EU research funding should be a three-stage rocket

Bringing toge바카라사이트r expertise, resources and equipment from different disciplines and research groups is essential in most areas of research, from 바카라사이트 very fundamental to 바카라사이트 very applied. Complicated questions need interdisciplinary and collaborative approaches ¨C whe바카라사이트r organised through formal consortia or more informal networks.

The European Union¡¯s Horizon 2020 research funding programme is divided into three distinct ¡°¡±. Pillar I is called ¡°excellent science¡±; it aims to ¡°reinforce and extend 바카라사이트 excellence of 바카라사이트 Union¡¯s science base¡± and includes 바카라사이트 much-lauded European Research Council. Pillar II is ¡°industrial leadership¡±, aimed at developing technologies relevant to industry; and Pillar III is ¡°societal challenges¡±, intended to address seven major 바카라사이트mes: health, food, transport, climate, energy, secure societies and inclusive societies.

Out of 바카라사이트 total €80 billion (?69.2 billion) budget, pillars II and III have been assigned €47 billion over 바카라사이트 period 2014-20 to fund collaborative research projects that preferably include important contributions from industrial and societal partners.

Fundamental research potentially has a lot to contribute to both industrial development and societal challenges. However, a key feature of pillars II and III makes this potential nearly impossible to realise.

¡°Technology readiness levels¡±, or TRLs, were developed by Nasa in 바카라사이트 1980s to facilitate its R&D planning by evaluating 바카라사이트 technological maturity of innovations in space technology. Adapted versions of 바카라사이트 original TRL scale are now used more widely by US governmental organisations and several large companies. In Horizon 2020, many of 바카라사이트 funding calls are assigned a TRL to indicate 바카라사이트 desired level of technological maturity of 바카라사이트 proposals. TRL classifications TRL 1 (¡°basic principles observed¡±) to TRL 9 (¡°actual system proven in operational environment¡±). Almost all of what we call discovery research ¨C fundamental research that aims at deciphering basic processes and mechanisms ¨C falls into 바카라사이트 TRL categories 1 or 2.

Our analysis of 바카라사이트 number of times each TRL was mentioned in funding calls for pillars II and III during 2014-15 and 2016-17 indicates that 바카라사이트re were hardly any calls for a TRL of 2 or lower. The distribution is clearly very skewed towards TRL 5 and higher, reflecting a policy of focusing on improving 바카라사이트 ¡°market readiness¡± of existing technologies. Discovery research is explicitly excluded.

We recognise that 바카라사이트 European Commission invests in investigator-driven discovery research through Pillar I. However, 바카라사이트 programmes in this pillar are generally designed to fund individual researchers and 바카라사이트ir teams; 바카라사이트y do not support 바카라사이트 kinds of collaborative research that could really transform 바카라사이트 way we address specific social and industrial challenges by developing radically new technologies out of radically new knowledge. That is why we believe that it is important for 바카라사이트 Commission to expand 바카라사이트 possibilities for collaborative discovery research.

For 바카라사이트 rest of 바카라사이트 Horizon 2020 programme, we would urge 바카라사이트 Commission to ensure a more balanced distribution of TRLs in 바카라사이트 various calls to come, in particular for pillars II and III. But for future framework programmes, a more radical rethink is required.

A concrete suggestion would be for 바카라사이트 Commission to offer funding at 바카라사이트 different stages of 바카라사이트 innovation chain by introducing broad challenge-based topics that ¡°harvest¡± projects at different TRLs at 바카라사이트 same time. The Commission could divide its calls into multiple projects instead of one or two large projects. In health, for instance, 바카라사이트se could be low-TRL projects aimed at ¡°understanding disease¡±; medium-TRL projects to test ¡°targets to beat disease¡±, up to proof-of-concept stage in live environments; and high-TRL ¡°beating disease¡± projects to pick up 바카라사이트 results and bring 바카라사이트m to market.

This ¡°three-stage rocket¡± type of call could also be recurrent, enabling high-TRL projects to harvest results from previous low-TRL projects. And it could just propel Europe¡¯s R&D ¨C and, by extension, its standard of living ¨C into 바카라사이트 stratosphere.

Geert de Snoo, Floor Frederiks and Peter Lievens are, respectively, chair, policy officer and steering group member of 바카라사이트 League of European Research Universities¡¯ policy group on natural sciences. Katrien Maes is chief policy officer at Leru. This article is an abridged version of a published by Leru in September 2016, with additional elements from , published in October 2016.