Mervärden av att delta i EU:s ramprogram – Added values of participating in EU framework Programmes
Fecha de publicación: 22 junio 2023 | Idioma del informe SV
The Swedish Governmental Agency for Innovation Systems (Vinnova) assigned Faugert & Co Utvärdering/Technopolis Sweden to analyse Swedish participation in Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe, including partnership programmes. The purpose of the assignment was to generate information for Vinnova’s annual reporting of Swedish participation to the Ministry of Enterprise and Innovation, and partly to create information to support the work of Vinnova and other Swedish research and innovation (R&I) funders in strengthening Swedish participation in Horizon Europe and partnerships in line with the government’s national strategy. Data collection consisted of document analyses, registry analyses, in-depth interviews and a web survey, as well as six case studies of partnerships and four case studies of how other countries work to make the most of the framework programme.
Some conclusions: certain added values of EU projects (compared to Swedish-funded projects) seem to apply regardless of type of actor. Access to internationally leading competence is consistently stated as one of the most important added values, as is access to R&I infrastructure in other countries. As EU projects are usually larger in terms of both resources and (for multi-partner projects) number of participants than Swedish projects, actors can tackle more complex and intractable problems. Internationalisation is said to have intrinsic value in that the resulting mutual learning broadens participants’ perspectives. EU projects contribute to European integration and common development, including common policies, systems, standards and regulations. The consensus that mutual learning contributes to creates conditions for successfully addressing major societal challenges. Active participation also provides the opportunity to influence the direction of the framework programme. Funding is clearly the most important for R&D performers, but the opportunity to collaborate with internationally leading researchers is also a major added value, as is gaining a broader perspective on the societal relevance of one’s own research. Representatives of higher education institutions explain that EU projects contribute to strengthening the quality of research and education, as well as to researcher mobility and career opportunities for doctoral students. Representatives of institutes emphasise that EU projects give them the opportunity to remain internationally competitive and to conduct leading research. They also mention that since funding is often relatively long-term and substantial it provides financial stability, as well as opportunity to carry out large-scale pilot trials in close collaboration with companies.
