European Research Area & Open Science

What we are doing

We support the European Commission European Research Area (ERA) by participating at stakeholder platforms and related working groups aimed at the advancement of ERA, as well as working actively with our member institutes in the implementation of ERA policies. We are also active in relevant fields for the definition of the new ERA, such as open science, research careers and research assessment, as described below.

ERA governance and Pact for research and innovation in Europe

Contributing to the making of the new ERA:
- Co-representing research performing organisations in ERA Forum and setting up EU-LIFE 12 priorities for the implementation of ERA
- Releasing a statement with recommendations for a stronger and renewed ERA and a reaction to the EC communication on the new ERA
- Input into the EU Forum for Transition, including participation in the “Expert group on the ERA Forum for Transition workshop with the ERA stakeholders”, where we provided our Feedback for the ERA and Forum for Transition on values, principles and priorities of the ERA Pact
- Slovenian Presidency of the EU Council meeting with stakeholders which resulted in the draft of the Council conclusions on the future governance of the European Research Area
Ensuring regular interactions with DG Research & Innovation Units leading ERA and Open Science and participating in key events such as the Slovenian Presidency Conference New European Research Area - Towards a Responsible Knowledge-Driven Society of the 3rd Millennium
Promoting internal discussions on specific aspects of our policy roadmap, such as the role of research institutes in the European research and innovation ecosystem
Launching the EU-LIFE policy webinar series on EU high-priority topics with the aim to enhance and diversify our interactions with key policymakers. The topics covered to date include the opportunities for postdoc researchers in Europe and research assessment

Research Assessment

Being a signatory of the CoARA Agreement on Reforming Research Assessment and member of the Coalition for Advancing Research Assessment (CoARA)
Participating in the CoARA Call for Working Groups with a number of fully developed proposals, and being affiliated to three working groups:
- Supporting the alignment of research assessment systems with CoARA in biomedical disciplines through administrative reforms and governance (SAGA), co-chaired by EU-LIFE
- Reforming Academic Career Assessment (ACA)
- Early-and-mid-Career Researchers (EMCRs) – Assessment and Research Culture
EU-LIFE was a member of the core group of organisations working closely with the drafting team facilitated by the European Commission in January 2022 to develop an agreement on reforming research assessment in Europe.
Contributing to the creation of a new research assessment system in Europe with participation in workshops, such as:
- Labour market for researchers, skills, assessment and monitoring ERAC workshop
- 8th Meeting of the National Points of Reference on Scientific Information
- Open Science assembly with Research Performing Organisations and other Stakeholders - Consultation on Reforming Research Assessment
Participating in bilateral meetings with European Commission representatives to provide input on research assessment
Creating a EU-LIFE Task Force on Research Assessment, aimed at providing our member institutes with a framework to share good practices for assessment of research organisations and individual researchers, and to discuss the research evaluation system in Europe
Organising the EU-LIFE policy webinar Moving forward in research assessment - perspectives from research institutes, researchers and funders

Open Science

Engaging with open access stakeholders and initiatives, such as Diamond Open Access
Being an active stakeholder in EU open science and a member of the European Open Science Policy Platform (OSPP) launched by Commissioner Moedas. We contributed actively to its advisory role, working groups and reports, mainly the final OSPP report Progress on Open Science: Towards a Shared Research Knowledge System
Contributing to key areas of open science, such as:
- Open science policies with EU-LIFE views and recommendations on Plan S, a reaction to Plan S implementation guidelines public consultation opened by cOAlition, including a revised guidance on Plan S implementation.
- Open Science assembly with Research Performing Organisations and other stakeholders - Consultation on Reforming Research Assessment
- Labour market for researchers, skills, assessment and monitoring ERAC workshop
Facilitating the development of Orion Open Science together with several of our members. The project aimed at embedding open science and responsible research & innovation in research funding and performing organizations. The project resulted in comprehensive toolkits, training materials and case studies on how to implement open science as a research organisation
Inspiring change by sharing lessons learned in different events and publications such as the EMBO paper Involving Society in Science. Reflections on meaningful and impactful stakeholder engagement in fundamental research

Research careers in Europe

Sharing best practices and publishing guidelines on how to support research careers, such as:
- Hands-on Guide for Research Institutions: Best Practices for Postdoc Career Support in the Life Sciences
- Policy brief: Providing Career Support to Postdocs – Inspirations and Recommendations from the EU-LIFE Institutes
- EMBO paper: Time for change in research careers
Participating regularly in EC’s discussions about how to foster research careers within the new ERA, such as:
- Supporting research careers in Europe: tools to support implementation of the new ERA consultation workshop
- Supporting research careers in the context of the new ERA: EURAXESS and the ERA Talent Platform stakeholder workshop
- Fostering research careers in ERA EC stakeholder workshop
- Labour market for researchers, skills, assessment and monitoring ERAC workshop
Creating spaces of dialogue with the community and bringing policymakers together with researchers:
- Joint INESC Brussels Hub / EU-LIFE workshop: Research Careers and Research Assessment
- EU-LIFE policy webinar Opportunities for and of postdoctoral researchers in Europe

Latest events

Our position

EU-LIFE strongly stands for making the European Research Area a reality and advancing in open science. A healthy Research & Innovation ecosystem – through achieving ERA and progressing in open science - needs strong institutions and cannot fall solely on the shoulders of individual researchers or projects.

We advocate for the key role of research and innovation organizations in the implementation of ERA and promotion of excellent Open Science.

Why it’s important

The European Research Area (ERA) is at the heart of the common European policy for research, with the idea of developing a “common market” for research and innovation in Europe and promoting a leading role for European research worldwide. ERA has been reshaped by the Council of the European Union in 2008, included the involvement of stakeholders since 2012 and is currently under revision. As the overarching EU policy for research and innovation, ERA encapsulates a vision for future and shapes subsequent policies.

ERA aims at increasing Europe’s competitiveness in research by setting up 6 priorities: more effective national research systems, an optimal transnational cooperation and competition, including optimal transnational cooperation and competition and research infrastructures, an open labour market for researchers, gender equality and gender mainstreaming in research, an optimal circulation, access to and transfer of scientific knowledge including knowledge circulation and open access, international cooperation.

Open Science is a new approach to the scientific process. Open Science has the potential to contribute to better and more efficient science, nonetheless it also set great challenges.