The European Research Council could help boost the quality of research, according to science policy specialist, Conor O'Carroll
The US accounts for one third of the world's scientific publications and more than half of all citations. European science is also under pressure given the improving quality of science from Asia, especially China and India.
Investment in research is critical to creating a knowledge-based economy. We live in a globally competitive world and for the European economy to grow in the future it needs to look at the type of research it funds and structures it puts in place to fund that research.
The commission already funds research on a competitive basis through the Framework Programmes. The current programme (2003-2006) is worth over €17.5 billion. However this focuses on specific topics such as human genomics for health and requires clear economic and social objectives.
Europe is now planning to do something to redress the situation. In the proposed new Framework Programme for the period 2007-2013, the European Commission is considering a new structure, the European Research Council (ERC). The council would fund research on the basis of scientific excellence alone as judged by the best scientists worldwide. The proposed annual budget of the ERC will be about €2 billion.
The newly published report by a European Commission High Level Group (HLG) chaired by Dr William Harris, director general of Science Foundation Ireland (SFI), has made far-reaching recommendations for the structure and operation of the ERC.
In the past, in Ireland and across Europe, the debate on research focused on the divide between basic and applied research, but this distinction this has been blurred with the emergence of new disciplines, for example nano-science, which encompass both. The HLG recommends that the council will fund research in new and "risky" areas at the frontiers of knowledge. The barriers between basic and applied will be cast away and this will allow for a closer relationship between science and the technology it generates.
The ERC will for the first time generate head to head competition between researchers and research teams across Europe, a science premier league as it were. It will also make Europe a very attractive location for researchers worldwide. We have already started this with our own national initiative through Science Foundation Ireland.
But there is also the question as to whether researchers in Ireland will be competitive in the new premier scientific league?
Throughout the 1990s the main bulk of research funding in Ireland came from Brussels via the Framework Programmes. As part of multinational consortia, Irish researchers competed with their peers across Europe. This certainly helped maintain high quality standards as researchers here were judged by European and not national standards.
State spending has increased national R&D investment from €27 million in 1997 to €450 million in 2004. The Higher Education Authority PRTLI programme has enabled our universities to build dedicated research institutes across many disciplines. Investment in biotechnology and ICT from SFI has allowed our higher education institutions to attract key researchers from abroad and support Ireland's best. These major national investments in research have based all their competitions on international peer review.
With the ERC there is a great opportunity to achieve something truly unique and provide a real boost for science in Europe.
Having seen the improving quality of Irish rugby with the advent of the European Heineken Cup, I have no doubt that researchers in Ireland are ready to compete and will be successful in the new european science league.