Still in search of impact. The science-innovation and - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Still in search of impact. The science-innovation and science-society linkages in the Public Consultation on ex post evaluation of FP7

Andrea Bonaccorsi University of Pisa and RISE a.bonaccorsi@gmail.com

Introduction From the Executive Summary of the consultation (p. 4) At the same time there were some shortcomings:

• Administrative burden was high and financial and legal rules were cumbersome
• Societal impact was not addressed to a sufficient extent
• Perception of sometimes narrow topics and of difficulty to enter for

newcomers: Game of big entities who know how the system works

Remark # 1 The four programmes (Cooperation, Ideas, People, Capacities)

• articulate the overarching concept of excellence in different directions
• are designed to achieve different specific objectives
• Networking and cooperation
• Investigator-driven excellence
• Researcher mobility
• Long term capital equipment and capacity building
• follow articulated and consistent sets of selection criteria
• are overall complementary

This result is a turning point in the maturity of research policy, as different goals are pursued by means of different policy instruments and tools, which are consistent among them. This result is confirmed and strenghtened in Horizon 2020. This is a historical milestone. European research policy has been historically inhibited to develop a full scale policy instrumentation by the limitations of the legal framework. This achievement should be placed in the appropriate historical perspective.

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 Economic impact Environmental impact Impact on scientific excellence Impact on Technological or social innovations Regional impact Societal impact % Individual Ministries and Funding agencies Organisation HES and REC Organisation Private Organisation SME Overall

BALANCE BETWEEN EXCELLENCE AND INNOVATION (>70% RESPONDENTS)

In which of the following areas did COOPERATION Specific Programme of FP7 generate most impact?

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Economic impact Environmental impact Impact on scientific excellence Impact on Technological or social innovations Regional impact Societal impact % Individual Ministries and Funding agencies Organisation HES and REC Organisation Private Organisation SME Overall

> 90% RESPONDENTS ON IMPACT ON SCIENTIFIC EXCELLENCE

In which of the following areas did IDEAS Specific Programme of FP7 generate most impact?

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 Economic impact Environmental impact Impact on scientific excellence Impact on Technological or social innovations Regional impact Societal impact % Individual Ministries and Funding agencies Organisation HES and REC Organisation Private Organisation SME Overall

SOCIETAL IMPACT THROUGH THE MOBILITY OF EXCELLENT RESEARCHERS

In which of the following areas did PEOPLE Specific Programme of FP7 generate most impact?

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 Economic impact Environmental impact Impact on scientific excellence Impact on Technological or social innovations Regional impact Societal impact % Individual Ministries and Funding agencies Organisation HES and REC Organisation Private Organisation SME Overall

MULTIDIMENSIONAL IMPACT OF RESEARCH INFRASTRUCTURES AND CAPACITIES

In which of the following areas did CAPACITIES Specific Programme of FP7 generate most impact?

Remark #2 In search of impact Stylized evidence

• Excellent research quality is a necessary condition for valorization and impact
• At the same time, intentional valorization activities must be put in place
• Scientific excellence and valorization are neither mutually exclusive, nor

mutually inclusive (S. de Jong)

• These activities generate inevitably tensions ad trade-offs, but they can be

managed appropriately at institutional level

• In low and medium-tech industries, some service sectors, and cohesion regions,

the balance between excellence and relevance may be different

Remark #3 Early involvement of users Academic research is «embryonic» with respect to the need for development and potential applications. Researchers are not necessarily good in understanding

• market needs or social needs
• willingness to pay of potential customers

Involving researchers very early in a dialogue with users increases the ability to identify opportunities for valorization- but:

• the dialogue must be backed by appropriate advanced methodologies
• must be extended in time and allow mutual learning (no one-shot)

FEASIBLE

DESIRABLE SELLABLE

RESEARCHERS ARE GOOD ONLY HERE

INNOVATION

Remark #4 Mixing communities of practice Academic researchers and industrial researchers share a common background (PhD) and scientific/ technological language. They differ in professional practices (publication vs confidentiality), organizational constraints (academic freedom vs hierarchy), incentives (recognition vs income). They should be mixed together in order to mutually challenge:

• regular meetings at European level (not only at project level)
• addressing very specific challenges
• vercoming organizational affiliations
• backed by technology intelligence tools made available by using data mining and

advanced semantic techniques

30 60 90 120 150 180 210 240 270 300

Pyrolysis

100 200 300 400 500 600 700

Solid Oxide Fuel Cell

10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90

Directed Enzyme Evolution

200 400 600 800 1000 1200 1400 1600 1800

Mineral carbonation

Cross-reference analysis of ERC project keywords and queries on world patent databases Source: our elaboration on data kindly provided by Erre Quadro