European Science Foundation
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The European Science Foundation (ESF) is an association under the local laws of Alsace–Moselle (a region in the eastern part of France), foundation only by name and not in legal status or function.<ref name=":2" />
Its office is in Strasbourg. In 2025, the association has 10 members from 8 countries: Belgium, Bulgaria, France, Hungary, Luxembourg, Romania, Serbia and Türkiye.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Since the dissolution of the original intergovernmental European Science Foundation in the 2010s with the transfer of its former coordination functions to Science Europe, the Strasbourg-based Alsace–Moselle association has operated primarily as an administrative service provider. Its activities centre on coordination, accounting and dissemination in Horizon 2020/Horizon Europe project consortia. Contrary to what its name suggests, the association has no core institutional funding and relies largely on short-term contracts and project management fees; publicly available information indicates that it has no diversified revenue streams beyond these temporary projects. Membership contributions, if any, represent only a minor share of income (ESF does not disclose membership fee amounts or income), and would derive solely from its two full members in Bulgaria and Luxembourg. Unlike the foundation it once was, the association today functions under a project-dependent model that provides limited financial stability and restricts its capacity for long-term planning. The strategic positioning of the Alsatian association appears to depend largely on the credibility and brand of the former foundation.<ref name="ESF2021">European Science Foundation, Annual Report 2021, pp. 4–5 (“ten members from eight countries”; turnover and staff figures). PDF: https://www.esf.org/fileadmin/user_upload/ESF_annual_report_2021_compressed.pdf</ref><ref name="ESFsite">European Science Foundation, “Membership: Types and Benefits” (Full vs Associate membership; fee/vote distinctions). Web: https://www.esf.org/esf/membership/; see also “ESF Membership Benefits” (PDF): https://www.esf.org/fileadmin/user_upload/ESF-Membership-Benefits.pdf</ref>
Shift in European research funding structures and aftermath for ESF
In 2008, EUROHORCs (European Heads of Research Councils; ceased in 2011 when its members established Science Europe) published a roadmap for a more competitive European Research Area.<ref name="EUROHORCs2009">Template:Cite report</ref> The ESF served as EUROHORCs’ implementation agency for funding and coordination instruments, which were wound down in 2011–2014 as national research organisations left ESF’s pooled model; no equivalent intergovernmental scheme has been re-established at ESF level.
However, over the same period, EU research funding was consolidated within the European Commission’s framework programmes, notably Horizon 2020. The programme, launched in 2014 with a budget of nearly €80 billion (around €30 billion more than the preceding Commission's Seventh Framework Programme), was designed to streamline EU research and innovation initiatives under a single framework, strengthen Europe’s global competitiveness, and address major societal challenges through coordinated funding at Union level.<ref name="H2020EC">Template:Cite web</ref>
ESF no longer performs its former role of running funding programmes for EUROHORCs. Instead of consequential termination, an association under the local laws of Alsace–Moselle (an eastern region of France with a distinct local-law regime) operates under the former foundation’s name, focusing mainly on administrative project services, while applying to participate in temporary Horizon Europe projects to secure funding, rather than providing funding as the former foundation once did.<ref name="ESFStatutes2016">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="ESFStrategy2023">Template:Cite report</ref>
As a result, the ESF of today is entirely different from the organisation that once coordinated European funding programmes, while continuing to use the same name.
Grant evaluation
Under ESF’s grant evaluation, the organisation runs a reviewer scheme whereby it outsources the intellectual evaluation work.<ref name="ESF-eval">Template:Cite web</ref> External academics undertake the assessments, while ESF provides the administrative framework (direct email outreach to acquire reviewers, submission portal, deadlines).<ref name="ESF-experts">Template:Cite web</ref> The reviewers are expected to volunteer their work or may receive an honorarium from ESF, a modest one-off payment as a token of thanks.<ref name="ESF-experts" /><ref name="Honorarium-def">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="SciEu">Template:Cite report</ref><ref name="ESF-archive">Template:Cite web</ref> Meanwhile, ESF earns a commission from the peer-review requesting organisation.<ref name="Client-contract">Template:Cite web</ref>
ERIH journal lists backlash (2008–2011)
The European Reference Index for the Humanities (ERIH) was launched by the ESF in 2002 through its at the time Standing Committee for the Humanities as a reference index of humanities journals.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> From 2008, ERIH’s initial A/B/C banding drew criticism from editors and learned societies, who warned it could be misused for research assessment; sector media reported coordinated protests and opt-outs.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref><ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In January 2009 ESF dropped the letter grades and replaced them with descriptive categories.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
In 2014, responsibility for ERIH was transferred from ESF to Norway’s NSD – Norwegian Centre for Research Data, and the index was relaunched and expanded as ERIH PLUS to include social sciences.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Relocation and governance discussions in Strasbourg (2012–2014)
Local reporting in Strasbourg noted concerns in late 2012 that the ESF might be dissolved or relocated to Brussels as European-level bodies consolidated, while also reporting ESF’s stated preference to remain in Strasbourg. The same coverage highlighted declining staff numbers at the time and flagged a late-November 2012 general assembly as a decision point.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In December 2012, ESF’s members deferred a final decision on the organisation’s future until end-2014.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
Succession by Science Europe (2011)
In October 2011, the majority of the ESF’s national research-funding and research-performing member organisations established Science Europe, a Brussels-based association created to represent their collective interests and coordinate research policy at the European level.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref> This represented a strategic shift away from ESF’s traditional roles in managing research programmes and distributing funding and toward a dedicated platform for policy advocacy and alignment with European Union institutions.<ref name="Hynes2015">Template:Cite journal</ref> Since the creation of Science Europe, ESF’s membership has narrowed markedly (see currentmember organisations).
Science Europe assumed many of the coordination and strategic functions previously carried out by ESF, but it was not designed to operate funding schemes directly.<ref name="Hynes2015" /> Between 2011 and 2015, ESF progressively wound down its research networking activities and transferred policy functions to Science Europe.<ref name="Hynes2015" />
Following this transition, the European Science Foundation operates as an association under the local laws of Alsace–Moselle, no longer holding the legal status of a foundation, and continues as a smaller services organisation, focusing on activities such as outsourcing grant evaluation and project administration.<ref name=":2">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name=":3">Template:Cite web</ref> Science Europe became the main advocacy body for Europe’s national research funders and performers.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Portuguese research-units evaluation controversy (2013–2015)
Portugal’s national funder FCT contracted ESF to support a two-stage evaluation of national R&D units.<ref>Template:Cite report</ref> The process and outcomes were disputed by parts of Portugal’s research community; in April 2015, Science characterised the evaluation as politically contentious in reporting on FCT leadership changes.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> In October 2014, Nature ran a World View opinion column by Amaya Moro-Martín referring to “a flawed evaluation process supported by the ESF”; ESF demanded a retraction and threatened legal action, as covered by Retraction Watch; ESF later said it did not intend to sue “at this stage.”<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Survival of elimination vote (2014)
In December 2014, Physics World reported that ESF had “survived an elimination vote” by its members, while its future role remained uncertain as legacy programmes and policy functions were wound down.<ref name="PW2014">Template:Cite web</ref> ESF’s chief executive at the time, Martin Hynes, acknowledged that many larger national member organisations were resigning - particularly in France, Germany and the United Kingdom - and that ESF might continue with a smaller membership base.
“The question is whether there will be enough members to carry the organisation forward with credibility,” Hynes said, adding that private organisations might be eligible to join under revised statutes.<ref name="PW2014" />
Peter Fletcher of the UK Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC) stated that STFC and the other UK research councils were in the process of resigning, describing the creation of Science Europe “a positive opportunity for European science.”<ref name="PW2014" /> ESF members approved changes to the organisation’s statutes to enable new categories of membership, including private organisations - measures that Hynes said were necessary to avoid a de facto dissolution.<ref name="PW2014" />
Note: find members listed here, in 2025 ten members but no indication any private organisation is involved with ESF.
European Commission’s COST programme: independence from ESF and subsequent expansion (2014)
The intergovernmental programme COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) - long administered by ESF -became legally independent as the COST Association under Belgian law. By taking over the COST contract with the European Commission, the new association was intended to ensure stability and continuity for COST’s networking mission; the separation was widely viewed as a visible reduction in ESF’s portfolio.<ref name="COST2014">Template:Cite web</ref>
Since becoming independent, COST has expanded its activity: its 2024 annual report notes 40+ member organisations, 324 active COST Actions and over 60,000 researchers and innovators engaged - around one-third growth since the start of Horizon Europe.<ref name="COST2024">Template:Cite web</ref> COST Actions are designed to fund collaboration (meetings, training schools, short-term scientific missions) rather than research per se, and are positioned in the EU’s Widening participation policy family; under Horizon 2020, COST committed 50% of its budget to researchers from “widening” countries to spread excellence and strengthen inclusion across the European Research Area.<ref name="COSTStrategic">Template:Cite web</ref><ref name="WIDERA">Template:Cite web</ref>
Staffing reductions and shift in operations (2015–2017)
Regional press reported in April 2017 that ESF confirmed its presence in Strasbourg “on different bases,” describing a transition from roughly 120 employees to 19 after three redundancy plans (two voluntary, one compulsory). Thereafter, ESF began providing administrative services under the "Science Connect" brand.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> In 2025, while retaining its funding name, ESF appeared under new branding again.
Member organisations
ESF reports ten members from eight countries, structured as Full Members (paying, with voting rights in a General Assembly) and Associate Members (no fee, no vote). As of the latest publicly available listing, only two organisations are identified as Full Members. ESF does not disclose the level of membership fees or the total income derived from them.
The predominance of non-paying associate members enables the association to meet the minimum requirement of seven members under Alsace–Moselle association law, while allowing it to cite a roster of European organisations in official materials. Not all members are EU-based, and the small number of Full Members (two from Bulgaria and Luxembourg) contrasts with the organisation’s pan-European funding name.<ref name="ESF202122">European Science Foundation (2021). Annual Report 2021. Strasbourg: ESF. pp. 4–5 (“ten members from eight countries”; turnover and staff). PDF: https://www.esf.org/fileadmin/user_upload/ESF_annual_report_2021_compressed.pdf</ref><ref name="ESFsite22">European Science Foundation. “Membership: Types and Benefits” (Full vs Associate; fee/vote distinctions). Web: https://www.esf.org/esf/membership/ — see also “ESF Membership Benefits” (PDF): https://www.esf.org/fileadmin/user_upload/ESF-Membership-Benefits.pdf</ref><ref name="AlsaceLaw">Ministère de l’Intérieur (France), “Le droit local des associations en Alsace-Moselle” — “La volonté de sept personnes au minimum est nécessaire pour créer une association inscrite.” Web: https://www.associations.gouv.fr/le-droit-local-des-associations-en-alsace-moselle</ref>
Belgium
Bulgaria
France
Hungary
Luxembourg
Romania
Serbia
Turkey
Governance and Chief Executive
ESF is an association under local Alsace–Moselle law, with a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) responsible for day-to-day management. The organisation does not publish details on CEO term limits, appointment procedures, or independent checks and balances beyond statutory auditing. Walter was appointed CEO effective 1 July 2019; ESF does not publish information on term length. Walter is the longest serving officer in this position.<ref name="CEO2019">European Science Foundation, press release: “European Science Foundation announces appointment of new Chief Executive, Mr Nicolas Walter” (27 May 2019; effective 1 July 2019). Web: https://www.esf.org/news-media/news-press-releases/article/european-science-foundation-announces-appointment-of-new-chief-executive-mr-nwalter/</ref><ref name="ESFstatutes">European Science Foundation, Statutes (approved 2 March 2016): “Association subject to the local laws of Alsace–Moselle. Registered office: Strasbourg (67000) – 1 Quai Lezay-Marnésia.” PDF: https://www.esf.org/fileadmin/user_upload/esf/Statuts_approved_signed_MH_02March2016.pdf</ref>
- 2012–2015 Martin Hynes<ref name=":0">Template:Cite web</ref>
- 2016–2019: Jean-Claude Worms
- 2019 to date: Nicolas Walter