The Guild’s Vice-Presidents had the pleasure to welcome Sergej Možina, Co-Chair of the ERA Forum & Councillor for Research at the Permanent Representation of Slovenia to the EU. The session explored the future of the European Research Area and the priorities for the next Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (FP10). The Vice-Presidents
highlighted several important issues from making the future programme more attractive for young researchers to re-establishing ties with the UK and Switzerland and strengthening international partnerships. The meeting day concluded with a dinner with guest of honour Markus Schulte, Head of Cabinet of Commissioner Ivanova.
On the second day of the meeting our Vice-Presidents welcomed Alexandr Hobza, Head of Common R&I Strategy & Foresight Service Unit at the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD), European Commission. Our Vice-Presidents and Alexandr Hobza had insightful discussions about transformative R&I policy and the role of R&I in boosting the competitiveness of Europe.
As our final guest speaker, Vanessa Debiais-Sainton, Head of the Higher Education Unit at the Directorate-General for Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (DG EAC) joined the meeting for a session focused on the European Universities Initiative. The Vice-Presidents discussed the Commission’s upcoming higher education package covering a Communication on a joint European degree, Proposal for a Council Recommendation on a European quality assurance and recognition system and a Proposal for a Council Recommendation on attractive and sustainable careers in higher education. Vice-Presidents highlighted the administrative burden of setting up joint degrees and the need to support different types of transnational collaborations in education. They discussed the global engagement of alliances and their contribution to the sector’s competitiveness.
The meeting concluded with updates on African Research Universities Alliance (ARUA) and The Guild’s Africa-Europe Clusters of Research Excellence and timely discussions on the state of play of academic freedom in the EU and the use of artificial intelligence in research.
Ole Petter Ottersen, Acting Secretary-General of The Guild said: “The Guild is determined to contribute to the discussion on the structure of the new framework programme FP10 and to help ensure that research, innovation, and higher education remain at the forefront of the EU policy agenda.”
16 January 2024