OECD Workshop on Evaluation and Priority Setting September 2008, 2

Transcription

1 National Research Priorities in Luxembourg: from Foresight to Programmes OECD TIP-RIHR Workshop on evaluation and priority setting Paris, September 2008 Dr. Robert KERGER

2 Overview Rationale The way towards national research priorities iti Government decision Implementation of priorities OECD Workshop on Evaluation and Priority Setting September 2008, 2

3 Rationale / Motivation Very dynamic national environment since 2000 Creation of University of Luxembourg (2003) Adhesion to ESA, EMBL Considerable increase of budgetary means (roughly x7 in 8 years) (Mainly) bottom-up driven research scene until 2008 OECD Workshop on Evaluation and Priority Setting September 2008, 3

4 Rationale / Motivation Government programme ( ): 2009): «Concentrate the national R&D efforts in a limited number of themes with obvious potential, national impact and international visibility [ ] OECD review on innovation system (2006) National Reform Plan (EU Lisbon process) OECD Workshop on Evaluation and Priority Setting September 2008, 4

5 Our Way towards National 2 step approach: Research Priorities Foresight exercise performed by the National Research Fund (FNR) on behalf of Ministry of Research Analysis and refinement of the foresight results by the Ministry of Research in collaboration with user communities and civil society Government decision OECD Workshop on Evaluation and Priority Setting September 2008, 5

6 The FNR Foresight: the aim Identification of (potential) national research priorities with short-term term and/or medium-to-long-term socio-economic interest for Luxembourg Scientific and political rationale for the choice of the priorities Shared understanding of stakeholders Proposal of set of priorities to government OECD Workshop on Evaluation and Priority Setting September 2008, 6

7 The FNR Foresight: the aim What the prioritization process was intended to: Identify national research priorities Concentrate additional R&D fundings What the prioritization process was NOT intended to: Not a «winner takes it all» process No immediate stop of existing activities OECD Workshop on Evaluation and Priority Setting September 2008, 7

8 The FNR Foresight: the process Aims: Creating a Baseline Setting a Context Identifying Priorities Method: Interviews Data collection Bibliometrics Online Questionnaire Exploratory Workshop Stakeholder Workshops Expert workshops per field SWOT Analysis Input: Results: International research trends Evaluation of FNR programmes Mapping of Lux. Research landscape Long list of possible research domains Long list of research domains Initial assessment Selection of broad research fields No formal input General Challenges for Luxembourg Initial assessment of domains Future trends Luxembourg context Research priorities candidates Conclusion and recommendations OECD Workshop on Evaluation and Priority Setting September 2008, 8

9 The FNR Foresight: Phase 1 Identifying potential research priorities Duration: January 2006 September 2006 Identifying status quo, analysing international trends, identifying potential priorities Expert interviews, questionnaires, expert wsh Product: «long-listlist» of 56 possible research areas with about 250 issues OECD Workshop on Evaluation and Priority Setting September 2008, 9

10 The FNR Foresight: Phase 2 Building a case for prioritization Duration: October 2006 March 2007 Purpose: identifying national priorities and providing a clear rationale Thematic field workshops: (re)define and review the 56 research domains 2 nd round of wsh: objectives, rationales, feasability and implementation issues OECD Workshop on Evaluation and Priority Setting September 2008, 10

11 The FNR Foresight: Prioritization Funnel Phase 1: Long List : 56 possible research areas with about 250 research issues End of Phase 1: about 25 Research Domains Phase 2: 19 Research Domains + 4 Technology Platforms 6 Research Priorities Rationale based on 11 criteria Official Presentation of the Final Report to the Minister of Research: June 18th, 2007 Further prioritization OECD Workshop on Evaluation and Priority Setting September 2008, 11

12 Refinement of Foresight Results «Tour des ministères»: Bilateral interviews and discussions of the FNR Foresight results with (potential) user communities and civil society, notably Ministries, Public administrations, Parliament Professional chambers and associations Aim: better correspondation of offer and demand OECD Workshop on Evaluation and Priority Setting September 2008, 12

13 National Priorities: Government decision (31 oct 07) Innovation in services: Development and performance of financial systems High-quality and highly productive business services Information security High-performance telecommunication networks Sustainable management of water ressources Labor market, educational requirements and social protection Identities, diversity and integration New materials, surfaces and sensing applications Regulation of chronic, infectious and degenerative diseases OECD Workshop on Evaluation and Priority Setting September 2008, 13

14 Implementing the National Research Priorities Performance contracts: One of the major recommendations of the OECD review on LU innovation policy Governance instrument based on clearly identified ex-ante defined outputs (limited number ) Signed between Government and institution/agency Duration of 1st PCs: OECD Workshop on Evaluation and Priority Setting September 2008, 14

15 Implementing the National Research Priorities PC of Public research centres: State block funding PC of Public research centres: State funding Contract research Competitive funding & # Doctoral students # PhD thesis accomplished # scientific publications # spin-offs # Patents, licenses, etc. Multi-annual research programme(s) covering National Research Priorities Scientific quality and socio-economic impact PhD and Post-doc research contracts and grants Procedural and structural objectives OECD Workshop on Evaluation and Priority Setting September 2008, 15

16 Implementing the National Research Priorities The FNR CORE thematic programme (start early 2008): Overall objective: Foster the scientific quality in the priority domains in order to ensure that sustainable medium-to-long term socio-economic relevance can be assured OECD Workshop on Evaluation and Priority Setting September 2008, 16

17 Implementing the National Research Priorities The FNR CORE thematic programme: Covers the national priorities (and only those ) 1 call per year (better previsibility for both FNR and research centres) selection criteria identical for all scientific domains. Prime criterion: scientific quality Budget : 2010: 81 mio. (will go beyond ) OECD Workshop on Evaluation and Priority Setting September 2008, 17

18 Lessons learnt thus far Not the optimal way to commission National Research Fund with foresight in view of priority setting Communicate, communicate, communicate Clearly state objectives of exercise Etc. Implication of (mainly) all ministries very helpful priority setting is above all a political process OECD Workshop on Evaluation and Priority Setting September 2008, 18