European Platform of Women Scientists: Innovation Questionnaire

Are you an innovator? Do you consider your research innovative? If so, you are on the European track! In Europe nowadays, being excellent as a scientist is not enough. Research policy stakeholders point to the fact that scientists need to be innovative, too.

The re-launch of the European Research Area has a clear focus on research for innovation, money-making, tangible results, and has a strong emphasis on improving knowledge transfer between public research and industry. As the EU strives to fulfil the Lisbon Agenda of making Europe the most competitive knowledge-based economy in the world by 2010, innovation and innovative research is increasingly gaining in prominence.

Next to numerous discussions amongst relevant research policy stakeholders on how to boost innovation in Europe and how to involve researchers in doing so, the renaming of the European Institute of Technology to the European Institute for Innovation and Technology (EIT) signals the goal to significantly strengthen “the EU's capacity to transform education and research results into tangible commercial innovation opportunities.” In April 2008, Research Commissioner Janez Potočnik stressed the need for Europe “to become better at turning research results into commercially or socially successful innovations.”

In one of its Position Papers 2007, the Platform has suggested that the EIT’s definition of innovation should be broadened to not only refer to commodity-oriented innovation but to also include the improvement of societal structures and the creation of social innovation in its scope. Social innovation refers to new strategies, concepts, ideas, processes and organizations that meet social needs of all kinds - from working conditions and education to community development and health - and that extend and strengthen civil society.

’Innovation’ means the process and outcomes of this process through which new ideas respond to societal or economic demand, improve societal structures and create social innovation, and generate new products” (EPWS/POS/2007/1-22/01/2007)

In order to comprehensively represent the ideas, interests and aspirations of the community of women scientists in the research policy debate in the EU and to best target its arguments, the European Platform of Women Scientists would like to pin down what ‘innovation’ and the current discussion on its importance for researchers means for you, the working scientist.

We, therefore, invite and encourage you to answer the set of questions below