Public Research Institutes in Europe: changing environments and strategic responses

Public research institutes (PRIs) are usually overlooked by scholars of knowledge-producing organisations, particularly in recent years with the focus on universities as key actors. They are also difficult to study, being a diverse collection of institutional types, typically defined by what they are not (i.e. universities, private firms). Yet they play a significant role in many European countries in terms of public expenditure on research and in terms of their historical and current importance in the research system. Even where universities have historically been the important research performers, public research institutes continue to carry out applied research, testing and product development as part of support for innovation, and to fulfil key roles in research and technical development relating to policy missions, such as nuclear energy, metrology and marine, as well as contribute to fundamental research. Our paper will report on new work undertaken in the context of understanding more about the roles of these organisations in the European Union. We have undertaken a historical review, mapping and characterisation of PRIs in six research fields, including interviews with senior managers to understand the evolution and recent changes in the institutes. We then undertook a foresight exercise, again with the managers and related experts, to gain an understanding of drivers for change and future scenarios in the fields of civil space, metrology, marine and plant sciences, geological surveys and large “polytechnic” Research and Technology organisations The paper explains the organisational diversity of this group, and examines the main changes and drivers of change which they face. These include strong pressures to network and collaborate at the European level, with the promise of being fully part of the “European Research Area” and associated chances for funding. Managers identify the need for better communication of their activities and missions, for better engagement with policy and with industry and for embracing new fields and multi-disciplinary research. They also identify different pressures for commercialisation. The future of these organisations looks to bring intense challenges for managers, in a highly uncertain environment.