Poland is claiming some of the credit for negotiating Horizon 2020, the €80-billion follow-up programme to Framework 7, a proposal for which was announced in November last year.
In a summary of the achievements made by Poland during its six-month presidency last year, Poland said that developing the programme had been the country’s “scientific priority”.
“A well constructed programme to finance scientific research in Europe may be a significant motor stimulating the economy, a key factor at a time of economic crisis,” said Barbara Kudrycka, Poland’s science minister. “The efficient work on that document has also been a Polish success.”
In the statement, published on 2 January, the Polish presidency said that it was particularly proud of renaming the Marie Curie travel grants Marie Sklodowska-Curie grants to remind the world of the famous scientist’s Polish roots.
Poland’s presidency went alongside major national reforms in higher education, culminating in the introduction of a more flexible university management system and programmes to support student mobility. The Polish presidency said that these developments had influenced the country’s pan-EU higher education priorities.
Poland was also closely involved with developing the Council of Minister’s education recommendations for 2014-2020, which were also published during the Polish presidency. The recommendations call for closer ties between universities and their surroundings, and for more support for student entrepreneurship and innovation.
In October 2011 Poland held the Go East, Erasmus conference, which discussed the low participation rate of Eastern European students in the Erasmus student exchange programme. Overall, the Polish presidency held more than 40 research and education-related events during its term.