Gauging the output and impact of biomedical research

The JRC has published initial results of a survey it conducted to gather the views of EU-funded researchers on how their work has contributed to scientific innovation and benefitted society

The survey targeted researchers working on breast cancer, prostate cancer, Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias who have participated in EU-funded projects over the past 20 years under framework programs FP5, FP6, FP7 or Horizon 2020. The JRC report provides a brief factual summary of the 202 responses received.

Respondents to the survey mostly work in academia on basic, translational and clinical research. A large majority of respondents indicated that the development of a new research methodology or approach was a major outcome of their activities.

Almost all participants (93%) stated that their research had an impact beyond their project, or that impact may be seen in the future. In particular, 46% of respondents claimed that their scientific results had a positive contribution to diagnostic or prognostic tools, treatment and prevention actions and the design of clinical trials.

Respondents consider the following as the major drivers of research success:
• effective collaboration with project partners
• interdisciplinarity
• the design of research strategies
• the international dimension of EU projects

The report will provide valuable input into several activities the JRC is currently pursuing in collaboration with the Commission’s Directorate-General for Research and Innovation. These include the development of indicators to assess the output and impact of EU-funded research in several important disease areas, and a recent initiative to bridge across method in the biosciences to promote better crossdisciplinarity in biomedical research.

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