The European Union cohesion policy lies on a variety of pillars including Research and Innovation Strategies for Smart Specialisation (RIS3) on a regional basis. This concept is in accordance with the EU 2020 goals of smart, sustainable and inclusive growth and can enable regions to catch-up to other particularly successful regions. The authors present the six steps to develop a RIS3 strategy and show that it can play a vital role for cohesion policy although there are certain limitations and misunderstandings regarding the methodology. Certain adaptations in regard to the next budget period of the EU are recommended in order to fully utilise the concept’s potential.