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Horizon 2020 falls shorton global participationCommission urged to support involvement of non-EU countriesT HE EUROPEAN COMMISSION has failed to promote non-EU involvement in Horizon 2020 and must devise a

clear plan to prevent a further decline in participation,advisers and participants have said.

In 2012, the Commission announced that it would

no longer automatically fund the participation of coun-tries including the BRICs—Brazil, Russia, India andChina—and instead expects them to pay their own way

unless the collaboration is “strategically important” toEU research performance.

But the plan appears to have backfired as interna-

tional participation has dipped well below the 5 percent level recorded between 2007 and 2013. Alan

Cross, the deputy head of Horizon 2020 policy in the

Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, tolda research management event in Brussels on 10 March

that preliminary figures from the first year of Horizon2020 showed a 40 per cent decrease in non-EU partici-pation, compared with Framework 7.

The Commission has previously pledged to increaseinternational involvement in Horizon 2020—and any

decline will have serious consequences for the pro-gramme’s success as research becomes increasinglyglobalised. Commission advisers and national rep-

resentatives say the Commission urgently needs tore-evaluate its measures and reverse the trend.

“The strong links and relations with countries devel-oped in the past need to be built on, not broken down,”says Katherine Isaacs, the head of European pro-

grammes and an adviser on international cooperationat the University of Pisa in Italy. “It’s a terrible waste.”

Dan Andrée, the chairman of the EU’s Strategic

Forum for International Science and TechnologyCooperation, says the Commission should extend its

list of priority topics for which the BRIC countries canreceive funding. Meanwhile, the drop in participationfrom Russia is likely to be a result of political issues

as well as a loss of funding, he says—meaning theCommission could also consider steps to mitigate the

effects of foreign policy on scientific cooperation. According to Manfred Horvat, the chairman of the

Commission’s advisory group on international coop-

eration in Horizon 2020, the Commission should focuson translating its strategic aims into concrete detailsin the 2016-17 work programmes. As it stands, there is

not much information on how its international strat-egy will be implemented, he says, and the Commissionmust guarantee “the right instruments, actions and

research proposals” to help participants.The Commission has advised the BRIC countries

to set up specific funds to finance their participa-

tion. But countries with a change in funding statusare not the only ones struggling to access the pro-

gramme. Moon Jung Kang, a researcher at the Korea

Institute of Science and Technology in Brussels,says the Commission should increase its use of soft

approaches, including networking and support servic-es. Between 2008 and 2013, South Korea participatedin four EU capacity-building programmes, but these

 were all project-based initiatives. “It’s a pity that allthe joint calls, communication channels and help-

desks have to be stopped after each project,” she says. Andrée says the Commission is considering setting

up a support facility for non-EU members who want

to take part in the 2016-17 work programmes. Andat a ScienceBusiness event in Brussels on 24 March,

Kostas Glinos, the head of strategy for internationalcooperation at DG Research, said the Commission wasseeking additional mechanisms to set up joint pro-

 jects with China and the United States. However, aCommission spokeswoman said that no details will beavailable until the results of the first annual review of

Horizon 2020, due before June, are confirmed.The message from advisers is that,

 whatever str ategy the Commis sio nopts for, it needs to be communicatedclearly and with accompanying prac-

tical details—or people will perceivethat the Commission is not fully com-

mitted to the issue. “There has to be aclear message from the top that this isbeing taken seriously,” says Horvat.

2 April 2015Updated daily at www.ResearchResearch.com

by Jenny Maukola  jemnews@ResearchResearch.com

Every new opportunityfor research fundingfrom every sponsor inthe EU, US & beyond

Independent news

Direct from Brussels

Issue No. 406

Flagship EU projects comeunder fire – p2, 4, 5

ERA Science needs diversity – p6

Germany  How R&D subsidieskept the country afloat – p8

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Edited by Colin MacilwainEurope@ResearchResearch.comTel: +44 20 7216 6500Fax: +44 20 7216 6501Unit 111, 134-146 Curtain Road, London EC2A 3AR

2 editorial  Research Europe, 2 April 2015

Little and largeWe need value for money from projects of all sizes

Last week, the European Parliament’s budgetary control committeecriticised the accounting of several flagship European research projects—

including the European Institute of Innovation and Technology, theInnovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) and Iter, the experimental fusionreactor—asking for more detail before approving their budgets.

The rejection was symbolic: the projects aren’t going to be cancelled orcurtailed. But it still represents a vote of no confidence in the manage-

ment of large projects under Horizon 2020.In this issue, we report on this problem and the woes of other major

projects. An investigation by Der Spiegel and media partners has ques-

tioned the use of public funds at the IMI ( see News, page 5). And a reportinto the orientation of the €1-billion Human Brain Project has unearthedproblems with finances and scientific direction ( see News, page 4).

It is much easier to run small projects: the European Research Council,for example, has dispatched billions of euros in grants with little fusssince its foundation in 2007. There is recognition that some will fail, and

that’s fine. Even mid-sized Framework projects, worth a few million euroseach, raise relatively few management headaches for the Commission.

But political leaders want a bang for their buck. With Horizon 2020

costing some $80bn, they expect to see visible outcomes, particularlyin the shape of industrial innovation—and the IMI is a good example of

an instrument designed to make that happen. This sort of action used toinvolve direct public subsidies for commercial R&D, but these are nowprohibited by international trade agreements. However, private partners

can still be in the driving seat, as the Spiegel investigation shows. Fewin Brussels will be upset by that. The trouble starts when auditors (or

 journalists) look more closely at such partnerships, and follow the money.In these projects, companies contribute in kind rather than in cash.

 What they get back is public funding for (mainly) university-based

researchers who work alongside them. The question not yet answered inthe case of the IMI is: do the companies tell the truth about their in-kind

contributions? Or are their employees just doing what they’d be doinganyway, and billing their time as project contributions?

For the Human Brain Project, most of the funding is public. But is the

project being governed fairly, and money allocated shrewdly? A media-tion panel has suggested several changes to strengthen its governance.

These issues all reflect the fact that there is no Commission apparatus

for the detailed oversight of large research projects. If they fell under theauspices of, say, the European Space Agency, they would be subject to

rigorous, technical supervision by experienced engineers and scientists, whose agenda would be assuring value for public money.

The Commission has, understandably, never taken this approach. Such

oversight has plenty of potential for conflict, waste and inertia.Instead, we have the Court of Auditors, whose non-specialist account-

ants do their utmost to probe EU projects for value. The Court’s reports arethorough, and sometimes highly critical. But are they sufficient, and aretheir findings followed up? On both counts, we remain to be convinced.

e l s e w h e r e

“I am sure there will be some people in

Brussels who will breathe a sigh of relief ifI’m not here.” At a European Council press conference, UKprime minister David Cameron acknowledgesthat there is widespread frustration at hisplan to renegotiate the UK’s membership ifhe is re-elected in May. EurActiv, 20/3/15.

“I was a bit puzzled when opinion-makersstarted saying that the money had beenlost. That isn’t the case.”Research commissioner Carlos Moedas reit-erates his claim that using Horizon 2020funds for the European Fund for StrategicInvestments will provide more money forscience overall by stimulating private invest-ment. Nature, 23/3/15.

“We want Greece to be strong economi-cally, we want Greece to grow and aboveall we want Greece to overcome its highunemployment.”German chancellor Angela Merkel promisesthat there is still an appetite for cooperation with Greece, despite disagreement over thecountry’s efforts to renegotiate its bailout.European Voice, 23/3/15.

“Most people think that an illness like TBonly exists in less affluent parts of theplanet, yet it exists on our own doorstep.” With drug-resistant tuberculosis on the riseacross the EU, the Latvian council presi-

dency’s focus on eliminating the diseasehas come at the right time, says Giovanni

 Battista Migliori , the secretary-generalof the European Respiratory Society. TheParliament magazine, 27/3/15.

“It will continue to be a ‘best practice’model for other humanities projects…notonly in data integration, management andretrieval, but also as outreach to society.”

 Robert-Jan Smits, the director-general ofDG Research, says the EU will continue tosupport the European Holocaust ResearchInfrastructure through Horizon 2020, to col-lect information on the Holocaust and second world war. Horizon 2020 projects, 26/3/15.

d e c a d e

“The main question thatindustry is asking now is:What is in it for me?”

 Patrick Maio, the coordinator of theEuropean Hydrogen and Fuel CellsTechnology Platform, says there is sometrepidation among industrial partnersabout the formation of Joint TechnologyInitiatives to be funded throughFramework 7. 

 Research Europe, 7 April 2005

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Research Europe, 2 April 2015 news 3

w h a t ’ s g o i n g o n

Madrid biotech chief quits

The director of the National Centre for Biotechnology in Madrid has stepped down, complaining

to her 600 staff about bureaucratic obstacles to funding projects and hiring employees. In an

email seen by Research Europe and sent to the centre’s staff on 25 March, Carmen Castresanaannounced her resignation and claimed that the CSIC, the national research centre to which the

biotech centre is affiliated, had blocked the recruitment of three researchers she wanted to hire.

SKA at risk, says Italy’s leading astrophysicist 

The Square Kilometre Array telescope project would collapse if any of the remaining national

partners were to back out, according to Giovanni Bignami, the president of Italy’s National

Institute for Astrophysics. Following the announcement that Germany is to pull out of the

collaboration in June, the withdrawal of support by any other country would lead to a “domino

effect” resulting in insufficient funding for the project to remain viable, he says.

Council to oppose data protection amendments

The justice ministers of the EU have agreed a position on the draft Data Protection Directive,

rejecting some amendments passed by the European Parliament to restrict the collection and

sharing of personal data for research purposes. Science lobby groups have opposed many of the

amendments, saying they would restrict scientists’ access and hinder medical research.

Commission seeks Horizon 2020 feedback

The European Commission has asked researchers and industry for their opinions on the

implementation of Horizon 2020. As part of an online survey, the Commission asks for input on

how effective the simplification of Horizon 2020 has been, and for feedback on the progress ofthe Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme for researcher exchange and the public-private

and public-public partnerships launched under Horizon 2020.

EU programmes’ accounting criticised

The European Institute of Innovation and Technology, and several other major EU programmes

including the fusion reactor Iter and the Innovative Medicines Initiative, need to do more to

account for their costs, MEPs have said. On 23 March, the European Parliament’s budgetary

control committee said that the institutions would need to demonstrate that they spent EU

funds for 2013 properly before the Parliament will approve their accounts.

MEPs chide Council over transparency

Members of the European Parliament have called on the Council of Ministers to stop hampering

efforts to open up EU negotiations to more public scrutiny. In a hearing on 26 March, held

 jointly by the committees for budgetary control, legal affairs, civil liberties and justice, MEPs

suggested the possibility of a new code of conduct for the Council.

Universities back San Francisco declaration

The League of European Research Universities has signed the San Francisco Declaration

on Research Assessment, which challenges the use of journal impact factors as the primary

means for evaluating research. In an announcement on 16 March, Leru said it agreed with the

declaration that qualitative assessment measures—such as peer review—were needed alongsidequantitative metrics—such as citation rates—to determine the quality of an article.

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Research Europe, 2 April 20154 news

More problems for brain project Money trouble looks set to compound the Human BrainProject’s problems, a probe into the €1-billion EU initia-

tive has revealed. A mediation report on the project to model the human

brain was requested by the European Commission and

published on 19 March. It was intended to quell thecontroversy that emerged last July when a group of cog-

nitive neuroscientists publicly denounced the focus anddirection of the HBP.

But the report says that, as well as questions about

its scientific goals, the project faces mounting finan-cial pressure from three different directions: reduced

EU funding, widening scientific goals, and a reluctancefrom national agencies to be project partners.

“The project doesn’t have the funds to cover all its

goals,” says Andreas Herz, a computational neuroscien-tist at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and amember of the mediation committee. “The directors will

probably have to make difficult and harsh decisions.” According to the report, the Commission has, in

recent months, quietly reduced the annual HBP budget

by 15 per cent, mainly as a result of expanding its dura-tion from 10 to 11 years while maintaining its total EU

core funding at €440 million.

The reintegration of cognitive neuroscience, asdemanded by project critics and recommended by the

mediation committee, will also have an impact on budg-eting. In response to the recommendations, the HBPboard has already agreed to create a new cross-cutting

element on cognitive neurosciences, which will cost€45m, or 10 per cent of the total budget of the core pro-

 ject. If, as looks likely, no extra Commission funding isforthcoming, that will mean cutting the budgets of otherproject elements.

The report also points out that partnerships withmember states and industry were meant to generate

another €560m, in addition to the €440m from Horizon2020. Only 11 countries participated in a call for partner-ing projects that closed in January, the report says—with

Germany, Sweden and the UK among the absentees. Wolfgang Marq uard t, an en gineer at th e Jülich

research centre in Germany and chairman of the media-

tion committee, says that the call was not given sufficientsupport by some of the countries whose researchers are

most strongly involved in the HBP. “National govern-ments were obviously not willing to contribute,” he says.“If they are not investing, it might be because they don’t

believe in this project.”Germany’s absence may reflect the 2011 withdrawal of

the Bernstein Network for Computational Neuroscience,an influential group of theoreticians from major Germaninstitutions, says Alexandre Pouget, a neuroscientist

at the University of Geneva and one of the early criticsof the project. “National funders want to see if this pro-gramme is going somewhere,” he says.

The report calls for swift action to rebuild trust andensure funding for the partnering projects before

September 2016. It also recommends a contingency planto achieve the HBP’s goals with “substantially reducedfunding”, in case the budget for the partnering projects

is not secured before that deadline.

SEVERAL HBP DIRECTORS have admitted that the fundingconstraints will force them to revise the project’s planand formulate shorter-term scientific goals. The HBP,

they say, could learn from the scientific programmes oftwo large brain projects in the United States: MindScope,run by the Seattle-based Allen Institute, and the fed-

eral government’s Brain Research Through AdvancingInnovative Neurotechnologies initiative.

Other researchers involved in the project are reluctant

to narrow its scientific goals. Steve Furber, a computerscientist at the University of Manchester and co-director

of one of the HBP subprojects, is one of the two members

of the mediation committee who did not endorse thereport, which he says is overly critical.

“Large projects should be driven by a grand vision—not completely unachievable but very challenging,” hesays. “You need to be able to see the peak of the moun-

tain that you are trying to climb, even if in the timeavailable it is unlikely you will get there.”

However, John Womersley, a physicist at the Uni- versity of Oxford, chairman of the European StrategyForum on Research Infrastructures and another member

of the mediation committee, says the Commission needsto learn from the mistakes of the HBP when planning

future projects. “If the Commission believes that halfof the funding will have to come from national sources,then those national decision-makers need to be brought

on board much earlier,” he says.Following the publication of the mediation report, the

HBP board immediately agreed to implement the recom-

mendations. These include the integration of cognitiveneurosciences and changes in the project’s governance.

It will take on a separate legal status, and an independ-ent board of directors will be set up.

 A group of prominent external scientists will be

asked by the HBP board to produce a detailed plan forimplementing the mediators’ recommendations. This

approach has been welcomed by some of the project’scritics, who nonetheless warn that the controversy willonly die down if the recommendations are fully adopted.

by Cristina Gallardo cgnews@ResearchResearch.com

e u r o p e

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Research Europe, 2 April 2015   news 5

Debate over IMI priorities reignitesThe Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) has beenaccused of using EU money to “almost exclusively” ben-efit large pharmaceutical companies.

In an investigation published on 9 March, the Germannews website Spiegel Online says that the idea of linkingacademia and industry through an EU-funded public-

private partnership to speed up drug development wasgood, but that the results have been “disastrous”.

The IMI, launched under Framework 7, was pitchedas a way to push public health research that was not yetcommercially viable, covering issues such as seizures

and tuberculosis. But instead of focusing on areasdeemed in need by the World Health Organization, the

IMI has instead chosen areas in which industry willenjoy big profits, says Spiegel Online.

In some cases, the IMI has funded activities that

 would have taken place anyway—meaning that EU fundshave simply been used to reduce industry costs, theinvestigation found. It quotes the European Federation

of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations as sayingon its website that IMI membership can offer “tremen-dous cost savings, as the IMI projects replicate work that

individual companies would have had to do anyway”—anassertion that was later removed by Efpia.

The article also cites concerns from 2010, when the

League of European Research Universities wrote to theIMI board to say that universities, research institutions

and small businesses were not being treated as equal

partners. But the European Commission has failed to

act, critics say.“The investigation included some criticisms of the IMI

that the Commission and Efpia say have been corrected,”

says Helle Aagaard, the EU policy adviser for MédecinsSans Frontières. “However, we still have strong concerns

that the research agenda continues to be where industryhas an interest in investing its in-kind contributions.”

Spiegel Online lists seven criticisms, one of which is

that EU institutions have been denied access to financialdetails of industry contributions to the IMI. One nation-

al representative from the Fuel Cells and Hydrogen JointTechnology Initiative says this is a problem across allsuch Horizon 2020 initiatives. “I accept that if you want

industry involved, you have to give power to industry,but more transparency would avoid the impression ofa ‘closed-club’ environment,” says the representative.

Ingeborg Gräßle, a German MEP who heads theCommittee on Budgetary Control, says there is a “sys-tematic conflict of interest” in JTIs, meaning it is not

clear “whether the taxpayer is getting value for money”.However, she acknowledges that the JTI model is

strongly supported by the Commission, which could

explain why concerns have not been addressed suffi-ciently. “The Parliament will have to take a very close

look at public-private partnerships,” says Gräßle.

by Lindsay McKenzie lmnews@ResearchResearch.com

ERC applications down in 2014The European Research Councilreceived a significantly lower

number of proposals in 2014 thanin the previous year, the council’s annual report hassaid. Its 2014 calls received 8,084 proposals—a 14 per

cent decrease from 2013. Proposals for ConsolidatorGrants—aimed at researchers who have more than seven

 years of experience since completing their PhD—fellby a hefty 31 per cent, whereas for Starting Grants and

 Advanced Grants the decreases were 2 per cent and 5 per

cent respectively.

Springer releases tool to find fakesThe publishing company Springer has developed open-source software to discover text that has been generated

by a computer. Springer collaborated with a computerscience research team at the Joseph Fourier Universityin France to develop the software, called SciDetect,

 which scans XML and PDF files submitted for reviewagainst a fake-paper database to identify whether text is

genuine. According to the software’s authors, fake aca-demic papers created by text-generating software suchas SCIgen, Mathgen and Physgen have caused embar-

rassment to the publishing industry and damaged the

peer-review process.

Universities call for legal action on Juncker fundLegal action against the European Fund for StrategicInvestments should be considered if the European

Commission cuts Horizon 2020 funding to supportthe EU investment fund, the secretary-general of the

League of European Research Universities has said. KurtDeketelaere said that an assessment by the EuropeanCourt of Auditors, outlining the potential risks of the

investment fund, offered researchers a legal opportu-nity to prevent €2.7 billion in Horizon 2020 money beingdiverted to the fund.

EU-US deal ‘will not lead to privatised education’The EU and the United States have issued a joint state-ment insisting that a proposed Transatlantic Trade andInvestment Partnership will not require governments

to privatise public services such as education, healthand social services. The statement follows concern from

European universities that any deal could undermine theability of national and regional governments to retaincontrol over higher education.

e u r o p e i n b r i e f  

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Research Europe, 2 April 20156 news

Embracing varietyPär Omling, the head of the European Science Foundation and a former vice-president of Science Europe, tells Jenny Maukola why the ERA needs diversity.Since the European Commission presented its conceptof a European Research Area—a common market for sci-

entific knowledge—in 2000, there have been repeatedclaims that national governments and funding agenciesshould be doing far more to make it happen.

But according to Pär Omling, a Swedish physicist andmember of the board at Science Europe, an association

of research organisations and national funding agencies,these claims are sometimes overdone. It’s important,says Omling, to step back a few years and acknowledge

that Europe has already made great strides in definingand working towards common goals.

“If you look at what was happening a year ago and

compare that with today, you might not see greatadvances. But if you go back 10 or 20 years, a lot hasactually happened,” he says. “It’s almost impossible to

change Europe overnight; you have to be strategic in set-ting up common goals and spending time on them to get

people on board. When you have done that, then things

start to happen.”Science Europe was established in 2011 with the

main aim of giving national research funders andresearch-performing organisations more influence overEU research policy. It replaced Eurohorcs—an informal

organisation comprising the heads of research fund-ing organisations—and took over the policy aspects of

the European Science Foundation, a Strasbourg-basedorganisation that was created in 1974 to promotecoordination in European science.

The architects of Science Europe originally envis-aged that its creation would lead to both Eurohorcs and

the ESF closing down. But ESF members voted to keeptheir organisation going, and its focus switched to non-

policy-related activities such as

research programmes and arrang-ing peer review.

Omling, who is the president of

the ESF, says the foundation willrevisit the question of shutting

down entirely when its membersmeet in June. In this case, it mustdecide whether a “follow-up” organ-

isation will be established to carryout similar tasks to the ESF. “It

 won’t have the same name, but itsrole may be to do evaluations andpeer review on a European level,

because there seems to be demand in the market for asimilar type of organisation,” he says.

The ESF published a peer-review guide in 2011 thataims to set minimum standards and increase researchquality. “It’s easy to say that the guide is not very

 visionary, but no-one will believe in peer review iforganisations don’t fulfil the accepted criteria,” Omling

says. He adds that the Global Research Council, whichrepresents science and engineering funding agenciesaround the world, has used the guide as a benchmark

for peer-review standards.Science Europe, meanwhile, has established itself in

Brussels as a vocal lobby group, representing 52 national

research organisations from 27 countries. With so many voices represented, it can’t agree on

everything, but one point its members do agree on is

that the diversity that exists between national researchorganisations should be seen as an asset, not a liability.

In November, Science Europe published recommen-

dations for the ERA roadmap—a forthcoming Council ofMinisters document that will outline the steps needed

to create a cohesive research system in Europe—arguingthat the “diversity and richness of the different Europeanresearch systems are strengths that need to be preserved”.

Science Europe called on the Commission and nation-al governments to “rethink the ERA policy approach to

allow for more mutual learning”, because not enough was known about “the complexity of the drivers behindthe effectiveness of national research systems”.

The roadmap effectively proposes a “shift from the prin-ciple that national research systems are complementary

to an EU-level system,” Omling says. The Commission’sidea of the ERA is too focused on promoting a centralresearch structure that all the national systems have to

align themselves with, he says, rather than acknowl-edging that a certain level of diversity is a good thing.“There’s a lot of talk about alignment, coordination and

the need to avoid fragmentation, but this is not construc-tive for me because not all fragmentation is bad,” he says.

The focus should instead be put on having flexiblegoals that are attainable, and an acceptance that differ-ent countries have different priorities and realities. “You

have to identify goals that you think you can obtain,”Omling says. “It’s easy to formulate dreams, but if the

dream is too far from reality then I don’t think there’s achance for success.”

 More to say? Email comment@ResearchResearch.com

i n t e r v i e w p ä r o m l i n g

Pär Omling

* 2014-present Board mem-ber, Science Europe* 2012-present   President,European Science Foundation* 2012-2014 Vice-president,Science Europe* 2 0 0 7 - 2 0 0 8   P r es i d en t ,Eurohorcs* 2001-2010 Director-general,Swedish research council

Vetenskapsrådet 

* 1983 Phd in physics, LundUniversity

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Research Europe, 2 April 2015   comment 7

U-Multirank indicators reveal

true diversity of universities

g e r o f e d e r k e i l    v i e w f r o m t h e t o p

On 30 March, the second annual edition of U-Multirank,the multidimensional, not-for-profit tool for assessing

universities, was published. The number of institutionsincluded has risen from 860 in 2014 to 1,210 in 2015,

from more than 80 countries.U-Multirank provides 31 indicators in five areas:

teaching and learning; research; knowledge transfer;

international orientation; and regional engagement. Foreach indicator, institutions are given a score ranging

from A for very good to E for weak.Data come from the universities themselves, from

bibliometric and patent databases such as Thomson

Reuters and Patstat, and from surveys of more than85,000 students at participating universities—one of thelargest such samples in the world. There are bibliomet-

ric and patent data for every institution, and more than680 institutions provided data across all five areas

The results reinforce the merits of a multidimensional

approach to university ranking, emphasising that thereis no ‘number one’ university in the world. Some 99 per

cent of universities scored A on at least one indica-

tor, and 42.2 per cent achieved five or more A scores.However, only 8.2 per cent got 10 or more A scores, and

none got the top mark for all indicators.The universities that achieved 10 or more A scores had

 very different profiles. Some excelled mainly in research,

some in knowledge transfer and some in teaching andlearning. U-Multirank allows institutions to show their

specific strengths, and avoids one-dimensional league-table comparisons.

Coverage is most comprehensive—although not yet

complete—in Germany, Poland, Spain, Italy, the CzechRepublic, Finland, Portugal and Romania. Here, the

results are helping policymakers to understand theirhigher education systems.

U-Multirank also gives an international perspective

on the strengths and weaknesses of national institu-tions, thus helping governments to avoid misguidedinvestments in pursuit of ‘world-class’ research univer-

sities. Institutions already using U-Multirank data forbenchmarking include members of the Conference of

European Schools for Advanced Engineering Educationand Research, a network of technical universities.

For the 2015 edition, the U-Multirank consortium

introduced a number of features to enhance the quality

of the data and data verification. For example, more than30 automatic plausibility checks were built into online

questionnaires, so that institutions got immediate feed-back if they entered implausible or inconsistent data.

Some useful and relevant indicators, however,remain difficult to obtain or to compare across borders,highlighting the lack of comprehensive and verified

international data sets on higher education. In par-ticular, data on graduate employment rates and on

universities’ contribution to their regions are eitherlacking or not fully comparable across countries.

Two reports by the European University Association

provide evidence of this issue. On the one hand, arankings review published in 2013 said that the indi-cators covered by U-Multirank were the most relevant

for strategic management. But on the other hand, areport published earlier this year, based on a survey ofU-Multirank participants, revealed that many institu-

tions lacked readily available data on these particularindicators. The U-Multirank consortium will continue to

explore ways to make it easier for institutions to provide

the relevant data.For the 2016 edition of U-Multirank, which will be

published next March, we aim to include 200 additionalinstitutions with full data sets. Six fields will also beadded: mathematics, chemistry and biology will extend

the coverage of science, while the addition of sociology,history and social work will mean that the social scienc-

es and humanities are included for the first time.There will also be a special focus on recruiting more

institutions from outside Europe. In the 2015 edition,

57 per cent of the participating universities were fromEurope, with 18 per cent from Asia, 16 per cent from

North America and the remaining 9 per cent from Africa,Latin America and Oceania.

The U-Multirank consortium is led by the Centre for

Higher Education in Germany and two Dutch institu-tions: the Center for Higher Education Policy Studies atthe University of Twente and the Centre

for Science and Technology Studies atLeiden University. The project is support-

ed by the European Commission and has€4 million from the Erasmus+ programmefor 2013-17. The ultimate goal is for an

independent, not-for-profit organisationto manage the ranking as an open source

for international comparisons. So meth in g to ad d? Emai l co mmen t@

 ResearchResearch.com

Gero Federkeil is the coordinator for U-Multirank (www.umultirank.org). He works at the Centre for HigherEducation in Gütersloh, Germany.

‘The ranking

shows specific

strengths,

avoiding one-

dimensionalcomparisons.’

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Research Europe, 2 April 2015

v i e w f r o m t h e t o p g ü n t h e r & l u d w i g

8 comment 

How R&D subsidies helped

Germany to weather the crisisGovernment subsidies for R&D are usually justified onthe grounds of their long-term economic effects, via the

innovations that they help to bring to market. But allgovernment spending has further consequences: sim-

ply by adding money to the economy, it can stimulatedemand and help to create or secure jobs.

Little is known about these short-term effects of R&D

subsidies, mainly because governments have long shiedaway from deficit spending. But during the economic

crisis of 2008 and subsequent recession, many nationssought to stabilise their economies through initiativesto boost demand, consumption and lending.

In Germany, one such scheme involved the rapidexpansion of an R&D subsidy available to small andmedium-sized enterprises: the Central Innovation

Programme for SMEs, or ZIM. The aim was to encouragecompanies to keep up their innovative activities, remainactive and retain staff.

The ZIM scheme provides grants of up to €350,000 forindividual companies with fewer than 250 employees,

or a maximum of €2m for collaborative projects, and

requires a proportion of co-funding that varies depend-ing on the size of the company or companies involved.

In 2009, at the height of the crisis, the federal gov-ernment added €900 million to the scheme’s €626mbudget. It also changed the criteria so that firms with up

to 1,000 employees were eligible. In 2011, the schemereturned to its pre-crisis size and scope.

 We have analysed the short-term effects of this expan-sion, and found it to have been a strikingly effective formof deficit spending. By our calculations, the spending

triggered by the €900m increase in the programme’sbudget in 2009-10 added €3.9 billion to the national

economy and secured or created nearly 70,000 jobs. Without the subsidy, Germany’s GDP in 2009 would haveshrunk by 0.5 per cent more than it did.

The extra money funded 4,237 additional grants in2009-10, on top of the 924 made through the basic

budget. Government figures show that

their recipients contributed an additional€2.4bn—2.8 times what they received.

Firms spent this money on salaries,equipment, consumables and services. The

 vendors and employees spent this money

in turn, and so on, so that the public fundsfor R&D triggered a chain reaction that

touched all areas of the economy.This effect is known as a multiplier. It

reflects the total economic activity result-

ing from a unit of spending or, in other words, thenumber of times each euro is spent instead of being put

into savings or used to pay off a debt.Using a model of the functional relationship between

different areas of an economy, called an input-outputmodel, we calculated that the multiplier for the ZIM sub-sidy in 2009-11 was just over two. This is significantly

more than other forms of economic stimulus, such as vouchers for private consumption, which have multipli-

ers of less than two.Our analysis treated R&D spending as an investment.

In contrast, national accounting has historically treated

it as expenditure—something that disappears in theproduction process, like fuel. It is recognised that thisdoes not capture the long-term benefits of R&D, and in

2009 the UN recommended treating such spending aspart of a nation’s capital. In 2014, the European Systemof National and Regional Accounts followed suit, making

this classification mandatory for EU members.Even though the boost to the ZIM scheme represented

less than 1 per cent of Germany’s €100bn stimulus pack-

age, it helped to make the country’s recession shorterand shallower. Added to this, we can expect to see the

traditional fruits of R&D spending appearing in the nextfive to ten years.

Speed is crucial in stimulus spending. Another advan-

tage of R&D subsidies is that they can be allocated andspent in a matter of months, and then stopped just as

quickly. Construction and infrastructure projects, incontrast, can take longer to plan and implement thanthe recession they are meant to address.

In this light, Horizon 2020’s emphasis on fundingsmall businesses is positive. But R&D spending is not an

economic cure-all. The ZIM scheme played to Germany’sstrengths, including a strong base of SMEs active in R&D.

Not all parts of Europe are equipped to make best use

of such subsidies. Grant funding for R&D will only be wellspent if it is part of a holistic approach that also takesaccount of physical infrastructure and human capital.

This will require greater coordination, at both nationaland European levels, between education, research and

economic ministries.

 More to say? Email comment@ResearchResearch.com

‘Speed is

crucial: R&D

subsidies can

be allocated

in a matter ofmonths.’

 Jutta Günther and Udo Ludwig are economists at theUniversity of Bremen and the Halle Institute for Economic

Research, respectively. Their paper with colleagues onthe macroeconomic effects of German R&D subsidies is

 published in Research Policy vol 44, p623-633 (2015).

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EU social innovation prize

The Directorate-Generalfor Internal Market,

Industry, Entrepreneurship

and SMEs invites entries

for the European social

innovation competition.

The first prize is worth

€100,000 [7].

Road informationThe Government of the

Netherlands, togetherwith the Swedish Transport

Administration, invites

tenders for its V-Con pre-

commercial procurement

2015 competition. The

budget is approximately

€1.22 million [25].

EU intestinal microbiomicsThe JPI a Healthy Diet

for a Healthy Life invites

proposals for its jointaction – intestinal

microbiomics call.

This aims to support

dietary interventions or

guidance for modulation

of intestinal microbiome

to promote health and to

prevent the development

of non-communicable

chronic diseases [26].

Anti-corruption researchThe British Academy

and the Department for

International Development

invite expressions of

interest for their anti-

corruption evidence

partnership. Grants are

worth up to £400,000

(€543,600) each [51].

funding opportunitie severy new opportunity every discipline

Research Europe2 April 2015

Opportunities from previous issuesof Research Europe, listed by closing

date. European Commission andassociated funders marked EU.

Each entry is followed by a Web id

April 

d e a d l i n e sh i g h l i g h t s

N O T T O B EP H O T O C O P I E D

For subscriptions call +44 20 7216 6500

10  DK Northern Periphery and Arctic

Programme project grants 1166079

  UK Royal Society Winton prize forscience books 1161915

  UK Scottish Government chemicalinvestigations programme 1184095

11  UK Institute of Historical Research

Pearsall fellowship in naval andmaritime history 211538

  UK Institute of Historical ResearchPast & Present Society fellowships 211537 

12  CH World Health Organization

quantitation of the variability ofparasite and host response to drugs 1184081

13  AU Australian Society of Plant

Scientists RN Robertson travellingfellowship 254012

  EU European Foundation for Alcoholresearch grants 202268

  AT Interreg Central Europe call forproposals 1183817 

14  UK Action on Hearing Loss interna-

tional project grant  198200

  EU European Parliament multipleframework service contract for theprovision of external expertise tothe European Parliament's Commit-

tee on Legal Affairs 1184031

15  EU Directorate-General for Energy

analysis of energy prices and costsin the EU, its member states andmajor trading partners 1183964

  EU Directorate-General for Energymaximizing the impact of publicsector procurement of renewableelectricity via green public procure-ment guidelines 1184094

  EU Directorate-General for Justiceanalysis and comparative review ofequality data collection practices inthe EU 1183709

  EU ERA-Net Cooperation in Fisher-ies, Aquaculture and SeafoodProcessing transnational researchcall  1177524

  SK International Visegrad Fundstrategic grants 1172140

   JP Japan Society for the Promotionof Science international prize forbiology 1172689

  NL Netherlands Institute forAdvanced Study in the Humanities

and Social Sciences fellowships fornon-Dutch scholars 205808

  NL Netherlands Institute forAdvanced Study in the Humanitiesand Social Sciences research theme

groups 1177334  CH Osteosynthesis and Trauma Care

Foundation research grants 197619

  EU Directorate-General for Com-munication Networks, Content andTechnology rapid deployment andadaptation of sustainable socially-aware and intelligent sensingservices for emerging smart cities 1183895

  UK Wellcome Trust translation fund 257867 

16  EU Directorate-General for Migra-

tion and Home Affairs study oncomprehensive policy review ofanti-trafficking projects funded bythe European Commission 1183893

  UK MQ: Transforming Mental Health

fellows programme 1173002  UK Science and Technology Facili-

ties Council beam time access – ISIS 253215

17  IT European Food Safety Author-

ity assistance to the assessmentmethodology unit for statisticalanalyses, data management andad hoc consultation upon request  1183726 

  UK Wellcome Trust research careerdevelopment fellowships in basicbiomedical science 253970

  UK Wellcome Trust/Royal Society SirHenry Dale fellowships 1164964

18  IL Yad Vashem International

Institute for Holocaust Researchtwo-week research fellowships forPhD students 1173082

20  EU Directorate-General for Justice

study on the remuneration provi-sions applicable to credit institu-tions and investment firms 1184129

  EU FP7 Helmholtz-ZentrumDresden-Rossendorf access to free-electron laser facility 253943

  FR Fondation de France publicationprize 1183507 

  FR Fondation de France researchgrant 1183506 

  SE Nordic Information on GenderNordic funding scheme 1175517 

   TR Scientific and Technologi-cal Research Council for Turkeyresearch fellowship programme for

international researchers 1182561  AT United European Gastroenterolo-

gy support for educational meetings1179537 

  AT United European Gastroenterol-ogy support of long-term projects 1179540

Online Funding Search

Funding searchSearch

For full details of every funding opportunity, visitwww.ResearchProfessional.com

Online subscribers can view full details of any funding opportunity bysimply searching for the Web id number as free text in a funding search.

Free text: 1234567 x

e u r o p eGastroenterology researchUnited European Gastroenterology invites

applications for its research prize. Thisrecognises excellence in basic scienceand translational or clinical research.The award is worth €100,000 and may beused to purchase equipment, researchconsumables and as salary support.Web id: 251345Email: m.wiener@medadvice.co.at Deadline: 18 May 2015 [1]

EU education and youthThe Directorate-General for Educationand Culture invites tenders for studiessupporting European cooperation in edu-cation, training and youth. The tendererwill support the European Commission'swork with reliable knowledge, evidence,

analysis and policy guidance. The contractis worth an estimated €8 million.Web id: 1184408Email: eac-47-2014-call@ec.europa.euDeadline: 30 April 2015 [2]

EU environmental legislationThe Directorate-General for the Envi-ronment invites tenders for a study toassess the benefits delivered throughthe enforcement of EU environmentallegislation. The tenderer will fill in thecurrent knowledge gaps regarding theoutcomes of the enforcement actionpursued by the European Commission onthe implementation of EU environmentlaw. The contract is worth up to €200,000.

Web id: 1184246Email: env-tenders@ec.europa.euDeadline: 30 April 2015 [3]

EU higher educationThe Directorate-General for Education andCulture invites tenders for implementingand disseminating the European tertiaryeducation register. The tenderer will pre-pare, collect, process, validate and pub-lish data for a regularly updated databaseon Europe's universities as part of theEuropean tertiary education register. Thecontract is worth an estimated €500,000.Web id: 1184213Email: eac-unite-b1@ec.europa.euDeadline: 4 May 2015 [4]

EU sustainability assesmentsThe Directorate-General for Energy invitestenders for its framework agreement toassess voluntary schemes and agree-ments used for sustainability claims. Thetenderer will assist the commission infurther improving the methodology ofassessments, developing new approachesfor sustainability certification and review-ing the operation of the current regime.The contract is estimated to be worth€600,000.Web id: 1184409Email: ener-c1-tenders@ec.europa.euDeadline: 4 May 2015 [5]

EU diversity researchThe Directorate-General for Justice andConsumers invites tenders for a businesscase of diversity for enterprises, cities andregions with focus on sexual orientation

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10 funding opportunities Research Europe, 2 April 2015

Haematology collaborationThe European Hematology Associationinvites applications for the followingawards:

•advanced short term collaborationaward, worth up to €20,000.Web id: 1184342

•clinical research fellowships, worthup to €240,000 each. Web id: 1179803

•joint fellowship programme, in col -laboration with the International Societyof Thrombosis and Haemostasis. Fellow-ships are worth up to €100,000 each.Web id: 1161545• jun ior sh ort ter m col lab or ati on

awards, worth up to €10,000 per visit.Web id: 1184341•non-clinical advanced research fel-

lowships, worth €240,000 each.Web id: 1179809•non-clinical junior research fellow-

ships, worth €150,000 each.Web id: 1179805Email: fellowships.grants@ehaweb.orgDeadline: 3 August 2015 [33]

Inflammatory bowel disease 2The International Organisation for theStudy of Inflammatory Bowel Diseaseinvites applications for its travel grants.These enable physicians or researchersto visit foreign IBD centres for research,projects or clinical experience. Each grantis worth up to €20,000.Web id: 1171127Email: ioibd@mkproducties.nl Deadline: 1 September 2015 [34]

Mathematics prizeThe Norwegian Academy of Science andLetters invites nominations for the Abelprize. This recognises outstanding sci-entific work in the field of mathemat-ics, including mathematical aspects of

computer science, mathematical physics,probability, numerical analysis and scien-tific computing, statistics and applica-tions of mathematics in the sciences. Theprize is worth NOK6 million (€698,000).Web id: 189271Email: abelprisen@dnva.noDeadline: 15 September 2015 [35]

 Joint Nordic workshopsThe Joint Committee for Nordic ResearchCouncils for the Humanities and theSocial Sciences (NOS-HS) and the Swed-ish Research Council invite proposalsfor their Nordic workshop series. Theseaim to promote the development of newresearch areas and programmes within

the humanities and social sciences inthe Nordic countries. Each series of work-shops may receive up to €50,000.Web id: 211729Email: anni.jarvelin@vr.seDeadline: 21 April 2015 [36]

Nordic prizeThe Eric K Fernström's Foundation invitesnominations for its annual Nordic prize.This recognises outstanding scientificwork in the field of medicine. The awardis worth SEK1 million (€107,100).Web id: 213642Email: christina.parknas@med.lu.seDeadline: 24 April 2015 [37]

Mediterranean researchThe Swedish Research Institute in Istan-bul invites applications for its largeresearch grant. This supports research

Web id: 259563Email: secec@wanadoo.frDeadline: 30 June 2015 [13]

Cardiovascular prizeThe European Society of Cardiology'sAcute Cardiovascular Care Associationinvites applications for its research prize.This rewards unpublished clinical or trans-lational research applied to the develop-ment of novel therapeutic, diagnostic andlogistical strategies to improve patientcare and long-term outcomes. The winnerreceives €3,000.Web id: 1184286Deadline: 30 June 2015 [14]

University teachingThe German Research Foundation (DFG)invites applications for the Emmy Noetherprogramme. This provides early-careerresearchers with the opportunity to rap-idly qualify for a university teachingcareer. Funding will initially be awardedfor a three-year period, with a possibletwo-year extension.

Web id: 208226Email: verfahren-nachwuchs@dfg.deNo deadline [15]

Group visits to Germany The German Academic Exchange Service(DAAD) invites applications for its groupstudy visits to Germany. Awards providestudents with subject-related knowledge,facilitate meetings with German students,academics and researchers, and givethe students a greater understanding ofand insight into economic, political andcultural life in Germany. Visits may lastbetween seven and 12 days.Web id: 1180184Email: loellgen@daad.de

Deadline: 1 May 2015 [16]

Historical humanities awardsThe Gerda Henkel Foundation invitesproposals for the following grants:

•research project grants.Web id: 1166541

•research scholarships.Web id: 1166545Deadline: 12 June 2015 [18]

 Type 2 diabetesThe European Foundation for the Study ofDiabetes and Merck, Sharpe & Dome inviteproposals for their European researchprogramme on new targets for type 2diabetes. This aims to stimulate and

accelerate European research on theidentification and molecular understand-ing of new targets for the treatment oftype 2 diabetes. Grants are worth up to€100,000 for at least one year.Web id: 1172208Email: foundation@easd.orgDeadline: 15 June 2015 [19]

Science and journalismThe VolkswagenStiftung invites applica-tions for its science and data-driven

 journalism grants. These aim to initiate joint resear ch and report ing proje ctswhich enable researchers and journaliststo learn from each other and to generatenew impulses for their respective activi-ties. Grants are worth up to €100,000.Web id: 1184360Email: brunotte@volkswagenstiftung.deDeadline: 15 June 2015 [20]

 Type 1 diabetesThe European Foundation for the Study ofDiabetes, the Juvenile Diabetes ResearchFoundation and Lilly invite applicationsfor research grants under their Europeanprogramme in type 1 diabetes research.These promote basic and clinical bio-medical research, expedite the practi-cal application of scientific advances,encourage clinical translational researchand increase awareness of type 1 dia-betes. Grants are normally worth up to€100,000 for one year or longer, butgrants of up to €400,000 are consideredfor clinical projects.Web id: 201616Email: foundation@easd.orgDeadline: 1 July 2015 [21]

Security and rule of lawThe Netherlands Organisation for Sci-entific Research's Division of Sciencefor Global Development (NWO WOTRO)invites proposals for the following calls:

•security and rule of law appliedresearch fund: call for evidence-informed

ideas. Grants are worth up to €25,000each for up to three months.Web id: 1184184

•security and rule of law appliedresearch fund: open call for evidence-based policy advice and tools. Grants areworth up to €100,000 each for up to sixmonths. Web id: 1184186Email: r.zuidema@nwo.nl Deadline: 17 April 2015 [24]

Exchanging road informationThe Government of the Netherlands,together with the Swedish TransportAdministration, invites tenders for itsV-Con pre-commercial procurement 2015competition. This aims to improve the

efficiency and effectiveness of the nation-al road authorities by improving opendata exchange in the civil infrastructuresector, with a focus on road constructionand road asset management. The budgetis approximately €1.22 million.Web id: 1184214Email: v-con@rws.nl Deadline: 23 April 2015 [25]

EU intestinal microbiomicsThe JPI a Healthy Diet for a Healthy Lifeinvites proposals for its joint action –intestinal microbiomics call. This aims tosupport dietary interventions or guidancefor modulation of intestinal microbi-ome to promote health and to prevent

the development of non-communicablechronic diseases.Web id: 1183944Email: jpihdhl@zonmw.nl Deadline: 28 April 2015 [26]

Inflammatory bowel disease 1The International Organisation for theStudy of Inflammatory Bowel Diseaseinvites applications for its operatinggrants. These support research relevantto inflammatory bowel disease. Grantsare worth up to US$150,000 (€137,300)for up to one year, although preferencewill be given to grants worth no morethan US$50,000. Grants may fund sala-ries for research assistants, techniciansor trainees.Web id: 1171126Email: ioibd@mkproducties.nl Deadline: 30 June 2015 [27]

and gender identity. The tenderer willproduce a publication on the businesscase for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgen-der and intersex inclusion in companiesand one on the benefits of LGBTI diversityfor cities and regions. Furthermore, thetenderer will explore the economic case ofLGBTI non-discrimination and inclusion.Web id: 1184304Deadline: 5 May 2015 [6]

EU social innovation prizeThe Directorate-General for InternalMarket, Industry, Entrepreneurship andSMEs invites entries for the Europeansocial innovation competition. This aimsto raise awareness of social innovation'spotential to provide solutions to societalchallenges and foster sustainable andinclusive growth in Europe. The first prizeis worth €100,000.Web id: 1169987Email: info@socialinnovationprize.euDeadline: 8 May 2015 [7]

EU H2020 electronic systemsThe European Commission Horizon 2020:

Industrial Leadership and the ElectronicComponents and Systems for EuropeanLeadership Joint Undertaking (ECSEL)invite proposals for the following calls:

•ECSEL-2015-1 research and innova-tion actions call, with a total budget of€50 million, of which €33m is for expendi-ture in 2015 and €17m for 2016.Web id: 1184215•ECSEL-2015-2 innovation actions

call, with a total budget of €95 million,of which €62m is for expenditure in 2015and €33m for 2016. Web id: 1184216Email: ecsel-office@ecsel.europa.euDeadline: 12 May 2015 [9]

EU sustainable development

Interreg North-West Europe and theDirectorate-General for Regional andUrban Policy invite proposals for trans-national project grants. These aim toproduce measurable positive change inthe North-West Europe territory witha focus on innovation, low carbon andresource and material efficiency. The totalbudget is €370 million. Grants may coverup to 60 per cent of the total project costs.Successful projects will be reimbursedwith a lump sum of €30,000 for prepara-tion costs.Web id: 1159082Email: josee@nweurope.euDeadline: 18 May 2015 [11]

Education qualityThe Organisation for Economic Coopera-tion and Development invites applicationsfor the Thomas J Alexander fellowshipprogramme. This seeks to develop andsupport improvements in education qual-ity and equity, particularly in emerg-ing economies. Funding is provided forone year, including a minimum of threemonths spent at the OECD headquartersin Paris, France.Web id: 1171030Email: edu.fellowships@oecd.orgDeadline: 24 May 2015 [12]

Shoulder and elbow pathology The European Society for Surgery of theShoulder and the Elbow invites applica-tions for its research grant. This supportsbasic and clinical research related toshoulder and elbow pathologies. Thegrant is worth €20,000.

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Hepatology fellowshipsThe European Association for the Study ofthe Liver invites applications for the DameSheila Sherlock EASL entry-level researchfellowships. These aim to enhance themobility of investigators within differentEuropean institutions and to activelypromote scientific exchange amongresearch units in hepatology. Fellow-ships are worth €30,000 each.Web id: 196096Email: easloffice@easloffice.euDeadline: 30 November 2015 [44]

Remote gambling researchThe Responsible Gambling Trust invitestenders for its remote gambling researchprogramme. The tenderer will explorethe potential usefulness of behaviouralanalytics and industry-held data in theremote gambling sector to indicate mark-ers or patterns of behaviour that may beindicative that customers are experienc-ing gambling-related harm, and mitigatesuch risks or harms. The total budget isworth £500,000 (€679,200).Web id: 1184165Email: remoteitt@responsiblegam-blingtrust.org.ukDeadline: 24 April 2015 [47]

Cancer research travel The Royal College of Physicians and Sur-geons of Glasgow invites applicationsfor the Davies Foundation travelling fel-lowship. This enables consultants totake a sabbatical in order to undertakefurther study or research in cancer andrelated fields. Awards are worth £10,000(€13,600) each.Web id: 257527Email: scholarship@rcpsg.ac.ukDeadline: 24 April 2015 [48]

Wave energy systemsThe Scottish Government's Highlands andIslands Enterprise invites registrations forits research and development services callon power take-off systems for wave ener-gy. This supports wave energy technologydevelopment projects in areas that havebeen prioritised as requiring the mostdevelopment or having the most impacton the future cost of energy. The totalbudget is worth up to £7 million (€9.5m).Web id: 1184305Email: hieprocurement@hient.co.ukDeadline: 15 May 2015 [49]

Fuel poverty researchEaga Charitable Trust invites proposalsfor its fuel poverty grants. These supportwork that contributes to understandingand addressing the causes and effects offuel poverty, and understanding the linksbetween fuel poverty and health, andfinancial and social impacts at the nation-al, devolved and local levels. Grants areworth up to £25,000 (€34,100).Web id: 1166479Email: eagact@aol.comDeadline: 1 June 2015 [50]

Anti-corruption researchThe British Academy and the Departmentfor International Development inviteexpressions of interest for their anti-corruption evidence partnership. Fundingenables research teams to identify themost successful ways of addressing cor-ruption in developing countries. Grantsare worth up to £400,000 (€543,600).

Research Europe, 2 April 2015 funding opportunities 11

Web id: 1184297Email: projects@britac.ac.ukDeadline: 24 June 2015 [51]

Cancer research equipmentThe Royal College of Physicians and Sur-geons of Glasgow invites applicationsfor the Aileen Lynn bequest fund. Thissupports the purchase of small equipmentfor cancer research. Grants are worth up

to £5,000 (€6,800) each.Web id: 257522Email: scholarships@rcpsg.ac.ukDeadline: 28 August 2015 [52]

r e s t o f w o r l d

Mineral deposit exploitationThe Australian Academy of Science invitesapplications for the Haddon ForresterKing medal. This recognises contributionsto Earth sciences of particular relevanceto the discovery, evaluation and exploi-tation of mineral deposits. The award isworth up to AU$10,000 (€7,100).

Web id: 1171916Email: awards@science.org.auDeadline: 30 April 2015 [56]

 Travel to AustraliaThe Australian Academy of Science invitesnominations for the Selby fellowship.This enables scientists to visit Australiafor public lecture or seminar tours. Thefellowship is worth up to AU$13,000(€9,300) for up to three months.Web id: 203772Email: awards@science.org.auDeadline: 15 June 2015 [57]

projects within humanities and socialsciences that are related to Turkey, otherparts of the Eastern Mediterranean or anyother areas that are culturally, historicallyor linguistically linked to the region. Thegrant is worth up to SEK45,000 (€4,800)and includes a visit to Istanbul.Web id: 251182Email: ingela.nilsson@lingfil.uu.seDeadline: 27 April 2015 [38]

EU antimicrobial resistanceThe Joint Programming Initiative onAntimicrobal Resistance invites proposalsfor transnational research projects. Theseaim to sustain defence against antimi-crobal resistance by reviving neglectedand disused antibiotics, designing com-binations of ND-AB and antibiotics andof ND-AB and non-antibiotics, in orderto reduce occurrence of resistance orovercome established resistance. Thetotal budget is €9.65 million. Fundingis granted for a maximum of three years.Web id: 1176549Email: jcsamr@agencerecherche.frDeadline: 12 May 2015 [39]

Forestry networkingNordic Forest Research, in collabora-tion with the North European RegionalOffice of European Forest Institute, invitesapplications for grants to support net-working activities. These aim to increasecollaboration among the forest researchcommunities in the Nordic, Baltic Seaand the North Atlantic regions. The totalbudget is SEK1.15 million and grants areworth up to SEK250,000 (€26,800).Web id: 186044Email: bodeker.sns@slu.seDeadline: 1 June 2015 [40]

Life sciences prize

The Science for Life Laboratory, the Sci-ence magazine and the American Asso-ciation for the Advancement of Scienceinvite entries for their prize for youngscientists. This recognises the best doc-toral research thesis related to the lifesciences. Category prizes are worth up toUS$10,000 (€9,100) each and the grandprize is worth US$30,000.Web id: 1179711Email: scilifelabprize@aaas.orgDeadline: 1 August 2015 [41]

Mobility grantsThe Swedish Governmental Agency forInnovation Systems (Vinnova) and MarieCurie Action invite applications for the

VINNMER Marie Curie incoming call, underthe Mobility for Growth programme. Thisaims to strengthen qualification oppor-tunities for international researchersthrough increased mobility opportunities,by visiting and working in Swedish hostorganisations. The budget is worth up toSEK130 million (€13.9m).Web id: 1171201Email: erik.litborn@vinnova.seDeadline: 16 September 2015 [42]

Oncology research fellowshipThe European Society for Medical Oncol-ogy invites applications for the GeorgesMathé translational research fellowship.This enables investigators to receiveresearch training on oncology and cancerimmunology. The award is worth €35,000.Web id: 1177552Email: esmo@esmo.orgDeadline: 1 May 2015 [43]

Water prizeThe Singapore International Water Weekinvites nominations for the Lee Kuan

 Yew water prize. This recogni ses con-tributions towards solving the world'swater problems by applying novel tech-nologies or implementing innovativepolicies and programmes. The prize isworth SG$300,000 (€200,500).Web id: 1172730Email: leekuanyewwaterprize@siww.com.sgDeadline: 15 May 2015 [58]

Democracy grantsThe Taiwan Foundation for Democracyinvites applications for its internationalgrants. These enable organisations basedoutside of Taiwan to carry out projects topromote democracy and human rights,such as advocacy projects, research,conferences, publications and edu-cational programmes. Grants usuallyrange between US$3,000 (€2,700) andUS$20,000.Web id: 1182114

Email: grants@tfd.org.twNo deadline [59]

Energy prizesThe Mubadala Development Companyinvites applications for the Zayed futureenergy prizes. These recognise significantcontributions to advance the fields ofrenewable energy and sustainability.The prize fund is US$4 million (€3.7m).Web id: 1160614Email: info@zayedfutureenergyprize.comDeadline: 22 June 2015 [60]

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12 funding opportunities Research Europe, 2 April 2015

p o l i c y d i a r yApril 

22 10th International Scien-tific Conference for EconomicIntegrations, Competition andCooperation, Opatija, Croatia.To 24. http://rsrch.co/1uZAOFK

28 Earto and Eirma Annual Confer-

ence 2015, Luxembourg. To 29.http://rsrch.co/1zMOtsn

May 

  5 Innoveit 2015 – EIT InnovationForum, Budapest, Hungary.http://rsrch.co/1bxJaT8

6 Key Enabling Technologies forRegional Growth: Synergies Be-tween Horizon 2020 and ESIF,Brussels, Belgium.http://rsrch.co/1EY5QpA

14 EHEA Ministerial Conference2015: The Bologna Process, Yerevan, Armenia. To 15.

http://rsrch.co/1ytxfuj20 ICT for Ageing well, Lisbon,

Portugal. To 22.http://rsrch.co/1sFCXH1

28 Data Infrastructures for Sus-tainable Growth, Lisbon, Portu-gal. http://rsrch.co/1L2FusB

 June

  8 Open Innovation 2.0 Confer-ence, Espoo, Finland. To 9.http://rsrch.co/13HrfWL

10 EuroNanoForum: AdvancingTechnologies within the newApproach for H2020.

Riga, Latvia. To 12.http://rsrch.co/1CdhRoC

15 Access to Finance for Research,Innovation and SMEs 2015,Riga, Latvia. To 17.http://rsrch.co/1Gy1vKb

18 The Future of Doctoral Educa-tion – Where do we go fromhere? To 19. Munich, Germany.http://rsrch.co/1LgKd6E

22 A new Start for Europe: Openingup to an ERA of Innovation.To 23. Brussels, Belgium.http://rsrch.co/1CMmo07

24 Association of EuropeanResearch Libraries AnnualConference, London, UK. To 26.http://rsrch.co/1nj77SM

28 EARMA: Enabling Cultures andDiversity in Research Manage-ment. To 1 July.http://rsrch.co/1EC1PGg

September 

  7 Academia Europaea 27th Annu-al Conference 2015, Darmstadt,Germany. To 10.http://rsrch.co/1EOEt1C

14 International Conference onTheory and Practice of DigitalLibraries. Poznan, Poland. To

18. http://rsrch.co/1AUR9UC24 Re-work Future Health Summit,

London, UK. To 25.http://rsrch.co/1zGccsh

Children's Tumor Foundation drug dis-covery initiative awardsWeb id: 1159669Deadline: 20 April 2015 [67]

US Department of Defense breast can-cer research programme: breakthroughawards levels 3 and 4Web id: 1178953Deadline: 24 April 2015 [68]

US Department of Defense breast cancerresearch programme: innovator awardWeb id: 1178927Deadline: 24 April 2015 [69]

Marfan Foundation faculty grant pro-grammeWeb id: 1178751Deadline: 27 April 2015 [70]

Environmental Research and EducationFoundation scholarshipsWeb id: 208009Deadline: 1 May 2015 [72]

Wenner-Gren Foundation for Anthro-pological Research post-PhD researchgrants

Web id: 256013Deadline: 1 May 2015 [73]

US Department of Defense ovarian can-cer research programme – pilot awardWeb id: 1157972Deadline: 6 May 2015 [74]

US Department of Defense ovarian can-cer research programme: clinical trans-lational awardWeb id: 1173634Deadline: 6 May 2015 [75]

US Department of Defense amyotrophiclateral sclerosis research programme –therapeutic development awardWeb id: 1159063Deadline: 11 May 2015 [76]

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation newways to reduce childhood pneumoniadeaths through the delivery of timelyeffective treatmentWeb id: 1184013Deadline: 13 May 2015 [78]

US Department of Defense ovarian can-cer research programme: investigator-initiated research awardWeb id: 1179177Deadline: 13 May 2015 [79]

Gay and Lesbian Medical Associationresearch grantsWeb id: 207387Deadline: 15 May 2015 [81]

Lupus Research Institute distinguished

innovator awardsWeb id: 1166134Deadline: 25 June 2015 [82]

Consortium of Humanities Centers andInstitutes/Chiang Ching-kuo Foun-dation for International ScholarlyExchange summer institutesWeb id: 1184242Deadline: 1 July 2015 [83]

Spencer Foundation Lyle Spencerresearch awardsWeb id: 1184173Deadline: 9 July 2015 [84]

Library of Congress Kluge fellowshipsWeb id: 213734Deadline: 15 July 2015 [85]

International Society for Heart and LungTransplantation international travellingscholarshipWeb id: 210534Deadline: 1 August 2015 [86]

Diaphragm analysis *ESAThe European Space Agency invites tendersfor verification of diaphragm analysis. Thetenderer will take part in the developmentof diaphragm tanks, this by establish math-ematical models allowing the analyticalverification of selected diaphragm design

with respect to both function and struc-tural integrity. This activity is restrictedto non-prime contractors, including smalland medium enterprises. The contract isworth up to €500,000. Ref: 14.123.12. Deadline: 22 April 2015

Materials/components *ESAThe European Space Agency invites ten-ders for an assessment of materials andprocesses design margins for spacecraftand launchers. The tenderer will identifythe maturity level of the various materi-als and processes design margins forspacecraft and launchers and the levelsof uncertainty involved, including areaswhere the margins could be affected by

use of out of date or inaccurate datafor materials properties. The contract isworth up to €500,000. Ref: 14.1QM.13. Deadline: 28 April 2015

Metrology engineering *ESAThe European Space Agency invites tendersfor the development of an operationalassimilation of space radar and lidar cloudprofile observations for numerical weatherprediction. The tenderer will develop anoperational data assimilation system forspace-borne lidar and radar observationsfor cloud profiles and precipitation. Thecontract is worth up to €500,000. Ref:14.197.29. Deadline: 29 April 2015

Optical communications *ESAThe European Space Agency invites ten-ders for a system study of optical andradio-frequency communications with ahybridised optical payload data transmit-ter. The tenderer will examine the poten-tial of an optical communication systemfor spacecraft that combines deep-spaceradio-frequencies and optical payloaddata transmission systems. The contract isworth at least €500,000. Ref: 15.1ET.02.Deadline: 1 May 2015

X-ray telescope *ESAThe European Space Agency invites ten-ders for an Athena phase-A system studyfor a large X-ray telescope. The tenderer

will conduct a phase-a industrial systemstudy for the Cosmic Vision L2 missioncandidate, Athena, targeting the flightopportunity in 2028. The study will consistof parallel contracts with a duration of 30months that will cover a range of technicaland risk assessment topics. The contract isworth at least €500,000. Ref: 15.164.06. Deadline: 6 May 2015

Lidar observations *ESAThe European Space Agency invites ten-ders for the assimilation of lidar observa-tions of aerosols for climate modellingand numerical weather prediction. Thetenderer will develop robust assimilationschemes for aerosol products from Euro-

pean space-based lidars. The contract isworth up to €200,000. Ref: 13.197.06.Deadline: 18 May 2015--------------------------------------------- *ESA is at: http://emits.esa.intw 

u s a

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analysis  13Research Europe, 2 April 2015

Under constructionAs the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures prepares its updatedroadmap, many facilities are seeking funding elsewhere. Cristina Gallardo reports.

‘There is no

sustainable

EU funding for

constructionor operation.’

i n s i d e r  

On 31 March, the European Commission closed its callfor proposals to decide which scientific facilities were

 worthy of inclusion in the 2016 roadmap from Esfri, theEuropean Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures.The update, six years after the roadmap was last asse-

ssed, is an attempt by the Commission to reinvigorate itssupport for Pan-European research infrastructure.

The list of 48 facilities will be cut down to 25, of whichnine will be new. About 20 operational facilities will beremoved and given the new status of ‘landmark’ facili-

ties. And those that have been on the list since 2006 buthave not yet been constructed will be asked to reapply to

 justify their place, the Commission said.

The Commission is aiming to improve funding for sci-ence facilities, which it has labelled as central to theEuropean Research Area. But many people do not believe

that the refreshed Esfri strategy will be enough to tacklethe fundamental problem for EU infrastructure: how to

meet the costs of construction and operation.

The €2.5 billion in Horizon 2020 funding allocatedthrough Esfri will only support the design and develop-

ment of projects, for example by funding feasibility anddesign studies, or transnational access to laboratories.“Once you’re prioritised by Esfri, you still have to find

 your own funding,” says Wolfgang Sandner, the chiefexecutive of the Extreme Light Infrastructure (ELI), a

laser facility under construction outside Prague. “There isno sustainable EU funding for construction or operation.”

This leaves member states to finance construction, but

many are reluctant to fund projects outside their borders.The European Spallation Source neutron beam facility,

under construction in Lund, Sweden, took two decadesto secure enough funding to begin. The constructioncosts of €1.8bn have now been met by a consortium of

nations, and operational costs are expected to be about€150 million a year—but the EU contribution is just €5m.

Until the end of the 1990s, member states preferred

the Commission to keep out of infrastructure funding toallow them to retain control over valuable ‘big science’

projects, says Peter Tindemans, the secretary-generalof the scientists’ group Euroscience and, from 2000 to2010, the chairman of the ESS. However, he says the

recession has forced them to shift this stance.But experiences such as the spiralling of the budget

for the Iter nuclear reactor in France, from €2.7bn to anestimated €7bn, have made the Commission reluctant toprovide full funding for infrastructure, says Tindemans.

Carlo Rizzuto, the president of the Elettra synchrotronin Trieste, Italy, and a former chairman of Esfri, says this

needs to change. He argues that future Framework pro-grammes should allocate as much as 20 per cent of fundsto research facilities. The money could still be allocated

through Esfri, he says, but should be used for construc-tion and operational costs as well as design.

Giorgio Rossi, a physicist at the University of Milanand vice-chairman of Esfri, agrees. He also defends theCommission’s decision to prioritise a smaller number of

projects in the 2016 update. “The Commission has tendedto spread its support relatively thinly across many labo-ratories,” says Rossi. “It should reduce the number of

facilities and be more substantial.” This, he says, willguarantee the success of the facilities that are supported.

But many struggling facilities are already looking

elsewhere for support, including to EU structural funds.The ELI laser facility, which is supported by laboratories

in the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania, has suc-

cessfully used the European Regional Development Fundto finance 85 per cent of its €850m construction costs.

 And speaking in London on 23 March, the EU researchcommissioner Carlos Moedas suggested that infrastruc-ture projects could apply for funding from the European

Fund for Strategic Investments, a €315bn economicstimulus package being planned by the Commission.

Private investors could fill the gap in funding, Moedassaid, using money from the EU budget as a guarantee.

“Several member states have already indicated their

 willingness to use Efsi for projects including the ESS,the Elixir life-science project and the BBMRI biobank

infrastructure,” says a Commission spokeswoman. “Efsishould provide genuine opportunities for the construc-tion and upgrades of infrastructure.” But science groups

remain sceptical, as Efsi will only provide loans, notgrants—making it an unrealistic solution for telescopesor neutron facilities with timelines of a decade or more.

 According to Tindemans, it is up to the Commissionand member states to find a sustainable

funding solution for infrastructure. “Noneof the major research facilities in theUnited States gets company financing for

construction or operating costs,” he says.“That should teach European governments

and the Commission a lesson or two.” So me thin g to add? Emai l co mmen t@

 ResearchResearch.com

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Research Europe, 2 April 201514 news

u k & i r e l a n d

Rule change at government labsThe UK government is to remove the public-sector paycap from national research institutes.

In his last budget before the election in May, chan-

cellor George Osborne announced plans to invest about£240 million in research and innovation projects, offer£25,000 loans to PhD students, and give national

research institutes “new budget freedoms” including theability to break through the 1 per cent cap on pay rises.

 A sp ok es man fo r th e Depa rt ment fo r Bu sine ss,Innovation and Skills said that institutes would now beable to manage their pay bills within their existing budg-

ets; be exempt from procurement controls for high-endscientific computing; be exempt from some procurement

controls for marketing and advertising; and enjoy morefreedom in using commercially earned income.

Jane Francis, the director of the British Antarctic

Survey, says she hopes the changes will make it easierfor institutes to employ top researchers. She has lob-bied for greater flexibility, and says the devil will now

be in the detail. “The salaries that government researchinstitutes can offer are not particularly competitive withuniversities or industry,” which has made it difficult for

them to recruit top-quality scientists, she says.Elsewhere in the budget, the Conservative-led gov-

ernment said that income-contingent loans of up to

£25,000 to support PhDs and research-based masters

degrees would be provided in addition to existing fund-

ing. It is also planning to review how to strengthenfunding for postgraduates, and examine the balancebetween the number and level of research stipends to

ensure that the UK remains internationally competitive.The chancellor’s overall message was that the UK

is on the road to economic recovery and, although itmust continue to make public spending cuts to ensurethe recovery is sustainable, it can start to raise spend-

ing again after 2017-18. “Britain is on the right track,”Osborne told parliament. “We must not turn back.”

Osborne said the government would need to save£30 billion by 2017-18, which is half the amount thatthe opposition, Labour, said the Conservatives would

need to save to meet their deficit reduction target.Figures from the Office for Budget Responsibility, pub-lished alongside the budget on 18 March, show that the

deficit is now half of what the government inherited in2010, when it was 10 per cent of national income. TheOBR forecasts that it will be 0.6 per cent by 2017-18.

The chancellor said his planned savings of £30bn would be achieved by cutting £13bn in public spend-

ing and £12bn in welfare, and preventing losses of £5bn

from aggressive tax avoidance or evasion.

by Adam Smith asnews@ResearchResearch.com

Structural biologist namedRoyal Society president The structural biologist and Nobel

prizewinner Venki Ramakrishnanhas been elected to take over from Paul Nurse as presi-

dent of the Royal Society. Ramakrishnan, who works inthe Laboratory of Molecular Biology at the Universityof Cambridge, will take over the top job at the national

academy in December.

UK fails to live up to graphene hype A government analysis of worldwide patents in 2015 hasconcluded that the UK does not register enough pat-

ents on inventions using graphene. The University ofManchester holds 12 patent families, the most in the UK,but two top Korean and Chinese technology companies

hold almost 500 patent families each.

Strategy takes Ireland’s researchers by surpriseMany of Ireland’s research organisations have hastilyprepared written responses to help shape a strategy for

science, technology and innovation that the govern-ment hopes to have in place by the summer. Researchers

are angry that the consultation was published on the websites of 10 government departments without anyannouncement being made.

No commitment to increased science spendingPrime minister David Cameron has refused to com-mit to a real-terms increase in the science budget if

the Conservatives are re-elected in the May election.Responding in parliament to a question from one of his

own MPs on whether he would raise the science budget,Cameron made no reference to future spending plans.

‘No lobbying, no threatening’, says SKA bossThe director-general of the Square Kilometre Array tel-

escope project has denied that UK delegates behavedaggressively at a meeting to decide the location of thetelescope’s administrative headquarters. SKA director-

general Phil Diamond said that nothing untoward tookplace at the meeting on 2 March. “There was no lobby-ing, no threatening going on,” he said.

Minister urged to address STEM gender imbalanceMembers of the Northern Ireland Assembly have calledon Stephen Farry, the minister for employment andlearning, to publish a strategy and action plan to address

gender imbalance in science, technology, engineeringand mathematics careers. Farry said in 2013 that women

 were important to STEM subjects in Northern Ireland,but the government has no strategy to address theirunderrepresentation in relevant posts.

u k &