MILAN (ITALPRESS) – Europe could transform more scientific discoveries into new technologies, products and enterprises by changing the way it finances innovation and supports researchers, according to a new Policy Forum published on Science. Enhancing Europe’s Competitiveness by Empowering Researchers as Innovators, Enhancing Europe’s Competitiveness, Enhancing Europe’s Competitiveness by Empowering Researchers as Innovators, proposes a more continuous path from fundamental research to marketing, easier financing procedures and greater recognition of entrepreneurship within universities. It argues that persistent institutional obstacles and financing mechanisms prevent scientific excellence from fully generating its economic and social impact.
The work is an INPACT! initiative, a network born in 2023 that brings together over 120 researchers-innovators from more than 20 countries in the European Research Area, mainly researchers funded by the European Research Council (ERC). The work combines the direct experience of researchers with the economic analysis of European funding programmes, to identify reforms that could strengthen Europe’s ability to translate research into innovation.
Researchers from the Italian Institute of Technology, Politecnico di Torino, IMT School Alti Studi Lucca, Bocconi University and Politecnico di Milano contributed to the study. The analysis focuses on Horizon Europe, the EU’s research and innovation programme for the period 2021-2027.
The authors argue that funding remains fragmented and that discoveries with commercial potential may encounter administrative discontinuities between the Proof of Concept funding of the European Research Council (ERC), which help researchers explore practical applications, and the European Innovation Council (EIC) programs that support technological development and business growth. One of the main proposals is to entrust to the EIC the governance of ERC Proof of Concept funding, creating a more continuous path from scientific discovery to technological development and marketing. According to the authors, this could reduce repeated evaluations, simplify the steps between programs and make the support more predictable for researchers and investors.
“Europe has an extraordinary scientific talent, but too often we lose momentum between discovery and application. We need a more continuous path that allows promising ideas to move from fundamental research to technologies, enterprises and solutions capable of generating economic and social impact”, says Dario Polli, professor at the Politecnico di Milano and one of the main authors of the Forum Policy. The Policy Forum also aims to strengthen support for high-risk innovation in early stages.
The total annual funding for EIC Pathfinder and Transition programmes is currently around €500 million, while their program management capacity remains limited to U.S. advanced research agencies. Authors recommend relocate resources to radical innovation and give independent programme managers a greater authority in guiding promising projects.
“Europe is trapped in a trap of intermediate technologies: we are specialized in mature sectors such as automotive and industrial machinery, while frontier sectors such as AI and biotechnology remain too small. To strengthen the competitiveness and strategic autonomy of Europe, we must reconstruct the path from scientific discovery to the market, financing the best ideas and putting researchers and innovators in the conditions of transforming today’s discoveries in the high-tech industries of tomorrow”, says Giorgio President, researcher at the Instituto for European Policymaking at Bocconi University.
The authors also argue that applications for European funding should be shorter and evaluated more directly on the substance of the idea and its potential use. They propose that the national financing agencies take multiannual commitments to support the excellent projects that successfully exceed the European evaluation but cannot be financed with the available EU budget, extending the approach already used through the Seal of Excellence. Reforming European funding alone will not be enough, support the authors. Universities and technology transfer offices must also create conditions in which researchers can devote themselves to innovation without being forced to choose between academic career and entrepreneurship. The Policy Forum recommends greater recognition of entrepreneurship in academic careers, better intellectual property management and clearer paths towards patents, industrial partnerships and spin-offs, along with better access to mentoring and entrepreneurial skills.
These reforms, underline the authors, would not solve the broadest European constraints linked to venture capital, regulation and growth of enterprises themselves. However, a more coherent system, able to link scientific research, technological development and entrepreneurship, could help Europe generate greater economic and social value from its own research base generated by its own research base.
“To transform a greater number of scientific discoveries into new technologies, products and services that reach the market, it would be useful to place in our institutions a clearer path, with well defined steps, predictable timing and simplified procedures. Making the whole process easier to follow could allow a greater number of us to transform knowledge into solutions for society. I firmly believe that embracing innovation can give new impetus to our careers, reshaping the way we face our work and allow us to play a strategic role in strengthening Europe’s global competitiveness, while at the same time addressing still unsatisfied social needs”, says Amanda Silva Brun, research director at CNRS and one of the main actors of the Policy Forum.
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