Säule Wissenschaft der trinationalen Metropolregion Oberrhein
Säule Wissenschaft TMO
Die Säule Wissenschaft vereint die Hochschul- und Forschungseinrichtungen am Oberrhein sowie die für Hochschulwesen und Forschung zuständigen Einrichtungen der Partnerregionen.
ID: 281478697597-32
Lobbying Activity
Response to European Innovation Act
10 Sept 2025
The Science Pillar is part of the Trinational Metropolitan Region Upper Rhine (TMO) and brings together universities, universities of applied sciences and research institutions in Germany, France and Switzerland. Our goal is to promote cross-border innovation through research combined with knowledge and technology transfer. The EU Innovation Act offers the opportunity to make Europe's innovation system more efficient and internationally competitive. Research is an indispensable foundation for this, but innovation can only succeed if results are transferred to society and the economy. A key concern should therefore be to systematically strengthen the interface between research and innovation. Challenges - Fragmentation of the funding landscape: Cross-border projects encounter obstacles due to national borders (different regulations, funding guidelines, different levels of investment in R&D, etc.), which makes cross-border cooperation difficult. - Administrative hurdles: Application, reporting and accounting processes are complex, especially at cross-border and European level, and are particularly daunting for smaller partners. - Weaknesses in transfer: Research results often do not reach practical application, especially in small and medium-sized enterprises, which have little access to research partners, and even less across national borders. - Sustainability of structures: Platforms that connect science and industry are often only funded on a project basis and are therefore not very stable. - Cross-border sharing of research infrastructures: Legal and administrative frameworks make it extremely difficult to use research infrastructures across borders not only for colleges and universities, but also for other research institutions and research-intensive companies. Recommendations - Strengthening transfer: Transfer structures (e.g. shared infrastructures, technology centres, innovation networks) should be promoted and supported on a long-term basis. - Promoting cross-border cooperation: Regions such as the TMO demonstrate in smaller, cross-border areas the innovation potential that exists in the European single market when research and transfer are facilitated across borders. The EU Innovation Act should create targeted incentives for this. - Administrative simplification: Procedures in European research and innovation funding should be streamlined to facilitate access. - Linking research and innovation: Research funding and innovation funding must be understood as complementary and made more integrated. - Promoting talent: The mobility of students, doctoral candidates and researchers within Europe is a key foundation for innovation and should be further strengthened. Potential for cross-border regions For years, border regions such as the Upper Rhine have shown that European excellence arises where research cooperates and transfer worksacross administrative, linguistic and legal borders. The EU Innovation Act can be an important catalyst for this.
Read full responseResponse to European Research Area (ERA) Act
10 Sept 2025
The Science pillar of the Trinational Metropolitan Region Upper Rhine supports, connects and promotes scientific actors in this unique tri-national region. It also serves as a platform for exchange between representatives of universities, research institutions, relevant local authorities and institutions at regional and cross-border level, positioning itself as the preferred point of contact for economic development and innovation stakeholders in the service of valorisation and transfer. Our mission is to strengthen the visibility, cooperation capacity and impact of science in the Upper Rhine region. Feedback of the coordination Office of the Science Pillar on the ERA-Act: > Strengthening the internal market for research, innovation and technology Exchange platform between regions; Universities and non-university research institutions in an EU or cross-border context: - Our work shows how important harmonised framework conditions are for cross-border university and research cooperation. - We have established a network that enables us to support strategic European and cross-border exchange in the field of R&D&I in the Upper Rhine region by providing information and promoting exchange. - We are committed to removing barriers in administration, access to funding and the transferability of project results to other regions. > Promoting cross-border mobility of researchers - In the Upper Rhine region, it becomes clear every day that mobility must be supported physically, but also institutionally and digitally. - We encourage targeted EU measures to support trinational mobility programmes, international career paths and recognition processes. - We support the cross-border chairs of Eucor, The European Campus, and, together with the universities in the Upper Rhine region, contribute to the development of genuine European research careers. > Promoting knowledge exchange and trust in science - Our approach already promotes exchange formats and co-creation. - We support the development of innovative measures and formats for dialogue between science and society in a cross-border context. - Our projects are geared towards societal challenges relevant to the border region, such as sustainability, climate, energy and digitalisation. > Improving research funding and transfer > With the Science Offensive, we have developed a model that helps bridge the Valley of Death between basic research and application in a cross-border approach. Practical challenges - Fragmentation of funding landscapes (regional, national, cross-border, e.g. Interreg, European programmes) - Failure to take the cross-border context into account in numerous programmes and calls for proposals - Different administrative and legal systems and a lack of knowledge of the framework conditions in other countries, as well as cultural barriers in some cases - Lack of follow-up funding after the end of the project, making it difficult to translate research results into innovations Recommendations - Promotion of cross-border science regions as pilot areas for ERA - Adaptation of EU funding instruments to the specific conditions of transnational areas. - We advocate stronger links between ERA policy and regional S3 - Support for projects that bring together partners and regions in Europe with similar achievements in research and innovation in order to create leading European hubs and facilitate cooperation. - Targeted support for transfer structures - Consideration of Switzerland as an essential partner for the further development of a European research landscape.
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