Key result
Research performance in Germany, France, Italy, and Spain is intrinsically lower than in the UK, Netherlands, and Switzerland, even among highly selected and generously funded ERC projects.
Why the study?
Numerous EU documents praise the excellence of EU research without empirical evidence and in contradiction of academic studies.
Observational
Yes
Research performance in several major EU countries is intrinsically low compared to peers, suggesting a need for structural changes in research policy.
May signal systemic barriers beyond funding in select EU nations; leaves open whether policy reforms can narrow ERC performance gaps.
Numerous EU documents praise the excellence of EU research without empirical evidence and in contradiction of academic studies. We investigated research performance in two fields of high socioeconomic importance, advanced technology and basic medical research, in two sets of European countries, Germany, France, Italy, and Spain (GFIS), and the UK, Netherlands, and Switzerland (UKNCH). Despite their historical and geographical proximity, research performance in GFIS is much lower than in UKNCH, and well below the world average. Funding from the European Research Council (ERC) greatly improves performance in both GFIS and UKNCH, but ERC-GFIS publications are less cited than ERC-UKNCH publications. We conclude that research performance in GFIS and in other EU countries is intrinsically low, even in highly selected and generously funded projects. The technological and economic future of the EU depends on improving research, which requires structural changes in research policy within the EU, and in most EU countries.
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Rodríguez‐Navarro et al. (2020) conducted an observational in Research performance in advanced technology and basic medical research. European Research Council (ERC) funding and country of origin vs. UKNCH countries (UK, Netherlands, Switzerland) was evaluated on Research performance (citations of publications). Research performance in Germany, France, Italy, and Spain is intrinsically lower than in the UK, Netherlands, and Switzerland, even among highly selected and generously funded ERC projects.
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