EC invites applications for share of £6.5 billion research funding

9 July 2012

The European Commission has announced an invitation to bid for a share of the largest ever EU research and innovation funding, under its Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). In total, €8.1 billion (about £6.5 billion) will boost Europe's competitiveness, health and sustainability.

European Research, Innovation and Science Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn said: "Knowledge is the currency of the global economy. If Europe wants to continue to compete in the 21st century, we must support the research and innovation that will generate growth and jobs, now and in the future. The high level of competition for EU funding makes sure that taxpayers' money goes to the best projects that tackle issues that concern all of us."

The invitations to bid target both innovation and a range of societal challenges, building a bridge to Horizon 2020, the new funding programme for EU research which will replace FP7 and some other smaller programmes from 2014-2020. Special attention is given to SMEs in a package worth up to €1.2 billion (£1 billion). SME's are already receiving 15.6% of funding for which they are eligible to bid, outstripping the Commission's target of 15%.

Around €2.7 billion (£2.25 billion) will help cement Europe's place as a world class destination for researchers, mainly through individual grants from the European Research Council (€1.75bn/ £1.46bn see below), and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (€963m/£800m) for research training and mobility.

Innovative thematic research priorities in this FP7 call include:

  • almost €1.5 billion (£1.25 billion) going to the thematic area of information and communication technologies;
  • around €155 million (£129 million) for "Oceans of the future", to support sustainable growth in the marine and maritime sectors;
  • around €365 million (£304 million) for technologies that will transform urban areas into sustainable "Smart Cities and Communities";
  • some €147 million (£123 million) to combat the rise of drug-resistant bacteria; and
  • nearly €100 million (£80 million) dedicated to innovative solutions for managing fresh water resources.

The FP7 framework programme, launched in 2007, has a total budget of €55 billion (£46 billion) for research and innovation. It has so far supported some 19,000 projects involving over 79,000 participants (universities, research organisations and businesses), 10 000 of them from the UK.

By 2013 it is estimated that FP7 will also have directly supported some 55,000 individual researchers' careers. The EU's total research budget of around €10 billion (£8 billion) includes funds that are not included in the calls announced today. These include funding under the Euratom treaty covering nuclear energy research (€993 million, £827.5 million), or to help support "joint technology initiatives" with industry (€751 million, £626 million)) or "joint programmes" set up between Member States.

Leveraged investment in research and economic benefit

The €8.1 billion announced today is expected to leverage an additional €6 billion (£5 billion) of public and private investment in research.

It is also estimated to increase employment by 210,000 in the short-term and generate, over a 15-year period, an additional €75 billion (£62.5 billion) in growth [1].

More information

1. According to the DEMETER, SIMPATIC, WIOD and NEUJOB research projects: http://ec.europa.eu/research/social-sciences/index_en.html.

2. The European Research Council funding allocation (news published 9 July 2012)

3. The total budget also includes funding for the Commission's Joint Research Centre and the Commission's contribution to the Risk Sharing Finance Facility (RSFF), managed by the European Investment Bank Group.

See also:

Innovation Union: http://ec.europa.eu/innovation-union

Europe 2020: http://ec.europa.eu/europe2020

Horizon 2020 — which will take over from FP7: http://ec.europa.eu/research/horizon2020/index_en.cfm

 

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