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SCIENTIFIC AND
TECHNOLOGICAL
RESEARCH
by Ioanna Kaftanzoglou
Assistant Professor, University of Athens
The scientific potential of Greece is remarkable and acknowledged
world-wide. Considerable progress in developing the national scientific and technological research system has been made during the
last decades. The R&D system has been expanded, successful participation in E.U. and international R&D programmes as well as the
formulation of research excellence which meets international standards have been achieved.
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SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL RESEARCH
RESEARCH AND
TECHNOLOGY INSTITUTIONS
Research is mainly carried out by
the research centres and the public
universities. The latter play a most
important role, not only in conducting basic research but also in
“producing” scientists and researchers. They contribute for
50% of the research effort. The
leading ones are: the Aristotelian
University (Thessaloniki), the National and Capodistrian University
as well as the National Technical
University (Athens) and the Universities of Patras, Crete, Thrace and
Ioannina. Research centres, which
account for approximately 20%
of GERD, have developed either in
cities with university infrastructure, or in collaboration with foreign institutes. The system was
thus mainly oriented to basic research until recently, when several
new research centres and programmes were created in more direct relation to concrete needs.
There is now a large number of research centres and institutes, of
which the most outstanding are:
the National Research Centre for
Physical Sciences “Demokritos”,
the Foundation for Research and
Technology and the National Hellenic Research Foundation. Several Technological Bodies and R&D
Companies have been created (in
textile technology, ceramics and refractories, aquaculture etc) which
offer research and technological
services and address specific production problems of small to medium size enterprises that form the
largest proportion of the Greek
productive sector. Four public
technology parks have also been
set up with the aim of providing
high grade facilities, services and
know-how to pioneering industrial
units, so that these are in position
to commercially exploit the results
of scientific research; the parks are
located in close proximity to research establishments in Attica,
Thessaloniki, Heraklion and Patras. Another 4 private S & T incubators are operating in Athens and
Thessaloniki since 2003.
The size of activities of the Greek
R&D system is comparatively
small: Gross Domestic Expenditure on R&D (GERD) as % of GDP,
amounted to 0.46% in 1991 as
compared to over 2% in more developed countries; it grew at a rate
of 8.71% a year from 1995 to 1999,
the highest growth rate in the E.U
and reached 0.68% in 1999. It has
however shown a downward trend
since then: 0.65% in 2001, 0.61%
in 2004, most probably related to
the faster increase of GDP. The limited number of Scientific and Technological Research personnel can
also be considered a draw-back,
although there has been an evident increase: from 10,905 as FTE
(Full Time Equivalents) in 1991, in
a population of approximately
10,000,000, i.e. 0.11%, to 26,382
as FTE in 1999. In a population of
almost 11,000,000 in 2001, the figures are 30,226 in 2001 and
31,849 in 2003, i.e. 0.29%. The ratio of personnel active in research
(as FTE) was but 2.8 per thousand
labour force in 1991, growing to
3.30 in 1999, an average annual
growth of 11.03% from 1995 to
1999, the highest in the E.U. The
Government budget allocated to
R&D as a % of GDP has risen from
0.24% in 1992 to 0.35% in 2000,
with a high annual growth rate of
7.3% from 1995 to 2000. The
number of R&D institutions of the
overall public sector (Research
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INFORMATION, TECHNOLOGY and RESEARCH
Centres, Sectoral Industrial Technology Development Companies,
Technology Parks, etc) is still relatively small, but growing fast. Another noticeable fact is the steady
increase of productive enterprises
with research activities (217 in
1991, 317 in 1993 and 598 in 1997,
768 in 2001 and 779 in 2003). The
business sector, still a young player, accounts for 30% of GERD.
RESEARCH AND
TECHNOLOGY POLICY
The first authority responsible for
R&D administration was established in 1971, and became a Department for Scientific Research
and Technology of the Ministry of
Economic Coordination in 1977. It
formed the nucleus of the Ministry
for Research and Technology, created in 1982; later it became the
General Secretariat for Research
and Technology (GSRT) which
merged into the Ministry of Industry in 1985 and now belongs to
the Ministry of Development.
The GSRT is the central agency responsible for the planning, co-ordination and project-funding of research and technology. Through
it’s programmes, it supports the research activities of both the country’s research institutions and those
of it’s productive industry, focusing
on areas that are important for the
national economy and for the improvement of the quality of life. It
promotes the transfer and dissemination of advanced technologies
throughout the country’s productive
sector, thus ensuring early utilisation of the results of research activity and contributes to the re-enforcement of the country’s research
manpower. It represents Greece in
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relevant institutions of the EU, thus
bringing the country’s research
and technology activities into line
with the requirements of the international community and promotes
cooperation with other countries
and international organizations on
research and technology issues. It
establishes new institutes, technological centres and parks in support
of sectors of high priority for the development of the Greek economy,
supervises, underwrites the fixed
costs of, and otherwise provides
support for 20 of the country’s bestknown research and technological
entities. It supports the dissemination of research and technology information throughout the country
and internationally by means of advanced systems and networks
and encourages activities aimed at
raising awareness of the general
public about research and technology issues.
In addition to the GSRT which is responsible for more than one third
of Public Expenditure for Scientific
and Technological Research, other
ministries are also involved in funding of research, mainly those of Education, of Agriculture and of
Health and Welfare Services. However, these ministries do not have
specific responsibilities for the
drafting and implementation of research policy, the only body to formulate a cohesive research and
technology policy in Greece and to
have the adequate structure and
mechanisms to work out and implement operational progammes on
research and technology, being
the GSRT.
During the ’80s, two elements influenced the course of scientific
and technological research: at the
SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL RESEARCH
national level, research priorities
were initiated by the GSRT and organised institutionally within a
legal framework and at the level of
the E.U., an overall policy for the
development of research and technology was implemented, in addition to the adoption of structural
policies directed to enhance among other- each country’s research and technology system
(E.U. Support Framework and
Structural Programmes). New opportunities were taken advantage
of and not only did the funds allocated to research increase drastically but several important measures for the implementation of a research policy were adopted.
Since 1989, the national science
and technology policy has been increasingly supported by an important flow of the E.U. structural
funds for RTD (Structural funds
plus Framework Programme).
From then onwards, the Operational Programmes for Research
and Technology (EPET) and the
Operational Programmes for Competitiveness (EPAN), under the respective Community Support
Frameworks as well as the STRIDE
HELLAS initiative have been the
main instruments for the formulation and the implementation of science and technology policy in
Greece.
The general principles of Greece’s
research policy are the development and optimisation of human
potential, the training and mobility
of researchers, the gearing of research and technological development to the country’s specific
needs, the maintaining of a proper
balance between targeted and
open-ended research. The means
to implement this policy are international research programmes –especially the E.U.’s Framework programmes as well as national operational programmes co-financed by
the EU and national programmes
with local funding. Special measabout GREECE
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ures are also taken to gear research
to production and to co-ordinate research in universities, institutions
and industries through networks.
The strategic priorities of R&T policy can be summarized as follows:
Increasing the demand for new
knowledge and research results
for both business and the public
sector:
• Increasing investment in
knowledge-intensive sectors,
and re-orienting productive
forces towards high added
value products and services
that require the support of research and technology (including defence systems)
• Creating new business activities mainly through young,
highly educated entrepreneurs, to exploit knowledge
and research results
• Attracting business activities
from abroad, exploiting the
new knowledge and producing
high added value products
and services
• Increasing the employment of
research personnel in businesses
• Improving the collaboration
of public research organizations with businesses and
manufacturing organizations
• Understanding by the general
public of scientific and technological developments and their
impact on everyday life - projection of positive models of
science and technology
Reorganizing the research system
and the provision of knowledge
• Reorienting priorities of the research organizations super424
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•
•
•
•
vised by the GSRT towards
economic and social development, taking into account
the differences between the
research mission of the GSRT
bodies and the Higher Educational Institutions, and selecting goals in accordance with
the medium and long-term
needs of businesses and public bodies.
Strengthening academic research in universities to support the education process
and the training of young researchers
Increasing the “critical mass”
of research units in supervised
organizations by restricting
the number of organisations,
and centralizing resources in
the most appropriate of these
Improving the management
of research organisations
Improving the quality of research
carried out and ensuring “excellence” at a global level
Freeing the research system and
opening it further to the international field
• Increasing collaboration of
Greek research teams from
public research foundations
and businesses with sister organizations abroad
• Ongoing qualitative improvement in the participation of
Greek organisations in projects
within the European Union
Framework Programmes and
opening up programmes of
national importance to international collaboration
• Increasing the participation of
Greek teams and organisations
in the activities of European
and international scientific and
technological bodies.
SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL RESEARCH
Developing the technological infrastructure
• Modernizing electronic networks and procedures for access to networks and databases, as well as improving
other material infrastructures
• Upgrading the system for
granting patents and other industrial property rights, adoption of Community Patents,
facilitating access of researchers and the public to the
information contained in international patents
• Upgrading the standardisation
certification validation system
The thematic/sectorial priorities
are:
• Selecting sectors for public financing on criteria which combine Greek financial and social
interests with the global perspectives for scientific and
technological development.
The sectors chosen for financing by the Community Support
•
Framework Programmes are:
renewable energy sources;
food and hydro culture; knowledge-intensive culture and
tourism; sport; sea transport;
health, biomedical, diagnostic
and therapeutic methods; natural environment (atmospheric, sea, water dynamic, forest
fires, recycling etc.); structured
environment and earthquake
protection; new forms of organization for businesses;
labour and training; e-learning;
e-business.
Creating stable organizational
structures for technological
forecast research activities
(technology foresight) and selection of priorities through
social consent.
The national R&D effort focuses
in selected fields of high economic
interest, such as environmental
technology (environmental friendly
methods of production, renewable
sources of energy, energy saving),
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life sciences (health and agriculture, with emphasis on biotechnology applications), information
technologies (applications in product manufacturing and supply of
services), new or improved materials (new production and processing methods) as well as analysis of the social, economic, administrative and cultural features of development.
The promotion of the Information
Society is also one of the main orientations of research and technology policy. Complementary actions
are launched by the GSRT to
create the appropriate infrastructure and improve the efficient distribution and utilisation of knowledge in the Greek S&T system,
namely the development of a
Greek Research and Technology
Network (GR-NET) and the implementation of the National Information System for Science and Technology. Networking and dissemination of S&T information are
also enhanced in order to meet
some negative aspects of the
S&T system, namely the small size
of the national research community, the broad dispersion of research
effort in multiple sectors and
themes, the weak communication
links between research laboratories and between the research and
production systems.
Specific actions to meet the basic
problems of the country’s R&D
system are directed to industrial research, technology transfer, innovation, intellectual property rights,
benchmarking and foresight activities; the support and restructuring
of the national research tissue; the
upgrading and expansion of human capital.
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In order to increase the links between science and industry, public
programmes which support cooperative research between higher
educational institutions, public
research centres and enterprises,
have been launched and intermediary organisations for the
transfer of knowledge and information from producers to consumers
(sectoral RTD companies, Science
and Technology Parks) have been
created.
Incentives and support for R&D include tax treatment and specific
measures addressed directly to enterprises for them to establish
and enhance their scientific, technological and innovative capacities
and to promote public/private scientific research partnership. The
target was to increase the contribution of the business sector in the
formation of GERD to approximately 30% by 1999: the share of
Business enterprise expenditure
on R&D (BERD) was indeed 28,5%
in 1999 and reached 32.7% in
2001 but is still low, reflecting a
relatively weak business sector
knowledge investment.
Specific measures to enhance human capital in R&D are also to be
mentioned, mainly the “training
through research” programmes of
the GSRT.
It should be noted that the GSRT
now takes part in the E.U.’s effort
to mainstream it’s policy regarding
gender equality. The severe underrepresentation of women in science is a concern and calls for
their mobilization (in 2001 female
researchers in Greece were but
32,7% as a share of the total, and
33,25% in 2003). Thus specific ac-
SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL RESEARCH
tions are undertaken in order to
raise the awareness of the Greek
scientific community concerning
gender equality. A “National Report
on Women and Science, 2002”
was drawn up and the guidelines
of the GSRT’s Operational Programme for Competitiveness include gender issues.
Special reference should be made
of the Greek Technology Foresight
Programme, which aims at looking
into the future of Greek society by
identifying the implications of
emerging science and technology,
the main challenge being the transition from a “knowledge economy” to a “knowledge society”. A
special impetus to public discussion on the future of research and
technology in Greece and on the
ways technology will affect a number of sectors and areas of social
interest was initiated by the nation-
al Technology Foresight exercise
between 2003 and 2005.
The divergence between certain
figures reflecting Greece’s scientific
and technological development
and the equivalent E.U. average
(such as GERD as % of GDP: 0.68%
as compared to 1.93% -2000 data
or BERD as % of GERD: 28.5% as
compared to 65.5% -2001 data) illustrates the problems to be addressed and explains the key orientations for 2007-2013: knowledge, value and excellence.
INTERNATIONAL AND
BILATERAL COLLABORATION
International scientific and technological cooperation is a must for all
countries and especially for smaller ones, as it offers solutions to research and development problems
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ties of a single country, since
they necessitate interdisciplinary
efforts, require substantial technical and financial resources as well
as numerous highly qualified and
trained scientific personnel.
Greece has established an active collaboration with intergovernmental
organisations which have a scientific
or technological mission such as
C.E.R.N. (European Nuclear Research
Centre), E.M.B.L. (European Molecular Biology Laboratory), E.M.B.O.
and E.M.B.C., E.S.F. (European Science Foundation), E.C.M.M.F. (European Centre for Mid-range Meteorological Forecasting), NATO’s political wing (Science for Peace and Security Committee), C.I.S.M. (International Centre for Engineering Studies), C.I.E.S.M. (International Scientific Committee for Mediterranean Exploration), W.I.P.O. (World Intellectual Property Organisation), E.P.O.
(European Patent Office), etc.
Greece became a full member of
the European Space Agency (E.S.A.)
in 2005. Greece also collaborates
with international organisations
which have a political mission and
incorporate scientific and research
activities, such as the organisations
of the U.N. system (U.N.I.D.O.,
U.N.C.T.A.D., U.N.E.S.C.O., F.A.O.,
U.N.E.P., etc) and the O.E.C.D.. A successful national programme has
been set up to support Greek entities to participate more effectively in
the core activities of international organizations. Multilateral cooperation
with the Black Sea area has been
launched within the framework of
the BlackSea Cooperation initiative
and Greece is also a participant of
the Asia-Europe Meeting, of which
a priority is the enhancement of cooperation in S&T, as well as the
S.E.E.- ERANET (South East Europe).
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During her Presidency of the E.U.,
Greece elaborated an Action Plan of
Cooperation between the E.U. and
Balkan countries, which was approved by the Thessaloniki Summit
in June 2003 and is now being implemented. Greece also participates
in the Materials World Networkof the
National Science Foundation
(U.S.A.).
In addition to international cooperation through participation in
the above-mentioned organizations, Greece has set up a framework of bilateral cooperation in scientific and technological fields of
mutual interest. The main objectives of bilateral cooperation are
to transfer technological knowhow (to and from Greece), to broaden basic scientific knowledge, to
plan common research activities,
to develop international R&D networks, to extend know-how to industry, to enhance industrial and
commercial cooperation, open new
markets and bring RTD added value
to the Greek Research System.
Thus, the strengthening of relationships between scientists and research institutes in Greece and
abroad and the promotion of partnerships in science and technology
is well under way with several E. U.
countries (France, Germany, Great
Britain, Italy, Spain), with central
and eastern European countries
(Albania, Armenia, Bulgaria, the
Czech Republic, Georgia, Hungary,
Montenegro, Poland, Romania,
Russia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia,
Ukraine) and with other countries
(China, Cyprus, Iran, Israel). The
framework of cooperation through
bilateral agreements has been extended so as to include countries
such as Egypt, and more recently, Tunisia and Turkey. Active bilat-
SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL RESEARCH
eral cooperation concerns 26
countries. Finally, a new form of
collaboration was set up in 2002a pilot call for proposals, concerning cooperation of Greek R&T institutions with countries with stronger
RTD systems (U.S.A., Canada,
Japan, Australia, South Korea, etc).
It was launched again in 2004.
The main fields of international and
bilateral collaboration are informatics, micro-electronics, robotics,
information technologies, new and
composite materials, environment,
geosciences, e-business, e-governance, nano-sciences, nano-technologies, biology, biotechnology
and agricultural sciences, health
sciences, tele-medecine, socioeconomic and humanistic sciences, cultural heritage (especially
with Balkan and Eastern European
countries) food technology, astronomy and space research, industrial technologies, marine sciences and oceanography.
SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH AND
TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT:
a tentative assessment
Greece’s average share of the E.U.’s
research programmes budget
(Framework Programmes) has been
increasing steadily, while the dynamic participation of Greek scientific teams and their high competitiveness are acknowledged. The areas in which Greek researchers are
most successful are information
and communication technologies,
energy, industrial technology and
materials, life sciences and biotechnology. In addition to domestically
based research teams, the important number of researchers of the
Greek Diaspora within and beyond
the E.U. –approximately 8,000constitute a serious asset, as they
contribute to the scientific effort undertaken domestically.
However, much still has to be
done in order to reach a satisfying
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430
level of endogenous and sustainable development of the research
system, as well as to implicate it in
the economic and social development of the country and to enhance the role of the productive
sector in relation to research. Obviously, a sustainable dynamic in
research and technological development cannot easily be achieved
by a small country alone. And in an
era of integration and globalisation, the issues are further complicated.
The E.U.’s Framework and specific
RTD Programmes are an important
channel of technology transfer.
The GSRT actively supports the participation of it’s research centres
in the Framework Programmes activities with ‘matching funds’. The
involvement of Greek research
teams has grown substantially
over the years, with university and
research centres accounting for
most of it, but industrial participation remains below expectations.
The limited participation of the
production sector (private and
State enterprises) in research activities, which amounts only to
25% of total research activity, is
a problem. The increase of R&D activities of the productive sector will
push forward other sectors, boost
the demand for R&D services,
help to link production to research
and gear the R&D system to the
needs of the economy and
strengthen the process of technology transfer to enterprises. There
is a relative stagnation in the increase of the number of state-run
research institutions, and this
could have a negative impact on
the dissemination of results and
the support of enterprises in areas
of R&D. The concentration of the
R&D tissue in the greater Athens
metropolitan area, where more
than 60% of the public R&D infrastructure are situated is also a
problem, even though the distribution of Universities and Technical Educational Institutions is
more evenly spread with 50% of
them in the Athens area. All this
leads to the relative isolation of
other regions from R&D activities
and a low interest of regional enterprises for R&D.
Much of the national RTD landscape depends on the Community
research policy. One tenth approximately of the GERD is funded
through the projects of the Framework Programmes for RTD (FPs) of
the EU, while another tenth comes
from the Community Structural
Funds. Therefore, the Community
RTD and structural policies may
have considerable impact on the
orientation of the national priorities. In particular, the front-end priorities of the FPs attract the interest of the best researchers in the
country (in areas such as biotechnology, nanotechnology, aeronautics, global climate change etc).
This front-end research, integrated in the priorities established
at EU level with the participation of
the European industry, gives some
hope for the establishment in the
long run, of strong linkages between the Greek research centres
and small firms on one side and
large EU firms on the other side.
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Even though public funding of R&D
in Greece remains low compared to
the rest of the countries of the E.U.,
considerable progress has been
made during the last decades.
Moreover, in 2000 the government
SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL RESEARCH
budget allocated to R & D amounted to 420.1 € mn and reached
635.1 € mn in 2005, a 50% increase. Funds have grown substantially, the modernisation of the
infrastructure has been achieved
and R&D activities fostered. However, the need for a drastic increase
in the public and private sector
funding level remains urgent. The
objectives are to increase GERD as
% of GDP to 1.5% and the participation of enterprises to 40% of
GERD in 2010, following the recommendations of the Lisbon and
Barcelona Summits (3% and 67%
respectively). However, after a maximum of 0.67% in 1999, GERD as
% of GDP was 0.61% in 2004, even
though the overall amount spent
on RTD in constant prices is increasing. The 1.5% goal means an increase by some 70.000 research
personnel (or 32.000 FTE) in 10
years. Thus, even the more realistic
1.5% objective by 2010 seems
rather out of reach. A significant increase in funding is still necessary
to ensure that the efforts made are
upheld and reap the most positive
results: full long-term utilisation
of the experience, the know-how
and the infrastructure that has
been developed as a result of the
national boosting of R&D and the
successful participation of Greek
scientific teams in international
and E.U. programmes will thus be
achieved. The private sector still
contributes poorly to research and
technological development, while
enterprises still question the abilities of local research teams in the
Universities and the Research centres for full technological support;
although relations between the
productive sector and research are
changing and attitudes concerning
science and technology being
transformed, industry-academia
cooperation has not yet reached a
satisfactory level.
Ex -post policy evaluation of publicly funded R&D is of great importance in order to determine the
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INFORMATION, TECHNOLOGY and RESEARCH
quality and effectiveness of specific research and operational programmes as well as the performance of the national research structure. The results of the evaluations
undertaken such as the GSRT’s
“Evaluation of research institutes
–2000” and thereafter, although
of academic orientation, should be
useful as a feedback for policy formulation as well as for a more efficient allocation of funds. Excellence has become a major concern
of RTD policy.
Notwithstanding the leading role
of the GSRT as the basic policymaker in the field, the fragmentation of research activities and the
dispersion of relevant agencies
are still a concern and are being
addressed. Collaboration between
Research Centres, Institutes and
Universities as well as between the
jointly responsible Ministries of Development, of Education, of Agriculture, of National Defence etc,
is enhanced in order to ensure the
best possible exploitation of existing human resources and infrastructure, while the creation of an
inter-ministerial committee at the
highest level for strategic planning
is being considered. RTD policy is
not only an issue for GSRT but a
horizontal issue, relevant to most
ministries and public organizations. Further mobilisation of the
research establishments and enterprises towards participation in
various international and E.U.
programmes is sought in order
that the Greek economy eventually
reaps the benefits of increased
competitiveness brought by technological development.
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A most encouraging fact is that, although they are still below E.U. average, both of the composite indicators of investment and performance
in the knowledge-based economy
have shown a high rate of growth after 1995. This seems to be the positive consequence of the vigorous efforts made during the 1990s.
Through the concerted actions of
the government, the research community and the private sector, the
impact of the E.U.’s scientific research and technological development policy as well as international
and bilateral cooperation, substantial progress has been achieved in
solving the problems of the national
scientific and technological research
system, the ultimate goal being the
thorough expansion of the knowledge economy.
USEFUL LINKS
Ministry of Development
General Secretariat for Research and Technology
www.gsrt.gr
Greek Research and Technology Network
www.grnet.gr
National Hellenic Research Foundation
www.eie.gr
National Centre for Scientific Research
“DEMOKRITOS”
www.demokritos.gr
National Centre for Social Research
www.ekke.gr
National Documentation Centre
www.ekt.gr
National Technical University of Athens
www.ntua.gr
Science and Technology Park of Crete
www.stepc.gr
Patras Science Park
www.psp.org.gr
Thessaloniki Technology Park
www.thestep.gr