Category / EU

Welcome to the EU section of the blog! Emily Cieciura (BU’s Research Facilitator – EU and International), Jo Garrad (Funding Development Manager) and Dianne Goodman (Funding Development Co-ordinator) together try to take the pain out of finding and applying for EU funding by horizon scanning many sources and placing the most important information on this page.

We blog as often as possible on everything from calls for proposals and partner searches, to networking event opportunities, all the latest on Horizon 2020 and international funding. We also use the blog to disseminate information on EUADS (BU’s EU academic training initiative), how to write brilliant proposals, how to find partners and other top tips!

EU-Canada Study Tour and Internship Programme – opportunity for students

EU

This EU-funded programme offers students from EU Member States a unique in-depth experience of Canada and of EU-Canada relations during September 2012.

The intensive four-week programme begins in Brussels at the European Institutions and then moves to Canada, with study visits in Ottawa, Québec, Montréal, Toronto, Vancouver and Victoria. In addition, nine two-month internships will be offered to participants immediately following the end of the tour. These will take place at leading think tanks, foundations and cultural institutions across Canada. This immersion in Canada will offer a unique opportunity for an academic experience in a non-academic setting.
Participation in the tour is open to university students who, at the time of application, are in their third year of studies (or equivalent) or higher and are citizens of the European Union. Third-country nationals who have been legal residents in the European Union for at least three years (and for purposes other than study) before the start of the tour are also eligible; they must be enrolled at a university in an EU member state. A maximum of 33 students will take part in the tour.
 

Students will only be required to pay a participation fee of 750 EUR, plus pay for their food and other incremental costs during the programme. Further information and application forms are available here. The deadline for applications is Monday 30 April, and an academic reference will also be required.

Partner searches for water and energy research

EU

UKWaterResearchDirectory: An online directory of UK researchers has just been developed to support the Living With Environmental Change (LWEC) UK Water Research and Innovation Framework (UKWRIF) and the UK Natural Environment Research Council’s (NERC) Water Security Knowledge Exchange Programme (WSKEP). It covers all disciplines with interests in water and could be used to find partners for EU funded, and other, projects. Researchers who are not already on the database can add their details. It is also possible to keep up to date with additions and updates by subscribing to a mailing list. The main purpose of the Directory is to improve the ease by which government and industry can find research skills that they may be interested in, trade associations knowing who to invite to meetings/workshops for their members, and for the research community to have a better way of finding complementary research partners. The database has only just been launched and still being actively populated with researchers. It is also possible to keep up to date with additions and updates by subscribing to a mailing list. If so, you will receive no more than one update email per month.

Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic:The Department for Adaptation Strategies Research is looking for partners, who are interested in similar research fields and who are willing to be a part of newly created networks in the following fields:

  • climate variability and its impact on social and economic systems, including adaptation strategies and mechanisms;
  • adaptation measures with a wide multidisciplinary nature with regard to development interventions;
  • natural hazards (climate extremes) and their impact on society from the regional, national and global points of view;
  • research methods oriented to mitigate vulnerability of society and improve its resilience towards climatic extremes, natural hazards and environmental risks;
  • environmental limits of social and economic development from the environmental geography perspective;
  • climate change and its impact on migration and environmental security;
  • environmental changes (risks) and their impact on population processes, theoretical conceptualisation, drawing case studies;
  • estimates of people vulnerable to climate variability carried out on the basis of climate modeling and simulations (regional and nation-wide level);
  • analysis of the the relationship between the environment, economic growth, financial flows and population aspect (migration and development);
  • relationships and impacts of interactions between the environment and society and the reflection of theoretical trends of environmental sociology;
  • dissemination of environmental risks and understanding interest groups’ standpoints with regard to environmental risks (climate change);
  • analysis and evaluation of economic benefits of adaptation strategies in selected sectors and applying suitable methods for optimal combination of these measures; and
  • analysis of adaptation measures in bioenergy and agricultural sectors.

Intelligent Energy Europe free online support session next week

EU

The excellent service providers Intelligent Energy Europe (IEE) will be holding  online support sessions on Wednesday 25th April at 2.30pm and Friday 27th April at 2.30pm. 

The session on Wednesday 25th April will be on the subject of Costing your IEE Proposal and the session on Friday 27th April will be on the IEE Award Criteria – and how to address them effectively.

If you would like to join one or both of these sessions please email indicating which session/s you would like to join and you will be sent the telephone conference call dial in details and the weblink where you will be able to view the slides. 

The online support sessions will provide you with a comprehensive and interactive presentation on key aspects of the IEE proposal preparation and submission process and an opportunity to ask questions.   The feedback from those that have taken part in the sessions has been very positive and it only takes a small amount of time away from your proposal preparation work which should save you time in the long run.  They will be referring to the material from these sessions when they undertake the proposal review process so it is recommended that you take part in the sessions in order to understand the messages fully.  

Please contact the EU Energy Focus team with your questions on IEE and refer to the IEE factsheets on subjects including costing your IEE proposal and impact.

Creative Industries Alliance Seeking Members

EU

The European Creative Industries Alliance (ECIA) is recruiting new members for its Policy Learning Platform.

The Policy Learning Platform of the European Creative Industries Alliance has been set up with the view to pull together regional and national policy-makers in order to develop “better practice” in support of creative industries.

The main task of the platform is to steer and further promote the ECIA through an open method of coordination. In order to draw upon a wider stakeholder community and build upon the best regional, national and European expertise and knowledge across Europe, an open call for new members for the Policy Learning Platform has been published.

The deadline for submissions is 17 April 2012 and submissions to the open call can be made through this website Policy Learning Platform open call submissions.

Some EU funding calls released – from water to social dialogue!

EU

MEDIA 2007 The Sales Agent Scheme 2012: One of the objectives of the programme is to encourage and support the wider transnational distribution of recent European films by providing funds to distributors, based upon their performance on the market, for further reinvestment in new non-national European films.  The scheme also aims to encourage the development of links between the production and distribution sectors thus improving the market share of European films and the competitiveness of European companies. Deadline 18.06.12

 

Europe for Citizens: The European Commission, Education, Audiovisual and Culture Agency (EACEA), has launched a call for proposals (deadline 01.06.12) under the Europe for Citizens Programme. The Programme has five priorities and all projects are required to address at least one of these priorities:

  • the future of the EU and its basic values;
  • active European Citizenship: civic participation and democracy in Europe;
  • inter-cultural dialogue;
  • people’s wellbeing in Europe: employment, social cohesion and sustainable development; and
  • impact of EU policies on societies.

 

Industrial Relations and Social Dialogue: The European Commission, Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion, has launched a call for proposals to promote industrial relations and social dialogue. This call is aimed at measures and initiatives designed to facilitate the adaptation of social dialogue to changes in employment and work-related challenges such as:

  • addressing the modernisation of the labour market;
  • quality of work;
  • anticipation, preparation and management of change and restructuring;
  • flexicurity;
  • skills;
  • mobility and migration;
  • youth employment;
  • contributions to health and safety;
  • reconciliation of work and family life;
  • gender equality;
  • anti-discrimination;
  • active ageing;
  • active inclusion; and
  • decent work.

Please note that there is a second deadline set to 4 September 2012 for actions commencing no earlier than 4 November 2012 and no later than 21 December 2012.

 

EDULINK II: EDULINK, the African, Caribbean and Pacific Group (ACP) – European Union (EU) Co-operation Programme in Higher Education, has launched a call for proposals. Proposals will have to address one of the following two priority areas: Energy access and efficiency; or  Agriculture and food security. The specific objectives are to increase the capacity of ACP HEIs at two levels: Management /Administration and Academic. Proposals will aim at supporting HEIs in ACP States to create new and upgrade existing curricula and teaching methods, reinforce links between teaching, modern technologies, lifelong learning and research, as well as strengthening their management and administration capacity. Deadline 30.07.12

 

Sustainable Industry Low Carbon scheme (SILC): The European Commission, Directorate-General for Enterprise and Industry, has launched a call for proposals regarding the Sustainable Industry Low Carbon scheme (SILC).The objective of this call is to support actions that will enable energy-intensive manufacturing and process industries covered by the EU Emission Trading Scheme (ETS) to cope with the challenges of a low carbon economy and to maintain their competitiveness.
More specifically it seeks to identify and select sector-specific or cross-sectoral industrial projects that will develop and deploy cost-efficient technological or non-technological innovation measures, or a combination of both, for improving the GHG (greenhouse gas) emission performance of installations under the EU ETS. Deadline 25.06.12

 

Support of the European Innovation Partnership on Water: The Commission intends to award a contract to establish a secretariat for the EIP on Water. The secretariat will support the European Commission with the establishment and operational phase of the EIP on water. The activities will vary in nature, and will include secretarial tasks, contact with stakeholders at various levels, support in the development of a strategic implementation plan, co-ordination of the (outcomes of) innovation sites and development of a Web-based market place for water innovations. Deadline 23.05.12

 

ERA-NET Bioenergy Joint Call: The sixth Joint Call for Research and Development Proposals of the ERA-NET Bioenergy is now open in the areas of biogas and energy crops.The call topics are:

  • Innovative biogas production. Focal points include e.g. pre-treatment technologies, unexploited substrates, measurement/control, upgrading, management of digestate; and
  • Sustainable biomass for energy purposes. Focal points include e.g. optimisation of existing and new crops by way of plant breeding or cultivation techniques, breeding and cultivation for cascading uses, harvesting/storage technologies.

Please note that calls for proposals run by ERA-Net projects have their own funding rules and reimbursement rates. Applicants should check the call documentation for further details.

 

FP7 JTI Clean Sky Call for Proposals: Via the Calls for Proposal, Clean Sky aims to incorporate Partners to address very specific tasks which fit into the overall technical Work Programme and time schedule. Due to the nature of these tasks, the Call is not set up using a set of themes, but it is conceived as a collection of very detailed Topics which can be viewed on the Participant Portal webpage. Deadline is 10th July.

Want to help direct the topic of future EC funding? Then get involved in consultations

EU

The European Commission has recently launched various consultations on a range of topics including policy options to safeguard Europe’s waters; interoperability of digital products and services state aid for films and other audiovisual work; protecting the EU’s financial interest and enhancing prosecutions; financial support for energy efficiency in buildings; and on gender imbalance in corporate boards.
The Consultation on Environment Policy Priorities for 2020, Consultation on Future Network Technologies and Consultation on Blue Growth – Sustainable Growth from the Oceans, Seas and Coasts are all directly related to deciding funding priorities for Horizon 2020. 

This is your chance to get involved and start shaping the future of EU funded research. Have a look on the Your Voice website and get your voice heard.

Find Partners for NNMP in FP7 at this event!

EU

A transnational brokerage event is being organised for participants looking for partners for Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Material and new Production technologies (NMP) Public-Private Partnership (PPP) calls under the 2013 NMP Work Programme.

The  event aims to include presentations from Commission officials about the content of the NMP-PPP 2013 calls (which will be published in July 2012), as well as opportunities to meet other potential participants from a range of sectors to discuss project ideas, during pre-arranged bilateral meetings.

The main topics will be:

  • Nanosciences and nanotechnologies;
  • Materials, new forms of production, integration;
  • Factories of the Future PPP;
  • Energy efficient Buildings PPP; and
  • Green Cars PPP.

The event will be held in Lyon, France on 12 June 2012. It is free of charge but you will need to register and submit your profile by 22 May 2012.

 

FP7 Health: Virtual Match Making Event

EU

The European Commission funded project “Fit for Health” is organising a virtual match-making event where an “intensive match-making” process is offered. Between 7 and 11 May, the Fit for Health expert network will perform an “intensive match-making” process: this means that they will assist each participant registered in their database to find relevant partners.  In order to participate in the virtual match-making registration in the Fit for Health partnering database is required. This is free of charge.

EU Green Week Conference 2012 – a great opportunity to network for Partners

EU

The 12th annual Green Week (the biggest annual conference on European environment policy) will take place from 22 to 25 May 2012 in Brussels. Last year’s Green Week conference attracted over three thousand participants from government, business and industry, non-governmental organisations, academia and the media.
This year’s theme is ‘Water’. There will be over 40 sessions overall, including a sessionon the afternoon of the 24 May on European Innovation Partnerships (EIPs), which will focus on the proposed EIPs for Water and for Sustainable Agriculture, both of which are currently under development; and two sessions on “Science in support of evidence-based environmental policy making (Part I)”, which are being held in partnership with the Commission’s Directorate General for Research and Innovation (DG RTD).
If you are looking to network, this is a fantastic place to do so!

OECD Co-operative Research Programme Call for Research Fellowships and Conference Sponsorship

EU

The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) has launched its 2013 Call for funding international conferences and research fellowship grants in 2013, which provides funding for international conferences (for example workshops, congresses and symposia) and research fellowship grants. The CRP programme supports research on the sustainable use of natural resources in agriculture, fisheries, food production and forestry.

Applications should fit into one of following research themes:

  • The Natural Resources Challenge;
  • Sustainability in Practice; and
  • The Food Chain

The aim of the Research Fellowships scheme is to strengthen the international exchange of ideas and increase international mobility and co-operation between researchers working in these fields; while the aim of the Conference Sponsorship scheme is to inform policy makers, industry and academia of current and future research, scientific developments and opportunities in these fields.

The closing date for applications is 10 September 2012.

 

FP7 Transport Information Day and Networking Event for the 2013 Work Programme Calls

EU

The EC  is holding a two-day info day for universities, research institutions, Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises (SMEs) and companies who are interested in learning more about participating in the FP7 Work Programme 2013 transport theme. The two-day information event will be held on 18-19 July 2012 in the Charlemagne building, rue de la Loi 170, Brussels. The first day will inform potential researchers about FP7 and the new Transport Calls for Proposals under the 2013 Work Programme AND The second day will give participants the opportunity to network with potential project partners. If you are thinking of making a submission to this programme, then I cannot recommend your attendance at this enough! It will also be a key opportunity to network in general with people in similar research areas, so could well be worth attending even if you don’t intend to submit to this round. You can’t book online yet (see the hyperlink on info day for the page the booking will be released on to), but it’s good to block these dates out early if you want to attend.

Want to see the calls for proposals for FP7 Socio-economic Sciences and Humanities to be launched in July? Then read on!

EU

I’ve managed to obtain a draft version of the FP7  Socio-Economic Sciences and Humanities Work Programme which features the calls for proposals to be released in 2012. This is just a draft and therefore subject to change but it gives you a great idea as to what the European Commission are looking to fund. The Work Programme is a tedious read so I’ve summarised the info on funding in there for you; the aim of the call etc. I have bookmarked the document so you can jump straight to the call that interests you from the front page.

As this document is highly confidential I have placed it on our I drive; it is strictly forbidden to circulate this outside of BU! I:\R&KEO\Public\RDU\Draft Work Programmes for 2012-13

There are also the drafts for Environment, Health, ICT and Food, Agriculture, NMP, Fisheries & Biotechnology and others  in there too which I’ve blogged about previously. The final official version of the Work Programmes aren’t released until July 2012 so this gives you a fantastic head start to preparing a submission.

Marie Curie Infoday & Proposal Writing Events – Registration Open!

EU

Registration is now open for the Marie Curie Individual Fellowships and Career Integration Grants General Information and Proposal Writing event, organised by the Marie Curie UK National Contact Point. There will be three separate events, each with the same format, which will take place at the following locations:

  • University College London, 10 May 2012;
  • University of Glasgow, 11 May 2012; and 
  • University of Bristol, 23 May 2012.

The aim of the session is to provide participants with an overview of the Marie Curie Individual Fellowships (Intra-European (IEF), International Outgoing (IOF), and International Incoming (IIF)) and the Career Integration Grants (CIG). These sessions will also provide those wishing to submit an application with a deeper understanding of the proposal format and the key issues they are required to address in planning and writing their proposal.
The session will include a presentation on the schemes, highlighting changes that have occurred since the 2011 call. It is also hoped that the session will provide a forum for discussion, and to answer questions that applicants may have relating to these schemes and preparing a proposal.
  
These sessions will last for half a day and are free (you will need to cover your own expenses and travel). Each session will provide an outline of the Marie Curie Actions, specific details on the fellowships and grants action and the application form and guidance on planning and writing your Marie Curie proposal. There will be the opportunity to ask questions throughout the sessions.

To register, please fill in the online registration form available from the Marie Curie NCP website. Places will be allocated on a first-come, first-served basis so register quickly!!!

Got Central American contacts? Get some funding to go see them!

EU

ENLACE travel grants promote exchange between Central American and European researchers, and encourage contacts between research institutions, to facilitate joint participation in FP7 calls.

These promote exchange between Central American and European researchers, and encourage contacts between research institutions, to facilitate joint participation in FP7 calls.

Full grants cover travel and subsistence costs worth up to €3,000 and co-financed grants provide costs worth up to €1,000. Funding covers a maximum of 30 days.

EC funding for the ‘Development of Knowledge Alliances’

EU

The general objective of the call for proposals is to support the implementation of Knowledge Alliances which should ensure stronger societal and economic relevance, and outreach in higher education, by strengthening the role of higher education institutions as engines of innovation and increasing the employability, creativity and innovative potential of graduates, professors and company staff.Through this pilot project, the grant from the European Commission will support the implementation of Knowledge Alliances, helping the partner organisations implement structured partnerships which should lead to innovative and collaborative approaches in their field beyond the lifetime of the project.

Knowledge Alliances are structured partnerships aimed at stimulating innovation by bringing together businesses and higher education institutions. Knowledge Alliances should foster the role of Higher Education institutions as engines of innovation, through the flow and active exchange of knowledge between higher education and business, in turn leading to the development of long-term strategic partnerships between Higher Education Institutions and companies. These partnerships should support companies in providing new approaches to the professional development of their staff. Knowledge Alliances should also provide incentives to try out new and innovative teaching methods, to promote entrepreneurship and entrepreneurial mindsets, to foster the generation of new ideas and interdisciplinarity through co-operation. The deadline is June 28th.

UKRO have also released an article giving further detail on the call and the application process which you can access here.

EC electronic system to be replaced!

EU

A new online proposal submission system is currently being piloted on the FP7 ICT 9 Call for Proposals. The new system works directly in the Participant Portal.

 
While overall the system is very similar to the current submission system EPSS (Electronic Proposal Submission System), the main novelty is that the submission is now being done directly via the Participant Portal, and no longer in a separate system.

The Participant Portal Submission Service (PPSS) will be used for almost all calls from summer 2012 onwards, which may include the Marie Curie calls, but the EC will specify which system is to be used in each individual Call for Proposals and Guide for Applicants.  There is also a PPSS guide to take a look at.

Ambient Assisted Living Joint Programme: Daily Life Activities of Older Adults at Home funding

EU

The Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) Joint Programme has launched its fifth Call for Proposals: “ICT-based Solutions for (Self-) Management of Daily Life Activities of Older Adults at Home”, which encompasses important dimensions of the broad topic of Home Care. The deadline for proposals is 31 May 2012. This call aims to develop ICT-based solutions which enable and sustain older adults to continue managing their daily activities in their home. The call also aims to identfiy ICT-based solutions which support informal carers in their assistance. Successful projects are expected to target systemic solutions addressing the users’ wishes and needs, or to provide a contribution which is meant to be integrated into a systemic solution, including some kind of support service. The Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) is providing up to EUR 1.2 million in funding for UK academic partners, while the Technology Strategy Board (TSB) is also providing up to EUR 1.2 million in funding for UK non-academic partners.