“European Forum for Studies of Policies for Research and Innovation”
(Eu-SPRI Forum) founded
– Prof. Stefan Kuhlmann (UT-IGS) President of the Forum, international conference at UT in October 2010
On June 8, 2010, in Paris 11 leading institutes in the field of studies of policies for research and innovation have established a new “European Forum for Studies of Policies for Research and Innovation” (Eu-SPRI Forum). The UT Institute of Innovation and Governance Studies (IGS) is a founding member; Prof. Stefan Kuhlmann (IGS) will be the President of the Eu-SPRI Forum for the next three years. Kuhlmann will also organize the first bi-annual international conference of the Forum in October 2010 at the UT.
The other founding members of the Eu-SPRI Forum are: Université Paris-Est, Institut Francilien Recherche Innovation Société; Copenhagen Business School; Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Cientificas, Spain; Universidad Autonoma de Madrid (UAM-Accenture Chair on Economics and Management of Innovation); Consiglio Nazionale delle Richerche, CERIS Institute for Research on Firm and Growth, Rome; Politecnico di Milano; Consorzio Universitario in Ingenieria per la Qualita e l’Innovazione, QUINN, Pisa; AIT Austrian Institute of Technology; University of Lund, Sweden; University of Manchester, Institute of Innovation Research.
Typical questions of the Eu-SPRI Forum are: How can research and innovation policies cope with ‘grand social challenges’ in the areas of health, energy, security or the environment? Which public policies help to pro-actively shape responsible technological innovation? How to make public sector research more creative and effective? How to achieve a more intelligent interaction between investments in research and higher education policies for universities? Are there better ways to link governments’ research policies to other public policies? How to balance forces of globalization and localisation?
Policies for research and innovation are a centrepiece of the current global ‘knowledge and innovation society’. However, the design and implementation of such policies is not a simple and straightforward business. During the past few decades, policies for research and innovation have no longer become the exclusive remit of national governments. Other public authorities at the local, regional, European and international levels intervene actively in policy design and in policy implementation. Likewise, the creation of highly specialized and professionalised agencies at each of those levels has added to this rapid decentralizing trend. Furthermore, the number and type of stakeholders in research and innovation policy is growing rapidly. NGOs, charities and other public-private actors have become very active stakeholders shaping new policy directions.
The Eu-SPRI Forum will strengthen the vibrant but dispersed interdisciplinary community of researchers focussing on interdisciplinary dimensions related to policy and governance in the field of knowledge creation and innovation. The Eu-SPRI Forum has three key missions:
Mission 1: Next generation – The Eu-SPRI Forum supports the intellectual and career development of early career SPRI researchers (doctoral candidates; PostDocs), most notably through doctoral programs, conferences, summer schools and mobility between the partner groups.
Mission 2: Exploratory initiatives – The Eu-SPRI Forum aspires to anticipate new SPRI themes, concepts and methods. The exploration of new interdisciplinary analytical horizons will be facilitated through co-funding of working groups producing position papers within up to 18 months (competition-based selection).
Mission 3: Structuring the field – The Eu-SPRI Forum will hold a bi-annual European Conference on Policies for Research and Innovation, featuring both presently relevant and incoming new themes. The Conferences will act as an informal space for exchange for the European and international SPRI community as well as for innovative stakeholders and policy-makers in the field.
The 2010 Conference will be co-organised with the IGS at the University of Twente: “Tentative Governance in Emerging Science and Technology – Actor Constellations, Institutional Arrangements and Strategies”, October 28-29, 2010. Some 150 participants are expected.
In the mid-term the Eu-SPRI Forum will extend existing strong links and exchanges with non-European research communities and their organisations aiming at setting up a “Global SPRI Forum”.
Stefan Kuhlmann | Professor of Science, Technology, and Society | Chair of Dept of Science, Technology, & Policy Studies (STəPS) | University of Twente | School of Management and Governance | Institute of Innovation and Governance Studies (IGS) | Twente Graduate School - Program Governance of Knowledge and Innovation (GKI) |
Building 10 (Ravelijn), P.O. Box 217, 7500 AE Enschede, The Netherlands | s.kuhlmann(at)utwente.nl