Having made a long career at the university, Jaana Backman believes it is important for domestic players to join forces in promoting European RDI policy.
People doing advocacy for Finnish universities seek to influence the direction of European research, development and innovation policy (RDI) at the heart of EU power in Brussels. Their task is to forge connections, gather information and advance the strategic goals of their universities in numerous networks.
“There are roughly 30,000 people working for the European Commission in Brussels, and an equal number of people involved in advocacy work. It is a massive structure, a network of networks,” says Head of Research Services Jaana Backman at the University of Eastern Finland, who has had a long career in the “Brussels bubble.”
Backman is very familiar with the environment where European RDI policy advocacy in Brussels takes place. She started working in the city in May 2016 as the first dedicated representative of Finnish universities. Now, at the beginning of 2025, Backman’s career of nearly 35 years at the university is coming to an end, as she is headed for retirement.
As a legacy for those continuing advocacy work, Backman shares her ideas on how Finnish universities could boost collaboration in RDI advocacy in Brussels. The clearest observation stemming from our interview is that Finnish universities, instead of each of them doing advocacy alone, should engage in more mutual collaboration in Brussels.
“Those involved in advocacy work at higher education institutions often meet the same people with the same message, and this does not give a good impression of national collaboration. I’m confident that collaboration between higher education institutions will increase. Indeed, there has certainly been an increase since I started in 2016. Common issues have also been brought to discussion by the Council of Rectors of the Finnish Universities, UNIFI. Awareness of the importance of the EU has increased, and that in itself is a major achievement,” Backman notes.
Making a full turn in university-business collaboration and setting the course for Europe
Backman university career began at the University of Kuopio in April 1990, when she was appointed a Research Liaison Officer, which back then was a new title in the Finnish university sector. After all, the Finnish Ministry of Education had, as late as in the 1980s, prohibited universities from collaborating with companies to ensure the independence of research.
During the 1990s, however, universities’ attitudes towards collaboration with companies quickly turned more positive. Backman was tasked, now backed by the ministry, to launch research services, innovation services and legal services at the University of Kuopio. When Finland became a full member of the European Union, providing support for EU funding applications also became part of Backman’s role back in 1994.
In May 2016, Backman’s career took a new turn when she started as the representative of the University of Eastern Finland in Brussels. This was pioneering, as no other Finnish university at the time had its own representative in Brussels, and advocacy was mainly handled by and through regional EU Offices.
“It has been a trend in Europe for universities to establish their own EU offices, as well as joint ones. The UNILION network of universities in Brussels includes more than 160 offices, and the number of members is constantly growing. Currently, all Finnish universities are discussing how they are going to be represented in Brussels in the future,” Backman says.
When we want to optimise our chances of securing national and international funding, we will use our networks to do advocacy and highlight our strategic strengths.
Jaana Backman
Head of Research Services
Brussels – the mother of all networks
The joint network of European and Japanese universities in Brussels, UNILION, is one of the many networks in which Backman has been involved in as part of her work. She has been a member of UNILION since 2016 and served on its secretariat.
“Brussels is the mother of all networks, and a bubble of its kind. Personally, I’ve found it wonderful to work there. People who are good at networking tend to gravitate towards Brussels. We aim to gather information about what is under preparation in the European Commission and, on the other hand, to do advocacy in various EU institutions,” Backman says, describing her role.
In Brussels, people doing advocacy are involved in hundreds of networks. Backman’s involvement has been determined by the university’s rectors, and she is most active in those related to the EU’s RDI policy.
Speaking of networks, there is no shortage in their number or acronyms: Backman has been involved in establishing the Finnish Association of Research Managers and Administrators, Finn-ARMA, also serving as its chair for six years. Additionally, she has been involved in establishing the Finnish Universities Brussels network, FUNIBRU, and has participated in the Nordic NUAS and Nordic Fika networks, in the European YERUN and EASSH networks of higher education institutions, as well as in the strategic group of the International Network of Research Management Societies, INORMS. network. She has served on the board of the European Association of Research Managers and Administrators, EARMA, and chaired one of its working groups. Backman has also made her expertise in the EU available to the UNIFI strategic working group on internationalisation.
Why is it important for Finnish universities to influence the EU’s RDI policy and to be involved in various networks?
“It is important because definitions of RDI policy are reflected in the EU’s funding programmes and often, with a bit of delay, also in national science policy and funding programmes. When we want to optimise our chances of securing national and international funding, we will use our networks to do advocacy and highlight our strategic strengths. We are also offering our views on research infrastructures and thematic funding programmes, especially those in which our researchers are involved and doing advocacy,” Backman explains.
EU funding is shifting towards innovation and the commercialisation of research
Influencing European RDI policy is a long-term commitment, as it may take six to seven years to see the impact. Backman has been doing advocacy ever since the EU’s third framework programme for research, with the tenth one currently under preparation.
Horizon Europe is very important for Finnish universities, bringing hundreds of millions of euros in EU funding to domestic universities. Most of the funding is allocated to European consortia and some to outstanding researchers.
“At the University of Eastern Finland, the trend of EU funding has been upward. Nationally, we are in the top 5–6 universities. In EU funding, researchers’ own networks, the quality of research, and innovation are decisive. Competition has become harder, and while more funding is now available, there are also more funding instruments and complexities. For researchers, this is a challenge. Preparing applications is full-time work, and one must start at least a year in advance,” Backman says.
Over time, the EU’s framework programme for research has evolved into a framework programme for and Innovation, where the commercialisation of research has become a key objective. This direction of travel gives Backman some pause.
“The focus of EU funding seems to be shifting more towards innovation, with the share of research becoming smaller. Now, there is talk about a New European Competitiveness Deal. It is an increasingly strong goal for research to create innovations in order to attract businesses to Europe, thus strengthening its competitiveness. It is a good goal but, from the perspective of higher education institutions, a challenging one, as there is a risk that less and less funding will be allocated to basic research. However, without high-level basic research, there will be no future innovations,” Backman explains.
In other words, Finnish universities still have work to do when it comes to doing advocacy in Brussels. For Jaana Backman retiring at the turn of the year, this will stop, and so will the hectic travelling.
“Although I had my reservations about Brussels at first, the experience has been very positive. I will miss the wonderful people in Brussels. I’ve worked with so many people and made many good friends through work. But I won’t miss the flying and travelling at all,” Backman says, laughing.