Plans for a European Institute of Technology (EIT) research centre have received a lukewarm welcome among figures in the UK educational establishment.
European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso is keen on the idea of a flagship higher education and research centre to rival the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
The proposed structure would be a network of high quality university departments and research teams, rather than a single site.
However, the president of representative body Universities UK said the plans would distract resources from the European Research Council, another EC scheme currently being developed, and from the Framework funding programme.
“The current EIT proposals do not take into account the realities of cross-border research and interaction with business,” said Professor Drummond Bone. “Looking across the Atlantic to MIT and trying to engineer it in Europe, which in effect is what the Commission has done, is simplistic in the extreme.”
The EIT has reportedly attracted support from Bill Gates, Nokia and Pirelli, but last week Lord Patten, former EU commissioner and Chancellor of Oxford University, echoed Bone’s worries, saying he thought the idea would draw money away from UK universities.
Dr Peter Cotgreave, director of the Campaign for Science and Engineering in the UK, told Electronics Weekly he agreed with both Patten and Bone, saying the EIT would not address the low level of R&D investment in Europe, which is its major problem in terms of global competitiveness.
“In a sense I applaud the idea of the EIT, in that it recognises our position,” he said. “But MIT is not in Massachusetts because some president said ‘we need something in Massachusetts’.”
"The EIT is going to be a waste of money, given that money is tight and there are other priorities.”
europa.eu.int/comm/education/eit/index_en.html