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    Association of European Renewable Energy Research Centres

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    Franz
    This document discusses the need for a European Innovation Council (EIC) to fund applied research between technology readiness levels 4-8. It argues that while the European Research Council funds excellent basic research, there is currently no funding instrument targeting early-stage applied research. The EIC would address this gap by soliciting proposals for applied research projects led by individual researchers or small teams, which could involve industry partners. If successful, the EIC could help innovations progress all the way to full commercialization.

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    Association of European Renewable Energy Research Centres

    Uploaded by

    Franz
    20 views2 pages
    This document discusses the need for a European Innovation Council (EIC) to fund applied research between technology readiness levels 4-8. It argues that while the European Research Council funds excellent basic research, there is currently no funding instrument targeting early-stage applied research. The EIC would address this gap by soliciting proposals for applied research projects led by individual researchers or small teams, which could involve industry partners. If successful, the EIC could help innovations progress all the way to full commercialization.

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    On the formation of a EIC

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    This document discusses the need for a European Innovation Council (EIC) to fund applied research between technology readiness levels 4-8. It argues that while the European Research Council funds excellent basic research, there is currently no funding instrument targeting early-stage applied research. The EIC would address this gap by soliciting proposals for applied research projects led by individual researchers or small teams, which could involve industry partners. If successful, the EIC could help innovations progress all the way to full commercialization.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    20 views2 pages

    Association of European Renewable Energy Research Centres

    Uploaded by

    Franz
    This document discusses the need for a European Innovation Council (EIC) to fund applied research between technology readiness levels 4-8. It argues that while the European Research Council funds excellent basic research, there is currently no funding instrument targeting early-stage applied research. The EIC would address this gap by soliciting proposals for applied research projects led by individual researchers or small teams, which could involve industry partners. If successful, the EIC could help innovations progress all the way to full commercialization.

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    of 2

    EUREC position on a European

    Innovation Council
    Scope
    These comments are prepared from the perspective of researchers in the energy
    field, the suggestion of course is intended to cover all fields of applied research.

    Context
    This proposal is to be seen in the context of the Horizon 2020 mid-term review,
    which is an opportunity to find funding for new initiatives. It comes as Mission
    Innovation is launched at the COP21 climate talks, which challenges the
    governments of the world to double their funding towards energy R&D in five years.
    Part of this increase should be delivered in the form of grants from a European
    Innovation Council.
    An ERC for excellent science and an EIC for excellent
    innovation

    What is the nature of the problem that needs tackling?


    Europe lacks a funding instrument targeting early-stage researchers in applied
    research, meaning in our view research that takes a technology from around TRL 4 to
    around TRL 7 or 8. The European Research Council has the mandate to fund frontier
    research. Its mission says, this term was coined for ERC activities since they will be
    directed towards fundamental advances at and beyond the 'frontier' of knowledge.1
    Even if it is not formally excluded from this definition, applied research is not the
    target of the ERC because applied research does not bring about fundamental
    advances.
    Also, the ERCs rules are set up for basic research. ERC evaluations are done only on
    the criterion of excellence, while a high-quality applied research proposal would
    rather need to demonstrate potential for impact in the market combined with
    efficient project management.

    https://erc.europa.eu/about-erc/mission

    EUREC E.E.I.G. Place du Champ de Mars 2 1050 Brussels Belgium Tel: +32 2 318 40 50 [email protected] www.eurec.be

    Are there any major gaps / shortcomings in current innovation


    policies and programmes?
    If the ERCs mandate were to fund basic research, it would be doing a great job. We
    propose to restrict its mandate to a mission to support basic researchers as that is in
    any case the way it works already. The EIC would be a new entity that addresses
    researchers in applied science. As it started up, the ERC attracted scientific talent by
    offering substantial grants. Competition for the grants was and remains fierce. Being
    an ERC grantee is a seal of quality that opens doors for the researcher even after
    his/her ERC project is over. If the EIC establishes the same reputation, high-quality
    research will be funded and, because of the focus on TRL 4-7 technologies, this
    research will have a greater immediate economic impact than ERC projects.

    What should be the role of the EU and the remit of an EIC?


    The EIC will, through a permanently open call with frequent cut-offs, solicit proposals
    for applied research. A typical EIC project will be proposed by a single researcher or a
    small team of researchers, who might elect to bring in an industry partner, for
    example an SME. Proposals that have the support of industry partner, for example
    expressed in a letter of intent that substantiates the claim made for the projects
    potential impact on the market, would be at an advantage. An early-stage researcher
    will have a leading role in the project, assuring at a minimum its scientific
    coordination.
    The call will be open at all times to all the subject areas of Horizon 2020 found in its
    Industrial Leadership and Societal Challenge pillars. It would share some features of
    existing Horizon 2020 bottom-up instruments:

    Flexibility on the share of funding to industry (like FET-Open)


    Project budgets should be comparable to those called for be FET-Open (up
    to 4 M EUR) and FTI (2-4 M EUR)
    The evaluation should be quick (max 6 months to grant agreement, like FTI),
    with several cut-offs during the year.

    It follows that the profile of the project leader will be a researcher with
    entrepreneurial flair and a talent for spotting innovations that industry would be
    very interested in taking up. If the EIC manages to gain a prestigious reputation, they
    might use the fact of being an EIC grantee to successfully attract investors to help
    them take their innovation further once the EIC project is over. In this way they
    could see it all the way to full commercialisation (> TRL 9).

    EUREC E.E.I.G. Place du Champ de Mars 2 1050 Brussels Belgium Tel: +32 2 318 40 50 [email protected] www.eurec.be

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