The increasing internationalisation of European research

Chloë Somers Research Councils UK

26 June 2013

Why international engagement?

• Strategic approach to international co-operation helps:– develop (access to) large-scale high quality facilities– increase mobility– build capacity– knowledge exchange– enhance impact of research publications– increase inward investment– tackle ‘grand challenges’

RCUK Overseas

• UK Research Office (UKRO) (established 1984 and located in Brussels, to promote UK participation in EU programmes - first European country to do this)

HEI and counterpart subscribers

• RCUK China (2007)• RCUK US (2007)• RCUK India (2008)

Role of the Overseas Teams

• Gather intelligence on the strategic and research priorities of major overseas funding agencies and institutions

• Build partnerships with overseas funding agencies to align strategic priorities and set the scene for sustainable joint research programmes

• Help to overcome institutional barriers and to form productive relationships with the research base

• Increase the RCUK presence and work with other UK stakeholders in-county to promote UK research and its impact

EU drivers for international co-operation

• EU’s drivers to engage in international cooperation (as a single entity) are:– support to policy dialogue and priority setting– capacity building– networking and partnership building– “speak with one voice”– set common rules and regulations– support capabilities in developing countries with more

impacts due to opportunities of scale– assessment and monitoring– dissemination and outreach

Support available

• Institutional support• UK funding

– within grants– partnering awards– joint calls

• ‘Money Follows Researcher’• ‘Money Follows Co-operation’• Lead Agency agreements• Bilateral/multilateral programmes• European Union funding

Internationalising European research: key issues

• Must be seen as extension of existing activities, rather than separate

• Principle of variable geometry must be applied• Recognition of differences between research

communities• Alignment of policy with funding (e.g. SET plan)• Need to remain agile and responsive• No compromise on excellence• Any strategy must be developed in partnership

Council conclusions: May 2013

• Underlines the importance of preparing “multi-annual roadmaps for co-operation with the EU's strategic partners, which will identify priorities and instruments for activities within Horizon 2020 for international co-operation on research and innovation.”

• States that Member States must be involved from an early stage in this process

• Calls on the Commission to present the first roadmaps by the end of 2013

EU activities: looking ahead

• EU instruments have allowed Member States to experiment ambitiously with bilateral and multilateral collaboration for many years

• Approaches becoming common practice• Underpinning success of ERA• Demonstrate to international partners experience of

working collaboratively– ERA-Nets: RCUK involved in 20+ current ERA-Nets

– Joint Programming Initiatives (JPIs): UK involved in all ten JPIs

Example: ERA-CAPs

• Co-ordinating Action in Plant Sciences• 3 year ERA-Net, started 2011• Built on success of ERA-Plant Genomics• Arose from need to develop EU-wide plant science

research structure• 19 partners, inc. Canada and New Zealand• 7 observers, inc. India, Japan, USA• 1st joint call:

– 110 proposals– 500 research teams– 21 European and non-European countries

Example: FACCE JPI

Belmont Forum

+FACCE-JPI

Multiscalar interactions for drivers of Food Security and Land-use Change€1.75M

BBSRC ESRC NERC

€10M+In-kind14 Funders

Alignment and added value: national to

global scales

Example: Open Research Area

• Agreement launched in 2009 between funders in UK, FR, DE, NL, USA providing joint funding for researchers

• Grew out of NORFACE ERA-Net (launched 2004)• NSF joined in 2012 for third call• ORA principles used to support wider international

collaboration with India and China (in development)– First Indian-European Social Science Research Networking

project launched in Aug 2012: six projects awarded funding

– Early discussion with the NSF (China) about a possible thematic call based on the ORA model

– Thematic Open Research Area in Social Media: discussions to develop joint activities with European ORA members

Science Europe

• 51 Science Europe member organisations from 26 countries

• Science Europe represents funders and performers

• Promotes collective interests of members

• Promotes co-operation at policy and activity level:– 6 Scientific Committees– Working Groups on key policy areas (e.g. cross-border

collaboration)

• Professor Paul Boyle, RCUK International Champion, is currently President of Science Europe

Science Europe: international outlook

• Ideal forum to work with international partners as a collaborative ‘bloc’

• Facility to collaborate while retaining diversity• Bottom-up approach• Importance of engaging internationally with many

key issues: open access, research integrity, data…

• Role on Global Research Council

Thank you!

http://www.rcuk.ac.uk/international/

chloe.somers@rcuk.ac.uk