ACCESSRU is a joint EU-Russian program aimed at supporting science and technology (S&T) cooperation by promoting access to Russian and EU resources for scientific studies. Nearing the conclusion of the program’s 33-month run, Modern Russia contributor and INNOVA Europe consultant Natalia Mielech reviews the program’s highlights.
Russia is known for its excellent scientific, technological and educational environment, having produced generations of talented researchers and scientists. Alongside this, EU-Russia science and technology (S&T) cooperation has been developing with a number of instruments aimed at supporting this work. To improve upon these established programs, ACCESSRU’s support was initiated to provide advice to European R&D organizations to facilitate their access to Russian funding opportunities with the help of Russian partners. The project provided EU organizations hands-on support in submitting proposals and counseled on the best methods for dealing with Russian administrative procedures.
The first step was to undertake a thorough analysis of EU-Russia science and technology cooperation, while analyzing the current state of the Russian S&T landscape. Based on these findings, we were able to come up with a list of practical recommendations for both EU and Russia-based partners.
Throughout the project, more than two hundred discussion sessions were held between consortium members to make progress on case studies – a topic that was the focal point of our October 2010 meeting in Moscow. As a result of this Moscow discussion, ACCESSRU published two key papers: “Opportunities Report” and “Report on Case Studies Selection,” documents that may serve as practical handbooks for potential applicants.
ACCESSRU’s recommendations
Looking back at the ACCESSRU program, one of the main findings was the need to ramp up efforts to raise awareness of funding opportunities and coordinate interactions between Russian ministries, universities and other stakeholders who are involved in joint EU-Russia scientific projects. In this context, the ACCESSRU team recommended establishing a simple communication tool in the form of an e-helpdesk hosted by the Russian Ministry of Education. This could serve as an interactive guide that would provide practical information on application procedures for scientists from both the EU and Russia.
Another field that could significantly improve is the area intellectual property rights. Russian universities need to develop their patent infrastructures and should base these on existing European IP protection standards.
S&T cooperation between Europe and Russia is also hindered by administrative burdens, such as financial requirements for European researchers working on Russian programs. Many of these projects require international money transfers, but the fiscal laws of the Russian Federation do not always provide a clear, logical and comprehensive framework to conduct these transactions smoothly. Strict and conflicting financial requirements make cooperation excessively difficult or, in some cases, impossible.
Our project team quickly realized that one of the main obstacles to research mobility has been public procurement law 94-FZ, which imposes requirements on purchases of equipment through a tender procedure. According to European researchers our team spoke with, this requirement for purchasing equipment is a chief barrier to their work, and has subsequently been discussed with the Russian Academy of Sciences.
One positive aspect our team did notice was the use of sub-contract schemes, where R&D work is subcontracted to European organizations through a merit judged bidding process. The introduction of more of these types of procedures is a reasonable and concrete step by the government to improve the performance of the Russian innovation system.
In search of best practices
Apart from looking for loopholes, the ACCESSRU team has also identified some examples of best practices from our 33-month project. Among the various steps aimed at improving cooperation, a new initiative led by the Russian government under decree N220 deserves particular attention. This decree provides “measures to attract leading scientists to Russian institutions of higher education," and is designed to support Russian scientific research by attracting leading scientists to Russian higher education institutions. Through N220, the government is making a concerted effort to enhance the expertise of Russian research projects and increase the mobility of scientists. This will create conditions for the emergence of new S&T institutions that attract the best young scientists who will learn by working under world-class researchers. For Russian universities, N220 is a way for them to gain recognition as world class research centers that attract the best scientists from both in and outside Russia. The positive for European researchers is that they are able gain new experiences outside their typical R&D environments.
As we have seen throughout the ACCESSRU program’s time, intensive cooperation in the field of science and technology is mutually beneficial. Likewise, improving conditions to better respond to today’s rapidly changing realities is an important step for researchers and society, which ultimately stands to benefit from their achievements. ACCESSRU’s ‘success stories’ show that striving for excellence can lead to unlimited possibilities.
Natalia Mielech is a consultant at INNOVA Europe, a leading consultancy specializing in innovation policy.
The ACCESSRU project support access of EU researchers to S&T Programs of the Russian Federation and is funded under the European Union’s 7th Framework Program for Research and Technological Development. The project partners are Inno AG (Germany coordinator), the European Science Foundation (France), A.N.Bach Institute of Biochemistry of the Russian Academy of Science (Russia), International Center for Innovations in Science, Technology and Education (Russia), Russian Technology Transfer Network, Tomsk Polytechnic University and Innova Europe (Belgium). Project web site: www.access4.eu/russia
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