Practice Abstract - Research and innovation

Consortium structure in multi-actor projects

The EUREKA project (www.h2020eureka.eu) analysed a total of 129 Horizon 2020 multi-actor projects (including thematic networks) in terms of their partnership composition and leadership.



The majority of project beneficiaries belonged to the academic sector (universities and research institutes) followed by private enterprises (including both multinationals and SMEs). Other types of beneficiaries, included advisory services and consultancy companies, educational/vocational institutions (other than universities) and non-governmental (e.g. consumer and environmental) organisations – albeit the participation of this latter group was low. Most of the beneficiaries were involved only once (in one project), whilst in contrast, a small number of key actors were involved many times in many projects.



The academic sector tends to dominate in all project types, especially in Research and Innovations Actions (RIAs) and Innovation Actions (IAs) where they commonly (>90%) have some form of co-ordinating role. They are less dominant (≈60%) in Coordination and Support Actions (CSAs). Farm advisory organisations are most well-represented in Thematic Networks (TNs).



The significant role of the academic sector is understandable, considering that the majority of multi-actor projects are RIA projects where there remains a strong research component, however, greater effort could be made to engage non-academic partners in research activities. In terms of geographical representation, it is clear that all types of beneficiaries from the newer EU Member States remain under-represented and there is a general need to enhance their opportunities and capacity to participate in multi-actor projects.

Source Project
Eureka
Completed | 2020-2022
Main funding source
Horizon 2020 (EU Research and Innovation Programme)
Geographical location
Belgium
Project details

Project Keywords