Image: Craig Nicholson for Research Professional News
Earma 2024: Upcoming EU research programmes expected to focus more on palpable research outcomes
The way in which winners of EU research and innovation funding report on the impact of their work will change in future R&I programmes, a consultant has predicted.
EU programmes will increasingly focus on “real impact”, suggested Sean McCarthy (pictured), managing director at Hyperion, who has advised applicants to the programmes for decades.
No need to report
An example of such impact was the development of the Covid-19 vaccine, he said at the European Association of Research Managers and Administrators annual conference in Odense, Denmark, on 24 April.
Research into the genetic material mRNA, some of which was funded by the EU, contributed to the development of some of the first and most effective vaccines against the pandemic-causing virus.
“What was [these researchers’] impact report like?” McCarthy asked at the conference. “I imagine it was a single piece of paper saying, ‘It works’, so it does really [have] impact.”
“If there’s real impact, there’s no need for a report to write, ‘A standard was set’, and so on,” he said. “And I think this is the future.”
McCarthy said he does not expect such change to impact expectations come in for the next seven-year EU R&I programme, which is due to start in 2028, but for the one after that.
Need for political awareness
McCarthy told attendees that, in the future, scientists will need more knowledge of societal challenges, such as the UN Sustainable Development Goals. They will be “scientifically excellent, but they would also be politically aware and commercially aware”, he said.
He added: “I think we need to increase the confidence of our scientists to show [they’re] doing something useful. The problem is they can’t communicate the brilliant work they’re doing, and they need that kind of support” from research managers.
The 2028 programme is likely to put more emphasis on funding synergies, according to McCarthy, who also said there is a need to debate whether there should be a separate programme for funding R&I with military potential.
This is a hot topic at the moment, after the European Commission proposed adding instruments to the 2028 programme specifically for funding research that has military potential.