DFG. Statement of the DFG on the ERA Framework. Statement. Response to the public consultation of the European Commission.

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1 Statement Statement of the DFG on the ERA Framework Response to the public consultation of the European Commission November 2011 Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft Kennedyallee Bonn, Germany Postal address: Bonn, Germany Phone: Fax: postmaster@dfg.de DFG

2 DFG Statement on the ERA Framework Page 2 of 6 Strengthen European research in the global competition Progress in science and academia is necessarily an international and collective endeavour, driven by the interplay between cooperation and competition. With the upcoming framework for a common research area, the European Union aims to increase compatibility across the research and funding systems of its member states, and to expand Europe s globally competitive research and funding resources. The overall goal is to secure and enhance Europe s capacity to cooperate and compete with other major research areas around the world. At the same time, such a framework for the European Research Area must not lead to a restriction of productive competition between the national research and funding systems, as their plurality represents an enormous potential for innovation across Europe. Stimulate competition preserve the diversity of research and funding systems The national research and funding structures in Europe are diverse and, in some cases, very different. This heterogeneity reflects the various sizes, but also the specific traditions and requirements of the research systems, whose respective strengths should be leveraged in a complementary manner. In contrast, structural differences unrelated to research (for example in terms of access to labour markets or the transferability of social security entitlements), contribute to the fragmentation of the European research landscape and should be overcome. At the same time, the objective of a European Research Area must not be limited to the administered harmonisation of research and funding systems. Rather, the upcoming framework for the European Research Area should provide research-oriented incentives and impulses for an optimal balance of competition and cooperation between all stakeholders at the national and European level. In keeping with the principle of subsidiarity, the national research organisations will continue to be primarily responsible for the creation of transnational research and funding areas, in accordance with their respective expertise and resources. The initiatives and actions of the European Commission on the European Research Area should therefore be designed and implemented to be even more complementary to the funding structures and programmes at the national level. Strengthen the coherence of transnational funding activities Researchers in Europe need reliable and science-driven structures to support individual as well as institutional scientific cross-border cooperation. Along the lines of the EUROHORCs

3 DFG Statement on the ERA Framework Page 3 of 6 Road Map 1, the DFG is committed to helping create a European Research Grant Union in the long term. As a first step towards this goal, further research organisations should be enabled to participate in existing transnational funding instruments (Money Follows Researcher, Money Follows Cooperation Line, and Lead Agency Procedure). Moreover, transnational funding schemes without thematic restrictions already exist for certain subject areas and disciplines 2. Ultimately, in a common European funding area, grant approvals could be mutually acknowledged by all participating funding organisations in order to be redeemable in the country where the research is carried out. The added value of this model for Europe is based especially on shared experiences in review processes and the learning effects from scientific and procedural cooperation between research organisations. In addition, the coordination of national funding programmes can help overcome the fragmentation of the European research landscape, avoid unnecessary duplication, and by creating a critical mass ultimately facilitate the realisation of a common research area. The benefit of such coordination is the complementary establishment of funding and cooperation structures that are not feasible at the national level. Given the positive experience thus far, especially with ERA-NET as a mediator between bottom-up funding initiatives and strategic priority-setting by governmental actors and society groups, the chosen path of coordinating national funding programmes at the European level should be continued. However, especially in large-scale approaches to coordination (e.g. the Joint Programming and Flagship Initiatives), appropriate involvement of the scientific community must be even better ensured when it comes to identifying research topics and funding priorities as well as implementing programmes. In addition, coordination initiatives related to so-called Grand Challenges should still cover the entire funding spectrum, from basic research to applied research. In parallel, bottom-up coordination measures at the basic research level must be maintained under the next EU Framework Programme for Research. Establish standards for the support of early-career researchers An essential prerequisite for the competitiveness of the European Research Area is the international attractiveness and efficiency of its support systems for early-career researchers. The training and funding of young researchers in Europe should be based on common highquality standards, developed in the interplay between national and European actors. The DFG offers a long-established, renowned and well-diversified funding portfolio to support 1 EUROHORCs and ESF Vision on a Globally Competitive ERA and their Road Map for Actions 2 Open Research Area (ORA) for the Social Sciences, ERA-Chemistry Open Initiative

4 DFG Statement on the ERA Framework Page 4 of 6 early-career researchers. Especially with its International Research Training Groups, the DFG promotes the cross-border establishment of advanced quality standards for the training of doctoral researchers worldwide. This process could be strengthened even further with regard to the European Research Area by including COFUND grants. The DFG s potential involvement in COFUND would depend on whether the DFG would have an adequate say in securing standards and procedures committed solely to scientific excellence as part of the expansion of European research training groups. Under these conditions, further implementation of COFUND at the national level could become more important for the DFG as well. At the EU level, the Marie Curie scheme notably its structured doctoral programmes can contribute significantly to the establishment of European-wide standards for early career programmes. To this end, the Marie Curie schemes should be further expanded and better funded under the upcoming EU Framework Programme for Research, in order to achieve acceptable approval rates. Longer funding periods should be considered as well. Moreover, further simplifications with regard to the rules for participation, the management and the implementation of Marie Curie programmes are needed to allow greater flexibility in response to various subject- or country-specific requirements in promoting young researchers. Finally, it should also be examined to what extent European mentoring and networking opportunities for postdoctoral researchers could be useful in order to attract (especially female) doctorate holders to a career in research and to support their further career. Facilitate the use of research data and infrastructures Funding for existing and new research infrastructures continues to be an important financial task of the European Union under the next Framework Programme for Research. Such funding, particularly when it benefits universities as important pillars of research infrastructure, must be adequately coordinated with the national research organisations. With the framework for a European Research Area, the possibilities of external use should be improved, standardisation as the basis for cross-border networking of research infrastructures should be advanced, and the reuse of data should be regulated. International networking and virtualisation of research infrastructures should be promoted further. The importance of open access and back access is growing in all scientific disciplines and should be accompanied by appropriate support measures at the European level. To make existing decentralised research infrastructures available for Europe- and even world-wide use, an incentive system is needed that complements basic national funding with additional grants

5 DFG Statement on the ERA Framework Page 5 of 6 for internationalisation. Open access is aimed not only at the optimum accessibility of research data and results, but also at their subsequent reuse. Therefore, research data and results should be published under open licences that provide clear and unambiguous rules for the prospective reuse by third parties. Moreover, in addition to standards and an exchange of best practices for data sharing, a unified legal framework should be created to regulate data reuse across research systems and borders. Secure Europe s ability to cooperate globally The involvement of European scientists and scholars in international research collaborations also requires an effective representation of their interests towards non-european partners and, where necessary, the allocation of resources in order to participate in international cooperation activities. In principle, the DFG therefore welcomes the objective of the European Commission to work towards a more effective coordination of the various external scientific relation strategies and measures, in order to strengthen the position of European research in the global competition for outstanding collaborative opportunities. The necessary coordination process should involve not only member states and EU institutions but also the national research organisations, so as to take advantage of their expertise on international research and funding cooperation. The implementation of actions (e.g. through strategic research agendas and joint liaison offices outside of Europe) should be promoted by variable groups composed of EU institutions, member states and research organisations, according to each party s interests, experience and resources. Establish new forms of cooperation The commitment of the European Union and its member states to a common research area forms the basis for an agreement on the necessary legal and policy framework at the European level. At the same time, the actions required to realise a common research area will often affect the responsibilities and activities of national research and funding organisations. Their expertise should be duly considered in the decision-making processes on the framework for the European Research Area. This involvement will require flexible relationships and an intelligent task sharing between EU institutions, member states and research organisations, so as to enable the preservation and further expansion of ideal conditions for excellent science and research in Europe.

6 DFG Statement on the ERA Framework Page 6 of 6 The DFG a strong partner for a common research area As the largest national funding organisation in Europe, the DFG takes it as its duty to keep improving the environment for science and research. In this spirit, the DFG, together with its partner organisations, began early on to contribute to the realisation of a common research area in Europe. The founding of Science Europe, in which the DFG was significantly involved, is intended to strengthen the representation of the European research community vis-à-vis the EU institutions. The DFG will continue this commitment going forward, particularly by contributing its expertise on research funding and scientific cooperation to the decision-making processes on the European Research Area, and by testing new forms of cooperation with partners in Europe and around the world.