June 2003

SIXTH FRAMEWORK PROGRAMME (FP6)

The 2000 Lisbon European Council laid down the challenge to make Europe the most competitive and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world by 2010. In order to achieve this, the European Commission (EC) and the Member States (MS) worked out a new approach to Research Technology and Development (RTD).  This resulted in the creation of a better overall framework for research in Europe called the European Research Area (ERA).  The ERA is about regrouping all Community support to improve the coordination of research activities and assist in the convergence of research and innovation policies, at national and EU levels.

FP6 is the tool for carrying out the objectives of the ERA.  Rather than merely funding projects, which had been the focus of the previous five Framework Programmes, FP6 is designed to help focus and integrate research in Europe, structure the ERA and strengthen its foundations.

FP6 offers even greater opportunities for Australian and New Zealand researchers to collaborate.  The EC has identified seven thematic priorities for research which will take up 80% of the budget allocated to this programme.  The Commission has also thrown open its Human Resources and Mobility Scheme - the Marie Curie Fellowships - to all nationalities allowing third countries like Australia and New Zealand to take part for the first time.

Main Components

FP6 has an overall budget of Є17.5 billion. This is split between three pillars as follows:

Table 3 - FP 6 Budget

Table 4: The priorities covered by FP6

Instruments

Research projects under FP6 are implemented using certain instruments specifying how the work is to be organized and funded.   Two new instruments have been created: Networks of Excellence (NoE) and Integrated Projects (IP).  NoE are designed to strengthen excellence on a particular research topic by networking together a critical mass of resources and expertise.  Networks will focus around a Joint Programme of Activities (JPA) which will be composed of integrating activities, jointly executed research and activities for spreading excellence.  NoEs are expected to involve many hundreds of researchers with an expectation of at least six partners per network. The duration of a NoE will be up to five years with a possible extension to seven.

The IP instrument is designed to generate the knowledge required to implement the priority thematic areas. IPs should aim at either increasing Europe's competitiveness or addressing major needs in society.  The main focus of an IP is to deliver knowledge for new products, processes, services etc. by integrating the critical mass of activities and resources needed to achieve ambitious and clearly defined scientific and technological objectives.  Activities will include research, technological development and/or demonstration activities, specifically to promote innovation. The value of an IP will be in the region of tens of millions of dollars and the duration of the project will be between three and five years. Integrated projects will be multidisciplinary, and cross-sectoral.

Although the majority of the Calls for Proposals will use either one or the other of the two new instruments as outlined above, the traditional instruments such as specific targeted research projects, specific support actions and coordination actions are still available for some calls.  The Work Programme will indicate which instrument is to be used.

Participating in FP6

FP6 is open to all legal entities established in the 15 Member States of the European Union[1], the Acceding and Candidate Countries[2],[3] and Associated States[4] that are either involved in research or in the dissemination or use of research results.  As international cooperation represents an important dimension of FP6, third countries may also take part in FP6 projects under the various headings.  Detailed provisions for this participation are set out in the various work programmes available on the CORDIS website.  (http://www.cordis.lu/fp6/inco_policies.htm)

The various work programmes specify the minimum number of participants required for each action but by and large there must be a minimum of three participants from the groups mentioned in the previous paragraph.  Of these three participants, two entities must come from different EU Member Sates or Acceding and Candidate Countries. The Third participant may be drawn from another EU Member State, another Acceding and Candidate Country or from an Associated State.

Funding is possible for the participation of researchers, teams and institutions from third countries in projects within the seven Priority Thematic Areas of Research as well as under "Specific activities covering a wider field of research", provided the Call for Proposals allows for this and the participation is considered "essential to achieve the project's objectives". 

However, while Regulation (EC) No. 2321/2002 states that funding may be made available under certain conditions, it should be remembered that these projects are only partially funded by the European Commission. In the case of the NoE and the IP, the EC will fund up to 50% of the total cost of the project.  Researchers will still have to find funds from their own resources.

A list of various funding sources available to Australian Researchers can be found at the website of the Forum for European Australian Science and Technology cooperation (FEAST) at www.feast.org. FEAST is a collaborative project of the EC, the Department of Education Science and Training (DEST), the EU Member States and major Australian science agencies and funding bodies.  The aim of FEAST is to highlight and stimulate cooperation in the field of RTD between Europe and Australia.  FEAST provides information on bilateral and multilateral activities and hosts a searchable database for partners and projects. 

Table 5 shows the results of a recent analysis of the funding from the last three rounds of the Innovation Access Programme, the competitive grants system run by DEST.  While funding is clearly based on excellence, this table shows the importance of Europe to Australian researchers.

Table 5: Innovative Access Programme Funding

How do I take part?

All the documentation necessary to take part in any FP6 projects is available from the CORDIS website (www.cordis.lu).

An Information Pack is issued with each call for proposal in each thematic priority. This can be downloaded from the CORDIS website. The pack consists of:

-                     The Guide for Proposers gives a general explanation about FP6. It offers advice on identifying the best programme or theme for your project and sets out the rules for participation.   It also provides advice on how to set up partnerships and how to prepare and submit projects.

-                     The Evaluation Manual describes in detail the selection procedures and criteria that will be applied for project evaluation purposes.

-                     The Model Contract is available from the first call for proposals page of the CORDIS website.

-                     The Work Programme sets out the research to be undertaken under each priority heading and also gives an indication of research to be undertaken under the next call for proposals.

-                     The Call for Proposal gives a list of the various subheadings and the closing date. The first call for proposals was published on the CORDIS website on 17 December 2002. Most of these calls have now closed and the second call will be published shortly.  In general, there will be two calls per year per thematic priority.

Human Resources & Mobility - The Marie Curie Actions

The Sixth Framework Programme's Human Resources and Mobility (HRM) activity has a budget of €1.580 billion (over 50% more than under FP5) and is largely based on the financing of training and mobility activities for researchers. For the first time, nearly 10% of the Framework Programme's entire budget will be devoted to training, mobility and the career development of researchers.  The actions are open to researchers in all fields of scientific and technological research from the EU Member States, from countries associated with FP6 and from third countries.  Eligibility for the various schemes is based on research experience and expertise, not age. Research organisations can apply to the Commission for funding to provide training opportunities for researchers of any age or nationality.  There are no quotas but it is expected that for the Research Training Networks 30% of researchers will be from non-EU countries.  It is also expected that at least 40% of researchers in this scheme will be women.

There are four actions covering seven different activities almost all of which can be utilized by third country researchers:

More information on each item can be obtained from the Marie Curie website: http://europa.eu/mariecurie-actions/

Expert Evaluation Panel

The Expert Evaluation Panel assists the Commission in evaluating and selecting proposals for research projects to be funded under FP6.  The panel consists of independent external scientists from all over the world. The current database of experts has over 35,000 names and, over the life of FP5, more than 10,000 experts were called to assess over 60,000 proposals.  Under FP6, the call for proposals to join the Expert Evaluation Panel is being extended to institutions asking them to provide a list of "best scientists" as well as calling for individual experts.   Experts appointed by the Commission will not only assist in evaluating proposals but may be called on to monitor projects.  This call is open to individuals and institutions from every country.  The Commission has also set itself a target to try to achieve a 40% quota of women for the Evaluation Panels.

Being accepted onto this panel is an excellent opportunity to see inside the processes of the EC, to be part of the science that is happening now and to create and build on networks and contacts. Accommodation, travel and subsistence costs are reimbursed as well as a generous daily rate.  The time spent in Brussels would be between 5-10 days per year at most and it is quite possible that some of the initial evaluation for long distance experts will be done "remotely" although evaluation of Networks of Excellence and Integrated Projects will always involve the experts interviewing the proposers of the best projects. You can apply direct from the following website:

http://www.cordis.lu/experts/fp6_candidature.htm

Further Information

The following websites provide more information:

www.europa.eu.int/comm/research/fp6 - The Commission's Directorate-General for Research - gives information on the European Research Area as well as FP6.

www.delaus.cec.eu.int - This is the Delegation of the European Union's web site and provides information on cooperation between the EU and Australia and the EU and New Zealand.

http://www.ec.europa.eu/research/fp6/pdf/how-to-participate_en%20.pdf

This is the online version of the 90 page booklet entitled "Participating in European Research".

this page last updated August 8, 2007