European Commission has set up Task Force to help maximise the potential of the European Research Council

The European Commission has set up a Task Force to explore options for the future of the European Research Council (ERC). The Task Force is chaired by the Director General of DG Research, Robert-Jan Smits. This follows nearly four years of successful work by the ERC since it was established by the Commission in 2007.

Research, Innovation and Science Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn said: "The ERC has been a great success already and we need to learn from experience and build on the excellent work already done. The Task Force will help us take some final decisions on how best to equip the ERC to play the key role it will have in the Innovation Union and in the Eighth Framework Programme."The Task Force was set up at the request of the ERC Scientific Council, as announced in its statement in November (see link below), and is the follow-up of last year's thorough Review of the ERC's Structures and Mechanisms, carried out by an expert panel (see link below). The Task Force includes participants from the relevant Commission departments and representatives from the ERC Scientific Council, including its President Prof. Helga Nowotny. There will also be two external members, Prof. Vaira Vīķe-Freiberga, former President of the Latvian Republic and former chair of the Review panel of the ERC, and Prof. Ernst-Ludwig Winnacker, former ERC Secretary General.

Building on last year's review recommendations, the Task Force will examine the remaining unresolved issues and explore possible governance options to guarantee the long term stability of the ERC structure within the European Research Area and in the context of the new Lisbon Treaty.

Presently, the ERC has a dual structure with a Scientific Council, composed of 22 top scientists, setting the scientific strategy, and an Executive Agency, in charge of implementing the operations. The ERC has a budget of € 7.5 billion from the "IDEAS" programme, part of the Seventh Framework Programme for Research, for the period 2007-2013.

The Task Force has already held an initial meeting and aims to conclude its work within six months, hence well before the decision on the next Framework Programme (FP8) is taken, to allow ample time for the Council and the European Parliament to hold a thorough debate about FP8. The Commission will in the first quarter of 2011 launch an open consultation on all issues connected to FP8, with a formal proposal to the Council and Parliament to follow towards the end of the year. FP8 will begin in January 2014.

News source: EU Press Room link: article

FP7 making 'significant contribution' to European science, experts say

'FP7 is on course and is clearly making a significant contribution to European science and the development of the European Research Area.' This is one of the key messages to emerge from the newly-published interim evaluation of the EU's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7).

The report, drawn up by a panel of 10 independent experts who spent 6 months analysing FP7, highlights the programme's many successes. Among other things, the experts praise FP7's breadth and scope, citing in particular the impressive numbers of researchers involved, the geographical spread of teams and the range of topics covered. The group also welcomes the fact that 'the principle of excellence in project selection is largely achieved'. In the Cooperation Programme, the quality of proposals is generally high and top researchers are receiving funding. The European Research Council (ERC) has also succeeded in attracting talented scientists to Europe. The Marie Curie schemes are also praised for their contribution to researcher mobility and training.

Finally, there is evidence that the EU's research programmes, and FP7 in particular, are having a positive 'leverage' effect in promoting research efforts at national level and in industry. Despite these successes, however, the experts find considerable room for improvement and set out 10 recommendations to guide the European Commission as it embarks on the second half of FP7 and lays the groundwork for the Eighth Framework Programme (FP8), which is due to start in 2014. Perhaps unsurprisingly, one of the recommendations concerns simplification. The experts acknowledge that there have been some improvements under FP7. Nevertheless, many procedures continue to be 'unwieldy or disproportionate to the very marginal benefits they provide in terms of control of public spending,' the experts write. Small businesses in particular are put off participating in FP7 due to the complexity of the procedures and the delays in contracts.

The experts call for a 'quantum leap' in simplification, and recommend that the European Commission implement the simplification measures set out in a recent Communication on the subject. The group also implores the European Commission to adopt a more trust-based and risk-tolerant approach to the issue. On the financial front, the experts state that the level of funding should be maintained at the very least. They point out that investing in research is essential if the EU is to achieve the Europe 2020 goals of turning Europe into a smart, sustainable and inclusive economy. Further steps are also needed to overcome fragmentation in research, particularly in areas where cross-border cooperation is essential for success. In addition, the 'Grand Challenges' should increasingly be at the heart of EU research policy, starting with the second part of FP7 and continuing into FP8, the experts recommend.

The experts also call for more open calls in the Cooperation Programme for the remainder of FP7. However, they also suggest that to avoid confusion, there should be a moratorium on the introduction of new instruments until the existing ones have been properly evaluated. Some recommendations concern groups that are currently under-represented in FP7. Women remain in the minority in the research community, and the experts write that the European Commission should 'reinvigorate its approach to promoting female scientists' and 'galvanise Member States to address gender gaps'. Researchers in countries that joined the EU in 2004 and 2007 as well as some other Member States are less successful at obtaining FP7 funding than their counterparts elsewhere in Europe. Boosting connections between the research framework programmes and the EU's structural funds could help here, as could the research infrastructures budget line and the People Programme, which aims to develop researchers' potential.

News source: CORDIS link: article