European R&D networks: a snapshot from the 7th EU Framework Programme

Abstract

Recent empirical studies have investigated the territorial impact of Europe's research policies, in particular the contribution of the European Framework Programmes to the integration of a European Research Area. This paper deepens the analysis on the integration and participation of peripheral regions, by focusing on the differences in intensity and determinants of interregional collaborations across three groups of collaborations. We consider collaborations among more developed regions, between more and less developed regions, and among less developed regions. Building on the recent spatial interaction literature, this paper investigates the effects of physical, institutional, social and technological proximity on the intensity of interregional research collaboration across heterogenous European regions. We find that the impact of disparities in human capital and technological proximity on regional R&D cooperation is relevant and differs across subgroups of collaborations. Moreover, despite the efforts of integrating marginal actors, peripheral regions have lower rates of collaborations.

Power relations in European RDI-collaboration networks. Disparities in policy-driven opportunities for knowledge generation in ICT

“…We consider the distinction between the different functions of actors in project consortiacoordinators versus participantsas equally important, since they amount to fundamentally different roles which actors play in the networks and which influence power at the country level, as emphasised by Breschi and Cusmano (2004). Finally, through distinguishing various country characteristics in which disparities in the distribution of resources for innovative activities may unfold, we are close to Paier and Scherngell 2011, Amoroso, Coad, and Grassano (2017), Wanzenböck, Scherngell, and Brenner (2014) and Wanzenböck, Scherngell, and Lata (2015), who also account for regional characteristics and look at the regionspecific determinants of RDI-collaboration.…”

Human Capital as a Basis for the Development of a Modern University

“…Thus, from our point of view, an active process is currently underway and namely it is transition from a university-function, to a university-subject of change. For universityfunction it is characteristic to fulfill the order (education, professional qualification, educational conveyor), for university-subject to change it is important to create the environment, new trends and directions, high level of skills, motivation of all participants of educational process for development, inter-institutional interaction and individual development trajectories [19]. In this process, human capital plays an important role, the increase in its amount , in relation to human resource of the university is a priority [3,20].…”

Regional Technological Capabilities and the Access to H2020 Funds

“…As a matter of fact, most of the literature on the EU Framework Programmes rely on the collaborative design of these funds to explore the effectiveness of EU network policies (Breschi and Cusmano, 2004), their contribution in favouring interdisciplinary research (Bruce et al, 2004), the role of collaborative network properties in generating and diffusing knowledge (Breschi et al, 2009), or the factors leading to regional R&D collaborations (Amoroso et al, 2018). All-in-all, these studies suggest that EU policies may have favoured the integration of the European research around poles of highly connected actors (places), but it may have been less successful in integrating different research areas, such as natural and social sciences.…”