Competition for EU Research and Innovation Programme Name

The next EU research and innovation programme will support researchers and innovators in Europe, boost excellence and ensure that good ideas reach the market and generate real economic growth and new jobs. This needs to be reflected in its name.

As the programme still lacks a name, proposals may be made until midnight on 10 May. The name should be easily associated with research and innovation, while also being original, memorable, either useable in a wide range of languages or easy to translate, and easy to pronounce and spell.

The three best suggestions will be selected by an international jury:

Robert-Jan Smits (chair), Director-General of the European Commission’s Research and Innovation DG, Brussels, Belgium
Massimo Busuoli, head of the Brussels office of the Italian National Agency for New Technologies, Energy and Sustainable Economic Development (ENEA), Brussels, Belgium
Frank Gannon, Director and CEO, Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR), Brisbane, Australia
Eric Hollander, Creative Director, AIR agency, expert in branding/communication, Brussels, Belgium
Anne L’Huillier, European Research Council grantee, Professor in the atomic physics division of the University of Lund, L’Oréal-Unesco prize winner 2011, Lund, Sweden
Anna Innamorati, President of McCann Company (Rome office), expert in branding/communication, Rome, Italy
Carmen Vela, Manager Director at INGENASA, an innovative biotechnology SME, Madrid, Spain

Suggestions will then be put to a public vote on the website of the European Comission.

The winning name will be announced by Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn at the conference concluding the current consultation on the Common Strategic Framework, on 10 June in Brussels.

The person who first suggested the winning name via the website will get an expenses-paid trip to the European Innovation Convention, which will take place in Brussels at the end of this year, and he or she will meet the Commissioner and other leading political, scientific and business figures.