Interview: 'Pan-European research still a distant dream' [fr] [de]
"So far, the European Research Area (ERA) has been a concept, we have not had it for real. The main barrier for a 'real ERA' is philosophical: we still think national," says Bertil Andersson, the outgoing chief executive of the European Science Foundation in an interview with EurActiv.com.
"European research is still very fragmented and ERA is currently more a concept than something real," argues Professor Bertil Andersson, who in three weeks will leave Europe for Asia to take on the role of director of Singapore Technical University (NTU). "Only a small amount, some 5-10%, of all European research money is pan-European - the rest is national."
"There is a philosophical barrier to more pan-European research: we still think national, even in the small countries," said Andersson, adding that creation of knowledge can, however, never be nationally based.
"Pan-European research, going either through pan-European systems like the European Science Foundation (ESF) or the European Commission, is really important only for the smaller countries," said Andersson, suggesting that 'the four big ones' - the UK, Germany, France and Italy - do not really need pan-European research as they can already compete with third countries.
Professor Andersson welcomes Research Commissioner Janez Potočnik's initiative to launch a review of ERA in the spring 2007. "One limitation of the current EU's framework programmes is that they put money into too safe projects. I would like the new ERA to find a formula allowing more risk in research funding."
"The American system is very good at funding new, risky projects and that is one of the reasons why American get more Nobel Prizes," Andersson explained, adding that the Nobel Prize is about discovery and that a certain amount of risk in research-funding is necessary. However: "European funding systems do not promote risk."
"This risky-project funding is also about accepting the fact that scientists can fail," he added. According to him, scientists are "allowed to fail" in the US but not in Europe.
Andersson added that the framework programmes have perhaps been instrumental in creating European thinking and common projects and in bridging private-public partnerships, but that it is hard to tell whether this has been cost-effective.
To read the full interview with professor Andersson, click here.
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