This Autumn, the European science-policy ecosystem was lit up by some influential reports that chart a future towards the 10th Framework Programme for research funding in the region.
On 16 October, an expert group – chaired by Manuel Heitor, former Portuguese Minister of Science, Technology, and Higher Education – released an interim evaluation of the European Commission’s Framework Programme 9 (FP9) (also known as Horizon Europe) and offered a vision for the next Framework Programme (FP10). The report builds on the momentum generated by three recent key publications: Ursula von der Leyen’s Political Guidelines, and the Letta and Draghi reports, all of which push for enhancing EU competitiveness through research and innovation.
The shift proposed in these reports, if implemented, will have wide-ranging impacts on parts of the research funding landscape. The YAE did not release its own statement on the Heitor report, because many of its partner organisations released excellent and timely statements of their own, including the Marie Curie Alumni Association and Eurodoc: https://zenodo.org/records/13944737
But the YAE is engaging with debates on the future of Europe’s research governance, including through its work on taskforces and working groups, and in the media. Recently, a journalist for Nature asked the YAE for comment on the changing policies steering the research sector (https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-024-04017-6).