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elaborate on these challenges to be able to propose
a suitable strategy for future
research funding from the
European Commission.
With an area of 10 million square kilometers and
a population of 740 million,
Europe is a substantial
region of prosperity and
development. Many EU
countries lead in rankings
of prosperity, education,
digitalization, equality, and
low corruption.
Investment in research
and innovation has been
substantial and recognized as important for the
development of the society,
for ensuring a high level of
skills, and for contributing
to the creation of jobs and
growth, albeit not to the extent demonstrated by North
America or South East Asia.
With just 7% of the world’s
population and 24% of
global GDP, the EU produc-
es approximately 30% of the
world’s scientific publica-
tions.
4 Several European
Horizon 2020 that focuses
on scientific impact was
prioritized particularly
through the ERC program
for funding excellent basic
research. This turned Eu-
rope into an attractive arena
to develop research careers
and thus strengthening
European research quality
and performance.
Trends and Needs
for Future
European Research
Some of the most prevalent
trends and needs that
may influence future
research and innovation
throughout Europe include
the following:
˲ Societal challenges of importance and acuteness. The
EC has conducted activities
to foster mission-driven sci-
ence and innovation based
on the activities by Maz-
countries are leading the
research investment compe-
tition as a share of the coun-
try’s GDP—after the three
top countries Israel, Korea,
and Japan—with Europe at
2.03% and Sweden leading
in Europe with investments
of 3.26% of the GDP.a In the
Lamy report,
4 we argued for
a European target of 3%.
However, the business
economy in high-tech
sectors and PCT patent
applications per-million
population both show a
lower growth rate in Europe
than in U.S. Hence, Europe
must focus on innovation
and investigate the mechanisms within its society that
prevent development on a
scale the same as the U.S.
The EU funding program
a UNESCO Institute for Statistics;
http://bit.ly/2R7q2jg
OUR SOCIETY IS currently undergoing several big changes that pose challenges and opportunities
for the future. The increasing digitalization and
automation, the growing
globalization, and improved financial durability
offer many excellent opportunities for development.
There is more research
funding in the system than
ever before. On the other
hand, our society is vulnerable; we have challenges
in relation to inequality,
an environment put under
severe stress, and more
hostile tendencies than we
have seen in a long time,
despite the good times and
economic growth. In our
work at the European Commission Independent High
Level Group on Maximizing
the Impact of EU Research
& Innovation Programmes,
4
we try to understand and
I foresee a time when learning
is a lifelong commitment,
with people spending 10%–20%
of their work time continuing
their education in order to learn
new skills and make oneself
relevant as the future unfolds.
Incorporating Europe’s
Values in Future Research
BY JAN GULLIKSEN
Research | DOI: 10.1145/3310328