Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft

Statement by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft on the Proposal ofthe European Commission for HORIZON 2020
In 2011, the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) has
already put forward general recommendations for future research and innovation funding by
the European Union.1 Against the backdrop of these still effective recommendations, theDFG now presents its position on the proposal of the European Commission for HORIZON
2020, the next Framework Programme for Research and Innovation from 2014 onwards.

Interaction between national and European funding systems
The EU Framework Programmes for Research are an important tool for advancing theEuropean Research Area (ERA), an objective to which the DFG is in principle supportive justas its partner organisations confederated in Science Europe. Realising the ERA to its fullpotential will require an enhanced cooperation between national and European research andfunding systems. However, already established science-driven collaborative arrangements
should not be hampered by further European top-down harmonisation efforts. Diversity andcompetition between funding programmes at the national and European levels remain
indispensable as basis for the necessarily differentiated and customised support of thevarious scientific communities across Europe. In this way, HORIZON 2020 will contribute to
an increase of funding opportunities for European science and scholarship, especially inbasic research. Another step to further improve the efficiency of EU research funding could
be the creation of a truly science-driven framework in HORIZON 2020 in areas such as cofunding, externalised programme management and science driven ERA-Nets. In addition, theCommission’s intention to strengthen interactions between HORIZON 2020 and theStructural Funds needs to be highlighted here as it represents a welcome strategy toeffectively leverage the funding opportunities for research and innovation in Europe. The
DFG would welcome such an integrated approach as it could lead to a widened participationin HORIZON 2020 across all EU member states. For this purpose, the European legislation
for the post-2014 period of the Structural Funds should provide a mandatory and preferential

1

Statement by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft on the European Commission Green Paper “From Challenges to Opportunities:
Towards a Common Strategic Framework for EU Research and Innovation Funding”(http://www.dfg.de/download/pdf/dfg_im_profil/reden_stellungnahmen/2011/stellungnahme_gruenbuch_kommission_110511_en.pdf);
DFG Position Paper: Future Research and Innovation Funding of the European Union(http://www.dfg.de/download/pdf/dfg_im_profil/im_internationalen_kontext/dfg_position_paper_on_future_eu_funding_110321.pdf)

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authorisation for supporting research and innovation activities. Furthermore, in order toachieve the expected synergies between HORIZON 2020 and the Structural Funds, a properalignment of funding priorities and responsibilities has to be ensured by setting upappropriate consultations mechanisms between all stakeholders.

Importance of basic researchInnovation and basic research go hand in hand. Basic research provides the underpinnings
for all applications and is the first link of the innovation circle. The proposed structural andfinancial reinforcement of funding for basic research in HORIZON 2020 could make adifference with regard to the prospective Innovation Union. The planned creation of a single
programme priority “Excellent Science” as well as the announced budget increase for theERC (accompanied by its untouched autonomy) marks a desirable progress in EU researchfunding. At the same time, the EU Commission is planning to establish an integrated funding
structure under HORIZON 2020 to finance the entire innovation chain, from basic research toapplied research to market launch. The DFG believes that the thereby intended
intensification of market-oriented research activities can succeed only on the basis ofcontinuously differentiated and excellence-driven funding opportunities for basic research.
The exploration of the scientific foundations of future innovations is a major task of publicresearch institutions, especially universities. Therefore, basic research is not exclusively
restricted to a certain programme priority (“Excellence science”) but should also remain fully
eligible for funding in all parts of HORIZON 2020, especially under the “Societal Challenges”
priority.

Strengthening the principle of competition
Open competition to raise funding for the best ideas contributes significantly to the dynamics
of scientific progress. Crucial for an effective competition are consistent and high standards,and (given a global research system) transnational mechanisms for reviewing and financing
cross-border research. HORIZON 2020 provides the organisational and financial frameworkfor such cross-border competition to identify and support excellence in research. The
European Research Council (ERC) is a successful example of this type of competitive
stimulus, which ought to feature more prominently in other areas of HORIZON 2020 as well.
Along these lines, the priority of research-oriented and innovation-related criteria andprocedures in the review and selection of projects should be further strengthened in otherparts of HORIZON 2020 according to the ERC principles. In the area of programme
implementation and monitoring, expanded participation by representatives of the scientificcommunities in the relevant advisory committees (programme committee configurations) ofHORIZON 2020 should be made possible.

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Safeguarding good scientific practiceEnsuring quality in research and in the training of early-career researchers is essential for thelong-term stability and innovative strength of the entire research system. At the national level,
the DFG has contributed significantly to the establishment of accepted guidelines for goodscientific practice, and it will continue to pursue this task also at the European level, togetherwith its partner organisations confederated in Science Europe. These activities should becomplemented at the EU level by efforts to develop and implement common criteria fordefining, handling and punishing cases of scientific misconduct. Therefore, the safeguardingof good scientific practice and the sanctioning of scientific misconduct should be taken into
account with regard to the design of the participation and funding modalities under HORIZON
2020.

Dissemination and re-use of research results
Taking into account the European Commission’s Open Access Pilot in FP7, the EU-funded“Open Access Infrastructure for Research in Europe” (OpenAIRE and OpenAIREplus), andthe various open-access-related studies and surveys the Commission carried out, the DFG
strongly encourages the Commission to implement mechanisms ensuring that research
results from Horizon2020 will be made available in open access, ensuring the full re-usabilityof publications and research data. It needs to be stressed that open access is aimed not onlyat the optimum accessibility of publications and research data, but also at subsequently reusing scientific information in other contexts without financial, technical or legal barriers.
Therefore, the Commission should encourage the dissemination of research findings,
publications and data under open licenses that provide clear and unambiguous rules for theprospective reuse by third parties. Moreover, in addition to standards and an exchange ofbest practices for data sharing, a unified legal framework should be created to regulate datareuse across research systems and borders.

Integration of basic-research-related activities
The combination of funding activities related to bottom-up research (ERC, Marie Curie
Actions, Research Infrastructures, Future and Emerging Technologies) under a single
programme priority “Excellent Science” appears to be an adequate solution. However, there
is still potential for improvement regarding the interoperability of the various funding lines
under this programme priority. To achieve synergies, a complementary division ofresponsibilities between the respective funding lines would be helpful. For this purpose,
HORIZON 2020 should provide for a consultation mechanism to ensure mutual coordinationof funding portfolios under the programme priority “Excellent Science”.

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Science-driven programme implementation
The delegation of EU funding programmes to external implementation structures(externalisation) and the establishment of partnerships (public–public or public–private)should not be an end in itself to reduce administrative costs, but should be primarily geared
towards the needs of research actors. In this sense, HORIZON 2020 should set theframework for future externalisation measures to ensure the coherence of EU fundingstructures as well as unhindered access for all research stakeholders (including universities)
to such externalised funding programmes. Additional externalisation measures should betaken only if added value for research is apparent and appropriate administrative structures
are in place. Such structures should be equipped with expertise related to research funding
as well as science-driven and transparent decision-making and control mechanisms. Any
further externalisation plans should therefore take into account the expertise andcompetencies of the research organisations already established in the respective fields.

Co-funding of national programmes (especially COFUND)
The co-financing of grant schemes by EU funds has the potential of achieving additional
synergies for a common research area in Europe by pooling resources and establishingcross-border standards. As part of the Marie Curie Actions, COFUND enables the cofinancing

ofinternationallyorientedgraduateprogrammes;

amechanism

whose

2effectiveness has already been proven according to a recent study . As a generalrecommendation, the Marie Curie programme as a whole needs to be reinforced in order tosafeguard at least continued funding levels under HORIZON 2020. Especially COFUND
should be equipped with additional funds to increase its potential impact on the European
research funding landscape. Furthermore, it should be considered to enable synergies
between COFUND and the EU Structural Funds in order to widen the participation in
HORIZON 2020 and to leverage the financial resources for the support of researchers at an
early stage of their career. Regarding an effective implementation of COFUND, the soundinvolvement of national research organisations remains a core requirement. The DFG has
already gained broad expertise in this field based on the successful experience of its funding
scheme for “International Research Training Groups”. As a basic requirement, science-driven
review and funding procedures should be even more consolidated as a common rule under
HORIZON 2020 in general and especially regarding CODUND. In this way, future European
funding mechanisms under HORIZON 2020 will suitably complement the existing funding
landscape without compromising already well-established standards and procedures of2

FP7 Marie Curie Life‐long Training and Career Development Evaluation: Individual Fellowships and Co‐funding Mechanism (Final Report,February 2012)

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national research organisations. The DFG is therefore prepared to contribute to further
COFUND activities under HORIZON 2020 which should be accompanied by science-driven
conditions with regard to the implementation of COFUND both at the European and nationallevel. In this manner, COFUND would facilitate the DFG’s intention to spread common highquality standards and procedures as well as to test innovative cross-border funding models
to support researchers at an early stage of their career across Europe.

Reimbursement of costs (Rules for Participation)
The planned simplification of the reimbursement system and especially the comprehensive
introduction of flat rates for indirect costs are promising steps into the right direction. The useof flat rates to fund indirect costs has already proven to be a research-friendly reimbursement
system. However, the level of the currently proposed flat rate (20 percent of the eligible directcosts) should be reviewed in terms of its sufficiency to cover the indirect costs incurred byresearch institutions. In particular, the already very tight core funding for publicly financed
research institutions (especially universities) should not be subjected to additional burdens
by the introduction of a flat rate for the reimbursement of indirect costs. As an exception,
public research institutions, especially universities, already able to identify their real costs
should be entitled to reimbursement of the real indirect costs incurred and declared.

Adjustment of advisory structures
The successful participation of research stakeholders in the EU Framework Programmes
requires appropriate advisory structures at the national level due to the special administrative
demands of such transnational funding programmes. The advisory environment (e.g. theNCP networks) should therefore be adjusted early on to the partial restructuring ofprogramme structures under HORIZON 2020. The relevant discussions between the EUCommission and the member states should also and especially involve national researchorganisations. The establishment of a single programme priority for bottom-up research
projects (“Excellent Science”) also highlights the expertise needed to provide target-groupspecific advice on this part of HORIZON 2020, especially to universities. Researchorganisations with experience in this area should therefore remain in charge of providing
assistance and advice on basic-research-oriented programme elements also underHORIZON 2020.

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