I don’t know how many people here are from the EU, but for those who aren’t, just to clarify.
This is not an official publication by EU institutions, but a report summarizing a project carried out by a consortium under a Horizon Europe grant.
Horizon Europe is the European Union’s framework program for funding scientific research and innovation, designed to build the EU’s innovative edge and foster partnerships among various institutions within the community.
Like other funding programs, Horizon Europe suffers from certain issues that affect the nature of the projects carried out under its auspices.
To receive funding, applicants had to submit a detailed proposal outlining the project’s objectives, its timeline, and deliverables. Projects that receive funding must demonstrate that they have carried out what was outlined in the proposal. If they fail to meet the objectives, they will not receive payment.
In theory, proposals should be submitted by entities and consortia that have an idea for conducting significant research, know how they want to do it, and are confident they can achieve what they promise. The only thing they lack is the funding.
In practice, however, this is not the case at all.
Competition for funding is fierce. Funding is awarded to projects that almost fully meet the requirements (and there are quite a few of them - for example, regarding the significance of results, the composition of consortia, and the impact on EU competitiveness).
That is why an entire industry dedicated to writing grant applications has sprung up in the EU. External firms are often hired for this purpose. Applications are written to maximize the use of keywords that appear in the requirements and that reviewers pay attention to (and they do pay attention to them to ensure maximum objectivity and avoid being accused of bias). Project ideas are crafted when new calls for proposals open. Consortia are assembled on a turnkey basis. First, promises are made; then, only once funding is awarded, people figure out how to deliver on them. And they promise a great deal.
Unfortunately, very few interesting, well-thought-out initiatives can hold their own in the battle of proposals.
As a result, many projects funded by EU programs yield relatively mediocre results. They’re carried out in such a way as to present the promised deliverables regardless of their quality (since that’s hard to assess). Often with great difficulty, because large consortia struggle to coordinate their work. There are exceptions, of course. However, in each case, one must examine what the project’s objectives were and what might have been stretched just to meet them.
I’m writing this from the perspective of someone who has personally worked in consortia carrying out projects under EU framework programs, including those of the HE and its predecessor Horizon 2020.
recovery-channel.org
