Joint Statement: extended version (2015)

This document was adopted in 2015 by the 1st Joint Science Conference of the Berlin Process in Berlin. The conference was organised by the Leopoldina under the 2015 Austrian Presidency of the Berlin Process.

The documents postulates five key recommendations for the area “Education and Science” in the Western Balkans countries:

• Commit to allocate 3% of national GDP for higher education, science and research and establish unified quality standards for evaluation;
• Support firmly institutional change, which (i) modernises the WB science systems in convergence with EU-standards, towards integration into the European Research Area, and (ii) which creates opportunities for young researchers and graduates, thereby reducing brain drain and encouraging brain gain;
• Create a South Eastern European Research Council or Research Foundation, which funds individual outstanding scientists as agents of change, using a competitive selection mechanism based exclusively on research quality and academic excellence;
• Establish interconnected Centres of Excellence in the WB as cooperation platforms by: (i) pooling resources and competencies, (ii) investing jointly in state of the art core facilities and research infrastructures, (iii) supporting the mobility of researchers and students, (iv) establishing competitive doctoral and post-doctoral training and (v) creating innovation communities;
• Institutionalise the dialogue between science, politics and society, by (i) creating mechanisms of consultation and strategic planning, and by (ii) establishing procedures for providing unbiased science-based advice to politics and society.