EU research takes on global challenges

EU-led research partnerships are playing a major role in efforts to combat global challenges such as climate change and infectious diseases.

This is according to the European Commission’s second progress report on the EU strategy for international co-operation in research and innovation.

Commenting, Research Commissioner Carlos Moedas said: “No single country or region can face global challenges alone. That’s why our research and innovation needs to be ‘open to the world’. This report clearly shows that we have come a long way in engaging with our global partners, which enables us to maintain our excellence in science and technology, create new business opportunities and have a leading role in global developments.”

Among the examples featured in the report are GloPID-R (Global Research Collaboration for Infectious Disease Preparedness), which brings together funding organisations to ensure an effective research response to major outbreaks of infectious diseases such as Zika, and the EU-China Co-Funding Mechanism of 2015, which has seen China commit to a €30m annual investment to support the participation of Chinese researchers in Horizon 2020.

The report further demonstrates the usefulness of the European Research Area as a mechanism for shaping interactions internationally – most notably by helping the EU to advance its vision of a border-free ‘global research area’ in which researchers, knowledge and science can circulate freely.

Also highlighted in the progress report are the strategy’s achievements in terms of enhancing the framework conditions that underpin international co-operation, strengthening synergies with the EU’s external policies and reinforcing partnerships with the member states.