The latest additions to this webpage:

"Research Europe": Game changer?

Opinion article on the implications of a prospective EU-enlargement on research policy, published in Research Europe, Issue 593 (12.10.2023

"Research Europe": Lump sums and price tags

Opinion Article on lump sum funding - and value for money, published in Research Europe, Issue 561 (28.04.2022)

"Research Europe": Paper Tiger

Opinion article on the Pact for Research and Innovation, published in Research Europe, Issue 546 (5.8.2021)

"Research Europe": What went wrong?

Comment article on the Horizon Europe budget, published in "Research Europe", Issue 530 (26.11.2020)

Some pictures from my train journey through Moravia (Eastern part of the Czech Republic) in July 2020

(Short text in DE only)

"Research Europe": What's in a name? -EU’s innovation bubble overshadows research

Comment article published in "Research Europe", Issue 504 (26.09.2019)

Some pictures from my recent rail journey to the eastern part of Slovakia (Kosice, High Tatra, ...)

(Short text in DE only)

"Research Europe": Broaden the horizon - EU research policy risks becoming a support service for the Commission

Comment published in "Research Europe", Issue 495 (18.04.2019)

"Coupling research and innovation in a single programme might become a much more challenging task than it seems at first glance"

Interview with "Net4Society Issues January 2019", the e-magazine published by Net4Society, the international network of National Contact Points for the Societal Challenge 6 ("Europe in a changing world: inclusive, innovative and reflective societies") in Horizon 2020.

THINK Piece 2/2018

Monetary distribution effects of Horizon 2020 (up to mid-2018): Some remarkable developments …

Following-up on earlier analysis for Horizon 2020 (THINK Pieces 1/2016 and 2/2017), this paper looks at Horizon 2020 in terms of monetary redistribution between Member States for the period from 2014 up to mid-2018. The paper is structured in four parts: The first two are of a more technical nature and provide a description of the data used and a mainly descriptive overview on the key findings. The third part presents a closer look on how the overall picture has evolved over the last decade from the beginning of FP7 until mid-2018. Finally, part four presents an estimation of the participation patterns over the last year (from mid-2017 to mid-2018), which highlights some remarkable developments...

Some impressions from recent train journeys through Moravia, the eastern part of the Czech Republic (Text in DE only)

THINK Piece 1/2018

A closer look at the budget figures for Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe

Since the European commission presented its proposal for the next Framework Programme “Horizon Europe” for the period from 2021 to 2028, the proposed budget is a very controversial issue.

This paper is an attempt to put this debate on a more solid ground by trying to calculate truly comparable budget figures for the initial Horizon 2020 proposal from 2011, the actual Horizon 2020 regulation from 2013 and the new Horizon Europe proposal. The results show a somewhat different overall picture compared to the media coverage and public debate so far.

"Research Europe": Horizon Europe needs the numbers to match its words

Article for the Online Version of "Research Europe"

Some thoughts about keywords for FP9

During the year 2017, the debate about the design of the next Framework Programme has evolved quite rapidly, notably following the presentation of the Interim Evaluation Report for Horizon 2020. At this relatively early phase of the discussion the focus is not yet on detailed contents and concrete figures, but rather on the broad concepts and key objectives for the European Research and Innovation Programme after 2020.
Against this background it seems timely and useful to shed some light at three keywords dominating the current debate:

THINK Piece 3/2017

Impact

THINK Piece 4/2017

Missions

THINK Piece 5/2017

Innovation

"Research Europe": Brexit paper is a good start, but moch more is needed

Article in the 14.09.2017 edition of "Research Europe"

THINK Piece 2/2017

Monetary distribution effects of Horizon 2020 – An updated analysis (June 2017)

Following-up on a first analysis for Horizon 2020 (THINK Piece 1/2016), this paper looks at Horizon 2020 in terms of monetary redistribution between Member States for the period from 2014 up to May 2017. The paper is structured in four parts: Part one provides a description of the data used, whereas part two consists of a mainly descriptive overview on the key findings, for reasons of comparability presented in the same format as the previous analysis. The third part presents a closer look on how the “market shares” in FP funding have developed over the recent years for the six largest Member States. The final part presents just four simple conclusions from the analytical findings.

THINK Piece 1/2017

Splendor and misery – Some reflections on the role of Public Consultations in European Research Policy

Public Consultations are an important tool to make the shaping of European policies more transparent and to foster public participation. This paper presents a closer look at the use of Public Consultations for European Research Policy. Despite all good intentions and a remarkable mobilization of respondents from all over Europe, a closer analysis also highlights some important shortfalls of the current practice. The final chapter presents some reflections on how to tackle some of the problems identified and to achieve an adequate interpretation of the responses received.

Evaluation of European Research and Innovation Programmes - Progress made and open issues

Presentation at the Conference "Evaluation of Innovations and Innovations in Evaluation" in Vilnius/Lithuania

Do we need "perfect proposals"? - A different look at Horizon 2020

Presentation at  the EARMA Annual Conference in La Valetta/Malta

"Research Europe": Making Horizon 2020 proposals easier risks creating more work

Article in the 26.01.2017 edition of "Research Europe"

Social Sciences and Humanities in the Framework Programmes

Presentation at the Conference "Interdisciplinary Futures" in Lisbon