FINAL REPORT OF THE H2020 ADVISORY GROUP ON SPREADING EXCELLENCE AND WIDENING PARTICIPATION

CONTENTS

Introduction………………………………………………………………………………. / 2
Recommendations on the ERA Chairs………………………………………………….. / 3
Recommendations on Twinning…………………………………………………………. / 6
Recommendations on gender issues…………………………………………………….. / 7
Recommendations onfuture orientations……………………………………………. / 8
  1. INTRODUCTION

Commissioned by DG Research and Innovation in December 2015, the Horizon 2020Advisory Group for Spreading Excellence and Widening Participation(Widening)[1]was called to adviseon the future development of the Widening Work Programme 2018-20. This report is based on the discussions held during the meetings on 3 February, 6 April and 26 May 2016,as well as written contributions.Building on the previous experience, it aims to consolidate, adjust and improve the impact of Widening actionsbased on pragmatic advice.

The Spreading Excellence and Widening Participationaction aims at addressing the research and innovation gap in countries lagging behind the rest of the European Union in terms of scientific output by investing in excellence in selected knowledge institutions. It focuses on building capacity for research and innovation that meets international standards of excellence and enhances the innovative performance of the national economies.Also, by using concentration on funding and replication of good practice, the Widening actionworks to develop excellencein Widening countries and a base line to competeinternationally in research and innovation.

In order to reach these objectives, the Advisory Group has considered several challenges that target countries of the Widening programme currently face in bridging the research and innovation gap:

  • Widening participation while concentrating funding in pursuit of excellencein research

In order to achieve excellencein research, the Widening actionuses concentration of funding to avoiddilution of capacity.The early experience from the Widening actionshows that this approach may have contributed toan emerging gap among the target countries[2]:a few countries/institutions have made significant progressin their participation in H2020 activities, but the rest of the target countries are still in the process of catching-up. In order to narrow this gap, the Advisory Group places strong emphasis on the benefits of and the need for cross-country collaboration, particularly in priority areas with growth opportunities for the target countries. It calls for greater efforts to ensure that the emerging centres of excellence will engage in active dissemination for developing capacity of institutions which are still in the catching-up process through national and transnational networks.In order to increase the chances of success for Widening institutions, the Advisory Group also calls for enlarging the scope of the notion of ‘excellence’, e.g. by linking it to good performance and management experience, expertise in securing IPR and generating public and private funds, expertise in innovation in broad terms encompassing public policy, social and civic engagement, broader societal issues,as well as to the potential impact of the cross-country collaboration on the target countries.

  • Balancing between research and innovation

In order to address the performance gaps in research and innovation across EU countries, the Widening actionaim of spreading excellencehas materialised into an effort to raise the science base in the target countries, assuming that a strengthened science base will foster innovation. To accelerate this process and make it more effective, the Advisory Group points out to the importance of consolidating institutional mechanisms that can facilitate the translation of research results into innovation outputs (e.g. various forms of knowledge exchange and research commercialisation), and ensure that excellentresearch is better oriented towards the innovation process.

  • Contributing tosustainable institutional capacity-building and change during and beyond the funding period

In addition to building excellence in research, the Widening actionalso aims at building sustainable institutional capacity and change in the target countries’ institutions. This goal calls for improvements in the leadership, management and governance of institutions, which are often hindered by national legislation and capacity issues. Furthermore, the challenge of institutional capacity-building may be amplifiedby the lack of horizontal coordination within national governments between higher education, research,innovation and regional development authorities, policies and programmes, as well as by the limited capacity of the authorities to make strategic investment in less developed national research and innovation systems.

  • Contributing to education and maximizing the potential of human resources by addressing issues related to gender and age

The Advisory Group acknowledges the importance of knowledge building (education in broader terms) and nurturing the new generation of talent. This is important for institutional embeddedness and impact and for reasons of sustainability, given that most higher education systems fund institutions on the basis of the graduate production. Promoting gender balance is part of the ERA priorities in order to maximize the potential of human resources.

To address these challenges the Advisory Group makesmore specific recommendations[3]which focus on: i) ERA Chairs,ii) Twinning, iii) Gender issues,and iv) future orientations.

2. RECOMMENDATIONS FOR ERA CHAIRS

The ERA Chairs aim at achieving research excellence in the Widening countries by increasing the attractiveness of theirinstitutions/regionsto excellent researchers, and improving the Wideninginstitutions’ capability to access competitive research funding, as well as by contributing tocapacity-building and necessaryinstitutional changes to comply with ERA priorities. The experience derived from the ERA Chair calls and the ongoing 25 projects[4] highlight the benefits of developing closer links between the Widening institution and the institution to which the ERA Chair holder is affiliated. The experience also underlines the needto define objectives for contributing tocapacity-building/institutional changes, to demonstrate the role and autonomy of the ERA Chair holder, to develop consistent Work Packages that contribute to the overall Action Plan, and to create well defined, but lean management structures.The impact of the EC investment of €2.5m for each ERA Chair can be leveraged at the institutional level thanks to the demonstration effect that ERA Chairs can have, given their broad portfolio which combines top research and research team leadership with capacity-building experiencethat may lead to institutional changes.In universities, suchimprovements can take placeat all levels (unit, department, faculty, University), provided that the ERA Chair has the support and backing of the institutional leader.

In line with the aim of developing strong research capacity in Widening institutions, the key challenges for ERA Chairs centre around four issues:

i)Developing attractiveness to high-calibre researchersand enhancing the overall effectiveness of ERA Chairs;

ii)Supporting capacity development through forging closer links between the Widening institution and the institution with which the ERA Chair is/was affiliated (partnering institution);

iii)Enhancing the ERA Chairs’ links with education, and

iv)Enhancing the sustainability and spill over impacts of institutional changes promoted by the ERA Chair in the Widening institution beyond the five-year funding period.

To address these challenges, the Advisory Group makes the following recommendations:

  1. Develop attractiveness to high calibre researchers and enhance the overall effectiveness of ERA Chairs
  • Allow ERA Chairs to retain/build an affiliation to the institution they were previously affiliated to through secondments, unpaid leaves or other arrangements to avoid a possible perceived isolation, facilitate access to this institution’s research base, enhance collaborative research and support institutional change in theWidening institution.
  • Consider using a two-stage selection procedure to attract top researchers. Here different approaches could be considered. The Commission could,for instance, consider an arrangement where the first stage would allow the validation of candidate institutions to focus on institutional analysis, preparing a SWOT analysis and outlining their vision/strategy.For the second stage, the most promising institutionsselected by the Commission would each identify their ERA Chair and then present the Research agenda and the Action plan prepared together with the prospective ERA Chair. The two-stage procedure would allow the selection of: 1) Widening institutions with the highest potential for improvement; 2) best ERA Chairs and 3) themost robust Research agendas. Furthermore, the development of the Research Agenda and the Action Plan in collaboration between the Widening institution and the ERA Chair would improve its relevance and overcome the drawback of a one-stage proposal, where the ERA Chair is obliged to carry out a project that was designed without him/her.
  • Clarify information in the ERA Chair Call on the expected double role of the ERA Chairs(i.e. research team leadership and capacity-building/institutional change), defining the minimum requirements for each part of the portfolio role;
  • Consider collecting profiling information on what the ERA Chairs have accomplishedat the end of the five-year funding period to help policy development and peer learning.
  1. Support capacity-buildingand institutional changes in the Widening institution by forging closer links withthe partnering institution
  • Provide clear information and quantifiable terms in the ERA Chair call on the capacity-building/institutional changes that the ERA Chair holder is expected to contribute to in the Widening institution OR require applicant institutions to demonstrate that they have implemented institutional reforms at least in the discipline/research centre for which an ERA Chair is applied for, as a pre-requisite for an ERA Chair.
  • Require the Widening institutions applying for an ERA Chairto demonstrate in the application how they will address the strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats identified in the SWOT analysis, over the five-year funding period, and require the Widening institutions to outline the changes that they would like the ERA Chair, and where feasible, his/her affiliated institution, to assist with.
  • Encourage strong interaction between the partnering institution and the Widening institution in view of promoting sustainable capacity-building and changes in the latter, e.g. by requiring: i) an agreement between the two institutions, showing the commitment of the institutionto which the ERA Chair is affiliated during their stay at the Widening institution; and ii) an early analysis or assessment carried out by the ERA Chair holder together with the Widening institution’s representatives, at the beginning of the five-year funding period, identifying the challenges faced by the Widening institution, the constraints and assets that the ERA Chair holder needs to consider for a successful completion of their double role (i.e. research team leadership and capacity-building/institutional change).This analysis could build on the SWOT analysis carried out in the application, referred to above.
  • Consider requiring the Widening institution to create metrics to show how the ERA Chair and the partnering institution will be used as a resource to improve policies and practices in the Widening institution. Potential areas in need of development may include HR policies related to recruitment and promotion, research and innovation policies on funding and fund-raising, including IPR, new units/offices to bring in grants.
  • Consider requiringthat the Action Plan detail what measures will be taken to ensure the continuous interaction between the ERA Chair and the Widening institution’s staff (e.g. through projects, papers and shared staff), and to motivate the staff supporting the ERA Chair team.
  • Consider requiring that the Action Plan include a capacity-building/change strategy and management plan that should address questions such as:What does the Wideninginstitution want to achieve?What is it that the Wideninginstitution hopes the ERA Chair will achieve? How is the Wideninginstitution going to participate in this?
  • Encourage/require the establishment of an advisory board for the ERA Chair, including members from the Widening and partnering institutions, local stakeholders and other relevant constituencies, supported by a shared action plan with milestones and monitoring.
  1. Enhance ERA Chairs’ links with education (particularly in cases where the Widening institution is a university)
  • Enhance linkages with education: While the Advisory Group does not see a benefit in a mandatory teaching load for ERA Chairs, it recommends that the Widening institutionspecifies how the linkages between research and education will be enhanced, how the ERA Chair’s contribution to education will be strengthened, and how the ERA Chair will enhance education-related activities.One way of ensuring a long-term impact and embeddedness is to encourage an ERA Chair to contribute to a new or existing doctoral training programme or industrial PhD programmes. Subject to the institutional and local needs and context, the business plan could also include actions about links with undergraduate and master programmes in order to ensure embedding in the core activities of institutions and the development of human capital for the region. Specific measuresin institutions could include: introducing seminars, supervising students, providing guidance in research ethics, proposal writing and application for postdocs, and implementing innovative ways of transferring knowledge.
  1. Enhance sustainability
  • Ensure that the host institution’s Action Plan will cover the ERA Chair sustainability. A detailed ‘Sustainability Plan’ could be required for the EC approval within an appropriate time from the project start.
  • Emphasize in the call description the possibility of linking the ERA Chair team to start-up and research funding, including Structural Funds and national research grants.
  • Allow the ERA Chair Grant for Consumables to provide sufficient resources to launch new projects while applying for other funds.
  • Improve monitoring and ex-post evaluation by developing enhancement-oriented mid-term evaluation, offering guidance to the ERA Chair and host institution. Ensure that the final evaluation at the end of the funding period will offer the host institution an opportunity for self-reflection.

3.RECOMMENDATIONS FOR TWINNING

The Twinning action aims at developing centres of research expertise in universities or research organisations from the Widening countriesthrough networking with “advanced” partners. Twinning actions may involve short term staff exchanges, expert visits and short-term training, workshops, conference attendance as well as dissemination and outreach activities. Eligible costs cover coordination, networking, dissemination and outreach, but not infrastructure, equipment and research.

The key challenges of Twinning centre around its image as a low-threshold action and the need forstrengthening the research and networking dimensions. There was a significant oversubscription in the 2015 call with over 550 proposals, out of which 66 projects have been selected and are currently being implemented. Most proposals have also suggested a link to research, post docs and young researchers despite the lack of funding.

The Advisory Group makes the following recommendations:

  1. To raise the bar for Twinning
  • Require a clear definition of the scientific strategy towards excellence in research and detailed information on the scientific qualities of "advanced" partners and their added value in the project.
  • Require more detailed information on the expected impact of the Twinning exercise on the Widening institution, based on specific indicators. Introduce qualitative criteria for the activities supported, such as minimum requirements for workshops, staff exchanges etc.
  • Require the lead partner to have a funded research project in the scientific area of choice and describe how Twinning will take this research to a new stage.
  • Clarify in the call that Twinning is not only a scientific action, but a multifaceted approach to improve institutional quality.
  • Limit the number of partners (within a country), but allow broader involvement at an affiliation basis in order to achieve an optimum scope of collaboration and networking with other institutions.
  • Consider a study on why eligible organizations have not applied for Widening, in order to identify the barriers for applying to this programme.
  1. To strengthen the research dimension of Twinning
  • Encourage Twinning with partners that have experience in winning EU research fundsby requiring the inclusion of the number of projects (to be) submitted to the EC in collaboration with low-performing partners to facilitate the development of and integration into international scientific networks.
  • Enhance the academic credibility of the lead partner, e.g. through invitations to act as a speaker/expert/ member of expert panel or research grants during the Twinning period, etc.
  • Introduce a requirement to demonstrate how the project will improve the research, planning and strategic thinking capacities of the low-performing institutions. Introduce a requirement of a development of a research agenda of the low-performing institution for the project output.
  • In addition to permanent staff consider extending twinning to PhD and Master students, possibly with linkages with industry. If student research activities are included, possible arrangements could include an Industrial PhDs in the leading country, or dual/joint PhD degrees/post docs between the Twinning countries.
  • Introduce a recommendation to extend mentorship to the utilization of research results (through IPR protection, licensing, technology transfer, etc.) and take this into account in scoring.
  • Stimulate the participation of SMEs in the proposalsalong with universities, research organizations and/or private not-for-profit research institutions to overcome the gap between research outputs and commercialization,and promote the “research-innovation-market” link. Introduce a requirement for an industrial partner as a member of the consortium.
  • Introduce concrete indicators to measure the expected impact of the Twinning exercise on the target institution. The proposed indicators should addressnational and regional specificities (societal, cultural, historical, economic, legal) in order to stimulate applicants to carefully address the Twinning's objectives, i.e. strengthening of a defined field of research and taking into consideration the expected impact at a national and regional level.
  • Introduce a requirement for minimum number of secondments of the permanent staff.
  1. To strengthen the networking dimension of Twinning
  • Encourage joint project proposals which are based on cooperation between the partners (the lead partner takes the initiative and leads the process), including new partners from the Widening countries.
  • Allow participation of new partners from the Widening countries in workshops, training etc. at their own cost or, after the change in the regulations, paid by the project. Develop a work package of a project-driven Widening, allowing participation of researchers from other institutions from the less/least-advanced group of countries.
  • Encourage co-authoring with partners from the Widening countries beyond the lead partner.
  • Stimulate network-building in the host countries by encouraging institutions to develop national research networks in the respective field.
  • Consider encouraging networking activities of early-career partners (and PhD students), e.g. writing/publishing joint articles. Fund post-doc visits in the partner organization. Allow payment of scholarships to PhD students who participate in the project’s activities.

4. RECOMMENDATIONS TO ADDRESS GENDER ISSUES