Danish Presidency introduces group dynamics to EUREKA
Denmark, which currently holds the presidency of both the EU and the European research network EUREKA introduced a new working method at the three day conference in Odense from 28 October - group work. The conference in Odense was the first time that the 34 EUREKA participants had worked in groups. The Danish initiative was, however, positively received, says Michael Darmer, Head of Division in the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation, and Chairman of the NPC, a EUREKA body responsible for coordinating national projects. 'The participants responded very positively to the group work and we received many useful suggestions on how we could improve PAM [project assessment methodology]', said Mr Darmer after the meeting. 'It is clear that when introducing new ways of working, much depends on how well they are received. The members must think group work is a good idea in order for it to be a success' he emphasised. Groups discussed how the NPC can ensure quality in the projects that EUREKA decides to promote to public and private investors. 'We discussed how we could improve the matrix, under which we awarded points to the projects according to fixed criteria,' explains Michael Darmer, who described the meeting as very constructive. The NPC Chairman admits that working in groups is unusual for EUREKA meetings. 'However, the advantage of group work is that it can produce results in a short space of time. It is very difficult to discuss technical issues in a forum with 34 participants. There will always be some who say nothing and some who dominate. Furthermore, when so many people are assembled, it is difficult to reach a conclusion at the end. In small groups, everyone participates. This is particularly good for the many new Central and Eastern European countries involved in EUREKA cooperation and offers them a greater opportunity to present their views,' said Mr Darmer. The Danes attempted to mix the groups, so that they consisted of a mixture of old and new, large and small, as well as active and less active member countries. 'There has been a good mixture in the groups, which has been a major reason for the success of the group work,' believes Mr Darmer. Odense also hosted a meeting of the EUREKA high level officials group (HLG), the political superstructure of EUREKA, where making EUREKA's overall structure more efficient was discussed, according to the Danish Chairman Knud Larsen. 'We discussed, among other things, how we can incorporate more projects into EUREKA cooperation with the same resources, and how we can contribute to the development of the European Research Area (ERA)', said Mr Larsen, former Permanent Secretary of the Danish Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation and current CEO of Danish Decommissioning at Risø, an enterprise responsible for decommissioning Danish nuclear plants. EUREKA was established in 1985 and focuses on information and communications technology, environmental and energy technology and biotechnology. In contrast to the EU Framework Programme for Research, EUREKA cooperation has no treaty basis. Consequently, no common fund exists upon which EUREKA projects can draw, so funding must be sought elsewhere. EUREKA is characterised by a 'bottom-up approach', where enterprises and research institutions themselves determine the focus of their research projects. Large enterprises, in particular, view this approach as an advantage, because it ensures greater confidentiality than the EU Framework Programme. EUREKA is composed of 34 members, 32 European countries, Israel and the Commission. EUREKA will next convene in January 2003 in Brussels.
Kraje
Denmark