There is no denying it: the proposed cuts to the FP10 threaten Europe’s future competitiveness and talent attractiveness. Lowering the budget from 200 to 175 billion € would mean letting Europe take a back seat on the global research stage.
Making research careers that attract talent and deliver on Europe’s competitiveness possible, requires investment. As our recent report on doctoral remuneration across Europe clearly shows the disparities across Europe. Only where early career researchers receive fair remuneration and secure funding, can they build sustainable and competitive careers in research. Otherwise, talent leaves to relocate elsewhere or simply goes to waste.
Since their inception in the 1980s and especially in the last decade, the Horizon Framework Programmes have become an essential infrastructure for European research Under the Horizon Europe Excellent Science pillar, programmes such as the MSCA and ERC have become not only drivers of cutting-edge European research and research careers, but leading standard-setters for the research sector worldwide. Now is the time to double down on the bet that was made when the EU chose to invest in scientific excellence and research talent. Let us bear in mind that in the last funding round of the flagship MSCA programme, 8,237 proposals evaluated as excellent were left unfunded, and behind the applications stand at least as many researchers who were let down.
To reach the 3% R&D investment target genuine commitment is required from both member state governments and the European Commission. Sustainable research careers depend on coordinated action: national systems set the foundation, but it is European Framework Programmes that provide the benchmark: they are models of good practice that set the standard for mobility, collaboration and scientific excellence, and make Europe’s competitiveness possible on the global stage.
The FP10 is now standing at a crossroads. If Europe wishes to continue building a globally competitive research system with the potential to drive European research and innovation capacity for years to come, the choice is not between cutting and maintaining: it is between building the research careers that Europe needs, or letting the opportunity slip away. Member States must step up, and Europe must deliver a credible framework programme, that secures supportive research systems and competitive working conditions for all researchers, while also recognising and rewarding excellence.
We need promises kept, not cuts. We need commitment to the 3% GDP target across both national and European budgets. The future of early career researchers is not for sale, and it cannot be put on hold.
This is not just the future we imagined for our lives, but the one Europe needs - the one it set out to build when it chose to invest in hope.
Written by Norbert Bencze, Karl Kilbo Edlund and Costanza Marini, with contributions of Linnéa Carlsson and Triin Sellis, on behalf of the Board of Eurodoc