When asked about their experiences with the European Commission's Framework research programmes, scientists tend to roll their eyes. Baffling bureaucracy and the programmes' overt socioeconomic objectives have been deterring many of the continent's best researchers.

The Sixth Framework Programme, worth 17.5 billion euros (US$17.7 billion) over the next five years, was highlighted this week with great fanfare at a major conference in Brussels. So is it likely to be any more popular than its predecessors?

The programme's underlying vision is an end to the fragmentation of European research. It aims to unite to an unprecedented degree the best groups in the fields that are most relevant to European citizens. Take breast-cancer research: the idea is that geneticists, molecular biologists, clinical researchers, biotech and pharmaceutical companies, and whoever else is relevant, will pool their expertise into an overarching research consortium with the goal of defeating the disease.

It sounds a laudable aim, but the concept fails to consider the role of competition as a driving force in science. Mega-collaboration is not always the best solution to a tough intellectual problem. And the demands of managing huge research networks can detract from scientific creativity and hypothesis-driven enquiry.

Fortunately, however, the European Commission has received a great deal of indirect feedback about its plans. Rather then setting the programme in stone, and simply issuing a series of narrowly defined 'calls for proposals', the commission has this time invited scientists to submit 'expressions of interest' — condensed proposals outlining what researchers think are the most fruitful scientific opportunities (see http://eoi.cordis.lu/search_form.cfm).

The response was overwhelming, with some 15,000 proposals being submitted. These submissions do not just represent a goldmine of scientific ideas. Their sheer number, and the fact that many do not envisage huge collaborative efforts, also provides a clear indication that Europe's research community is not willing to accept the idea that a few large networks fit all.

How exactly this exercise in consultation translates into formal calls for proposals, scheduled for 17 December, remains to be seen. But it is not too late for the European Commission to adapt its vision, and accept that, in some cases, thinking small is the best approach.