An approach to monitoring the long-term impact creation activities in EU research projects

The impact creation process of European Union-funded R&D projects is an area needing attention, and is discussed in this paper. European tax-payers´ money must be spent in the most beneficial way. The resources used must contribute to European wellbeing and have a wide and positive impact on industry, society and the citizens. One problem is that the impact creation process, on a large scale, takes a long time. The time frame for impact creation is much longer than the duration of the R&D project. The major part of the impact that can be achieved through R&D activities will take place well after completion of the actual R&D work. Care must be taken during execution of the project that all possible actions are performed for maximum post-project impact creation. The paper introduces an innovative methodology for impact monitoring during a project. The method used is based on impact waves and success tree approaches. Examples are given of practical implementation in the EU FI-PPP Project FITMAN.