ALLEA responds to HLG Report on next Framework Programme

ALLEA, the All European Academies association, has published a reaction to the High-level Expert Group's report 'Align, Act, Accelerate: Research, Technology and Innovation to boost European Competitiveness‘. The association applauds the High-Level Group for its achievement and supports many of the report’s objectives, but voices concerns regarding some of the structural changes proposed.

Among the recommendations made, ALLEA explicitly supports the following: a substantial budget increase, not just to boost Europe’s competitiveness but also to sustain world-class research across all disciplines; the importance of SSH and of inter- and transdisciplinary research; the importance of supporting research excellence in Widening Countries; the support and development of early-career researchers, and corresponding funding and mobility frameworks; enhanced international collaboration; diversity and inclusion, promoting gender equality and encouraging diversity in research teams;.

ALLEA is concerned that the proposed Industrial Competitiveness and Technology Council and the European Societal Challenges Council could lead to a fragmentation of the research agenda. It is also critical of the emphasis on industrial competitiveness, seeing an overemphasis on applied research at the expense of long-term, fundamental scientific inquiry and interdisciplinarity, and potentially also marginalising SSH disciplines.

ALLEA proposes the name ‘MATRIX’ for the next FP, "to capture the cross-cutting, interwoven qualities and competitive robustness of the framework programme".

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