science & technology cooperation...

Science & Technology Cooperation Workshop

co-organised by the European Union Delegation to Thailand

and the National Science and Technology Development Agency (NSTDA)

Sofitel Bangkok Sukhumvit Hotel

11 June 2013

Overview of Bilateral European Union – Thailand S&T Cooperation Programmes – synergies and divergences

Christoph Elineau, Tec 2 Short term expert

Outline

• Background and Methodology

• Observations

– Scientific output

– Cooperation mechanisms

• Recommendations

Background/Methodology

• Short term expertise in the framework of the Thailand-EU Cooperation project (TEC 2)

• Within TEC 2 focus on S&T cooperation, with 2 subtopics: – EU-Thailand S&T Cooperation in the areas of policy, researcher

mobility, and research funding. Evaluation of bilateral programs in S&T cooperation.

– Science for the Public/Science for the Youth. Monitoring and Assessment of Programs in EU member states (value for Thailand)

• Timeline/Methodology: – Two mission to Thailand (Sept. 2012; April 2013)

– Desk-based research

– Presentation and Feedback

Observations:

Scientific output

Scientific output and collaboration patterns

• Steep increase in scientific output in Thailand in the

past 10 years

• International collaboration one of the key drivers

• Scientific cooperation between Thailand and European

researchers is increasing exponentially

• Dominating cooperation partners (UK, F, GER)

• Dominating cooperation topics (Health, Food&Ag,

Environment)

Scientific output

Source: Innovation in Southeast Asia,OECD 2012 (ISI, Web of Science data)

Scientific output Articles co-published by authors from ASEAN and EU,

and ASEAN and other major players(*)

0

1000

2000

3000

4000

5000

6000

2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010

year

count

ASEAN / India ASEAN / EU (incl. AC + CC) ASEAN / Australia

ASEAN / China ASEAN / Japan ASEAN / South Korea

ASEAN / USA ASEAN / Taiwan

Source: Spotlight on : S&T cooperation between Europe and Southeast Asia; SEA-

EU-NET report) (combined Web of Science and Scopus data)

Scientific output

2000 2005 2010

ALL 364 1011 1780

UK 132 328 476

France 36 119 250

Germany 41 119 218

The Netherlands 32 67 113

Switzerland 21 49 104

Followed by Sweden, Austria, Italy, Belgium

n° of co-publications Thailand/EU reseearchers (2000, 2005, 2010)



Health Food

&Ag

Env ICT Nano-

tech

Ind.

Tech

Energy

Thailand 1.409 611 525 42 114 13 137

Singapore 975 511 253 130 308 25 108

Malaysia 284 295 299 36 86 16 62

Indonesia 318 300 411 8 14 0 44

Vietnam 129 46 52 3 0 1 2

n° of co-publications ASEAN countries/EU in thematic fields (2000,-2010)



Scientific output

Observations:

Cooperation mechanisms

• Scientific cooperation supported by a variety of

different collaboration mechanisms:

– Multi-annual bilateral cooperation programmes

based on institutional agreements

– Representations/Offices of EU Research Institutions

– Cooperation between individual academic

institutions

– Multilateral Cooperation Schemes/Programs (FP7)

Characteristics Cooperation mechanisms Thematic priorities

UK-Thai

Partners in

Science

Programme

2 year cooperation

programme

Broad set of cooperation

mechanisms:

Scientific workshops,

Researcher exchange

Joint S&T

Science for the public programs

Lecture series

Health/Infectious diseases

Life Sciences/Healthcare

Climate change and

renewable energy

technologies

Food and agricultural

sciences

French-Thai

Cooperation

Programme

Broad support to

different aspects of

S&T cooperation

3 types of cooperation

mechanisms:

Joint Research projects

Junior research fellowship

programme (Post-doc)

Scholarships for PhD and

Master students

No predefined thematic

scope. Majority of projects in:

Health,

Food/Agriculture

Material Science

German-Thai

S&T

Cooperation

Cooperation

agreement based on

joint Terms of

Reference

•Project-based research mobility

•2 years cooperation projects

Health/Infectious diseases

Renewable Energy

Food/Agriculture/Biotech

Mass transportation/

Logistics



• Multitude of cooperation agreements between Thai and European universities: – Mahidol University lists cooperation with 23 universities in the EU

(Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, the Netherlands, Sweden, UK)

– Prince of Songkla University lists cooperation with 46 universities in the EU (Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, UK)

– Thammasat University lists cooperation with 36 universities sin the EU (Austria, Belgium, Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Hungary, the Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, UK)

• Cooperation profiles of Universities an aggregation of individual interest/initiative of researchers/research institutes

• Majority of agreements focus on cooperation in Education (exchange of students, joint degrees)

• S&T cooperation increasingly featured


Source: CORDA database (Februray 2013)


• Currently a transition phase – Development cooperation funded schemes are phase out

– New S&T cooperation programs/schemes are set up

– Inconsistencies in objectives for int’l cooperation remain (capacity development vs. research excellence)

• Clear focus on few research cooperation fields – Health, Food&Agriculture, Environment

– Little cooperation in industry-related fields (Automotive, Electronics)

• Cooperation tools/mechanisms partly meet the demands of Thai researchers

– Broad offer to initiate contacts between EU and Thai researchers (scientific workshops, matchmaking, etc..)

– Limited support to establish long-term R&D institutional cooperation


• Cooperation mechanisms support each other – Bilateral relations reflected in FP7 consortia

• Different bilateral programs are running in parallel (few interlinkages, no institutionalised information exchange)

• Unique position for FP7 (supporting Thai researchers in large, world-class applied R&D consortia)

• Thai research universities start to develop int’l cooperation strategies

Recommendations

• Bridge between academia and industry

• Fund long-term cooperation projects

• Adapt implementation mechanisms

• Broaden cooperation patterns with Europe,

within ASEAN

• Enlarge cooperation topics, future collaborative

schemes

Contact details at the DLR:

Christoph Elineau

International Bureau of the BMBF

c/o German Aerospace Center

Heinrich-Konen-Str. 1

53227 Bonn

fone: +49 (0)228 3821-1437

Fax: +49 (0) 228 / 3821-1444

E-mail: [email protected]

www.internationales-buero.de

Thank you very much for your

attention.

science & technology cooperation...

Documents