The opportunity to lead the US National Solar Observatory (managed by AURA) since 2013 has allowed me to understand the differences in how R&D works on both sides of the Atlantic. These differences materialize in the various national budgeting mechanisms, the management and the mission of the R&D organizations, and the existing checks and balances at multiple levels. Although the scientific paradigms in Europe and the US are the same, the emphases display significant nuances, especially in the field of Solar Physics. While in Europe, fundamental research on the physical processes that occur in a star drives Solar Physics, in the US, the emphasis on Space Weather dominates the research priorities. I will exemplify these distinctions in the context of the multi-messenger solar physics that the combination of the experiments Solar Orbiter, Parker Solar Probe, and the NSO's 4-meter telescope, DKIST, will deploy in the next decade.