National Information Centre for European Research
According to the European Innovation Scoreboard 2023 (EIS 2023), CZECHIA is a Moderate Innovator with performance at 94.7% of the EU average. Performance is above the average of the Moderate Innovators. Performance is increasing at a rate higher than that of the EU (8.5%-points). The country’s performance gap to the EU is becoming smaller. How are these facts reflected in the Czech Republic's participation in the Horizon Europe programme so far? Does the structure of the Czech Republic's participation in this FP resemble that of the developed EU countries? And how are the Czech coordinators doing?
The participation of individual countries or groups of countries in Horizon Europe (hereafter "HE") and in previous Framework Programmes (hereafter "FPs") can be measured in many ways. One of them may be to analyse the distribution of the financial support claimed in specific parts of the HE programme. In our case, a specific part of the HE programme can be considered as a part of the programme whose content, implementation modalities, rules for participation, nature of the projects funded, etc. differ significantly from other parts of the FP. For this analysis, the available data in the eCORDA database made it possible to distinguish 9 specific areas of the HE programme. These are the three priorities of the first pillar of the HE programme - European Research Council (ERC) grants, research mobility grants - MSCA, projects for the support and development of research infrastructures - INFRA, projects implemented in the second pillar of the HE programme under the umbrella of European missions, projects of the second pillar of the HE programme implemented through European partnerships implemented in this pillar and projects funded by other calls of the second pillar of the HE programme.
Other specific areas of the HE programme are the European Innovation Council - EIC grants with the main instruments EIC Pathfinder, EIC Transition and EIC Accelerator, and the priority for reducing persistent gaps in research and innovation performance through sharing knowledge and expertise across the EU - Widening participation and spreading excellence (SEWP). The remaining project types, e.g. projects funded under the priority Reform and Improvement of the European Research and Innovation System (in the H2020 Science with and for Society or SwafS programme), projects to support EIC KICs or projects to improve the EIE innovation environment, are included in the "Others" section.
The distribution of financial support from the HE programme budget has been assessed at the level of individual European countries (EU countries and some selected widening countries) and groups of countries in the nine specific areas of this FP. For the distribution of countries into groups, a combination of the classification of a given country according to its overall innovation performance published in the EIS 2023 and the classification (or not) of a given country as a so-called widening country according to the HE programme rules was chosen. This classification of countries appears to be more appropriate for this analysis in the context of their level of research and innovation than the more usual political classification of European countries into OMS (EU-14) and NMS (EU-13) or so-called third countries.
The combination of the EIS 2023 classification and the HE rules has thus led to three main groups of countries applied in the analysis:
a) Innovation Leaders and Strong Innovators. This group includes the following countries in order of the size of the EIS 2023 Summary Innovation Index (SII EIS 2023): Denmark - DK, Sweden - SE, Finland - FI, Netherlands - NL, Belgium - BE, Austria - AT, Norway - NO, Germany - DE, Luxembourg - LU, Ireland - IE, France - FR, Iceland - IS;
(b) Moderate Innovators - Widening Countries. In order of the size of the EIS 2023 aggregate innovation index (SII EIS 2023), the following countries belong to this group: Estonia - EE, Slovenia - SI, Czech Republic - CZ, Malta - MT, Portugal - PT, Lithuania LT, Greece - EL, Hungary - HU;
(c) Emerging Innovators - Widening Countries. This group includes countries with >=100 participants in the HE programme to date. The countries are listed in order of the size of the EIS 2023 Summary Innovation Index (SII EIS 2023): Croatia - HR, Slovakia - SK, Serbia - RS, Poland - PL, Latvia - LV, TR - Turkey, BG - Bulgaria, RO - Romania, Ukraine - UA.
The other countries are Cyprus - CY: according to the SII EIS 2023 a strong innovator among the "widening countries" and Italy - IT and Spain - ES, which are among the moderate innovators according to the SII EIS 2023.
The different research and innovation potential of the different European countries and groups of countries is reflected in the different structure of their financial requirements to address the diverse range of HE projects. It can be seen that the "Widening countries" claim about 1/10 of the total HE budget for projects under the Widening - SEWP priority, which aims to strengthen the level of international research in less developed countries. This applies to both moderate and emerging innovators, and thus also to the Czech Republic. For completeness, let us add that the vast majority of the SEWP priority cannot be coordinated by countries outside the group of Widening countries, i.e. innovation leaders and strong innovators.
The countries with lower research and innovation potential are characterised by the fact that they do not achieve even half the share of claimed funding for frontier research projects provided by the European Research Council - ERC in the HE programme (18.4% vs. 7.1% and 7.4% respectively) compared to innovation leaders and strong innovators - see Figure 1. (NB: A similar ratio would apply for countries with lower research and innovation potential if the share of funding claimed by the Widening - SEWP priority is not included). The share of financial support allocated to ERC grant investigators in the Czech Republic is about twice as large as the aggregate share of moderate and emerging innovators from Widening countries. However, it should be added that there are significant differences in the financial share for ERC grants between the two groups of countries, which undoubtedly influence the resulting aggregate share. When compared to the three groups of countries, the Czech Republic has a higher share of funding claimed from the HE programme for the support and development of research infrastructures - INFRA (4.9%). On the contrary, the Czech Republic has a comparatively significantly lower share of funding compared to the three groups of countries in the calls of the second pillar of the HE programme, which are not part of either the European Partnerships or the EU missions (28% for the Czech Republic vs. 42.8% and 36.1% for moderate and emerging innovators from "widening countries" respectively). The share of claimed support in missions for the Czech Republic is at the level of the whole HE programme and the R&I advanced countries (4.4%). Moderate innovators and emerging innovators from 'widening countries' have a slightly higher share of funding dedicated to projects in EU missions (6.3% and 6.3% respectively). The Czech Republic is doing well in the use of funds for research mobility - MSCA (9.5% for the Czech Republic vs. 4.8% and 5.4% for moderate and emerging innovators from "widening countries" respectively).
Figure 1 - Share of financial contribution in the relevant parts of Horizon Europe in the Czech Republic and in selected groups of European countries with different innovation performance
Figure 2 shows the situation regarding EC financial support in specific parts of the HE programme in selected European countries in a little more detail. The level of the financial share (13.1%) for ERC grants ranks the Czech Republic as a moderate innovator in 3rd place, but it still lags behind a number of innovative advanced countries and its share is almost 1/3 lower than that of these countries. Even in the country comparison, it is evident that the Czech Republic has one of the lowest shares of claimed financial support in the HE Pillar II calls that are not part of the EU's European partnerships and missions among all 32 countries considered. The equal 28% financial share means that the Czech Republic ranks only 30th among all 32 countries mentioned and 18th among the 20 "widening countries". The position of the Czech Republic is much better in relation to projects implemented in connection with European partnerships, where the Czech Republic ranks 13th among the countries surveyed and 7th among the "widening countries". The Czech Republic makes very good use of the SEWP priority tools - Widening. The share of funds claimed by Czech institutions in this priority amounts to 12.4% of the total financial support claimed for the Czech Republic. This value ranks the Czech Republic 10th among the 20 widening countries monitored.
Figure 2 - Share of financial contribution to the relevant parts of Horizon Europe in selected European countries divided by their innovation performance
Similarly to all HE participants, the share and structure of financial contribution that is targeted to the project coordinators of this FP can be determined and analysed. The overall share of financial contribution for project coordinators in each selected European country is shown in Figure 3. At first sight, it is clear that the share of financial contribution from the HE programme budget for coordinators is highest in those countries categorised by EIS 2023 as innovation leaders or strong innovators. As a moderate innovator, the Czech Republic is ranked 9th among the 32 countries assessed, between DK, SE and FI. It ranks first in the moderate innovator group.
Figure 3 - Share of Horizon Europe funding for project coordinators from selected European countries, divided by their innovation performance
The high share of financial support from the HE programme for innovation leaders and strong innovators is also confirmed in Figure 4, where the shares of financial contribution for coordinators are shown in aggregate for the three groups of countries, the Czech Republic and for all countries overall. It can be seen that the level of the share (41.8%) demanded by the Czech coordinators of the HE programme projects brings the Czech Republic closer to the aggregate share of the innovative advanced countries (43.8%) and, on the contrary, further away from the value of the aggregate share (31.3%) reported by coordinators from countries classified as moderate innovators according to EIS 2023.
Figure 4 - Share of financial contribution from Horizon Europe for coordinators from the Czech Republic and selected groups of European countries divided according to their innovation performance
A look at the aggregate financial shares for HE programme project coordinators in country groups according to innovation and research potential reveals that coordinators from research and innovation advanced countries (innovation leaders and strong innovators) receive the largest share of financial support through ERC Frontier Research Grants. The less advanced R&I countries have a smaller but also significant share of funding for coordinators from ERC grants, but at the same time benefit greatly from the opportunity to lead Widening - SEWP projects to bring these weaker countries closer to the more advanced ones. In addition to the ERC grants and SEWP projects, the projects implemented through the European Partnerships in the second pillar of the HE programme and the MSCA research mobility projects are important for the Czech coordinators from a financial point of view. On the other hand, the coordination of the European Innovation Council - EIC projects, which aim to support mainly risky breakthrough and disruptive innovations, has a relatively lower financial benefit for the Czech Republic.
Figure 5 - Share of financial contribution for coordinators from the Czech Republic and a selected group of European countries with different innovation performance in the different parts of Horizon Europe
Figure 6 shows the share of the financial contribution for coordinators from selected European countries divided according to their innovation performance in the relevant parts of Horizon Europe. In the most innovation-weak countries, the coordination of HE projects is largely limited to the coordination of widening priority projects - SEWP. As the innovation potential of a country increases, the share of funding dedicated to the implementation of ERC cutting-edge research projects usually increases. For emerging innovation actors, the overall results of this analysis based on ratio statistics are affected by the low absolute number of coordinators. For this reason, the funding ratios in the parts of the HE programme shown in Figure 6 are more valid for innovation leaders and strong innovators or moderate innovators.
Figure 6 - Share of financial contribution to coordinators from selected European countries divided according to their innovation performance in the relevant parts of Horizon Europe
The previous findings indicate that there is a relatively strong relationship between the level of the financial share for coordinators and the value of the Summary Innovation Index according to the EIS 2023 (SII 2023). The relationship between these two indicators is expressed by the strong correlation coefficient (0.78) in Figure 7. It can be concluded that the more advanced a country is in terms of research and innovation, the higher its share of financial resources spent on project coordination in the HE programme.
Figure 7 - Relationship between the Summary Innovation Index and the share of Horizon Europe funding for coordinators from selected European countries, divided by their innovation performance
A correlation coefficient based on the relationship between the SII 2023 and the share of financial contribution can also be established for the sub-specific parts of the HE programme - see table. The correlation between SII 2023 and the share of financial contribution for coordinators is strongest for ERC grants (0.64). Thus, the more advanced a country is in terms of research and innovation, the higher is its share of funding spent on the coordination of ERC grants in the HE programme. A relatively strong negative correlation coefficient (-0.53) is found between SII 2023 and the share of financial support for project coordinators in the SEWP priority aimed at strengthening scientific excellence for "widening countries". Here, the less advanced a country is in terms of research and innovation, i.e. it has a lower SII 2023, the higher the share of funding spent on SEWP project coordination. Both cases are consistent with the expected reality and are in line with the expectations and, in the case of SEWP, the objectives of the HE programme.
Table - Values of the correlation coefficient, i.e. the strength of the linear relationship between the EIS 2023 Summary Innovation Index values and the level of the share of financial contribution for coordinators from selected European countries in the given parts of Horizon Europe in the period 2021-10/2023
Daniel Frank, frank@tc.cz, TC Prague, 30 November 2023
Sources and litarature used:
[1] European Innovation Scoreboard. https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/statistics/performance-indicators/european-innovation-scoreboard_en. Accessed 30 November 2023.
Note: It should not be forgotten that all statistic outputs monitoring national participation in Horizon Europe are certainly affected by the limited participation of Switzerland, and in particular the UK, to date. Both countries were among the european research leaders in the previous FPs.
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