European Diary Jamie SmythScience and research commissioner Janez Potocnik will visit the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) this Thursday to study the formula that has enabled it to climb to the top of the global research league table.
The commissioner has the tricky task of transforming Europe's research capabilities to help it bridge a glaring "innovation gap" that exists between Europe and other economies such as the US and Japan.
Spending on research in the EU amounted to just 1.9 per cent of gross domestic product in 2004 compared with 2.6 per cent in the US and 3.2 per cent in Japan. In 2004 Ireland spent 1.2 per cent of GDP on research.
Once a leader in innovation, accounting for more than half of all Nobel prizes in the sciences, Europe now lags behind the US.
In a speech this year Gunnar Oquist, permanent secretary for the Royal Swedish Academy of Science, which oversees science-related Nobel prizes, noted that in 2004 seven Americans were among the 10 laureates for the science prizes in medicine, physics, chemistry and economics. Last year, Americans scooped five out of the 10 prizes awarded in the sciences.
Institutions such as the MIT in Boston are at the forefront of research in sectors transforming the modern economy: computing, engineering, and physics. Since it was founded in 1861 MIT has been able to claim a host of inventions, ranging from disposable razor blades in 1876 to the fax machine in 1961. It has also spun out more than 4,000 campus firms, including the company responsible for the popular Lotus Notes software package.
Last week Brussels unveiled a proposal to set up its own European Institute of Technology (EIT) to act as a "as a pole of attraction for the very best minds, ideas and companies from around the world", according to commission president José Manuel Barroso.
On paper the idea sounds like a winner and Mr Barroso's pet project has the backing of member states such as Finland, holder of the EU presidency, and Poland, which is lobbying to have the EIT based in Wroclaw. But not everyone is convinced about Brussels' answer to the MIT, and opposition from Britain and Germany has already forced the commission to scale back its original plans for a full-scale flagship university.
But at the EU summit in Finland last weekend EU leaders gave their cautious backing to a revised plan, which foresees the creation of "knowledge and innovation communities" at universities and private research bodies, supported by a governing board of 19 experts on research and a support staff of just 60. A six-year budget worth €2.4 billion will support a network capable of bringing together EU researchers from the private and public sectors.
German chancellor Angela Merkel kept Mr Barroso's dream alive in Finland, saying the EIT could become a "milestone and a showcase for Europe's capabilities". However, Ms Merkel, who will be responsible for pushing the EIT through the council when Germany takes over the EU presidency in January, warned that much needed to be clarified.
Financing is a key issue that has been seized on by the critics.
"Raiding the EU's research budget to fund this pet project is not the best use of taxpayers' money," says British MEP Richard Ashworth, who notes a lack of private funds for EIT. "Without private sector support, the institute cannot be as ambitious as it needs to be without seriously undermining the competitiveness of our universities."
Despite lobbying by Mr Barroso to firms such as Microsoft, Nokia and Unilever over the past year, no firm commitments of cash have been made. This has forced the commission to pledge all of the €308 million seed capital required for the project, which is designed to run as a public-private project attracting corporate donations.
The academic community is also wary of an EIT. Former EU commissioner and current chancellor of Oxford University Chris Patten has said it is unnecessary and likely to undermine existing programmes such as the European Research Council, which already provides funding for research.
Euroscience, a body that represents the scientific community in Europe, also has reservations.
"Questions remain over the model that will be pursued by the EIT," says Dr Peter Tindemans of Euroscience. "The basic idea seems to be to have knowledge communities of up to 1,000 people across Europe. That is a huge amount of people and I haven't seen that model work in Europe before."
Others worry the project will get bogged down in the Brussels bureaucracy.
"Top research performance can only come from institutional meritocracy, independence from political meddling, open competition with other research institutes and an ability to attract the world's best and brightest minds," says Ann Mettler of the Lisbon Council, a think tank based in Brussels. "World-class research means world-class performance, and that cannot be dictated by decree from governments." On his visit to MIT this week Mr Potocnik should reflect on these concerns. The problems of raising private funding, getting the support of academia and eliminating bureaucracy all contributed to the spectacular collapse in 2005 of Media Lab Europe, the Irish state-sponsored joint venture with MIT.
Much like the EIT, Media Lab Europe was a pet project of a political leader - in this case the Taoiseach, Bertie Ahern. It was also promoted as Europe's answer to the MIT.
Whether the EIT can succeed where Media Lab Europe failed will be a key question for the Barroso commission, which has targeted innovation and economic growth as key policy goals during its term of office.