A newly established team is to help researchers and departments tap into more research funding from the EU. Improved applications hold the key.
While public sector research budgets are being slashed, DTU’s income from external research grants—from the EU in particular—has fallen sharply in recent years. The Executive Board has therefore decided to recruit 12 specialists for DTU’s central research office as soon as possible where they will assist the departments in boosting the flow of cash from the EU’s research funds.
Most universities have lost ground as regards bringing in money from the large, publicly financed funds—especially in the EU system.
In contrast, private research institutions and industry in particular have captured ‘market shares’ in the battle for EU funding. At the same time, more—and better prepared—applications are being submitted, so competition has become tougher and a greater effort is required to come out on top.
“Horizon 2020, the EU’s new framework programme for research and innovation, is distinguished by a strong desire to generate innovation, create jobs and boost financial progress. This has set a completely new agenda that we have not yet succeeded in exploiting, and our grants from the EU have fallen significantly in recent years. We now plan to reverse this trend by taking on a team of specialists who can help our researchers target and perfect their applications,” explains Henrik Wegener, Executive Vice President and Provost.
"Our grants from the EU have fallen significantly in recent years. We now plan to reverse this trend by taking on a team of specialists who can help our researchers target and perfect their applications."
Henrik Wegener, Executive Vice President and Provost
Specialist skill
The new scheme is designed to give researchers access to assistance in preparing their applications from a central team that is to link DTU’s strategic input to the departments’ strategies, and to help the departments work strategically with research funding and elite development.
According to Claus Henrik Andersen, Head of Office for Research and Relations, writing applications for funding from the EU’s framework programme demands both full familiarity with the political agendas and a good helping of professional skill.
“Applications for EU funding are assessed against several parameters: the quality of the research, its anticipated socioeconomic effect, and its implementation—i.e. the quality of the partners in the consortium, the way in which the work is to be organized, and how all the various parts are to interact. It requires a high level of specialist knowledge—that very few players possess—to describe each of these parameters. And if you want to land a grant, you cannot afford to lose points on any of the parameters,” he explains.
Have to hit the bull’s eye
“When you write an application, you need to sell the ideas and add a journalistic slant. We need to be able to show how the research aligns with the political agendas, what society can expect from it, which talents we aim to bring into play, how we plan to work together, and so on. It’s a highly complex process, and at the same time, the EU has cut costs linked to the evaluation procedure, so applications are dealt with much more quickly than before. All in all, this means that the applications have to hit the bull’s eye every time.”
The new research support unit is initially to focus on EU applications. Two employees have already been taken on, and will be concentrating in particular on applications to the European Research Council (ERC) and Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions. It is expected that the unit will be fully staffed a year from now.