Blog by Cosima Lenz, Stefaan Verhulst, and Roshni Singh: “In February, The Governance Lab and CEPS convened researchers, policymakers, funders and advocates to advance the next phase of the 100 Questions Initiative: shifting from identifying priorities to operationalising and institutionalising them within the EU.
Below are twelve takeaways for EU stakeholders.
1. Institutionalise question-driven research
Questions determine what’s measured, funded and prioritised. Questions over women’s health must be embedded upstream within EU research frameworks. This could include requiring funded proposals to outline a clear ‘question statement’, alongside establishing a public European Women’s Health Question Catalogue to guide calls, policy design and investment.
2. Frame women’s health as a competitiveness priority
Even with over EUR 2 billion invested across 1,000+ projects under Horizon 2020 and Horizon Europe, there are still gaps. Positioning women’s health innovation as a competitiveness driver would align political, financial and private-sector incentives while strengthening Europe’s global leadership.
3. Embed women’s health in the Multiannual Financial Framework (MFF)
Women’s health should be explicitly integrated across EU instruments, including the upcoming MFF. Ring-fenced funding, targeted calls and dedicated innovation challenges, potentially via the European Innovation Council, would improve accountability and reduce fragmentation…(More)”.
