PRIME stands for Policies for Research and Innovation in the Move towards the European Research Area. These policies are facing major transformations. The first relates to the changing dynamics of knowledge production, with the new ‘search regime’ of the new leading (NBIC) sciences, and with the research intensification of many industries and services. The second is linked to the changing relationship between science and society, with the burgeoning of controversies and public debates about priorities and research practices (such as GMO field trials). The third concerns the growing importance of both regional and European public authorities. This means that one can no longer simply equate public intervention with national policy and that we must fundamentally reassess our accumulated knowledge on R&I policies.

To address these challenges, our analysis suggests that, although Europe possesses important capabilities, the field remains fragmented in terms of both its organisation and its production of knowledge (constrained, for example, by the limited extent to which truly comparable databases exist on policy-relevant issues). It is therefore crucial to foster the emergence of a lasting structure to integrate the efforts of leading researchers in the field. Hence, the present Network of Excellence.

Our project is both international and interdisciplinary, bringing together over 200 researchers coming from over 4 disciplines and 16 countries. The network has developed a ‘progress model’ to foster excellence and the gradual integration of teams (especially those from accession countries). It has developed an innovative organisational structure to handle the demands of a NoE. We have constructed a Joint Programme of Activities that balances three ‘research activity lines’ dedicated to producing world-class research and three ‘structural activity lines’ aimed at achieving lasting effects in terms of structuring the field at the European level: They focus on database and indicators issues, training, and interactions with the full range of stakeholders.