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3.
Mapping of Excellence in the Greek
Research & Innovation Landscape
Until recently, European added value was mainly defined as the European dimension of the problem, priority
or policy tackled by research teams in different countries. However, with the establishment of the ERC, a
(17)
has emerged that is based on the competition for research funding
at European level, assessed on the basis of excellence. In this sense, the ERC is a pan-European funding agency
for investigator-driven frontier research able to select outstanding researchers and ideas from a wider pool than
national schemes would allow. By channeling resources to the best researchers and ideas at the frontier of
knowledge and by supporting the development of new centres of excellence in emerging sectors across Europe,
the ERC should play a key role in creating a global competitive European Research Area that will increase the
quality of the overall European research system and so lead to the knowledge and innovation society envisioned
by the Europe 2020 strategy.
The ERC has also significantly contributed to the establishment of new benchmarks of excellence and com-
petitiveness among European research and innovation (R&I) stakeholders that should lead to crucial structural
changes in the
(4)
. Indeed, new International rankings established on the basis of ERC
success have been used to assess the strengths and weaknesses of national research systems and individual
institutions and to reform and adapt their strategies, policies and practices in order to increase their effectiveness
and attractiveness. In this sense, European universities and research institutions have begun to use their suc-
cess in ERC calls as a stamp of prestige and excellence and to actively compete for top researchers by offering
the most attractive “working” conditions.
The following “Mapping of Excellence” in the Greek R&I landscape is based on the performance of researchers
and the attractiveness of Host Institutions in Greece, based on the results of the ERC calls completed so far.
From now on, “Greek ERC Grants” refer to ERC Grants that are implemented in Greek Host Institutions.
It should be noted that a more comprehensive picture of Greek R&I excellence could be provided by analyzing
the successful applications of Greek organisations submitted to the
(Research Potential) calls. In
this programme, competition for funding is also on the basis of excellence but among institutions located in EU
convergence and outermost regions and equivalent regions in Associated Countries. This programme does not
fund research activities per se but aims to improve the research capacities of highest quality and/or promising
centres, within the FP7 thematic priorities, by reinforcing their Scientific & Technological potential.
30
the
case of
GREECE
5
years of
Excellence in
the European
Research Area
2007-2011