Becoming international, becoming european: EU research collaboration at Finnish universities

This article analyses the signiŽcance and consequences of the exceptionally extensive mobilization of Finnish researchers into EU-funded research from the perspective of university research. The focus is on the views of university researchers and heads of departments and research units concerning
such questions as the quality and relevance of EU projects; the relationship between EU collaboration
and other international collaboration; and the future attractiveness of EU-funded research.
The study shows that Finnish university participation in EU collaboration is moving from an exploratory stage
towards a more established stage in which collaboration is becoming more selective. In order to increase
the appeal of EU projects among academics, EU programmes should give more space to curiosity-oriented
research and become more fl�exible