Researchers in central and eastern Europe say a scaled up Widening scheme in Horizon Europe and a renewed European Research Area (ERA) could reduce the R&D gap, but member states need to do their part too, improving their research and innovation systems by adopting strategies that have worked in richer countries.
In 2019, EU research ministers agreed to ring fence 3.3% of the €95.5 billion Horizon Europe budget for Widening, a move seen as a big victory for MEPs and countries behind a long-running push for a more level playing field in the EU’s research programme.
“Research institutions and universities are working on projects to attract young, talented scientists working abroad back to their home countries. In addition, in-house researchers have received help making contacts and getting involved in collaborative projects in western Europe, by opening up “closed clubs” to promote talent to western partners, said Zlatuše Novotná, head of strategic partnerships and international relations at the Central European Institute of Technology in the Czech Republic.
Despite these efforts, the gap between east and west in terms of research capacity and excellence “is not decreasing, but is slowly increasing,” said Toivo Maimets, director of the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of Tartu in Estonia.
More information about complicated ERA and simplification of structural funds
