Only one in ten requests for funds made under the 7th Framework Programme (FP7 makes €50 billion available for research projects in 2007-2013) came from one of the 12 countries that have joined the EU since 2004. 22% of applications from countries that were members of the EU before 2004 are accepted, compared to 18% of requests from those that joined after 2004.
Speaking at the Research Connection conference in Prague in May, Janez Potočnik, European commissioner for science and research, said research activity in new EU countries had increased since accession, but “the potential of the EU12 has not been fully tapped”. The vast majority of applications for European research funds come from countries which were members of the EU before the major expansion of the Union in 2004 according to EurActiv.
However, several Eastern European nations outperforming their Western neighbours. “The overall success rate of the Czech Republic in the first two years of FP7 is close to the EU 27 average and higher than that of Austria, Spain, Portugal, Italy and Greece.”
That sounds encouraging for my Czech ears, but I would be curious what would he say in Austria for example as you can take a pretty different criteria for indicating your success rate.
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