Work

The impact of public funding on science valorisation: an analysis of the ERC Proof-of-Concept Programme

Year: 2021

Type: article

Abstract: Governments and public agencies are increasingly keen to support the translation of scientific discoveries into commercial and societal applications through science valorisation funding, as a way to enhance progress and inclusive growth. In this paper, we use grant-level data from the European Research Council Proof-of-Concept (PoC) programme, in order to assess the impact of public funding on a broad set of science valorisation outcomes, including licensing, spinoff formation, R&D collaborations, consulting and access to follow-on funding. We employ an instrumental variable approach to compare the valorisation outcomes of projects that obtained an ERC PoC grant to a group of projects that applied to the PoC scheme but were not funded. We find that the programme was effective in fostering the early valorisation of scientific discoveries by all measures of success that we employed. Overall, thus, our findings speak in favour of this type of policy instrument as a catalyst to accelerate the transition of scientific breakthroughs towards practical applications.

Source: Research Policy

DOI: 10.1016/j.respol.2021.104211

Authors: Federico Munari, Laura Toschi

Institution: University of Bologna

Language: English

Topic: Research, Science, and Academia

Subfield: Information Systems and Management

Field: Decision Sciences

Domain: Social Sciences

SDG: Industry, innovation and infrastructure

Open Access status: hybrid

Estimated APC paid: $2,760