FP7 explained
This year marks the start
of seven-year Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), the EU’s main
instrument for funding research and technology development in Europe,
with a total budget of €50.5 billion.
Approved by the Council of
Ministers on 19 December 2006, FP7 will run from 2007 to 2013. It
consists of four programmes corresponding to four basic components of
European research: Co-operation, Ideas, People and Capacities. The first
two will fund research, while the last two will build up the EU's
research capacity.
The Cooperationprogramme – support for cross-border research
® Theme 2 and Theme 6 are of high relevance for the plant sector.
The Cooperation programme
provides support to the whole range of research activities carried out
transnationally, from collaborative projects and networks to the
coordination of national research programmes .
The programme covers ten themes of which Theme 2
(Food, Agriculture, Fisheries and Biotechnologies) and Theme 6
(Environment) are of highest interest to the plant sector. Over the
duration of FP7, the budget of Theme 2 and Theme 6 are expected to reach €1.9 and €1.8 billion respectively.
Three other themes are important to plant science: Theme 1 (Health),
Theme 4 (Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials and New Production
Technologies) and Theme 5 (Energy).
Each theme has activities
divided in areas with individual call topics to which proposals can be
submitted.
Theme 2 is divided into
three activities, the 1st and the 3rd being more
relevant for the plant sector:
- sustainable production
and management of biological resources from land, forest and aquatic
environment;
- “fork to farm”: food, health and well being;
- as well as life sciences and biotechnology for sustainable non-food
products and processes.
Theme 6 is divided into
five activities, the 2nd being of high relevance for the
plant sector:
- Climate change, pollution and risk
- Sustainable management of resources
- Environmental technologies
- Earth observation and assessment tools
for sustainable development
- Horizontal actions
The Ideas programme – creation of the European
Research Council (ERC)
® Apply for an ERC Starting Grant or an ERC Advanced Grant.
The
Ideas programme is completely new to the Framework Programme and,
through it, a European Research Council (ERC) has been set
up. The fundamental principle for all ERC activities is that of
stimulating investigator-initiated frontier research across all fields
of research, on the basis of scientific excellence. The total budget of
the ERC is €7.5 billion.
Two types of grants are
available through the ERC: the ERC Starting Grants and the ERC Advanced
Grants. Excellence is the sole selection criterion for allocation of
these grants and is applied to the principal investigator, but also to
the research project and the research environment.
The first call for the ERC Starting Grants was published on 22 December 2006, with
deadlines for the two-stage application procedure on 25 April 2007 and
17 September 2007 respectively. The ERC Starting Grants will amount to
between €100 000 and €400 000 per year, depending on the research area,
for a period of up to five years. It is estimated that 200 Starting
Grants will be awarded annually.
The first call for
proposals for the ERC Advanced Grants will be published end November 2007, with a deadline at the end of April 2008. The ERC Advanced Grants
will support research projects led by established top research leaders,
working in or moving to work in Europe, whatever their nationality. The
grants will amount to between € 100 000 and € 500 000 per year for a
period of up to five years.
From 2008 onwards, it is
anticipated that both ERC grants will be the subject of annual calls.
Following the recommendations of the Initiative for
Science in Europe - of which EPSO is a member, national academies and
many others, the European Research Council was created last year. It is
the operational body of the Ideas programme. The ERC consists of the
Science Council, the Secretary General and a dedicated Implementation
structure. The Science Council has 22 eminent researchers as members and
is chaired by Fotis Kafatos, the former director-general of the European
Molecular Biology Laboratory. The ERC was launched officially on 27
February, 2007, in Berlin. Its total budget is €7.5 billion.
The People programme – Marie Curie Actions and more
® Focus on career development,
training and mobility
The People programme is the human resources element of the Seventh
Framework Programme (FP7, 2007-2013). It is implemented through a set of
Marie Curie (MC) actions complemented by practical tools. The overall
objective is to stimulate and support careers development in science by
encouraging the international mobility of researchers, training and best
working practices.
Two key policy
documents
Adopted by the European
commission in March 2005, the European charter for researchers and the Code of Conduct for the Recruitment of Researchers are two key
policy documents and represent a synthesis of the philosophy on which
all the MC Actions are based. They seek to make research an attractive
career prospect.
Ten Marie Curie Actions
Marie Curie Actions are the
tools to implement Charter and the Code. They address
researchers – both European and non-European – at all stages of their
professional lives, from initial research training to career
development, in the public and private sectors, in all disciplines and
field of research.
Mobility is a key feature
as all researchers funded are expected to undertake mobility from one
country to another, subject to specific requirements for the different
schemes.
The current FP7 MC Actions
are a continuation of the actions already implemented under FP6, with an
increased role for the private sector, a strengthening of the
international dimension and a target of at least 40% participation by
women. Compared with FP6, the total budget of the MC Actions in FP7 has
grown by 50% to reach €4.7 billion over seven years.
The European Commission
expects some 70 000 researchers to benefit directly from the MC Actions
in FP7.
When submitting a proposal, it is essential to understand the
policy principles and the goal of each action clearly in order to
increase your chances of success.
Five funding schemes are
available under the People programme.
1- Initial training networks (ITN)
This action accounts for
40% of the overall budget of the MC Actions, i.e. €240 million in 2007,
and provides support for the recruitment of early stage researchers (in
the first five years of their careers) in transnational networks for up
to four years. Networks, involving at least three partners from at least
two EU states, should submit a joint research training programme focused
on the initial training of junior researchers.
Networks are selected by
experts following a two-stage evaluation process. Under this action, a
programme can be supported for a maximum of four years. Researchers
recruited must be nationals of another country than the country of the
host organisation where they will carry out their project.
Key elements for a proposal
to be successful are: the quality of supervision, the complementary
training offered (such as project management, proposal writing,
communication, etc.) and the presence of a private partner in the
network.
2- Life-long training and career development
This scheme, comprising
three MC Actions, provides support for individual projects and focuses
on career development of experienced researchers (having at least four
years of full-time research experience or a PhD).
- Intra-European Fellowships for Career Development (IEF) supports training and intra-European mobility. The key element here is
the acquisition of new research skills. It is not restricted to
post-doctoral stays; it could also be for a sabbatical or an
exchange. Support is provided for up to two years.
- European Reintegration Grants (ERG) are aimed at researchers
wishing to come back to Europe after a stay abroad within the
MC Actions. The grant covers a period of two to three years.
Applications can be submitted at any time. Evaluations are carried
out twice a year.
- Co-funding of Regional, National and International programmes (COFUND)
is a new action aiming at exporting the best practices and
the basic principles driving all the MC actions to other programmes
(existing or new; regional, national or international). Participants
in the co-funding action are organisations, such as official public
bodies responsible for funding and managing fellowship programmes
(ministries, state committees for research, research academies and
councils or agencies), other public or private bodies (such as large
research organisations, charities, etc.) or international level
bodies. To be successful, a programme should be transnational and
should contain mobility schemes, training elements, and
reintegration tools. .
3- Industry-academia partnerships and pathways (IAAP)
This action aims at
increasing the collaboration between the private and public sector and
provides support for co-operation programmes (for up to four years)
involving at least one organisation from each sector, from at least two
different states. Support is provided for staff exchange between the
partners.
4- International dimension
These three actions
encourage the international dimension of career development of EU
researchers and attract researchers from outside Europe.
- International Outgoing Fellowships for Career Development (IOF)
focuses on the outgoing mobility and return to Europe of
European researchers. A European experienced researcher, in liaison
with a return host organisation in the EU, submits a project for
career development in a third country for up to three years. This is
one of the most competitive actions, with a success rate of about
10%.
- International Incoming Fellowships (IIF) focuses on the incoming mobility of researchers from third countries wishing to
work on research projects in Europe.
- International Reintegration Grants (IRG) supports the return
to Europe, after at least three years abroad, of EU researchers.
Recently, this action has been particularly popular with researchers
from the new Members States. It provides a flat-rate contribution of
€25 000 a year for up to four years. Applications can be submitted
at any time and are evaluated and selected at two cut-off dates
annually.
5- Specific actions
- Researchers’ Night (NIGHT) funds the organisation of festive events to bridge the gap between researchers and the
general public.
- Marie Curie Awards (AWARDS). Five prizes of €50 000 are awarded
per year. Candidates for the prizes can apply directly or can be
nominated by others.
Removing
obstacles to mobility and career development
The European Researcher’s Mobility Portal is a website containing
hundreds of job opportunities for researchers, gathered from numerous
research institutions throughout Europe. Job vacancies and CVs can be
posted for free. It also provides information on grants and fellowships,
and presents practical information. It offers access to some 30 national
job portals built on the same principle. The addresses of all these job
sites are available on the EPSO portal.
ERA-MORE is a network of 200 European mobility centres in 33
countries. It is made up of organisations providing concrete assistance
to researchers and their family in all matters relating to professional
and daily life in a host country. By setting up this network, the goal
of the European Commission was to create more favourable conditions for
the mobility of researchers.
ERA-Link is a pilot initiative set up in the USA to develop the
European scientific diaspora there. It is a network of European
researchers throughout the US providing targeted information on research
in Europe (policy, funding, jobs, news). This action will be further
developed in the coming years, notably in Japan and China.
A Scientific Visa concept is currently under implementation following
a 2005 European Council directive. This visa is a major legislative step to facilitate the entry into Europe of non-European researchers.
It also allows free movement within the EU, once the foreign researcher
is granted a residence permit in a Member State for the purpose of the
scientific project. The Scientific Visa enables the creation of a specific residence permit for third
country researchers, and involves the signature of a “hosting
agreement”.
The Capacities programme – Boosting R&I capacity
® In
particular, support will be provided for development of new or existing
research infrastructures.
The
Capacities programme (€4.1
billion) aims to optimise the research potential of Europe by providing support
to improve research infrastructures, strengthen innovation capacity,
develop regional research clusters, harmonise research policies and
enhance competitiveness. Six broad areas will be supported, with the
highest part of the budget (€
1.7 billion)
being allocated to the Research Infrastructures activity.
More
information
For more
detailed information on FP7, read the FP7 broker (for EPSO members only)
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