The European research advisory board (EURAB) has warned the Commission against the European Massachusetts Institute of Technology-like ambitions, saying that such a "world-class research institute cannot be created top down" and can only grow over time out of existing research communities and with close relations with the most advanced industries.  The Commission is currently hosting a Europe wide consultation on the possibility.

Meanwhile, the Strategic Innovation Council (SIC), an independent think tank, proposed recently that the European Institute of Technology be based in Paris.  SIC’s plan outlines a proposal which aims to draw about 300 high-level researchers to a 148-acre campus, possibly in a southwestern suburb of the capitol.

Building 860,000 square feet of “ultramodern” labs would cost as much as €200 million and the institute’s operating budget would be about €800 million per year, the council said, with money coming from the French government and other sources.

The Commission stakeholder consultation on the creation of a European Institute of Technology will close on 15 November 2005.