The Insider Podcast
An original by INESC Brussels HUB
European research and innovation is changing fast. New priorities are emerging, old assumptions are being questioned, and decisions being made today will shape how Europe funds, governs and delivers research for years to come.
But behind the programmes, strategies and acronyms, there are bigger questions. Who decides where Europe is heading? How do these policies actually work once they leave Brussels? Where are the gaps between ambition and reality? And what does all of this mean for the people and organisations working inside the system?
The Insider is the signature podcast of the INESC Brussels HUB, hosted by Ricardo Miguéis, Head of the HUB.
Launched in July 2024, the podcast was created as a space to look more closely at the debates shaping European research and innovation; sometimes explaining them, sometimes questioning them, and often going beyond the official narrative.
Through in-depth conversations with researchers, policymakers, institutional leaders and people who know the European R&I system from the inside, The Insider explores not only what is changing, but why it matters. From FP10 and the European Competitiveness Fund to research careers, widening, regional innovation, research infrastructures, strategic autonomy, defence and international cooperation, the podcast looks at how policy meets practice; and at the choices shaping Europe’s scientific and technological future.
There are no easy answers to many of these questions, and that is partly the point. The Insider is about taking the time to unpack them, bringing different perspectives into the same conversation and, when necessary, asking the questions that are easier to leave unanswered.
