27 February 2007
Love it or hate it, no one can deny that the European Union has had a hugely significant impact on business within the UK. Many complain about the excessively complex legislation or the increased red-tape caused by rules being handed down from Brussels. However, an equal or greater number see the Union both as a tremendous opportunity and even as a source of direct support for their business.
One way the European Union supports business in the UK is through funding programmes such as the new Framework Programme 7 (or “FP7”). It is difficult to comprehend the scale of this project, which is primarily aimed a providing access to funding for research and development. Some €53.2 billion (£36 billion) has been earmarked for allocation to various parts of the FP7 scheme between 2007 and 2013, making it the largest scheme of its kind so far.
FP7 is split into 4 core projects. These are: the Co-operation Programme (€32.4 billion), the Ideas Programme (€7.5 billion), the People Programme (€4.75 billion) and the Capacities Programme (€4.1 billion). In addition, there are non-core programmes providing support for a Joint Research Centre (€1.7 billion) and a nuclear research programme which will receive funding to the tune of €2.8 billion.
By far the biggest sum has been allocated to the Co-operation Programme. This will provide support and funding for research in 10 “themed” areas: health; food, agriculture and fisheries; ICT; nanosciences and nanotechnologies; energy; environment and climate change; transport; social sciences and humanities and security and space. The emphasis is very much on collaborative research projects and building networks of excellence in research.
With all this money potentially available, researchers and businesses will no doubt be asking the questions: is my project eligible and, if so, how do I gain access to this funding? Given that this is an EU initiative, it will be no surprise that the rules governing grants are complex. Even the Government’s own FP7 website descirbes the application process as “…not for the faint hearted.” This means that advice and guidance from experts is vital for an application to be successful.
James Mitchell, associate in the IP, Media and Technology Team at Lester Aldridge commented: “Deadlines for the first round of applications (known as “calls”) are due to come up as early as the end of April 2007. The first applications should therefore be well underway already. However, there is still time to put together a detailed submission provided you take advice from experts in this area.”
James advises anyone interested in making an application for FP7 funding to start with the government’s own information service and the European Union’s Community Research and Development Information Service (CORDIS) website. Assistance can also be obtained from the designated National Contact Points (“NCPs”), details of which are available on the DTI’s dedicated website.
http://www.fp7uk.dti.gov.uk/
http://cordis.europa.eu/en/home.html
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