ABSTRACT

A recent trend in European science policy is the attempt to influence academic research agendas through mission-oriented funding programs. Under the label of ‘grand challenges’, these aim to stimulate knowledge and technology deemed crucial to society, but unlikely to develop from corporate R&D and traditionally funded research. This paper takes a detailed look at the mechanisms through which academics in two German university departments integrate such funding into their research agendas. The first department focuses on electromobility research, and the other one on sustainable biotechnological alternatives for industrial petrochemistry. The paper highlights an ill-acknowledged tension between the normative goals of grand challenges and the practical uncertainty that reliance on such funding creates for recipients. While formally incentivizing the production of highly innovative technologies, the often unclear timeframe of mission-oriented grants and the hard-to-predict behavior of commercial actors pose a counter-incentive for academics to limit their commitment to ambitious research agendas.

摘要

欧洲科学政策的最新趋势是尝试通过面向任务的资助计划来影响学术研究议程。这些措施以“巨大挑战”为标签，旨在激发人们认为对社会至关重要的知识和技术，但这些知识和技术不可能从公司的研发和传统上资助的研究中获得发展。本文详细研究了德国两个大学部门的学者将此类资金纳入其研究议程的机制。第一个部门专注于电动汽车研究，另一个部门专注于工业石油化学的可持续生物技术替代品。本文着重指出了巨大挑战的规范目标与依赖此类资金给受助者带来的实际不确定性之间的紧张关系。