ASSOCIATION GROUPE ESSEC

Their core work

ESSEC Business School is one of France's leading graduate business schools, known for management research, economics, and organizational studies. In H2020, they contributed social science and health economics expertise to medical research consortia, led research on virtual collaboration and proximity in distributed teams, and participated in conflict prevention studies. Their role in EU projects typically reflects their strength in applied economics, organizational behavior, and socio-economic impact assessment rather than laboratory science.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

With only three projects concentrated in 2015-2016, ESSEC's H2020 portfolio is too small to show a clear evolution. Their earliest projects (WOSCAP and RESSTORE, both 2015) span security policy and health economics, while the slightly later VIRCOLLAB (2016) focused on virtual collaboration — a topic closely aligned with their core business school identity. The shift toward health-related keywords in the later period reflects the long duration of the RESSTORE project (ending 2020) rather than a strategic pivot.

Their coordination of VIRCOLLAB suggests growing interest in digital collaboration research, a topic with increasing relevance post-pandemic, but their limited H2020 footprint makes future direction uncertain.

How they like to work

ESSEC operates mostly as a participant (2 of 3 projects), joining larger consortia where they contribute social science and economics perspectives to multidisciplinary teams. With 37 unique partners across 11 countries from just 3 projects, they tend to participate in broad European consortia rather than small focused teams. Their one coordinator role was a Marie Curie individual fellowship (VIRCOLLAB), which is typical for academic institutions hosting visiting researchers.

Despite only 3 projects, ESSEC has built connections with 37 partners across 11 countries, reflecting participation in large multidisciplinary consortia. Their network spans Western and Central Europe with no dominant geographic cluster.

What sets them apart

ESSEC's distinctiveness lies in being a top-tier business school that brings management science, health economics, and socio-economic analysis into technical and medical research consortia. Where most H2020 partners provide technical or scientific capabilities, ESSEC contributes the business and policy analysis layer — assessing economic viability, organizational dynamics, and societal impact. For consortium builders, they fill the social science and economics gap that funders increasingly require.

Highlights from their portfolio

• RESSTORE
  Largest project by budget and duration (2015-2020), a major European regenerative medicine effort for stroke therapy where ESSEC contributed health economics expertise.
• VIRCOLLAB
  ESSEC's only coordinator role — a Marie Curie fellowship exploring virtual proximity and collaboration, directly aligned with their business school identity.