RESEARCH: R&D taps 88 mln in EU Horizon 2020 programme

A total of 325 participants have received EUR 88.18 mln in research and innovation funding from the EU Horizon 2020 Programme, according to the Research Promotion Foundation.

Cyprus, along with Slovenia and Estonia, had the highest return ratio, receiving more than two euros for every euro spent on the Horizon 2020 budget. The Programme has generated per capita net gains of EUR 60 for Cyprus, the highest in the EU.

Finance Minister Harris Georgiades announced at an event hosted by the RPF that the government will proceed with a series of measures aimed at implementing an integrated plan in the field of research and innovation.

Georgiades expressed contentment over Cyprus’ Horizon 2020 performance, noting that “in real terms, for every euro it contributes to the Programme Cyprus takes back more than three”.

“We acknowledge that the framework of governance for research and innovation is flawed and this is why we have prepared a bill that is also pending before the House to set up a Deputy Ministry for Development aiming at integrating all relevant competences, including research and innovation under one roof,” the Minister said.

He announced a series of measures, such as the preparation of a new comprehensive legal framework for research and innovation, the appointment of a Lead Scientist and the introduction of measurable indicators to record the performance of the entire research activity.

George Georghiou, the Permanent Secretary of the Directorate General for European Programmes, Coordination and Development (DG EPCD) and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Research Promotion Foundation, noted that “the participation of Cyprus in Horizon 2020 is very successful” and that both the current and the previous Framework Programmes “have had a positive impact on the Cypriot economy, on employment and on addressing key social challenges”.

At the same time, he added, the research community was strengthened through substantial funding of more than EUR 100 mln through the creation of partnership networks that led to the opening up of new opportunities for collaboration in bigger projects.

Georghiou noted that as Horizon lasts until the end of 2020, the discussions at European and national level for the next Framework Programme (FP9) are already underway, as the relative legislative proposal by the European Commission is expected to be published in Autumn 2018.

He said that the DG EPCD is currently drafting Cyprus’ Position Paper on FP9, aiming to finalise it at the beginning of the next month.

The Director General of the Research Promotion Foundation Vassilis Tsakalos noted that Horizon 2020 is the largest European funding programme for research and innovation with a total budget of around EUR 77 bln for the period 2014-2020.

“It is a key tool but also a strategic mechanism of the European Union to meet its core needs such as job creation, innovation promotion and strengthening Europe’s competitiveness in the global knowledge economy” he stressed.

He added that the Research Promotion Foundation provides free of charge support services to researchers, enterprises and other organisations for all of the programme’s activities and in order to enhance the participation of the entities from Cyprus to Horizon2020 it has included a series od measures/incentives under the Restart programmes 2016-2020.