Should universities bid for ERC grantees?

European Research Council grants are much in demand and universities are pursuing various strategies to attract researchers who have won them. But according to Maria Nedeva, professor of science and innovation dynamics and policy at the Manchester Institute of Innovation Research, and research fellow Duncan Thomas they may be wasting their time and money.

All universities, not only in the UK but also across Europe, are trying to compete either to generate or to attract ERC grantees, as ERC grants are increasingly being seen as a marker of a university’s excellence. But what we know from our EURECIA research project, wider research and notions about the workings of science is that the measures universities are trying to introduce can be both misconceived and a waste of money.

Why? Because one interpretation of how science works is that it is a relationship between funding and policy research ‘spaces’ and research fields consisting of knowledge communities that integrate around bodies of knowledge and ideas, and other integrative mechanisms such as particular research approaches and methodologies, equipment, research facilities and training.