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Specific Activities Covering a Wider Field of Research New and Emerging Science and Technology
6CP - October 2003
New and EmergingScience and Technology
…..possible implications for excellence and convergence
www.cordis.lu/nest
Specific Activities Covering a Wider Field of Research New and Emerging Science and Technology
Outline
• ERA and FP6 – brief review
• NEST – what is it and how does it fit into FP6?
• Excellence and convergence - the NEST implementation perspective
Specific Activities Covering a Wider Field of Research New and Emerging Science and Technology
ERA – Policy objectives
• Organisation of research facilities
• Coherent public policies
• Private investment
• Scientific reference
• Human capital and mobility
• Europe and regions attractive to investment
• Shared values
Specific Activities Covering a Wider Field of Research New and Emerging Science and Technology
FP6 as a means to promote the ERA
• Structuring:
•resources (human, infrastructure)
• large instruments (“social capital”)
• Focused EU funding
• Self-organisation (ERA-net)
• Flexibility
Specific Activities Covering a Wider Field of Research New and Emerging Science and Technology
FP6: context and organisation
• ERA/FP6 – distinction between policy and programme
• Overall architecture which allows:
•More specific objectives for individual activities within the programme
•Less need for intra-programme co-ordination
• Stronger “scientific” content
Specific Activities Covering a Wider Field of Research New and Emerging Science and Technology
Outline
• ERA and FP6 – brief review
• NEST – what is it and how does it fit into FP6?
• Excellence and convergence - the NEST implementation perspective
Specific Activities Covering a Wider Field of Research New and Emerging Science and Technology
NEST objectives
• Stimulate visionary long term research at the frontiers of knowledge and at the interface between disciplines
• Give researchers freedom to develop and prove their ideas within the broadest possible limits
• Respond rapidly to new problems and opportunities
Specific Activities Covering a Wider Field of Research New and Emerging Science and Technology
What NEST may achieve
• New science, new principles in emerging fields, new techniques and basic technologies
• Enhanced creative potential in European science and technology
• New communities of knowledge in emerging areas
• An increased responsiveness to possible problems arising from new discoveries
• Strategic inputs for the development of future European research initiatives
Specific Activities Covering a Wider Field of Research New and Emerging Science and Technology
Focusing and Integrating Community research
Strengthening the foundations of the ERA
Structuring the ERA
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Thematic priorities
FP6Where does NEST fit in?
“Wider field of Research”
SMEs
International co-operation
JRCc
NESTSupport to
policies
Specific Activities Covering a Wider Field of Research New and Emerging Science and Technology
Two modes
Open domain:
Focused actions:
215 M €
Overall
Budget,(to be
topped up)
• ADVENTURE
• INSIGHT
• NEST SUPPORT
PATHFINDER
Specific Activities Covering a Wider Field of Research New and Emerging Science and Technology
Implementation
Through standard FP6 instruments
• STREP: Specific Targeted Research Project. To provides funding for research activity.
• CA: Co-ordination Activity. To provides funding for networking and co-ordination.
• SSA: Specific Support Action. To provide funding for activities in direct support of NEST
Specific Activities Covering a Wider Field of Research New and Emerging Science and Technology
Evaluation
Peer review, following EC Guidelines on quality and fairness
• 1-stage or 2-stage submission scheme
• A panel of high-level scientists with a broad perspective and a good appreciation of multi-disciplinary issues
• With inputs from specialised remote referees
• Open and transparent feedback to proposers
Specific Activities Covering a Wider Field of Research New and Emerging Science and Technology
Key characteristics of NEST projects
• May fall in “any” area of research
• Research not falling within the Thematic Priorities
• Novel, possibly multi-disciplinary, possibly unconventional
• Well focused objectives, which are ambitious but clear, possibly risky, and consistent with the scale of the project
Specific Activities Covering a Wider Field of Research New and Emerging Science and Technology
Look ahead Second Call
• Call reference: FP6-2003-NEST-B
• Call date: expected December 2003
• Budget 30M€ (ADVENTURE, INSIGHT, NEST SUPPORT)
• No major changes w.r.t. 2003, (except enable CA for ADVENTURE)
• Closure dates: 14 April, mid-September
OPEN DOMAIN
Specific Activities Covering a Wider Field of Research New and Emerging Science and Technology
Look ahead Second Call
• Call reference: FP6-2003-NEST-B
• Call date: expected December 2003
• Budget 35M€
• Actions: “Synthetic biology”; “Tackling complexity in science”; “What it means to be human”
• Closure date: 14 April 2004
PATHFINDER
Specific Activities Covering a Wider Field of Research New and Emerging Science and Technology
INSIGHT: The mandate
“research to assess rapidly new discoveries or newly-observed phenomena, which may indicate emerging risks or problems of high importance to European society, and identify appropriate responses to them.”
Specific Activities Covering a Wider Field of Research New and Emerging Science and Technology
NEST Support: The specific areas
1 Promotion of interaction with the research community and the identification of opportunities for research under NEST
2 Analysing the conduct of highly advanced science and technology in the European context, and on a comparative basis, and the specific socio-cultural and economic factors affecting its performance
3 Analysing the dynamics of scientific and technological change, and management issues specific to high risk and interdisciplinary research
4 Improving the methodological basis for addressing systemic and societal vulnerabilities to science-based hazards
Specific Activities Covering a Wider Field of Research New and Emerging Science and Technology
PATHFINDER: The mandate
• Build and consolidate European capabilities in promising emerging (interdisciplinary) areas, for the long term.
• Actions of up to EUR 10m or more; several STREPS, one or more CAs
• Annual calls for proposals; several topics per call
• First call autumn 2003, closure April 2004
Specific Activities Covering a Wider Field of Research New and Emerging Science and Technology
• Build and consolidate European capabilities in promising emerging (interdisciplinary) areas, for the long term.
• Actions of up to EUR 10m or more; research projects (STREPs) + co-ordination action
• NEST should provide “early stage funding” - as ideas mature they should be translated into more conventional funding modes
• Approach must be inter-disciplinary and ambitious, even if initial funding is limited
PATHFINDER initiatives
Specific Activities Covering a Wider Field of Research New and Emerging Science and Technology
Identifying PATHFINDER topics
• Ideas must come “bottom-up” from the science base
• “Structured dialogue” with the research community:– information from research literature, foresight and
other strategic analysis, plus open invitations for ideas – definition of strategic orientations: areas where radical
opportunities arise from cross-disciplinary application of new methods and techniques.
– Progressive rounds of consultation with external experts and internally (thematic priorities) to explore candidate areas and to refine and focus in areas selected
Specific Activities Covering a Wider Field of Research New and Emerging Science and Technology
PATHFINDER TOPICS FOR 2004
• Tackling complexity in science: focus on complex problems and “generalisable” methods for simplifying and solving them.
• Synthetic biology: engineering new proteins, genes and (ultimately) organisms from scratch, to improve understanding of biological processes and to develop the knowledge and skill base for a true engineering discipline in biology
• What it means to be human : interdisciplinary research with focus on the unique characteristics of human cognitive capacities, their origins and differences from other organisms
Specific Activities Covering a Wider Field of Research New and Emerging Science and Technology
Outline
• ERA and FP6 – brief review
• NEST – what is it and how does it fit into FP6?
• Excellence and convergence - the NEST implementation perspective
Specific Activities Covering a Wider Field of Research New and Emerging Science and Technology
NEST - impacts on convergence?
Divergence? • Instabilities due to positive feedback from competitive
funding
• Uneven starting points
Convergence?• Transnational collaborative research
• Few pre-conditions, limited “inertia”
Specific Activities Covering a Wider Field of Research New and Emerging Science and Technology
Uneven starting points
Life Sciences Publications
25%
75%
11 Mem ber States
4 Mem ber States
(Source : Benchmarking Study)
GDP
28%
72%4 Member States
11 Member States
Specific Activities Covering a Wider Field of Research New and Emerging Science and Technology
Suggestions for management
• Don’t consider activities like NEST as zero-sum games
• Don’t dilute or confuse specific objectives
• Don’t ask researchers to carry policy responsibilities
• Do improve “equality of opportunity”
• Do establish the right “policy mix” including complementary measures (eg “capacity building”)
• Do ensure “joint ownership” between Community and member states
Specific Activities Covering a Wider Field of Research New and Emerging Science and Technology
Improving equality of opportunity
• Access
• Awareness of NEST
• Transparency of resources/ expertise (partner search, advice…)
• Peer review
• Avoidance of implicit bias
Specific Activities Covering a Wider Field of Research New and Emerging Science and Technology
Peer review: avoiding bias due to conservatism
Potential problems for NEST:• Avoiding conservatism in assessing ambition/novelty
• Avoiding gender bias
• Avoiding “reputation” bias
• Possible solutions:
• Multi-disciplinary approach
• Two stage proposals - anonymous first stage
Specific Activities Covering a Wider Field of Research New and Emerging Science and Technology
Country distribution
of participants(all proposals)Country participation (all participants)
37
14
178
35
60
98
9
131
1
40
28
1019
38
116
38
16
0 0
17
6 3
18
2
22
4 2 0
53
1116
92 1 1
9 126
0
20
40
60
80
100
120
140
160
180
200
BE DE ES IE LU AT FIUK IL LI BG CZ
HU LV PL SITR
CNUSA
Countries
Nu
mb
er o
f p
arti
cip
ants
Specific Activities Covering a Wider Field of Research New and Emerging Science and Technology
Country distribution of
participants (retained proposals)Country distribution of participants (retained proposals)
0
5
10
15
20
25
30
35
BE DK DE EL ES FR IT NL AT PT FI SV UK CH IL NO CZ EE HU LT LV PL RO SI RU USA
Countries
Nu
mb
ers
of
pa
rtic
ipa
nts
Specific Activities Covering a Wider Field of Research New and Emerging Science and Technology
Changing context
• Enlargement + Developing reality of the ERA
• Institutional diversity: new players, new forms of competition
• Greater emphasis on basic research
• new dynamics for negotiation/decision in the EU
Specific Activities Covering a Wider Field of Research New and Emerging Science and Technology
Final observations
• Excellence and inclusiveness must be pursued together
• ERA provides a broader and more flexible basis to create appropriate policies and programmes
• Diversity and experimentation are needed to create “self-organised coherence”
• Programme objectives, implementation modalities and management, matter as well as the policy mix
• Joint effort is required at Community and national level (policy, NCPs, others…)