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JRC and its new 2010-2020 JRC Strategy

Rolan Schenkel, Director General JRC (Joint Research Centre)

1. What exactly is the « 2010-2020 JRC Strategy » and how was it created? What are its main priorities?

With its strategy 2010-2020, the JRC has succeeded in shaping its profile to tackle the major challenges facing society today and better adapt to the needs of its customers.
The new JRC strategy is a multiannual plan establishing our research priorities and a new vision for the organisation: to be \"a trusted provider of science-based policy options to EU policy makers to address key challenges facing our society, underpinned by internationally-recognised research\".
In practice this means that the JRC will select, in consultation with customer Directorate-Generals, a range of applicable policy options and then perform scientific assessments and analysis of their respective advantages and disadvantages by applying the latest and best scientific knowledge available. Thereby, policy makers are provided with a range of policy option analysis on which they can make informed choices.

In order to be able to do this, the JRC needs to have clear research priorities. Following an extensive analysis of the grand challenges, a consultation with stakeholders and taking into account the JRC\'s proven competences, seven thematic areas have been identified:


1. Towards an open and competitive economy
2. Development of a low carbon society
3. Sustainable management of natural resources
4. Safety of food and consumer products
5. Nuclear safety and security
6. Security and crisis management
7. Reference materials and measurements


In addition, the new vision will imply some strategic developments in the JRC, such as expanded competences in socio-economic research, enhanced policy analysis capabilities, and the development of an anticipation and foresight capacity.


As regards to the strategy process, it combined bottom-up and top-down consultation process, following the recommendation ex-post evaluation panel for the 6th Framework Programme.


The JRC\'s senior management established the priorities for 2010-2020. Following this, twelve expert working groups composed of 150 scientists and administrative support staff across the JRC, representing core competence areas, prepared reports on thematic challenges and customer needs for future science-based policy support. During the process the strategy has been extensively consulted with the JRC staff, the European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science and her Cabinet, the European Commission\'s Secretary General, key customer Directorates General, the JRC Board of Governors, and the European Parliament.



2. What is the connection between the JRC Strategy and the Europe 2020 Strategy and the Research and Innovation Plan?


The new strategy underpins both initiatives. The newly defined Thematic Areas strongly contribute to the goals of the Europe 2020 strategy. A number of major societal challenges have moved to the forefront of the policy making and the best science is needed to tackle them. The JRC has decided to focus on the ones to which I referred earlier.

The JRC has contributed significantly to the Research and Innovation Plan which the Commission will present to the Council later this year, and I think there is a continued role for the JRC to support the follow-up to this Plan. This being said, it is important to understand that the JRC, with its mission and as a public research organisation, is policy and not market driven. The strength of the JRC is indeed its research base and focus on policy-making customers.


3. Mr Schenkel, as Director General of JRC, how do you see the future of this institution, at the onset of FP 8?


The new strategy has been conceived for the decade to come. FP8 will be running until 2020. Through this self-analysis exercise, defining our thematic areas of research and focusing on the assessment of policy options, we aim to get the best out of the direct actions under the Framework Programmes and make sure the results are useful for decision-makers and for the EU citizens in general.

During the last decade, the JRC has been closely associated with EU policy making. In the decade to come, we want to support even better our customers, mainly Commission services, providing them with the best and latest scientific knowledge available.


4. Will the JRC contribute to the drawing up and implementation of the future FP8? If yes, how exactly will it do so?


The JRC\'s activities are funded through the Framework programme for Research. Hence these activities, as set out in the JRC strategy 2010-2020, will be the major contribution of the JRC to FP8.

The JRC works very closely with colleagues in the Research Directorate-General, a key player in the drawing up of the Framework Programmes. We support DG RTD with concrete inputs, such as the framework conditions for joint programming initiatives. We also give support on intellectual property and technology transfer questions which are crucial issues in the framework programmes.

In addition, the JRC develops indicators that help evaluating the impact of the framework programmes. It monitors and analyses issues such as the national research policy mixes or the universities involvement in the European Research Area (ERA).


5. What would be your recommendations to project leaders interested in participating in European research and innovation projects?



I can only encourage researchers throughout the EU and abroad to apply for EU funded projects. Both basic and applied research are crucial and they can contribute to develop a stronger economy in Europe. I am convinced multinational research has an added value and is an asset for scientific excellence. Last but not least, it contributes to the establishment of a European Research Area. By joining forces we can get better results and overcome fragmentation in the research arena.