Shaping the European Research Area
Europe faces enormous challenges. Three years ago in Lisbon, EU government leaders set the ambitious goal of building Europe »into the most dynamic and competitive knowledge-based market in the world.« The European Commissioner for Research correspondingly wants to raise current research and development expenditure, now at 1.9 percent of European gross domestic product, to 3 percent. Government funding, and in particular expenditure by private industry, must be significantly increased if this objective is to be reached. The European research area is more than merely a challenge. It also presents an opportunity. »We have pursued expansion of our European activities over the past several years,« explains Prof. Dennis Tsichritzis, Member of the Executive Board responsible for International Business Development at the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. »Our objective on the one hand, is to intensify scientific cooperation with other European research establishments, and on the other, to penetrate deeper into the European market for contract research.« The European strategy of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft will be topic on the agenda when EU Commissioner of Research Philippe Busquin visits Stuttgart on 30 September. The meeting will be hosted by Prof. Hans-Jörg Bullinger, President of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, who until last year was Director of the Fraunhofer-Institute for Industrial Engineering IAO in Stuttgart. For the researchers at the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft, collaboration with other scientists and the users of the research within Europe has already become everyday routine. Annual revenues from international research contracts have doubled over the past five years, from 40 to 80 million. Topping the list of countries as partners in contract research is Austria, followed by Switzerland, Sweden and France. Accompanying the rise in international revenues, EU funding awarded to the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft has also steadily increased. The Fraunhofer-Institutes have also meanwhile gained their first positive experiences in working with the new funding concept of the 6th Framework Programme. The Framework Programme pursues the objective of pooling research activities throughout the EU according to the maxim of »think big, not small«. At a total funding volume of 18 billion, the programme aims to strengthen the competitive capability of the European research area, transforming it into a center of pivotal importance to experts around the world. In order to accelerate this development, new Instruments are being employed: Integrated Projects, for example, place emphasis on cooperation between partners from science and industry. Networks of Excellence focus on establishing networks and pooling expertise. Other measures are being planned to increase the effectiveness of government research funding and improve overall conditions for research. In this context, European Technology Platforms are to be established that each focus on one particular key technology. Groups of researchers and industrial users will then work together on a concept for the development and application of the technology. The 6th Framework Programme continues a tradition of European programs, focusing on the concrete transfer of research results into useful applications for industry. Fraunhofer's President Bullinger is satisfied with results achieved in the first round of invitations to tender. Initial estimates indicate that Fraunhofer-Institutes are actively involved in over 70 successful Integrated Projects and Networks of Excellence. In addition, at least eight of the Integrated Projects are to be spearheaded by the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft. »We intend to use the first round in the Integrated Projects to gather experience that can then be incorporated into a further evaluation of the Instruments,« says Bullinger. »In our view, however, it's important that funding for the smaller projects are maintained.« The views held by the Fraunhofer-President will soon be heard with greater frequency in Brussels, since Phillipe Busquin intends to appoint Bullinger as a member of the High-Level-Group during his visit to Stuttgart. This advisory committee to the EU Research Commission, comprising representatives from the European research industry, is responsible for evaluating the newly implemented Instruments of the 6th Framework Programme. The committee will commence its work in October. With this appointment, the Fraunhofer-President will have the opportunity to assume more responsibility for the ongoing strategic formulation of European research policies, and to contribute to shaping its future development. ,The position of the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft within Europe Statement by Prof. Dennis Tsichritzis, CIO and Member of the Executive Board responsible for International Business Development at the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft Europe is growing together. The economic and political integration of the core European countries is forging ahead, while the European Union is due to expand eastward in 2004. Cooperation in scientific endeavors will play a key role along the way. The pace of development in European research overall, and the form it will take, are not yet clear. Nevertheless, there is a growing tendency to consider Europe as a single entity in the market supply and demand for contract research services. The driving force behind this development is, for the most part, the networking of Europe's industrial base. Government policies play an ever more important role in this process as the European Union faces growing international challenges. Research is by no means exempt from the competitive pressure Europe faces from the United States and Japan. The European Union is being called upon to adhere to its goal of investing 3 percent of its gross domestic product in research funding. This is an enormous undertaking. Because even if European industry contributed two-thirds to this percentage, governments would still need to fund the remaining one-third, which is equivalent to an annual increase in such expenditure of 6 percent. Despite tight federal budgets, this 6 percent is necessary to ensure that Europe remains competitive. An investment in research is an investment in Europe's future. As one of Europe's largest contract research organizations, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft aims to contribute actively to the process of intensified cooperation within Europe. It has consequently striven to expand its European activities over the last several years. New instruments introduced through the Research Framework Programme are currently being tested on a European scale. The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft serves as the coordinator for eight Integrated Projects. This is an excellent start for the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft in the first phase of the 6th Framework Programme. Two objectives guide the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft's commitment to Europe. The first involves the pursuit of cooperation with European research establishments in all relevant scientific fields. The second is to offer contract research for the European market. One new and two already established instruments are being employed for this purpose: In-depth participation in EU-funded joint projects: Each Fraunhofer-Institute aims to generate at least four percent of its earnings through European research funding. In 2002, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft received approximately 32 million Euro for this purpose from the EU, generating a project volume of roughly 50 million Euro in research carried out by its institutes. Conduct contract research for European customers at Fraunhofer-Institutes in Germany: The Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft currently works for as many as 700 customers in Europe on contract research projects. This enables duplicate use of existing innovation. The added know-how obtained through these projects has a direct, positive impact on contract research in Germany. In 2002, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft carried out contract research projects for European customers worth approximately 33 million Euro. Establishment of Fraunhofer-Centers in EU-member countries in conjunction with long-term cooperation with European partners: Through the establishment of new small-scale research centers in Europe, the Fraunhofer-Gesellschaft seeks to develop long-term strategic cooperation with partners in complementary fields of research. This strategy is exemplified in practice by the Fraunhofer-Chalmers Center for Industrial Matematics in Göteborg, Sweden.,
Paesi
Germany