IQ-Net programme managers from 13 EU Member States met at the 40th IQ-Net conference in Prague, Czech Republic, on 9-11 May 2016. The conference was hosted by the Czech Ministry of Regional Development and chaired by John Bachtler of EPRC. Opened by Vladimir Kvača from the host organisation, the meeting started with a look at the progress of the 2014-20 programmes, supported by a presentation by Timothee Lehuraux of EPRC (summary). The discussions of options and ideas for Cohesion policy after 2020 were supported by a research paper presented by Carlos Mendez of EPRC (summary), which provided the ground for small group workshops. The conference also included an opportunity to visit Czech R&D research centres co-financed by Structural Funds, HiLASE and ELI Beamlines.