Think tank calls for EU to create an Arpa-style funder

EU’s mission-driven research funding is “too ad hoc”, says innovation professor Reinhilde Veugelers

The EU research commissioner who is appointed over the coming weeks should consider creating an equivalent of the United States’ advanced research projects agencies, a think tank has suggested.

These Arpa agencies, including ones focused on defence and health, fund high-risk, high-gain research and innovation projects, and have produced some of the defining technologies of the 20th century, including the internet and satellite navigation.