Grand Challenges

The concept of "Grand Challenges" was suggested by the ERA Expert Group "Rationales for the European Research Area", chaired by Luke Georghiou (University of Manchester). While there is a pressing need to improve the effectiveness of the public research system, the ultimate justification of the resources and commitment needed to achieve this lies in increasing the value of the contribution that public and private sector research makes, and is seen to make, to Europe’s economic, social and environmental goals.

The central means to achieve this is to engage the research system in Europe’s response to a series of Grand Challenges which depend upon research, but which also involve actions to ensure innovation and the development of markets and/or public service environments. Challenges may be rooted in economic, social or scientific goals but share a need to demonstrate their relevance at the European level, their feasibility in terms of Europe’s capability to engage with them, and a clear research dimension that is such that they gain the commitment of the research community and pull through the necessary improvements in its efficiency and effectiveness.

Identifying Grand Challenges for support demands strict criteria, as resources will confine them to a small number. The core criteria are:

• Relevance demonstrated by contribution to European-added value through transnationality, subsidiarity and the need for a minimum critical effort;

• A research dimension to ensure the buy-in of the research community and the potential to induce improvements in efficiency and effectiveness;

• Feasibility as an economic or social investment in terms of research and industrial capability and a viable implementation path.

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