Infrastructures and synergies to help tackle local and global challenges

DRESDEN, 13 October 2022

The leading universities of Science & Technology (S&T) united in CESAER today publish two positions to contribute to the key priorities of the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU, i.e. (i) infrastructures and (ii) synergies.

Vojtěch Petráček (Envoy to the Czech Presidency of the Council of the EU) said:

“We warmly welcome the priorities of the Czech Presidency on infrastructures and synergies. These areas are interconnected and foundational for universities of S&T to deliver the highest quality and impact in research, innovation and education. We offer our commitment, expertise and experience to help advance these key areas.”

‘Scientific & technological infrastructures to help tackle local and global challenges’

In this position, we promote the concept of Scientific & Technological (S&T) infrastructures and advise to:

• Adopt a comprehensive and inclusive approach to infrastructures;
• Boost the transition to open science;
• Advance modes for access, optimise models and cover integral costs.

Jennifer Herek (Vice-President & Treasurer and Co-Chair of Task Force Openness of S&T) said:

“Universities of S&T such as our Members use infrastructures across their entire mission, i.e. for scientific and technological excellence and development, education and training, innovation and services to society.

“We therefore promote the broader and more inclusive concept of S&T infrastructures, thus encouraging the convergence and linking of efforts around research and technological infrastructures.

“With this position, we hereby underscore the need to improve partnerships and cooperation in infrastructure ecosystems. With the adoption of a more comprehensive and inclusive approach to S&T infrastructures, we hope to create more impact on local, regional and global levels.”

Please reference the S&T infrastructure position using http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7199014

• Full S&T infrastructure position (PDF) available for distribution

‘Boost synergies in research and innovation funding’

In the second position, we underline that boosting synergies has to be a system-wide endeavour, which should be pursued concomitantly with ensuring balance between (i) competitive and non-competitive funding streams on the one hand, and (ii) investigator-driven frontier research and other approaches on the other. We advise to:

• Boost synergies today by bolstering ongoing efforts;
• Shape the EU missions as synergy boosters;
• Put synergies at the heart of the design of the new EU funding programmes.

Rik Van de Walle (President) said:

“The twin green and digital transitions can only be achieved through a comprehensive and cross-cutting approach across disciplines, sectors and communities.

“For example, the ambitious European Green Deal cannot be achieved with what is available today, but is contingent on continued developments in science and technology.

“We stand ready to do our part, but to really take this to the next level, synergies must be put at the heart when designing the next generation of funding programmes.”

Please reference our synergies position using https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7193145

• Full synergies position (PDF) available for distribution