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This POLICY ANSWERS Brief was prepared in May 2023 by Besnik Krasniqi and published by the Riinvest Institute.
This report has been prepared by the Riinvest Institute for Development Research in relation to activities of the Work Programme for Capacity Building in Kosovo which is part of Work Package (WP) 3 of the EU-funded project POLICY ANSWERS. This project focusses on capacity building in the Western Balkans (WB) for Research and Innovation (R&I), supporting and monitoring the implementation of the EU-WB Agenda, advancing the integration of the WB in the European Research Area (ERA), and significantly contributing to thematic areas related to the Green Agenda, Digitalisation and Healthy Societies. The project also aims at contributing to advance R&I, Education, Culture, Youth and Sport with policy recommendations.
The main objective of this report is to explore ways of advancing financing sources, policies and procedures for Research and Innovation (R&I) in Kosovo. An adequate research funding scheme is crucial for creating a supportive research environment. Incentives are essential for fostering a vibrant and productive research environment within Higher Education Institutions (HEI). These incentives motivate and reward faculty members for their scholarly pursuits, thereby driving innovation, knowledge creation, and academic excellence. The increased R&I activities through university-private sector collaborations will most likely lead to higher levels of innovation and increased innovative capacity for firms to compete, positively impacting social and economic development.
However, to enhance R&I, there is a need to develop a supportive research environment, which requires public funding, institutional setup, and financial and non-financial incentives and procedures for funding and encouraging the research activity. To this aim, this report proposes recommendations to increase R&I activities in Kosovo.
This short study aims at analysing legal and policy aspects of R&I and to identify obstacles regarding inadequate financing and low development of R&I activities at faculties, universities, and other research organisations. The specific objectives of the assignment are:
• To contribute to the improvement of legal and other conditions for increasing public and private financial resources for R&I to ensure faster integration of Kosovo into ERA.
• Propose solutions for integrating teaching and research activities at the faculties and universities.
The structure of the report is as follows: Chapter 2 introduces the methodological approach used in the study; chapter 3 provides background information on the current situation of R&I in Kosovo, discussing the legal and policy framework for R&I, research infrastructure, and research performance. Chapter 4 provides a detailed analysis of the current financing sources, policies and procedures for R&I at university level, using the University of Prishtina as example. This section draws on qualitative interviews and meetings with researchers, policy makers, and business community representatives. The final chapter draws overall conclusions structured in a way to provide a list of recommendations in the form of a roadmap.