Excellence must remain cornerstone of EU framework programme for research and innovation
A significant increase in the European Union’s next RDI budget is necessary to strengthen both the EU’s and Finland’s knowledge base, competitiveness and self-sufficiency in knowledge and research. The EU framework programmes for research and innovation have for decades provided funding for high-quality RDI projects and helped create new knowledge and new skills and shored up Europe’s competitiveness. The funding to be distributed under the next framework programme (FP10) must be earmarked and allocated to excellent research and innovation. Excellence as the cornerstone of the framework programme must be maintained.
A significant increase in the European Union’s next RDI budget is necessary to strengthen both the EU’s and Finland’s knowledge base, competitiveness and self-sufficiency in knowledge and research. This is the opinion of the Research Council of Finland, as stated in its position paper on FP10, the tenth framework programme for research and innovation. The framework programmes have for decades provided funding for high-quality RDI projects and helped create new knowledge and new skills and shored up Europe’s competitiveness. We must continue to invest ambitiously in the framework programme to create new knowledge and smart solutions for the future.
In the position paper, the Research Council of Finland also emphasises that FP10 funding must be earmarked and allocated to excellent research and top-level innovation. Excellence as the cornerstone of the framework programme must be maintained. The funded research and the evaluation and implementation of funded projects must be accountable. What’s more, the programme’s budget should not be overloaded with initiatives that do not represent RDI activities and are not included in the programme’s strategic plan. The long-term nature of research funding must be ensured.
The Research Council of Finland further highlights the need to strengthen frontier research and to increase the proportion of investigator-driven research in the overall funding package. There must also be stronger support for research careers and research infrastructures.
