OBSERVE PROTOCOL v1.0 AND DATA COLLECTION FRAMEWORK

<h2 dir="ltr">Modern Feudalism, EU Institutions, Universities, Research Funding, and Institutional Knowledge Production</h2><p dir="ltr"><b>Research Protocol Version:</b> 1.0<br><b>Research Method:</b> Longitudinal Institutional Observation<br><b>Operational Framework:</b> Citizen Auditing<br><b>Observation Cycle:</b> OBSERVE → RECORD → VERIFY → COMPARE → LEARN<br><b>Initial Observation Period:</b> 2025–2027<br><b>Primary Case:</b> Horizon Europe Strategic Plan and associated Work Programmes<br><b>Document Type:</b> Research and Methodological Protocol</p><p><br></p><h2 dir="ltr">Abstract</h2><p dir="ltr">This protocol establishes a structured and reproducible methodology for examining the relationship between European Union research-funding mechanisms, institutional priorities, universities, and knowledge production.</p><p dir="ltr">The study uses the concept of <b>“modern feudalism”</b> not as a predetermined conclusion, political accusation, or historical equivalence, but as an <b>analytical metaphor whose explanatory value and limitations must be empirically tested</b>.

The central methodological objective is therefore not to demonstrate in advance that contemporary European research governance constitutes a form of feudalism, but to determine whether observable patterns of resource concentration, institutional dependence, priority alignment, standardisation, and academic diversity can meaningfully be compared with selected structural characteristics historically associated with feudal systems.</p><p dir="ltr">The protocol separates observation from interpretation.