The Factors Behind Participation: Evidence from the European Framework Programme, Horizon 2020

Abstract

Scientific results are largely the outcome of collaborative efforts, and research is often dependent upon attaining project funding through applications. Many funding agencies and research funding programmes require projects to be carried out in consortiums with multiple partners. Research organizations are therefore faced with complex decisions while dealing with the uncertainty that their applications can be rejected. Overall, this thesis shows that in order for research organizations to succeed depend on a number of factors, for example access to internal resources, collaborative networks and scientific capabilities. Through gradual reinforcement, these factors will eventually accumulate to a comparative advantage in the competition for funding. The scientific system tends to produce differences among research organizations, leaving some more well off than others. However, the EU should make sure that the playing field is levelled and that the system itself does not reinforce inequality. The same goes for national policy makers that should support their own organizations when their initial outset is less developed compared to organizations in other countries.