Transcript Slide 1

Financing of Research and
Innovation in Europe’s Universities
An EUA study funded by
the European Commission, DG Research
Principal researchers:
Bernadette Conraths
and Hanne Smidt Sodergard
EUA workshop Research Management, Barcelona, 18-19 June 2004
Aims of the study
Provide an overview on main trends and
developments in the financing of research and
innovation in European universities, key players in the
creation of a European Research Area (ERA)
Focus on institutional issues and concerns which have
been less researched up to now
Present key findings to the EU Conference in Liège:
« The Europe of Knowledge 2020: A vision for
university-based research and innovation »
(25-28 April 2004)
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Our methodology
Four steps:
Stocktaking
Questionnaires to National Rectors Conferences (enlarged EU
+ CH, N, Iceland) on national context
Survey of research oriented universities
42 sent, 39 returned, from 23 countries
Areas covered: governance, strategy, funding and sources,
allocation and expenditure, innovation, policies, priorities,
management, staff, expectations;
Follow-up interviews with 19 universities with focus on
governance, management, innovation and culture change
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The Good News...
The high response,in a tight time frame, indicates
the high importance of the subject to the
institutions
their great readiness to collaborate
and to contribute to the European level
debate
Common denominators: state of flux and change !
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Major Challenges (in guise of bad news...)
Diversity
A vast variety of systems, differing from country to
country, region to region, institution to institution
Data
lack, incompatibility, fragmentation and major
variances
Terminology
Language and definitions
i.e. Funding sources, funding types, basic vs. applied research,
innovation...
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Main (interrelated) change drivers
More competitive grant funding
(due to stagnating or shrinking government/public
funds)
The gradual granting of more autonomy to HE
institutions accompanied by the pressure to diversify
funding sources
The steering of public research agendas through
specific programmes
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Financial issues, cont.
Relatively little overall change on average in the total
income from main sources (public/ government,
business, international, 1995-2001)
Relatively stable government income, higher income
from of other sources, but also high volatility
Significant increases in institutional R&I expenditure
Factors of highest impact in the next five years:
Levels of external funding, change of sources,
interinstitutional collaboration
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Financial issues
International funding
rather low (average 7%, max 29%)
but high expectations for additional funding and
collaborative opportunities (especially in CEE)
scepticism towards “Brussels” bureaucracy and
“one-size-fits-all”
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Key Findings cont. Business funding
Low, with high variances (0 to 46 % - average 4%)
Projects with industry ranked highest for strategies
and instruments to support innovation (triple helix
model of Sweden and Finland)
collaborative research with industry ranked rather low
when prioritising strategies for supporting research
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Institutional issues
Governance
Policies and strategies
Funding and costing
Innovation
Management
Staff / Human Resources Development
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Governance: a bottom-up-top-down
development
Structure change:
More autonomy
= accountability
Equally high ranking for
decentralised vs. centrally
defined policy
Centres of excellence
More steering through
Vice-Rectors for research,
Councils, Committees
Balancing institutional
team work and individual
researcher freedom
Culture change:
Collegial towards
entrepreneurial
Review of relations
New negotiation ground
Acceptance of more
competition
More risk and responsibility
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Policies and strategies:
building critical mass and networks
The race for critical scientific mass
Research strong universities receive the bulk of
funding
Less strong universities need extended networks to
build complementarity
Internal funding to
 balance external funds (“solidarity effect”)
 Interdisciplinary projects
 Doctoral programmes / recruitment of scientific staff
The issue of overhead charges
Research Offices
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Funding and costing
Funding
Third party funding
substantially increased
More dynamics and proactive
acquisition culture
Dangers for long term
sustainability
Volatility
Dependency
Career development
Skills issues
Costing
Unsatisfactory situation:
Revenues don’t cover costs
No cost transparency
Review of research costs as
part of an overhaul of the
institutional accounting
systems (EURAB)
UK universities to charge
100% cost
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Innovation: High activity-low funding-no culture
Many activities underway, many still in an early trial
and error fashion (UK very advanced)
Technical Universities have a special status
Issue of “value chain” in-house or external
Low funding, mostly university+public (regional, local)
Innovation culture has a niche life in comprehensive
universities
Lack of concepts and strategy
Little quality or performance evaluation
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Management: high need for professionalisation
Skill development
General urgent need for
better support to research
activities
New funding reality needs
different skills
Communication, marketing,
Quality and
performance
Vast majority of institutions
uses the traditional quality
and performance
indicators,
i.e.publications, citations,
previous funding, Phd graduates,
negotiation, project management...
Waste of scientific capacity??
Research Offices
Paradox: great need, low
priority for
training&development
Little evidence of impact
evaluation or process
quality control
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Staff Issues: Growing scientific capacity
in adverse conditions
Attraction and development of Phd Students
Aging academic community, doctoral programmes (CEE)
Problems of retention and career development
contracts, salaries, work conditions
Lack of professional staff
attraction and development
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Recommendations
Data collection (national and European level)
Inter-institutional cooperation in networks
European funding sources (possibly through ERC)
Reliable funding resources
Improve management of research (skills, financial
transparency, flexibility)
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Questions in guise of conclusion
How much commonality of HE data and indicators do we
need on a European level ?
Which form of European cooperation can best enhance (and
challenge) European HE autonomy and excellence in
research ?
Can and should a common ground for financing and costing
be achieved ? How ?
How to improve the management of research ?
How to secure a European research career structure ?
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Questions in guise of conclusions, cont.
How to introduce an institutional research strategy which
encompasses both the individual researcher’s freedom and
the institutional strategy
How to obtain reliable funding streams from different levels
while increasing competitive bidding
How to improve/introduce the triple helix
How to create an innovation culture throughout the
universities (is innovation by definition related to the hard
sciences?)
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