No. 32/09
July 30, 2009

EUROPEAN COMMISSION LAUNCHES NEW CALLS FOR RESEARCH PROPOSALS

The European Commission today launched new calls for research proposals in a variety of areas—all open to partnerships with countries from outside the European Research Area, including the United States.

"There is no time to lose in research," said European Science and Research Commissioner Janez Potočnik. "The EU's research framework program has seen a smooth start in 2007, mobilizing researchers from across Europe and beyond to compete with their best ideas and to cooperate in tackling many challenges. Today, we are continuing this effort and we call on all researchers to participate."

US research institutions, universities and industry are invited to join research proposals under the Cooperation and Capacities Programs of the Seventh Framework Program for Research and Development (FP7). Research areas include climate change, pollution, alternative testing strategies for pharmaceuticals and the management of the marine environment. Space research and security research have also been added as part of the EC-US Agreement for Scientific and Technological Cooperation.

Projects could for example seek to promote greener vehicles, and funds will be made available to address key energy research challenges, such as seabed carbon storage, CO2 capture and storage, biofuels from algae, solar energy and smart electricity networks. The call for space research is specifically looking for better data management tools, advances in in-space propulsion technologies and ways to understand solar activity better in order to improve space weather forecasting. In coordination with US federal agencies, transatlantic projects are envisaged to model the toxicity behavior of engineered nanoparticles.

Background

The calls address the following areas:

Cooperation:

• Energy
• Security
• Space
• Health
• Environment (including climate change)
• Information and Communication Technologies
• Nanoscience, Nanotechnologies, materials and new Production Technologies
• Food, agriculture and fisheries and biotechnology
• Socio-economic sciences and humanities
• Transport.

Cross-disciplinary topic: The Ocean of Tomorrow – Joining research forces to meet challenges in ocean management.

Capacities:

• Research for the benefit of SMEs (Small & Medium-Sized Enterprises)
• Research Infrastructures
• Activities of international cooperation
• Research potential
• Science in society
• Regions of knowledge.

To see the full details of the calls, please consult the following web address:
http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/calls/ .

A network of national contact points is available at: http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/ncp_en.html, to help researchers identify areas of interest and to help create the partnerships that are generally required for accessing European funding. 

Further Contact Information:
Press and Public Diplomacy
Delegation of the European Commission
2300 M Street, NW
Washington, DC 20037
Tel: 202-862-9552