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Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgements

Executive summary

1 Introduction
  1.1 Contextual background to the study
  1.2 Foundation models in Europe
  1.3 Research and innovation performance in Europe
  1.4 Research design, definitions and structure of the report

2 Sketching the landscape of foundations supporting R&I in Europe
  2.1 Types of foundations supporting R&I
  2.2 Origins of funds
  2.3 Expenditure
  2.4 Focus of support
  2.5 Geographical dimensions of activities
  2.6 Foundations' operations and practices
  2.7 Roles and motivations

3 Country differences in research and innovation foundation activity
  3.1 Large differences between countries in Research and Innovation activity by foundations in Europe
  3.2 Why do foundations in different countries in Europe differ in terms of research and innovation activity?
  3.3 Conclusion and discussion

4 Strengths and weaknesses of European foundations supporting R&I
  4.1 Strengths and weaknesses: cases on a national level
  4.2 Strengths and weaknesses: cases on an organisational level

5 General conclusions

6 Recommendations: next steps

Annexes
  I List of national experts
  II Methodology
  III Theoretical model
  IV Data and methods used in the comparative analysis

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Foreword

This report provides a thorough and comprehensive analysis of the contributions that foundations make to support research and innovation in EU Member States, Norway and Switzerland.

Over the last 25 years, the role of foundations as supporters of research and innovation in Europe has grown significantly in scope and scale. However, the landscape is fragmented and, till now, largely uncharted. We knew little about the vast majority of such foundations, their activities or even their number, and information about their real impact on research and innovation in Europe was very limited.

The implications are important, because to strengthen Europe’s research and innovation capacity and create the necessary framework conditions to boost our competitiveness, we need a clear picture of what is happening on the ground.

This study helps fill this knowledge gap by analysing foundations’ financial contributions, and provides useful insights into the different ways they operate. It also identifies emerging trends and the potential for exploring synergies and collaboration between foundations, research- funding agencies, businesses and research institutes.

Among the many interesting findings presented, what struck me most is the size of the total budget - at least €5 billion per year - provided from foundations for research and innovation in domains with an important social impact. This figure is about half the average annual budget that the EU will give to researchers and innovators throughout the whole duration of the Horizon 2020 programme.

Although this report clearly targets science and innovation policy-makers and, of course, the foundations themselves, I believe that policy-makers in other fields will also benefit from its findings. It is a very valuable contribution to evidence-based policy-making.

Robert-Jan Smits

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