Low-level absorption of international funds designated for scientific research in BiH: possible causes and recommendations

The participation of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the EU Framework Programme (FP) for research and development, the basic EU instrument for research financing, has been relatively low in the last 10 years (FP6, 2002-2006, and FP7, 2007-2013), as well as in the newest phase of the programme, HORIZON 2020, which encompasses the period of implementation from 2014 until 2020. According to data by the National Contact Point (NCP) for these programs in Bosnia and Herzegovina, the participation of BiH in FP6, FP7, and HORIZON 2020 shows a success rate of 10% to 12%. The success rate refers to the relation between financed applications and the total number of submitted applications that saw the participation of organizations from BiH in any capacity. 

Table 1. The statistics for BiH participation in EU Framework programs

If we compare the participation and success rate of BiH in FP7 scientific research projects for the period of 2007-2012 with other countries in the region, as well as in the EU, we come to the conclusion that BiH is amongst the countries with the lowest success rate. Namely, according to the 6^th Monitoring report for FP7 by the European commission  in the mentioned period, BiH had 37 applicants (success rate of 11.8%) in relation to the neighbouring Croatia, which had 10 times more i.e. 317 applicants (success rate of 17.1%), and Serbia which had 8 times more i.e. 260 applicants (success rate 16.7%).

If we take the data from the same report which relate to the financial aspect and the relation between the EU contributions in successful projects in different countries, the situation is not significantly better for BiH, shown clearly by table 2.

Table 2. EU contribution in financed FP/ projects (2007 – 2012)

Source: European Commission 2013.

The reasons for such a relatively low participation rate can be found in three aspects: 1) individual capacities of researchers, 2) the level of institutional support, and 3) the level of governmental support for science and research. Naturally, these three aspects are interlinked, but in the remaining text we will focus on the third aspect.

The level of governmental support for participation in EU programs for research and development

The current work on scientific research in Bosnia and Herzegovina, as well as the participation in EU programs for research and development, are supported by the Ministry of Civil Affairs BiH (MCA BiH) on the state level, and on the entity level by the Ministry of Science and Technology of Republic of Srpska (MST RS) and the Federal Ministry for Education and Science (FMES) through various activities and funds. So for instance, the MCA BiH maintains the system of national contact points (NCP) that offers services and information for participation in EU programs for research and development (including info days, workshops, distribution of information about open calls, and expert support and counselling during the preparation of project applications and search for partners). Additionally, every year the MCA BiH publishes a call for funding intended for the preparation of projects and potential candidates for the EU FP/Horizon 2020, through which interested researchers and institutions can apply for funds necessary for the preparation of projects (i.e. covering the basic expenses tied to the preparation of FP/Horizon 2020 projects). In 2013, funds in the amount of 250,200.00 BAM have been awarded and in 2014, funds in the amount of 223,000.00 BAM. At the same time, MST RS and FMES until 2015 had no special grants for supporting participation in these programs, but they do provide a certain support for scientific research in general, through the co-financing of research projects, trips to international conferences, the preparation of Master and Doctoral works, and so forth. Thus for instance, the Federal Ministry of Education and Science, through the call for financing of scientific and developmental research projects in FBiH in 2014 managed to distribute 500,000.00 BAM of funds, of which 46,244.23 BAM was for projects in the social sciences. The Ministry of Science and Technology in RS published a call in 2014 for the co-financing of scientific research projects, totally 715,000.00 BAM of which 12% (85,8000.00 BAM) was intended for the social sciences. In May of 2015, the MST RS announced a call for co-financing of participation in scientific research programs of the European Union in 2015 with which, for the first time, funds for the support and participation in COST and Horizon 2020 programs, have been secured in the amount of 20,000.00 BAM.

There are no special politics or action plans of the ministries in charge of raising awareness in participation in the Horizon 2020 system in BiH, and no system of additional support for the engagement in the preparation and realisation of projects in the Horizon 2020 program (or their predecessors FP5, 6, and 7) above the secured funds from the above mentioned MCA BiH and the MST RS grants. In neighbouring Croatia, the Ministry of Science, Education, and Sport has developed an “Action plan for raising the absorption capacities of the Republic of Croatia for participation in the Framework programs for research of the European Union 2013 – 2015,” as a governmental response for the need of higher participation of Croatian scientists and scientific institutions in the aforementioned EU programs. This action plan implemented a set of measures directed at strengthening administrative support on a national and institutional level (from the NCP network, to the network of administrators and managers of the European projects in order to help with the exchange of experiences and the improvement of writing quality and project leadership). This also includes measures directed at the stimulation and rewarding of the best applicants and projects, such as financial rewards from the state budget of the projects which were successful (proportional to the number of points won), as well as additional projects that have gone into the second round of the selection for their excellence. Their realisation has been financed (partially or completely) by the state.

How to improve the current situation?

Not taking the first two aspects (individual capacities of researchers and the level of system development within the research institutions themselves) in consideration, but focusing only on the factor of governmental support, i.e. the ministries in charge, possible directions for improving the level of absorption are:

• Develop a Special Action Plan for the development and the fortification of the support system for the participation in the Horizon 2020 program on a state and entity level, in which clearly marked activities and measures focused on raising the absorption level for European research programs, will be stipulated, such as:
  
  • Development of a quality system of functioning of National Contact Points (NCP) through the spreading of the network, that is through the usage of a base of positive examples and success stories (hiring successful applicants from the previous and running Framework programs) for support and help in the preparation of Horizon 2020 project suggestions, as well as a considerably larger promotion of NCP systems for all research institutions with an explanation of what the system actually offers in different aspects of the project cycle.
  • Setting measures which will stimulate greater participation in European research programs and projects (for instance, rewarding the best applicants, and other potential applicants in order to encourage their work, awarding additional points for participation in European research programs and projects during the consideration for promotions in higher education institutions). 

Of course, for the systematic solution of problems of low absorption of international, mainly European funds for scientific research, it is necessary to analyse the causes on the level of individual capacities of researchers (which encompasses their references, their visibility in the European and international scientific community, their knowledge of the English language, etc.), and on the level of scientific institutions (the development of systems within the institutions, the existence of support systems given administration / management of projects, the existence of an internal reward systems and others).