency, I am talking here of a matter of weeks if not days, is to have an intense action by scientists, scientific institutions, academies, to speak up and explain why it is crucial that the next European budget includes an increase in the share going to Research and Innovation with a good balance between the two. We must provide arguments to Research Ministers vis-à-vis Finance and Economy Ministers".
The EU seeks comments on all aspects of research funding. To remind you, the current funding programme, Horizon 2020, has three pillars: Excellent Science, Societal Challenges, and Innovation/Industrial Leadership. We understand it is likely that this structure, with slight changes in the naming, will be retained.
To help you give effective input, we provide below a brief summary of the major areas of concern. Among others, please comment on the distribution of funds in general, so that our view that the funding for DG Research should not be reduced, but perhaps even increased, is heard.
We also attach the paper MCAA has prepared with a list of issues and recommendations for the next Framework Programme.
Best regards,
Matthew DiFranco
MCAA Chair on behalf of the MCAA Board and Policy Working Group
Appendix
I. Link for the consultation
II. Method of providing input
a. Submit your own response, at least the multiple-choice part of the questionnaire!
Regardless of any free text response you want to submit to the consultation site, it would be great if you could take five minutes (it really is quick!) to fill out the multiple-choice part of the consultation questionnaire. Remember, people from other areas (farmers, industry, consumer organisations) will fill in such surveys, and this will influence politicians in their votes on which areas to promote.
The link is here https://ec.europa.eu/eusurvey/runner/MFFpost2020investment
Deadline: March 8th
b. Ask your university, institute, or department to respond.
Institutions use the same link.
Deadline: March 8th
c. Contact your ministry of finance.
The final decision about the budget will be in the hands of national governments and their Ministers of Finance, so if you or any of your colleagues have any access to relevant high-level politicians in your country, please contact them with your views. If they don’t hear from you, your interests may not be promoted.
Deadline: on-going through the finalisation of the FP9 budgets but best to contact as soon as possible.
III. Information on EU research funding structure
The three pillars for research funding in the EU:
Scientific Excellence: This is for projects and work applied for in a ‘bottom-up’ manner, i.e. researcher-determined and then selected on the basis of scientific excellence only. Currently includes ERC, FET, MSCA, and Research Infrastructures.
Societal challenges: This is for work determined in a ‘top-down‘ manner by the Commission. It includes areas such as Secure Societies, Bio-economy, and Climate Action. Politicians will define areas of concern and specific calls will be made for proposals on those topics.
Innovation/Industrial Leadership: Also ‘bottom-up’, i.e. open calls, but intended for applied or translational work and cooperation with industry.
Further information here: http://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/IDAN/2015/571312/EPRS_IDA%282015%29571312_EN.pdf