Viola Peter

Partner

Kontor: Belgien - policy consulting

E-post: viola.peter@technopolis-group.com

Dr Viola Peter is partner and deputy director in the Brussels office. Viola has more than 25 years of experience in the field of research and  innovation with a focus on science and technology policies and their. Furthermore, she has a strong interest in, knowledge-based technologies, innovation systems and S&T indicator development. Viola has managed several large-scale monitoring networks and lead numerous studies. Her methodological expertise includes biliometric analysis, social network analysis, as well as economic and statistical analysis  

Viola Peter has developed expertise in public policy evaluation with a particular interest in national research and innovation policies. She has lead and contributed to studies, evaluations and impact assessment mainly for European and national public bodies. She has applied successfully a range of qualitative and quantitaitve methods such as bibliometrics, interviews, surveys, social network analysis, statistical analysis and benchmarking. Furthermore, Viola has managed a number of large-scale monitoring networks, and has coordinated several multi stakeholder, multinational workshops and working groups.  

Currently, Viola is contributing to the monitoring of Horizon Europe developments for an international policy client and is starting a study on the progress towards the European Research Area (ERA) integration of the associated European Neighbourhood Policy countries. Recently, the finalised an impact assessment study for the candidate institutionalised partnership “Innovative SMEs’ for DG RTD and coordinated the Mutual Learning Exercise on ‘Research integrity”.  Viola has been leading several monitoring networks for DG RTD such as ERAWATCH, METRIS, and MoRRI. For DG GROW, the has lead the impact assessment and evaluation of the IP enforcement directive (IPRED) and the evaluation of the regulation on EUIPO. Viola has key expertise in the area of R&I indicator development and monitoring. Relevant studies in this respect are the MORE3 study, the study on ‘monitoring responsible research and innovation’ (MoRRI), or the study on ‘collection and analysis of private R&D investment and patent data in different sectors, thematic areas and societal challenges’ (together with FhG-ISI). Viola has developed two practical guides with ‘How to apply the impact assessment tool on research and innovation’ and  ‘Regulatory screening. A short guide on the innovation effects of regulation’. 

In her role as coordinator of four Mutual Learning Exercises (MLEs on Alignment, Innovation procurement, Widening, Research integrity), all under DG RTD’s Policy Support Facility, Viola has gained a broad knowledge of drivers and barriers for the development of national and regional research and innovation policies.  

Prior to joining Technopolis Group, Viola worked Viola worked at the European Commission’s Research and Innovation Directorate in the area of competitiveness, economic analysis and indicators. During this time, she contributed to several EC publications in particular on scientific excellence of research organisations and general R&I indicators. On behalf of the EC, she joined the OECD’s ad-hoc working group on the new biotechnology definition. Previously, she was a researcher at the Fraunhofer Institute for Systems and Innovation Research (FhG-ISI), Karlsruhe, Germany where her work focused on knowledge-based technologies, science-industry transfer and an accompanying  evaluation of clinical research centres.  

Viola obtained a Master of Arts in Japanese Studies, a diploma and a PhD in economics, all from the University of Trier. She also followed three undergraduate terms at Sophia University, Japan, and obtained a short-term fellowship from the National Institute of Science and Technology Policy (NISTEP) during her doctoral studies. A German native speaker, Viola is fluent in English and French, tries to keep her Japanese alive and has some knowledge of Dutch.