Motivation Behind Researchers’ Participation in Formal Networking Research Projects Funded by the European Union

Using the case of European Union Cooperation in Science and Technology Actions, this paper investigates why despite the small scale of funding provided and substantial scientific and management workload, researchers are increasingly interested in formal networking research funded by the European Union. This paper empirically examines this motivation while controlling for researcher scientific domain, country of work and previous experience of such funding. We find that most researchers are primarily driven by a need to meet peers and that over time researchers view such funding scheme significantly less as additional funding and more as a venue for meeting peers and for disseminating research results.