The Framework Programme is EU funded and provides a long-term instrument for funding European research and development. The Framework Programme, presided over by the European Commission and approved by the European Parliament, has been in existence since 1984, with each 'period' originally lasting five years. The current 6th Framework Programme will run until the end of 2006.
The new FP7 is organized into four separate programmes addressing cooperation, ideas, people and capacities.
• Cooperation between universities, research institutions, public authorities and enterprises. The cooperation programme corresponds to trans-national collaborative projects in nine major areas. Approximately half of the FP7 budget is allocated to support for the Cooperation programme.
• Ideas refer to the establishment of a European Research Council (ERC) whose task it is to stimulate and support the research activities of individuals and teams of researchers competing at the European level.
• People strengthen training, support mobility and human recourses.
• Capacities enhance the development of research and innovation capacity among different types of actors through wide-ranging research, cooperation and innovation activities.
Development and research projects are collaborative and based on multinational cooperation. The minimum requirement for projects is that they have three participants from three different countries. It should be noted however that during the current Framework Programme, the average size of the research consortiums varied from seven to twenty partners. The EU will not however cover all expenses and thus collaborators also have to allocate their own recourses to the project. In the new programme, the EU financial contribution for public institutions and SMEs will be up to 75%.
An important new element in the FP7 is the focus on the financing of science-based research projects as opposed to issue or policy-based questions. This takes place within the context of the Ideas programme where, for the first time researchers will be eligible to receive individual or team-based funding assessed through a peer-review process. The new European Research Council (ERC) provides direction to frontier research activities in universities and institutions. The ERC allocates funding on the basis of research excellence alone.
In contrast, the Cooperation programme is organised into ten issue- and policy-based activities. These areas are:
1. Food, Agriculture, and Biotechnology
2. Information and Communication Technologies
3. Health
4. Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials and new Production Technologies
5. Energy
6. Environment (including Climate Change)
7. Transport (including Aeronautics)
8. Socio-economic Sciences and the Humanities
9. Security
10. Space
Theme 8, socio-economic sciences and humanities has an estimated budget of 623 million euros over the full period 2007-2013.
Research in the socio-economic sciences and humanities field plays a major role in understanding regional development aspects in the FP7. Research on this theme will include analyses of the problems and challenges that Europe will in future face. These problems are seen as being of a high priority at the European level. It is expected that research on socio-economic and humanities issues will contribute to the development formulation,
implementation and assessment of key policy measures.
The Socio-economic sciences and humanities theme is further sub-divided into the following seven activities:
• Growth, employment and competitiveness in a knowledge society
• Combining economic, social and environmental objectives in a European perspective
• Major trends in society and their implications
• Europe in the world
• The citizen in the European Union
• Socio-economic and scientific indicators
• Foresight activities
Each activity is, in turn, separately organised into research areas and then further into research topics. The activities in Theme 8 include significant policy level impacts that will generate and reinforce political discussions and support decision-making from a European perspective.
Other themes in the Cooperation programme include a wide range of dimensions and issues that are relevant for the social sciences. The intention here is that research and development are structured along diverse issues and challenges and not along traditional disciplinary lines. The socio-economic element is thus horizontally developed across many other themes.
For regional actors the Capacities programme includes a particularly relevant activity called 'Regions of knowledge'. Within this activity support is given to actors including local and regional authorities, research institutes, companies and other actors. Regions of knowledge activities can e.g. be based in existing or emerging clusters, or they can take the shape of transnational cooperation between actors. Activities can include analysis, development, mentoring and the implementation of research agendas.
In relation to the former framework programme, the FP7 complements the implementation of various activities in the Member States as well as other Community initiatives, such as the structural funds. The complementary element however remains a crucial part in the research infrastructures part of the capacities programme. This makes it possible to support research facilities and personnel enabling new research institutions to compete for funding from the FP7. It will also improve regional stability as research funding will also be directed beyond the core regions.
The FP7 can also be implemented in non-EU states that have cooperation agreements with the Commission. Norway and Iceland have participated in the preparation and implementation of framework programmes. Both of these countries will also have an important role to play in implementing the FP7.
The first calls within FP7 are expected in late December 2006 or early January 2007.
The Nordic countries each have a national information point for the FP7. Further information can be found at the Community Research & Development Information Service CORDIS http://cordis.europa.eu/pf7/
In the Nordic countries further information, individual assistance and advice will be provided inter alia by the following institutions and agencies:
Denmark:
EuroCenter in the Danish Technological Institute http://www.eurocenter.info
Finland:
Academy of Finland
The National Technology Agency of Finland Tekes http://www.tekes.fi/eu/eng/ncps.html
Iceland:
IceTech http://www.impra.is
RANNIS, The Icelandic Centre for Research http://www.rannis.is
Research Liaison Office of the University of Iceland http://www.rthj.hi.is
The Federation of Icelandic Industries http://www.si.is
Norway:
The Research Council of Norway, Division of Science http://www.rcn.no/eu
The Norwegian Space Centre http://www.spacecentre.no/
Sweden:
VINNOVA http://www.vinnova.se/
Swedish National Space Board http://www.snsb.se/
Swedish Research Council http://www.vr.se/