The European Union has appointed a new research head, Ekaterina Zaharieva, to reshape the world’s biggest collaborative research programme and help stop the bloc’s economic and technological downward slide. The focus will be on strengthening industry involvement in the scheme to boost innovation, with a particular emphasis on increasing private investment in research and improving the competitiveness of European science.
Forecast for 6 months: The European Research Council (ERC) is expected to receive a significant budget increase, potentially doubling its annual budget to €4 billion. This will allow for larger grants and a higher success rate, attracting top scientists to the EU.
Forecast for 1 year: The EU is likely to establish an ‘Industrial Competitiveness and Technology Council’, an independent body led by top business figures, to steer a more useful research agenda and attract industry leaders to the EU’s research programme.
Forecast for 5 years: The EU’s research programme is expected to become more industry-focused, with a significant increase in private investment in research and a shift towards more applied research in areas such as climate science, space, and health.
Forecast for 10 years: The EU is likely to become a global leader in research and innovation, with a highly competitive research programme and a strong industry-academia collaboration. The bloc’s economic performance is expected to improve significantly, with a reduced dependence on US and Chinese technologies.
