Synergies in the research and innovation funding in Europe
28 July 2022
Prague, 7-8 July
On July 7-8, 2022, a conference on synergy in funding research and innovation in Europe was held in Prague, organized by the Czech Republic, which holds the Presidency of the Council of the EU, in which Coimbra Group envoys from Charles University Kristýna Kolinová and Bulat Nigmedzianov took part.
The conference addressed the topic of synergy in funding research and innovation. It is important to note that synergy is one of the key priorities of the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU in the field of research, as it is one of the main conditions for bridging the gap in research and reducing the gap in innovation in the EU for the maximum use of scientific and technical cooperation in the European area. Although the Member States and the European Commission have already made a lot of efforts to use the full potential of synergies to increase the intensity of funding for research and innovation in the EU, exploiting the full potential of synergy remains a challenge. In order to resolve this situation and determine the further actions of the Member States and the European Commission, this conference was organized, the results of which are presented in the form of the “Prague Declaration on Synergy in Financing Research and Innovation in Europe”.
The flagship conference, chaired by the Czech Republic, built on existing best practices and exchanges of experience and provided a high-level forum to discuss shortcomings in synergy and its practical implementation. Among the main guests and speakers were Vladimír Balaš, Minister of Education, Youth and Sports (Czechia), Helena Langšádlová, Minister of Science, Research and Innovation (Czechia), Mariya Gabriel, Commissioner for Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth (European Commision) and Anna Panagopoulou, Director for European Research Area and Innovation (European Commission). Together with the representatives of the Member States and the European Commission, they discussed their views, exchanged opinions, and identified further actions that would remove existing barriers and promote more effective interaction.
Among the main topics were:
- Synergies as a top horizontal priority of the European research and innovation policy-making approaches
- Synergies in the Context of the European Missions
- Political debates and Parallel break-out sessions which were divided into sub-themes: 1) Research infrastructure 2) EU Cohesion Policy Funds 3) Innovation 4) European Partnerships and Missions.
The conference presented examples of successful synergies in various fields as well as one them were highlighted by Claire Giri – Director General of Research and Innovation (Ministry of Higher Education, Research and Innovation of France) about the pilot project of “European Universities”. The European Universities Initiative currently supports 41 university alliances that are piloting various models for innovative, exemplary, inclusive, and world-class universities of the future of Europe. The best universities in Europe are collaborating together and supported both by Erasmus+ and Horizon 2020 to develop the research dimension. This is a great example of the synergy between the two European programmes and the interaction of national educational systems.
The conference often referred to the guidance that was published by the European Commission on July 5, 2022, which contains all the information about new opportunities to maximize synergies between the programs of Horizon Europe and the European Regional Development Fund.