Competence Research Centres are research centres that aim to bridge the gap between scientific and economic innovation. They play an important role in innovation networks and clusters by providing a collective environment for academics, industry and in some cases public services, as well as sufficient critical mass of people who can synergistically extend research and diffuse the resulting knowledge. As such they are an instrument to tackle the ‘European Paradox’, in other words: the fact that Europe plays a leading role in the world in terms of scientific excellence and the provision of highly-skilled human capital, but largely fails to convert science-based findings and inventions into wealth-generating innovations.

Competence Research Centres are also characterised as public-private partnerships (PPP) in a sound legal structure and as multi- and transdisciplinary structures. Their objectives are multiple:  pooling of knowledge, concentration of infrastructure, creation of new knowledge by performing different types of research (pre-competitive and competitive), training and dissemination of knowledge towards target groups of involved actors in a tailor-made way. In general, they have a large degree of autonomy in determining their own strategies and activities which enable them to anticipate in topical developments within their desired working environment.

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