Towards New Collaboration Cultures?
November 10-12, 2003, Brussels, Belgium

Aim of the Conference

The conference is part of the SEMMERING series of conferences and workshops organised since 1993 by ‘The Interdisciplinary Centre for Comparative Research in the Social Sciences’ jointly with The European Association’s (EA) S&T Research Group. A consortium, which emerged from the EA’s S&T group has obtained funding from the European Commission’s 5th Framework Programme to organise 3 conferences related to policy-relevant science and research issues. This Call relates to the third conference and deals with the effectiveness and efficiency of international and national research programmes to stimulate co-operation among scientific organizations, researchers and stakeholders.

The timing of this Forum is quite appropriate towards the end of the Fifth Framework Programme and in the early stages of the implementation of the Sixth. Although the papers submitted to this Forum are not restricted solely to the European Union’s Framework Programme, a quite significant part of this meeting will be devoted to the impact of the Framework Programmes on stimulating new collaboration cultures.

Following the tradition of the SEMMERING S&T Fora particular emphasis will be placed on the needs, expectations and role of the prospective New Member States. The key question in this respect is the extent to which the Commission’s implementation of the 6th Framework Programme has improved the inclusion of science and research organisations from the New Member States in what is supposed to become the "European Research Area".

Another aim of this workshop is to gain an understanding of the changing role of science and technology in modern societies. Collaboration between science, research, society, economy and politics represents a mutual process of influence. This might at times endanger the autonomy of science and research, which is a necessary prerequisite for innovation and research creativity.

A related issue concerns the incongruence between the long-term orientation of science and research, on the one hand, and the short-term needs of potential users, on the other. An increasing part of scientific work is carried out by specific user-provider networks, which operate within a long-term framework but based on procedures that can deliver short-term advice. Relevant to this are the shifting boundaries between universities, research organisations, consultants and networks comprising user, researchers and mediators.

The conference will address the following three topics:

• The role of the New Member States in the European Research Area
• Including the stakeholders: towards knowledge-based societies and democratic governance?
• Use and dissemination of knowledge: what do the users expect, what can researchers deliver?

Three round tables will be organised as panel sessions bringing eminent researchers together with policy makers from national and European Institutions.

• Round Table 1: The European Research Area and the Framework Programmes: mobilising the creative forces or creating new ivory towers?
• Round Table 2: Universities, Research Centres and Foundations in the European Research Area
• Round Table 3: Towards new collaboration cultures?

The philosophy of the SEMMERING Fora coincides with the strategic interests of the European Commission: the Work Programme of the Key Action ‘Improving the Socio-Economic Knowledge Base’ (Fourth Edition, December 2000) calls for a dialogue between researchers, policy makers and the Commission through "reinforced research support to key European policies and improved integration of socio-economic aspects into EU-level RTD and other policies". The SEMMERING Fora has a long lasting experience in this type of activities.

Agenda

Monday, November 10, 2003

10:00 - 11:00	Opening of the Conference Franz Pichler - Permanent Representation of Austria to the European Union Peter Fisch - European Commission, DG Research Ronald J. Pohoryles - ICCR Vienna
11:00 - 11:30	Coffee Break
11:30 - 13:00	Session 1: The Role of the ‘Old’ and ‘New’ Member States in the European Research Area Chair: Chris Caswill - ESRC, UK Commentator: Angela Liberatore - European Commission, DG Research During the Accession Negotiations science and research was considered as an unproblematic field with regard to the "Acquis Communitaire". The Acquis, however, represents only the legal framework of the European Union and is not concerned with the research infrastructures and the competitiveness of the research institutions in the New Member States. The research infrastructures in the New Member States display quite specific features after undergoing major restructuring processes during the 1990s. Of particular interest is the potential of the New Member States within the 6th Framework Programme. A comparison between the New Member States and the old ones is of interest. Another topic might include a more specific comparison between the major players in the European Research Area and the more peripheral and/or smaller countries. The following papers will be presented: International Knowledge and Innovation Networks for European Integration, Cohesion and Enlargement Riccardo Cappellin - Department of Economics, University of Rome ‘Tor Vergata’ From Soviet to European and International Research Areas: a Few Examples from Lithuania Juozas Vaitkus - Vilnius University, Lithuania Evolving ‘World-Calibre’ Research Institutes in the Enlarged Europe: Problems and Prospects Andrei V. Rezaev - St. Petersburg State University, Russia Olympic Games or Research Policies: What ‘The-Winner-gets it all’- Philosophy does to the European Research Area Ronald J. Pohoryles - ICCR Vienna
13:00 - 14:00	Lunch Break
14:00 - 14:30	Round Table 1: The European Research Area and the Framework Programmes: Mobilising the Creative Forces or Creating New Ivory Tower? Chair: Ronald J. Pohoryles - ICCR Vienna Rapporteurs: Bertrand Wert - CIR Paris Commentator: Nikolaos Kastrinos - European Commission, DG Research The concept of the European research area and, more specifically, the new Framework Programme has now entered the implementation stage. The implementation has been critically reviewed by the European Commission ("The European Research Area: Providing New Momentum", 2002), with reference to the Lisbon targets. An even more critical review has been recently published in a report prepared by an Independent High Level Study Group established on the initiative of the President of the European Commission (Sapir et al. 2003). Concerns were raised with regard to the impact of the New Instruments: Will the implementation lead to closed shops within the research communities? Will the New Instruments discriminate against smaller countries, the new Member States or specific types of institutions? Papers are invited that address fundamental issues regarding the European Research Area. Discussion (more informal) papers on the first experiences with the launching of the New Instruments under the 6th Framework Programme are especially encouraged. The following papers will be presented: Foreign Direct Investment and the Framework Programmes: Similar Effects? Judith Mosoni-Fried - Institute for Research; Hungarian Academy of Sciences What is European about EU Funded Social Science Research: The Perspective of Project Co-ordinators Aaron Benavot - The Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel The ERA from a Nordic Perspective Martin Peterson - University of Gothenburg The Enlargement Reality? Some Reflection on the Disappointment of the Science and Research Communities in the "New Member States" Tadeusz Zoltowski - CIMPAN, Warsaw The Newcomer Bulgaria and the Integration into ERA Christo Balarew & Mirolyuba Madjarova - University of Sofia, Bulgaria
16:00 - 16:30	Coffee Break
16:30 - 18:00	General Debate: The ERA and the Research Communities in Europe Chair: Ronald J. Pohoryles - ICCR Vienna
20:00	Dinner

Tuesday, November 11, 2003

10:00 - 10:30	Session 2: Including the Stakeholders - Towards Knowledge-Based Societies and Democratic Governance? Chair: John Crowley - CIR Paris Rapporteurs: Judith Mosoni-Fried - Hungarian Academy of Sciences Commentator: Ali Kazancigil - ISSC Paris What follows from the European Commission’s Communication on European Governance is an increased interest in the inclusion of stakeholders in policy making as well as in the setting of the science and research agendas. The concept and definition of "stakeholders" is quite broad and includes interested citizens, their representatives and NGOs as well as industrial representatives and political élites. The Lisbon strategy clearly aims at mobilising the full potential of science and research and is particularly concerned with private investment in R&D and public-private partnerships in this field. Even though this approach could be said to favour applied research and competitiveness, it might contrast with the claim of independence of science and research. An important issue in this respect is that of property rights, as public money is – at least in part – invested in research, yet the access to the results might be restricted. Another crucial issue is the distributional effect among European regions: "innovative regions" might gain a leading edge, less favoured regions might fall even more behind. The following papers will be presented: Defining, and Constructing, Users Norma Morris - University College London Powerplay in the Ministry: Institutional blockades of inter-modal collaboration. An Analysis of The German Ministry of Transport, 1949-1999 Hans-Liudger Dienel - Technical University Berlin & Nexus Berlin Between Lobbying and Religious Fundamentalism: Funding Human Embryonic Stem-Cell Research within FWP 6? (The following statement is exclusively the private opinion of the author) Franz Pichler - Permanent Representation of Austria to the European Union Political Food Martin Peterson - University of Gothenburg
11:30 - 12:00	Coffee Break
12:00 - 13:00	Session 2 continued: Including the Stakeholders: Towards Knowledge-Based Societies and Democratic Governance? Chair: John Crowley - CIR Paris Rapporteurs: Judith Mosoni-Fried - Hungarian Academy of Sciences
13:00 - 14:00	Lunch Break
14:00 - 15:30	Round Table 2: Universities, Research Centres and Foundations in the European Research Area Chair: Ali Kazancigil - ISSC Paris Research takes places in various arenas, which operate under different conditions. The major difference is between universities and research centres. It is however important to differentiate between research centres or organisations: large national research centres operate under a different framework than private ones, and private not-for-profit associations and foundations differ from consultants. The national framework has also a significant role to play. Thus, for example, universities are a major player in research activities in the UK, whereas in other countries research centres play a much more important role. Relevant to this is the problem of research funding: different funding opportunities created functional differentiation in the respective national environments and recent reforms will have a major impact on the functional distribution between the different research actors. Given the actual heterogeneity within the European Research Area trans-national research funding is a strategic task. During the Framework Programmes the European Commission gained a high reputation as capable of dealing with diversity in research cultures. However, criticism was raised regarding the transparency of the procedures as well as the evaluation process, the selection of evaluators and a more careful implementation of the New Instruments (Pohoryles 2002). There are claims for a reform of the procedures applied by the Commission (Pohoryles 2003) as well as for an entirely independent European Research Council, following the example of the ESRC or the NSF (Sapir et al. 2003). An intermediate position is held by those who ask for an additional independent fund for generic research (Nijkamp 2003). The following papers will be presented: The Role of a Science Supporting Foundation in Facilitation of European Integration Process: a Polish Case Study Maciej W. Grabski & Tadeusz Zoltowski - Foundation for Polish Science Research Centres as Key Players in Programme-Oriented Research Gotthard Bechmann - Institute for Technology Assessment and System Analysis (ITAS) Mobilising the Money: New Funding Networks in the European Research Area Chris Caswill - ESRC, UK A European Research Council: Necessity or Scientists Crusade? Maria Nedeva - PREST, UK Managing Research or Governing Research? Research Institutions at the crossroad Tiago Santos Pereira - Centre for Social Studies, University of Coimbra, Portugal
15:30 - 16:00	Coffee Break
16:00 - 18:00	Session 3: Use and Dissemination of Knowledge: What do the Users Expect, what can Researchers Deliver? Chair: Carlo Sessa - ISIS Rome Rapporteurs: Riccardo Cappellin - Department of Economics, University of Rome ‘Tor Vergata’ Commentator: Luis Rubalcaba - European Commission, DG Enterprise Awareness and acceptability of research results are an increasing concern of the European policy makers, in general, and the European Commission, in particular. The key question to address is: what are the expectations of users, what are the possibilities of science and research to fulfil these expectations? The notion of "knowledge producers" is very broad: there are different modes and paradigms in different branches of science as well as different groups of users in economy, policy and society. Industry-research interactions might differ from policy-research interactions with regard to both expectations and outputs. Given this, it is important to reflect on whether the notions of "dissemination" and "awareness" are indeed the rights ones to be using. A better mutual understanding of possibilities of science and research, on the one hand, and of the users, on the other, should indicate new pathways for realistic visions and concepts. In this session very specific features of the relation between science and research, on the one hand, and the users, on the other, will have to be discussed. Papers submitted should be praxis-oriented relating to experiences with good practices and the views of practitioners. The following papers will be presented: Aiming to New Collaboration / End-User Relations: Experiences in Establishment and Performance of Centres of Excellence in several European Countries Eino Tunkelo - Finnish Academy of Technology Translating Knowledge: User and Researcher Collaboration for Policy Relevance Ian Forbes - Academy of Social Sciences, Nottingham, UK Assessment of Research and Innovation Activities: Experience Gathered in the Survey of Entrepreneurial Subjects in the Czech Republic Adolf Filacek - Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic Business Innovation Interfaces and Support Measures Rossitsa Chobanova - Institute of Economics, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences
20:00	Dinner

Wednesday, November 12, 2003

10:00 - 11:30	Round Table 3: Towards New Collaboration Cultures? Chair: Raoul Kneucker - Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, Science and Arts (retired) Commentator: Peter Fisch - European Commission, DG Research The concept of the European Research Area calls for new collaboration cultures at different levels. European research policies display only partial and fragmented forms of collaboration between Member States. The coordination of national science policies is a new challenging topic, which emerges from the debate on the European Research Area. At the level of the research communities, the European Framework Programmes had a clear impact on building research collaboration bottom-up and including users into research projects and networks. The impact of the 6th Framework Programme on collaborations at this level has to be assessed. Incentives and Disincentives for European and International Research Collaboration; Some Experiences in the European Research Area so far Ronald J Pohoryles - ICCR Vienna The Role of the European Framework Programme in Estonia’s Co-operation Arena Ülle Must - Archimedes Foundation, Estonia European Tradition – a New Basis for Collaboration Cultures in European RTD with the New Member States in Central and Eastern Europe? Guenter H. Walter - Fraunhofer Institut für Systemtechnik und Innovationsforschung (ISI), Germany New Developments in Research Collaboration? Lena Tsipouri - University of Athens European Research Area and the Post-Soviet States: Searching for New Partnership Igor Yegorov - Centre for S&T Potential Studies, National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine Research Partnership in Europe Bertrand Minault - DARES, French Federal Ministry of Social Affairs, Labour and Solidarity
11:30 - 12:00	Coffee Break
12:00 - 13:00	Discussion
13:00 - 13:30	Conclusion
13:30 - 15:00	Lunch

Venue

November 10th & 11th, 2003
Permanent Representation of Austria to the European Union,
30, Avenue de Cortenbergh; 1040 Brussels

November 12th, 2003
Hotel Métropôle; 31, place de Brouckère; 1000 Brussels

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