On 2 March 2026, around one hundred senior representatives from the European Parliament, the European Commission, technical universities and industry gathered in Brussels for the high-level discussion “Next MFF – From Policy to Practice: How Technical Universities Drive Europe’s R&I Impact.”
The event was jointly organised by TU Austria and TU9 – German Universities of Technology – and highlighted the central role of technical universities in shaping the future of European research and innovation policy, particularly in the context of the upcoming tenth EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (FP10) and the proposed European Competitiveness Fund (ECF).
CESAER contributed to the event by moderating the central policy discussion, ensuring an interactive and forward-looking exchange between institutional leaders and policymakers. The discussion was moderated by Mattias Björnmalm, Secretary General of CESAER, and brought together Angela Ittel (President of TU Braunschweig and Co-President of TU9), Jens Schneider (Rector of TU Wien and President of TU Austria), Maive Rute (Deputy Director-General, DG GROW, European Commission) and Anastasios Kentarchos (Senior Advisor, Common Policy Centre, DG RTD, European Commission).
The discussion focused on how FP10 and ECF can serve as driving forces for accelerated technological development, resilience and competitiveness in Europe, and how FP10 and ECF should interact to strengthen Europe’s competitiveness-oriented ecosystems, particularly around advanced technologies in strategic domains. Participants examined the unique and important contributions of universities of science and technology in connecting frontier research with industrial application and societal benefit, particularly for the accelerated development of advanced technologies.
Speakers emphasised that Europe’s future competitiveness depends on a well-funded and strategically coherent research and innovation system. In particular, the interaction between FP10 and the ECF will be critical to ensure that Europe can both advance scientific excellence and translate knowledge into technologies, innovation and economic value.
The discussion also highlighted the broader contribution of universities of science and technology: training highly qualified talent, enabling deep-tech innovation, and building strong partnerships with industry and society. These institutions play a central role in Europe’s ability to develop and deploy critical technologies in strategic domains.
The Presidents of TU Austria and TU9 summarised the discussions with: “We are fully aware of the urgency and importance of the challenges ahead and are ready to intensify our efforts and make our contribution.”
CESAER, the strong and united voice of universities of science and technology, continues to proactively engage in the European policy debate on the future of research, innovation and education strategies and funding frameworks. By contributing to dialogues such as this event in Brussels, CESAER supports constructive exchanges between policymakers and leading universities of science and technology to ensure that Europe’s future programmes are ambitious, coherent, globally competitive and ready to deliver.
Photo credit: (c) Olivia van der Beken
We use both our own cookies and those of carefully selected partners we collaborate with.
Check out our detailed Cookie policy » and our Privacy policy » .