Peer Reviews of national R&I systems are in-depth assessments of a country's R&I system carried out by a panel of experts and policy peers, leading to operational recommendations to the national authorities on the reforms necessary to strengthen their R&I systems.
A Peer Review can take the shape of a general assessment of the country’s strengths and weaknesses in R&I, but it can also focus on a number of specific elements of the R&I systems (e.g. reform of universities, knowledge-transfer system, etc.), as agreed with the country under review. It can be preceded by a ‘pre peer review’ (as a preparatory step to identify focus areas) and followed by a ‘post peer review’ (as a follow-up step to provide concrete advice on how to adjust and strengthen the implementation of the peer review recommendations).
The objective of the Peer Review of Denmark’s Research and Innovation (R&I) System is twofold: to further elevate Denmark’s performance by outlining an overarching innovation strategy, and support stakeholders working effectively and in close cooperation towards common overall objectives.
The expert panel assed how Denmark can best organise its efforts on knowledge-based innovation, based on international best practices, and provided concrete recommendations on how to further develop Danish public policy to this end.
Denmark is one of the few countries in the EU that have reached Europe’s 2020 target for R&D intensity of 3% of GDP, and the European Innovation Scoreboard (EIS) ranks Denmark as an Innovation Leader. However, its innovation performance varies across different fields and parameters. The Danish Minister of Higher Education and Science had asked the PSF panel to focus on "how to build the most effective bridges between research-based knowledge building and the application of this knowledge in business and society".
The Peer Review of Estonia’s Research and Innovation (R&I) System aims to assess the overall effectiveness of the Estonian R&I system, outlining its strengths and weaknesses and paying particular attention to the aspects of its socio-economic impact, including in terms of creation of added value in the business sector and productivity growth; and to develop a roadmap of practical recommendations suitable for Estonia's context. The results of the Peer Review will provide an important input for the country’s R&I policy framework from 2021 onwards, as well as for development plans in other areas having a direct impact on the R&I system.
The objective of the Peer Review of the Maltese Research and Innovation (R&I) System is to provide recommendations to inform the design of the next National R&I Strategy Plan 2020. The review will assess to what extent Malta has adequate and appropriate policies, structures, resources, measures and instruments in place to achieve the country's goals. In contrast to reviews of the Maltese R&I system carried out in the past, which have been partial in scope, the present exercise tackles the entire R&I system.
The European Commission held a seminar on country-specific activities under the Horizon 2020 Policy Support Facility (PSF) in Brussels on 11 December 2017. The seminar provided a platform to exchange experiences between national authorities, high-level experts working with the PSF, representatives of European countries that benefitted from PSF support, and international organisations involved in reviews of national research and innovation (R&I) systems. Participants examined various methodological approaches with a view to maximising the success and impact of R&I policy support activities. Its results will feed into future European Commission activities in support of R&I policy reforms.
The overall objective of the Peer Review of the Polish Higher Education and Science System was to provide recommendations on the future development of Poland's science and higher education policy in support of innovation. The specific focus areas of the Peer Review were the following: (1) Structural changes in the science and higher education; (2) Links between the higher education sector and the other actors of the innovation system; and (3) Internationalisation of the science and higher education sector - trends, key areas for improvement.
This Peer Review, launched in May 2016 aims to provide external advice and operational recommendations to the Ukrainian authorities on possible reforms to undertake in the following focus areas: (1) Optimisation of available policy instruments to support the national research system; (2) Internationalisation of research and integration of Ukraine into the European Research Area; and (3) the Role of science in Ukrainian innovations development. The final report and recommendations was presented to the Ukrainian R&I community in December 2016.
This Peer Review, launched in November 2015 aimed to provide external advice and operational recommendations to the Moldovan authorities on possible reforms to undertake in the following focus areas: (1) Increasing the efficiency of public R&I funding and the quality of the R&I performing bodies and instruments; (2) Improving the policies for human resources and mobility of researchers; (3) Boosting business innovativeness and science-business links; and, (4) Increasing R&I impact by properly defining the policy instruments. The final report and the recommendations were presented to the Moldovan R&I community on 12 July 2016.
This Peer Review, launched in January 2016 aimed to provide external advice and operational recommendations to the Hungarian authorities on possible reforms to undertake in the following focus areas: (1) R&I governance and policy-making; (2) Availability of human resources for R&I; (3) Framework conditions for innovation in the business sector; and (4) Science-industry cooperation, technology transfer and entrepreneurship. The final report and the recommendations were presented to the Hungarian R&I community on 20 September 2016.
This Peer Review, launched in March 2015, was the first one conducted under the Horizon 2020 Policy Support Facility and aimed to provide external advice and operational recommendations to the Bulgarian authorities on possible reforms of the R&I system. At the request of the Bulgarian authorities, it has set a focus on three main areas: (1) Assessment of R&I funding and performing bodies and instruments; (2) R&I Human resources capacity development ;(3) Tackling the gap between research and business. The final report and the recommendations were presented to the Bulgarian R&I community on 8 October 2015, in the presence of the European Commissioner for research and innovation, Carlos Moedas.
The pre-Peer Review of Hungary’s research and innovation (R&I) system was conducted between May and September 2015 by a panel of three high-level independent experts who focused on six main topics of high importance in the current context of the Hungarian R&I system. The panel identified a set of strengths and weaknesses for each main topic and proposed four focus areas for in-depth examination in the subsequent peer-review.