‘Analysis of the outputs of BiodivERsA-funded projects – 2008 joint call on “Biodiversity: linking scientific advancement to policy and practice”‘
Published: February 2016
This report analyses the outputs of projects funded through the 2008 BiodivERsA joint call, “Biodiversity: linking scientific advancement to policy and practice”. It examines what these projects produced, looking at academic publications, international scientific collaboration, stakeholder engagement, and outputs relevant to policy and society. The analysis was carried out in 2015, around two years after most projects had ended.
Key figures
The 2008 BiodivERsA joint call:
- mobilised €14.2 million in cash funding from 8 countries;
- supported 12 pan-European research projects;
- generated 370 peer-reviewed scientific papers;
- saw 72.3% of papers published in journals classified as having outstanding or excellent notoriety;
- engaged a range of non-academic stakeholders, including policy makers, natural resource managers, NGOs, local communities, and economic users.
Main areas covered
The report provides an early example of how BiodivERsA assessed both the scientific outputs and the wider relevance of its funded projects.
- Academic outputs: BiodivERsA analysed the peer-reviewed publications produced by the 12 projects, including the number of papers, journal impact factors, journal notoriety and publications in top generalist journals. The results show strong academic productivity and high publication quality across the call.
- International collaboration: the report examines collaboration networks based on co-authorship of scientific publications, showing that funded projects helped connect research teams across countries and supported pan-European scientific collaboration.
- Stakeholder engagement: BiodivERsA assessed which stakeholders were involved, how they were engaged, and at what stages of the research process. Several projects produced practical outputs for policy makers, conservation managers, land managers and other stakeholders.
- Policy and society-relevant outputs: The report looks at the types of outputs produced for or with non-academic stakeholders. These include informative outputs, targeted recommendations, practical tools, guidelines, protocols, management advice, policy-relevant documents and products co-developed with stakeholders.
- Links between scientific excellence and stakeholder relevance: A central question of the report is whether investing in stakeholder engagement and policy or society-relevant outputs came at the expense of academic excellence. The analysis found no discernible trade-off, suggesting that projects could produce high-quality science while also engaging stakeholders and developing useful outputs.
The analysis also points to areas for improvement. Some stakeholder groups, especially European-level policy actors and larger businesses, were harder for researchers to engage. This helped inform later BiodivERsA efforts to support stronger science-policy and science-society connections.
