Finnish universities and the EU Framework Programme:Towards a New Phase

This report presents the results of a study on the impacts of EU framework programmes for Finnish universities as viewed by heads of units and other academics within 36 university departments and research units. The study is based on surveys and interviews conducted 1999-2001 and was carried out by the VTT Group for Technology Studies. Participation by Finnish universities in EU framework programmes has contributed to increased international research collaboration and to the increased international visibility of Finnish research. In addition, collaboration with companies has increased awareness among academics of the commercial exploitation of research results. The views of Finnish academics concerning the academic quality of EU projects vary from positive to critical. Half of Finnish EU participants considered EU projects to be of an internationally high-standard, while a third thought them to be of low quality. Perceptions among EU participants and non-participants are rather similar, even though participants have somewhat more positive views concerning the research quality and appropriateness of EU projects than non-participants do. Regarding the use of EU participation as a criterion for allocating national research funding, the results indicate that it facilitates raising national funds, but only to a limited extent. Most academics thought that EU participation should not receive too much weight as a criterion of national research funding. The interest among Finnish academics in participating in EU framework programmes continues to be high. Competition for research funding, pressure towards tighter collaboration with end-users of research and pressure to internationalise are notable incentives encouraging academics to join EU programmes. Excessive bureaucracy, inflexibility in the implementation of programmes, the application orientation of the projects and a shortage of basic resources in the units are the major disincentives to EU participation among Finnish academics