Centre of technological excellence to be built in the EU?:
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso has put forward a proposal to set up an EU institute of technology, a centre of excellence along the lines of the highly successful US Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), which houses 900 faculty members and 10,000 students. This would be a key initiative in helping the EU reach its target spending of 3% of GDP on research and development from its current level of 2% and align its investment levels with those of the US. The MIT, which receives over two-thirds of its funding from the US government and approximately 20% from private investors, is focusing on research areas including bio-engineering and neuroscience. Mr Barroso believes that an EU counterpart would "act as a pole of attraction for the very best minds, ideas and companies around the world". There are proposals, should the institute get the go-ahead, that it should be based in one of the new member states.