30-6-2014

The Effecti­ve­ness of National Research Funding Systems

One of the priori­ties of the European Research Area (ERA), as an integral part of Europe 2020, is to improve the effecti­ve­ness of national research systems. Besides more coopera­ti­on, and the avoidan­ce of unneces­sa­ry duplica­ti­on of research and infrastruc­tu­re invest­ment, this also requires more competi­ti­on in order to ensure that the best researchers and research teams (those able to compete in a increa­sin­gly globali­sed and competi­ti­ve research landsca­pe) receive funding.

However, the relati­on between competi­ti­ve funding and research perfor­man­ce is complex and is questi­o­ned in existing litera­tu­re. As a consequen­ce, the European Commis­si­on (DG Research & Innova­ti­on) requested a study on the effecti­ve­ness of national research funding systems. This study was conduc­ted by Dialogic and Empiri­ca between Februa­ry and May 2014.

This small scale study examined the relati­ons­hip between competi­ti­on and research perfor­man­ce by a litera­tu­re study, additi­o­nal quanti­ta­ti­ve data analysis, country studies, a series of in-depth interviews with both research funders, research perfor­mers and other experts regarding research funding and a strate­gic workshop. See the project website for more informa­ti­on. The final policy brief will soon be availa­ble and can be downlo­a­ded from this website as well.

Dialogic, July 2014