Folie 1

1
Wilhelm Krull
The Reality and Visions of the XXI Century
Warsaw, 24 October 2008
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The Gordian Knot is a metaphor for an
intractable problem that can be solved by a bold
stroke, which is called the Alexandrian Solution.
Gordian Knots emerge as a result of delaying
necessary strategic choices.(K. Rybinski, P.
Opala, M. Holda, Gordian knots of the 21st
century, Warsaw 2008)
3
The Club of Rome, the Volkswagen Foundation, and
The Limits To Growth (1972)

• The most important business on earth, quite
  literally, is the business of planetary
  planning. This book is a pioneering effort in
  that direction.
• NORMAN COUSINS
• If this book doesnt blow everybodys mind who
  can read without moving his lips, then the earth
  is kaput.
• ROBERT C. TOWNSEND

4
Modelling the World
Source Donella H. Meadows, Dennis L. Meadows,
Jørgen Randers, and William W. Behrens III. The
Limits to Growth. A Report on the Club of Romes
Project on the Predicament of Mankind. New York
1972.
5
My Own Experience in Solving Gordian Knots

• ? German unification in higher education and
  research
• ? Implementing a structure for the competitive
  funding of basic research at the European level.

6
The Transformation of East German Universities
and Academy Institutes

• Centralised versus federal structures
• Evaluation of performance and potential
• Restructuring of existing institutions
• Establishing new institutes (Max Planck)
• Open up new opportunities for those who suffered
  from the old regime.
• Prerequisites for success were courage,
  creativity, sensitivity, persistance,
  communication, fairness, and trust.

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The East German States by 2050

• Some attractive Science Technology based
  metropolitan regions (e.g. Dresden, Leipzig,
  Jena, Potsdam, Rostock, )?
• Large rural areas, in particular in
  Mecklenburg-West Pomerania and Brandenburg, with
  only a few elderly people left? Waiting for
  the wolves to return?

8
The Long and Winding Road to the ERC

• Already in the early 1970s, when finally the
  European Science Foundation was established,
  there were intensive talks with the European
  Commission about the need for a Research Council.
• In the early 1990s the German Science Council
  recommended to open up a new pathway for basic
  research funding at the European level.
• At the beginning of the 21st Century (with the
  implementation of the 7th Framework Programme) an
  ERC was established.
• Prerequisites courage, creativity, sensitivity,
  persistance, communication, fairness, and trust.

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Political Challenges for European Research and
Higher Education

• ? Europe faces increased global competition
  particularly in the field of research and
  technological development
• ? Research is not supported sufficiently in
  Europe, particularly with respect to risky,
  open-ended research
• EU funding instruments are perceived as
  bureaucratic and intransparent, and follow
  rather cumbersome procedures
• The juste retour principle is non-scientific
  and in the end detrimental to the quality of
  research
• However, we need instruments to create cohesion
  as well as to foster research and higher
  education in Central and Eastern Europe.

10
The Framework Programme Budgets
seven-year lifespan 2007-2013
FP1
FP2
FP3
FP4
FP5
FP6
FP7
Source European Commission
11
The European Research Council Establishing
Excellence

• The idea for establishing the ERC came out of
  widespread discussions between European
  scientists, scholars and research umbrella
  organisations on the need for a structure at EU
  level
• to support investigator-driven fundamental
  research of the highest quality,
• to combat the prevailing fragmentation of
  research efforts in Europe.
• December 2006 Following its adoption by the
  European Parliament, the ERC and its seven-year
  7.5 billion Euro budget got the seal of
  approval by the Council.
• February 2007 The European Research Council was
  officially launched at an inaugural conference
  in Berlin.
• April 2007 The first ERC call for proposals
  closed with 9167 preliminary applications
  having been submitted.

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ERC Organisation Structure
13
The ERC in a Nutshell Putting Excellence at
the Heart of European Research

• The European Research Council aims to
• support the best of the best scientific efforts
  in Europe across all fields of science,
  scholarship and engineering,
• promote wholly investigator-driven, or
  'bottom-up' frontier research,
• encourage the work of the established and next
  generation of independent top research leaders
  in Europe,
• reward innovative proposals by placing emphasis
  on the quality of the idea rather than the
  research area,
• harness the diversity of European research
  talent and channel funds into the most promising
  or distinguished researchers,
• raise the status and visibility of European
  frontier research and the very best researchers
  of today and tomorrow.

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The ERC Beneficial for European Research

• The ERC fosters a Europe wide competition for
  grants and scientific excellence.
• The ERC puts excellence before nationality.
• The ERC can help nurture science-based industry
  and create a greater impetus for the
  establishment of research-based spin- offs.
• The ERC can provide a mechanism for investing
  rapidly in research targeted at new and emerging
  issues confronting society.
• By 2050 The establishment of the ERC was a great
  step towards creating a (truly) autonomous
  organisation to the benefit of the European
  Research Area.

15
The Demographic Perspectives of an Ageing
Continent

• Population Development in Europe
• According to Age Groups 1950 to 2050
• Source United Nations Population Division, DESA
  (2007) World Population Prospects The 2006
  Revision

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Consequences of the Babyboom for Ireland,
Germany, and Bulgaria
Ireland Set to remain young
Men Women
Germany Set to continue aging
Bulgary On the road to senescence
Age groups as a percentage of the total
population (SourceEurostat)
(c) 2008 Berlin-Institut / Deutscher Taschenbuch
Verlag, München
17
Average Feritlity Rates in Europes Regions (2005)
Continent with low birth rates
(Source Eurostat Data for Balearus, Ukraine,
Moldova and Serbia available only at natural
level)
(c) 2008 Berlin-Institut / Deutscher Taschenbuch
Verlag, München
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Population Projection 2004 to 2030, in Percent
(Source Eurostat, United Nations, national
statistics offices data for Belarus, Ukraine,
Moldova, Croatia, and Serbia available only at
national level)
(c) 2008 Berlin-Institut / Deutscher Taschenbuch
Verlag, München
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Overall Assessement of 285 European Regions
(c) 2008 Berlin-Institut / Deutscher Taschenbuch
Verlag, München
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Further Challenges Ahead

• Peace-keeping across the globe
• Climate change and its impact on population
  development, migration, etc.
• Global health and regional security
• The capacity of an ageing continent to innovate
  rapidly and radically
• Balancing supply and demand of highly skilled,
  well-trained people.

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Success and Failure in the Labyrinth of Research

Cabinet Office RD Assessment. A Guide for
Customers and Managers of Research and
Development. London 1989,12.
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Amidst all the difficulties, there is room for
opportunities. Albert Einstein