Europe needs to improve how it coordinates investments into cutting-edge research hubs or risk losing global standing, the European Commission warns in a new strategy.
The strategy document, released on Monday, highlights problems with funding research infrastructure that the Commission suggests are making Europe less attractive to foreign researchers.
The EU’s executive also wants to improve the conditions for large-scale research hubs like CERN, the enormous particle collider headquartered in Geneva.
“Slow decision-making on pan-European research infrastructure investments is weakening Europe’s global position,” the Commission wrote, describing current investments as fragmented and lacking a common vision.
The strategy comes at a time when the EU has spied an opportunity to attract leading researchers from the US, where the Trump administration has slashed funding for research. Although, so far, EU data shows US applicants to the bloc’s flagship Marie Skłodowska-Curie programme rose only very slightly this year compared to applicants from elsewhere.
The new Commission strategy calls for the EU to play “a stronger role”, together with EU countries and other involved organisations in directing investments – pushing for closer alignment of EU, national and regional funding pots to drive for greater impact.
The strategy singles out the organisation running Europe’s leading supercomputers, the EuroHPC Joint Undertaking, as an example of successful collaboration. It also reveals that the Commission’s Joint Research Centre is preparing “a series of flagship projects” for developing and testing innovative technologies.
(nl)
