Analysis of Networks in European Framework Programmes (1984-2006)

Abstract

In the follow-up to the Green Paper on the European Research Area (ERA), there is an increasing need for adequate analytical tools to monitor progress towards the ERA. The projects "Network analysis study on participations in Framework Programmes" conducted by ARC sys (now Austrian Institute of Technology (AIT)), under the framework of the European Techno-Economic Policy Support Networks (ETEPS) and "Centrality Analysis in Research Networks" done by the Knowledge for Growth Unit of the Institute for Prospective and Technological Studies (IPTS), Joint Research Centre (JRC), European Commission , respond to the on-going need for data and analytical insights on the characteristics and evolution of the ERA. The present report presents the synthesised findings of the abovementioned studies. More specifically, it applies novel methodological tools to data on European Framework Programme (FP) participations to advance our understanding of transnational networks of collaborative research. The FP is the main instrument of EU research policy. With ¿17.5bn devoted to FP6 (rising to ¿51bn in FP7) it funds a substantial proportion of collaborative research activity in the EU and is, by far, the most prominent funding mechanism for transnational research globally. Therefore the analysis of the structure of European networks of collaboration in the FPs, from FP1 to FP6, is a valuable tool in understanding the contribution of European policies in transforming the fabric of research within the ERA, as well as in identifying a possible backbone for the ERA. Traditional indicators of transnational research collaboration are limited to cross-tabulations of co-participation in the FP (as well as co-publications and co-patenting in bibliometrics) at high levels of aggregation (national/regional). By contrast, the use of social network analysis methods takes into account the relative position of individual research actors in collaborative networks, and thus affords greater analytical detail.