• H2020
• Excellent Science

The alliance of research centres in life sciences, EU-LIFE, has released its recommendations for the next framework programme for research and innovation (FP9).

A key message throughout their recommendations was the need to drive European leadership in innovation and to boost groundbreaking research in combination with professional technology transfer.

EU-life also suggested that excellent scientific research should be prioritised as the major booster of innovation by increasing the funding of the European Research Council (ERC).

Its recommendations added that raising the potential for disruptive innovation, and collaborative, open-ended research across Europe, should again be a focus of the next framework programme.

It also stated that FP9 should support and strengthen the pool of talent and infrastructure that is at the heart of groundbreaking research and innovation.

In particular, EU-LIFE members highlighted the need to refocus on strong support to excellent research irrespective of its technology readiness level.

Jo Bury, current Chair of EU-LIFE, said: “We, the directors of 13 leading research institutes that are members of the EU-LIFE alliance, call the European Commission to recognise that for research and innovation to be impactful beyond 2020, excellent science must be prioritised at all levels of the innovation cycle.”

Marta Agostinho, EU-LIFE co-ordinator, added: “H2020 has created a new paradigm in research and innovation.

“We are happy to support the drive for more and better impact of research and innovation in Europe, but there still are key aspects to be improved if we want excellent research to address crucial societal challenges in fields such as health, environment or social equality.”