I hang back from all the paperwork

/strong>

On your own, you don’t get very far in the modern research world. Co-operation with other European universities, institutes and companies is a necessity for most people. ‘I see my departmental colleagues every day. After about ten meetings, we’re all of the same opinion, so it’s important that we visit researchers

outside Delft to keep on discussing new ideas,’ says Dr. Yaroslav Blanter, of the TU%s Nanoscience department (TNW). Blanter works as part of a European network comprising 50 groups and wants EU funds for organizing a yearly congress and research visits within this network. Chemist Dr. Joop Peters needs his European colleagues, because they have other expertise and expensive equipment: ‘We use, for example, special nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) equipment in Belgium and Italy, while, in turn, foreign colleagues come to us for the synthesis of complicated molecules.’ Previous joint European projects gave Peters the chance to get to know his European colleagues: ‘We stopped competing and started discussing research results. Now we write publications together.’

Professor Andrew Hale, of the TU’s Safety Science group (TBM), has more contact with his European colleagues now than he did ten years ago: ‘However, I don’t dare say whether that’s the result of EU-financed projects or simply the ease of contacting somebody by e-mail.’ Nevertheless, Hale, Peters and Blanter are eager to continue their European co-operation and they are three of the 23 TU Delft researchers who wrote to the European Commission last summer, expressing interest in a research consortium.

This week the European Committee embarks on a new subsidy scheme, called the Sixth Framework Programme. Last Tuesday, detailed calls for proposals were published, partly based on the 12,000 expressions of interest the Committee received.

Autonomy

For the coming five years, the EU has more than 11 billion euro available for large consortia. Traditionally, EU research focuses on the relevance for companies and society. Hot topics are genomics for health, information society technologies, nanotechnology, aeronautics and space, and sustainable development. Clustering the best European research groups will improve Europe%s competitiveness with the United States, according to the European Committee, which has therefore decided to finance fewer but larger projects in the Sixth Framework Programme. Consortia can choose whether they apply for an integrated project or a network of excellence. Integrated projects will receive tens of millions of euros each during the five years. Those consortia will probably be more autonomous and therefore be able to deal more flexibly with changes in the research field. In a network of excellence, participating researchgroups receive less money, about 20,000 euro for every researcher involved. However, they need only to integrate their research strategy and needn’t commit themselves

to delivering specific research results, as is the case in integrated projects.

Cynical

Most researchers like to receive money for their projects, but many are skeptical about the chances of success for huge projects with 30 to 100 partners.

‘I think real cooperation only takes place with no more than six partners,’ Hale says. ‘Otherwise, there are so many people at a meeting that it becomes too formal and there will be too little time for real discussions.’ Large projects will therefore be divided into smaller work packages, Hale predicts. ‘And I have no idea how you can really link these together. To ask a cynical question, I wonder whether the EU really looks for close cooperation between work packages? To me, it seems the EU tries to transfer the management of a large number of projects onto the shoulders of large consortia.’

Professor Hartmut Spliethoff, of the TU’s Thermal Power Engineering section (OCP), says smaller projects working together in larger projects is a good idea, preventing overlap. But Splietoff does fear increased red tape. ‘My goal is not doing the paperwork for a project with forty partners.’ Spliethoff fears that university sections won’t be able to manage such huge projects and therefore all the large consortia will be managed by organizations like TNO, the Dutch research institute.

Few university staff members seem willing to manage huge EU projects. Peters, consequently, doubts whether he%ll apply for EU funds for his integrated project for targeted drugs for early diagnosis and improved therapy. It takes enormous effort to write a proposal for an integrated project with 30 partners and gearing the research proposals of the various groups isn’t his favorite job. ‘I hang back from all the paperwork,’ he says. Peters prefers to participate in overlapping networks, which allows him to join European projects without having to coordinate them himself.

A new European Union (EU) subsidy program demands that European researchers work together in huge consortia to qualify for research funds. TU researchers are skeptical, doubting whether such large-scale projects can work and fearing the increased bureaucratic red tape involved.

On your own, you don’t get very far in the modern research world. Co-operation with other European universities, institutes and companies is a necessity for most people. ‘I see my departmental colleagues every day. After about ten meetings, we’re all of the same opinion, so it’s important that we visit researchers

outside Delft to keep on discussing new ideas,’ says Dr. Yaroslav Blanter, of the TU%s Nanoscience department (TNW). Blanter works as part of a European network comprising 50 groups and wants EU funds for organizing a yearly congress and research visits within this network. Chemist Dr. Joop Peters needs his European colleagues, because they have other expertise and expensive equipment: ‘We use, for example, special nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) equipment in Belgium and Italy, while, in turn, foreign colleagues come to us for the synthesis of complicated molecules.’ Previous joint European projects gave Peters the chance to get to know his European colleagues: ‘We stopped competing and started discussing research results. Now we write publications together.’

Professor Andrew Hale, of the TU’s Safety Science group (TBM), has more contact with his European colleagues now than he did ten years ago: ‘However, I don’t dare say whether that’s the result of EU-financed projects or simply the ease of contacting somebody by e-mail.’ Nevertheless, Hale, Peters and Blanter are eager to continue their European co-operation and they are three of the 23 TU Delft researchers who wrote to the European Commission last summer, expressing interest in a research consortium.

This week the European Committee embarks on a new subsidy scheme, called the Sixth Framework Programme. Last Tuesday, detailed calls for proposals were published, partly based on the 12,000 expressions of interest the Committee received.

Autonomy

For the coming five years, the EU has more than 11 billion euro available for large consortia. Traditionally, EU research focuses on the relevance for companies and society. Hot topics are genomics for health, information society technologies, nanotechnology, aeronautics and space, and sustainable development. Clustering the best European research groups will improve Europe%s competitiveness with the United States, according to the European Committee, which has therefore decided to finance fewer but larger projects in the Sixth Framework Programme. Consortia can choose whether they apply for an integrated project or a network of excellence. Integrated projects will receive tens of millions of euros each during the five years. Those consortia will probably be more autonomous and therefore be able to deal more flexibly with changes in the research field. In a network of excellence, participating researchgroups receive less money, about 20,000 euro for every researcher involved. However, they need only to integrate their research strategy and needn’t commit themselves

to delivering specific research results, as is the case in integrated projects.

Cynical

Most researchers like to receive money for their projects, but many are skeptical about the chances of success for huge projects with 30 to 100 partners.

‘I think real cooperation only takes place with no more than six partners,’ Hale says. ‘Otherwise, there are so many people at a meeting that it becomes too formal and there will be too little time for real discussions.’ Large projects will therefore be divided into smaller work packages, Hale predicts. ‘And I have no idea how you can really link these together. To ask a cynical question, I wonder whether the EU really looks for close cooperation between work packages? To me, it seems the EU tries to transfer the management of a large number of projects onto the shoulders of large consortia.’

Professor Hartmut Spliethoff, of the TU’s Thermal Power Engineering section (OCP), says smaller projects working together in larger projects is a good idea, preventing overlap. But Splietoff does fear increased red tape. ‘My goal is not doing the paperwork for a project with forty partners.’ Spliethoff fears that university sections won’t be able to manage such huge projects and therefore all the large consortia will be managed by organizations like TNO, the Dutch research institute.

Few university staff members seem willing to manage huge EU projects. Peters, consequently, doubts whether he%ll apply for EU funds for his integrated project for targeted drugs for early diagnosis and improved therapy. It takes enormous effort to write a proposal for an integrated project with 30 partners and gearing the research proposals of the various groups isn’t his favorite job. ‘I hang back from all the paperwork,’ he says. Peters prefers to participate in overlapping networks, which allows him to join European projects without having to coordinate them himself.