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This page contains
information on the
Overview of the Sixth Framework Programme What is the Sixth Framework Programme? The
Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) is the European Community's programme for
Research, Technological Development and Demonstration (RTD) activities for
the period 2000-2006. The total budget, including Euratom is €17.5 billion - a 17% increase over the Fifth Framework Programme (FP5). How does energy fit into FP6? The budget for FP6 is split into three main programmes:
"Focusing and integrating Community
research" has seven Thematic Priorities. Funding for non-nuclear
energy, which falls within the thematic priority Sustainable development,
global change and ecosystems, comes under the heading of "Sustainable
Energy Systems" . What is the budget for non-nuclear energy? "Sustainable energy systems" has a budget of 810 M€. What types of energy activity are eligible for funding? Funding is available for both short-medium term and medium-long term activities. Any activity has to fit within the sectors given below. Short-medium term energy research activities:
Medium-long term energy research activities:
The
principle behind the European Research Area (ERA) is to ensure a better
organisation of research in Europe in order to strengthen the
competitiveness of European research in a global market-place. This
requires activities such as the networking of centres of excellence, more
coherent implementation of national and European research activities and
more abundant, and more mobile, human resources. The measures outlined in FP6 aim to bring elements of the scientific community together to foster excellence, encourage efficient use of resources and avoid duplication of effort. The new instruments, Integrated Projects and Networks of Excellence, aim to mobilise the critical mass necessary to achieve ambitious objectives and to produce structuring or integrating effects on European research. The design of the funding instruments has been simplified and streamlined from those used in FP5, with more scope for flexibility and adaptability. Who is eligible for funding? FP6,
like FP5, will be open to all legal entities such as industrial companies,
universities, end-users and SMEs. You will need a multi-national
partnership involving a minimum of 3 eligible countries (for example
Member States, Accession Countries, and Associated States). There
may be particular requirements on the number of Member States or Accession
Countries to be involved, for example a minimum of two different
countries. Have the types of funding instruments changed from FP5? Yes, FP6 includes two new types of instruments Integrated Projects (IP) and Networks of Excellence (NoE) Outline information on Integrated Projects and Networks of Excellence is given below. For full details see the Commission working documents available at http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/nfp/networks-ip.html Will the FP5 funding instruments still be used? To
smooth the transition from the types of activities familiar under FP5, a
"Stairway of Excellence"will allow the submission of an evolved form of
Shared Cost RTD projects and Concerted actions/thematic networks, albeit
with reduced funding from 2004. They will support research activities of a
more limited scope and are seen as particularly suitable for SMEs and
participants from Accession Countries. Furthermore, Specific support activities, an evolved form of the FP5 Accompanying Measures will be funded. In addition some of the funding instruments operating under FP5 will continue to operate (eg CRAFT, Marie-Curie Fellowships). There will also be the opportunity to participate in the joint implementation of national research programmes (under Article 169 of the Treaty) in limited cases. Sustainable Energy Systems –
Second and Third Calls for Proposals
Integrated ProjectsThe second call for proposals in FP6 under the Sustainable Energy Systems thematic priority (ECOTECH) will be published on 17th June 2003, with a budget of 107M€. Details of the call are already published in the current Work Programme. This is a call issued by DG TREN covering the following specific areas of the Work Programme:
The call covers the following specific areas (instrument in brackets):
It is essential that proposers address the Commission’s interest areas and use the correct instrument. Please contact the Helpline if you would like to clarify whether or not your proposal is suitable for this call. The third call for proposals will be published in September 2003 with an indicative deadline date of December 2003. The call will be issued by DG Research and will call for proposals for Specific Support Actions in the medium to long term activity areas.
The Work Programme can be downloaded from http://www.cordis.lu/fp6/sustdev.htm. Following publication of these calls in June and September it will be possible to download the call texts and guides for proposers from CORDIS at http://fp6.cordis.lu/fp6/calls.cfm. Please note that in FP6 there is a specific guide for proposers and application form for each instrument contained within the guide for proposers. The rules on the minimum number of participants have changed in FP6. For Integrated Projects, Networks of Excellence, Specific Targeted Research Projects and Co-ordination Actions, it is compulsory to have 3 independent legal entities from 3 different Member States or Associated States. This must include at least 2 Member States or Associated Candidate countries. Details on these rules can be found in the guides for proposers Section II2 Consortium Composition. Single legal entities from Member States or Associated States can submit proposals for Specific Support Actions. What are Integrated projects? These
are large-scale projects, up to tens of M€, designed to integrate a
critical mass of activities and resources to achieve ambitious Scientific
and Technological objectives. The aim is to boost competitiveness of
European research or to address major societal
needs. What types of activities can be funded under Integrated proejcts? Activities integrated by a project may
cover the full research spectrum, but must include a research
element. A project can also contain a technological development and
demonstration component as appropriate or other activity directly relevant
to the objectives of the project, such as a training
component. What size should Integrated projects be? There
is no minimum threshold for Integrated projects providing that the
critical mass of resources needed to achieve the projects ambitious
objectives. However the focus is still on larger scale projects, the
activities integrated can range up to several tens of million
Euro. What is the duration of an Integrated project? Typically 3-5 years, but more if necessary to deliver the objectives. Is there a minimum partner requirement for Integrated projects? There
must be a minimum of three participants from three Member States or
Associated States, of which at least two shall be Member States or
Associated candidate countries (Accession countries). However, in
practice there are likely to be substantially more partners.
How will costs be calculated for Integrated projects? Good
news! the calculation of costs and funding has been simplified from that
used in FP5. The Community support will be in the form of a "grant to the budget" paid as a contribution to actual costs. These costs must be necessary for the project and determined in accordance with each participant's own accounting definitions and practices. This means that there are no pre-defined cost categories or detailed cost statements. Each year each participant will have to provide a summary financial statement certified by an independent auditor with a management-level justification of actual costs, coupled to a corresponding activity report. So how do we get funding to start our Integrated projects? There will be a rolling advance scheme throughout the duration of an Integrated project. How will levels of funding support be calculated? Provisional guidelines indicate a continuation of cost methodologies similar to those in FP5:
It is
intended that these two methods will be used for all instruments under FP6
and consideration is being given as to how to simplify the implementation
of these cost methodologies compared with FP5.
What will be the percentage of Community support? For "full-cost" participants the maximum rate of Community contribution to a participant's costs will be:
Has the process been simplified from FP5? Although there are new funding instruments, the Commission has tried to simplify procedures for submission and implementation where possible. Some detail is still being developed. For example:
What are Networks of Excellence? Networks of Excellence are an instrument primarily designed to address the fragmentation of European research, their main deliverable being a durable structuring and shaping of the way that research in Europe is carried out on a particular research topic. The aim is to network together a critical mass of resources and expertise to be a world force in a particular research topic. This should lead to a lasting integration of research capacities with long-term and multi-disciplinary objectives. The Network will have a joint programme of activities (JPA) to achieve its objectives, with all activities being carried out within a unified management structure. For full details see the Commission working document at http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/fp6/networks-ip.html What size does a Network of Excellence need to be? Networks of Excellence are expected to
have ambitious goals, particularly in terms of providing European
leadership and creating a "world force". The network will need to
assemble the critical mass of resources and expertise to achieve these
goals. As such there will be no minimum size, though calls for
proposals may provide an indication of the critical mass required.
However, it is expected that larger networks may involve several hundreds
of researchers. What partners are required? There
must be a minimum of three participants from three different Member States
or Associated States, of which at least two must be Member States or
Associated candidate countries (Accession countries). However, in
practice the number of partners is expected to be at least six.
Participants will include research entities (eg universities, research
centres, SMEs etc), but organisations with particular competence in
knowledge management, dissemination and transfer and organisations
representing potential users and other stakeholders in the research may
also take part. How will funding for Networks of Excellence be calculated? The
level of grant paid is based on the number of researchers "integrated" to
work on a joint programme of activity. For example an average annual
grant of 1 M€ pa for a network of 50 researchers, a grant of 5 M€ pa for a
network of 500 researchers and a grant of 6 M€ pa for a network of 1000
researchers. What will be the duration of Community support for Networks of Excellence? A
network will need to be supported long enough for its integration to take
on a lasting nature, support may therefore be needed for five years, and
if justified, maybe more. However it is likely that the level of
payment will reduce with time to avoid dependency on Community
support. How will the contract work? The
contract will be of a results-based nature so the negotiation process will
be particularly important. The objectives of the network will be
fixed and should remain stable over the duration of the contract.
However, if necessary the outline joint programme of activities may
change, particularly after the mid-term review. The detailed joint
programme of activities will only cover 18 months and will roll forward on
an annual basis. Quantitative and qualitative performance indicators
for the period will be agreed, and will be used by the Commission for the
results-based follow up and settlement of
payments. Further information on FP6 Commission working documents on
Funding Instruments including detailed papers on Integrated Projects and
Networks of Excellence http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/nfp/networks-ip.html Check the site regularly as the documents are updated and replaced with later versions. |
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