For a link to information on all FP7 Calls for proposals click here.

Background

The EU has set itself the objective of increasing European research to 3% of the EU’s GDP by 2010. Currently lying at below 2% the European research effort lags behind the United States (2.8%) and Japan (over 3%). The EU also aims to build a European Research Area - “ERA” -creating a free-movement “internal market” in research and improving co-ordination of national research activities.

The regional dimension is considered important as:

• Key contributors to the delivery the 3 % target
• Regions investing in R&D tend to achieve higher economic performance
• Regional level is the most appropriate level for business/research linkage

The East of England has a strong research base. It is home to 13 Universities and colleges and some 14 independent research organisations. The region has attracted considerable success with the previous framework programmes, and the aim is to ensure that this continues, with a particular emphasis on including the region’s SMEs in the programme.

The Framework Programme (FP) is the European Union's main instrument for funding research and development. The FP is proposed by the European Commission and adopted by Council and the European Parliament following a ‘co-decision’ procedure. FP7, will run for 7 years from 1st January 2007 and will expire in 2013. FP7 is designed to build on the work of its predecessor FP6 owards the creation of the European Research Area, and to carry Europe further towards the development of the knowledge-based economy and society.

The Competitiveness and Innovation Programme 2007-2013 is also a relevant funding instrument, to find out more click here.

7th Research Framework Programme

Running for 7 years (2007-2013) the FP7 research programme aims to build the ERA, and to address key R&D objectives through four programmes:-

The Co-operation Programme

This will take up the bulk of FP7 research funding, an estimated €32 billion.

• Objective: Creating European poles of excellence through trans-national collaboration between research centres, universities, and companies. Networks of Excellence are designed to contribute to this goal. In FP7 the collaborative research effort will be divided in 9 thematic areas, each with it’s own sub-programme.
• Objective: Launching European technology initiatives in promising industrial sectors. European Technology Platforms will bring together all stakeholders from a specific subject area to define a common long-term research agenda. The intention is to mobilise a critical mass of national and European, public and private resources.
• Objective: Improving co-ordination between national research programmes, and the co-operation between European intergovernmental research organisations and the EU. To be promoted through the ERA-NET+ scheme and new Article 169 initiatives.

Activities under the Co-operation Programme will include:-

• Transnational collaborative research activities in the following thematic areas:
• Health
• Food, Agriculture and biotechnology
• Information and communication technologies
• Nanosciences, nanotechnologies materials and new production technologies
• Energy
• Environment (including climate change)
• Transport (including aeronautics)
• Socio-economic sciences and humanities
• Security and space
• Joint Technology Initiatives – long term public private partnerships covering a few selected areas mostly determined by the Technology Platforms
• Coordination of public research programmes
• International cooperation outside the European Union

The Ideas Programme

• Objective: stimulating basic (or ‘frontier’) research through open competition between individual research teams at European level, supervised by a new European Research Council and based purely on scientific excellence.

The People Programme

• Objective: making Europe more attractive to the best researchers. Through reinforcing “Marie Curie actions” for the support of researchers, increasing mobility between university and industry, and strengthening links with national systems.
• Initial training of researchers through the Marie-Curie Networks
• Lifelong training and career development to help researchers acquire new skills or enhance multidisciplinarity
• Industry-academia partnerships to increase knowledge sharing
• Attracting research talent from outside the EU
• Actions to help remove obstacles to the creation of a truly European labour market for researchers

The Capacities Programme

• Objective: developing research infrastructures, research potential, and addressing the needs of SMEs. Seven sub-programmes will be created.
• Research Infrastructures
  • Actions to support existing research infrastructures such as facilitating transnational access
  • Actions to support new research infrastructures such as their design and construction 
• Research for the benefit of Small and Medium sized Enterprises

  Actions to support small groups of SMEs solve common problems

  • Actions to support SME associations solve common problems
• Regions of Knowledge
  • Activities bringing together regional actors involved in research in order to help strengthen their capacity for investing in R&D and carrying out research activities
• Research Potential
  • Activities to assist those in Europe’s convergence and outermost regions to strengthen the capacity of their researchers to participate in EU research activities
• Coherent development of research policies
• Science and Society
  • Activities helping to bring science closer to the society in which it is carried out eg gender research, improved communications
• International cooperation
  • Activities helping the EU play a lead role at the world level and become competitive eg strategic partnership

For a link to information on all FP7 Calls for proposals click here.

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