Third country participation in
FP7
Place: Date
The Seventh Framework Programme
Organisations or individuals from countries
outside of the EU and Associated States
can participate in FP7:
• In the Capacities programme - in international
activities promoting strategic cooperation
• In the People programme – as beneficiaries of
training and career development activities
• In the Ideas programme – as participants in
European-led research teams
• In the Cooperation programme - as partners
in projects
The Capacities programme
A strategic planning programme focusing on
three main areas
Bi-regional coordination of S&T Cooperation “INCONET”:
• Establish a dialogue, promote participation in FP7
Bi-lateral S&T cooperation partnerships “BILAT”
• Strengthen partnership with countries which have an S&T
cooperation agreement
Coordination of national policies and activities
“ERA-NET”
• Increase the cooperation and coordination of national
research programmes
http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/capacities/home_en.html
The People programme
A human-resources programme with several
actions open to third country nationals
Initial training of researchers
• Initial Training Networks
Industry-Academia Partnerships and Pathways
The International dimension
• International fellowships
• Support to research diasporas
http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/people/home_en.html
The Ideas programme
A “frontier” research programme managed
by the European Research Council
Offers the possibility for the European research
teams to involve third country researchers on the
basis of their scientific excellence
http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/ideas/home_en.html
The Cooperation programme
A research programme in ten Themes
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Health
Food, Agriculture and Biotechnology
Information and Communication Technologies
Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials and new
Production Technologies
Energy
Environment (including climate change)
Transport (including Aeronautics)
Socio-economic sciences and Humanities
Security
Space
http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/cooperation/home_en.html
Cooperation projects - Minimum
consortia
• Three independent legal entities from three
different EU Member States or Associated
countries (presently: Croatia, Iceland, Israel,
Liechtenstein, Norway, Serbia, Switzerland, Turkey*)
• Provided this minimum has been achieved, any
number of additional participants from
other countries can be included,
• For Support actions (SAs) there are no
restrictions; proposals may be presented by
even a single organisation from any country
*list regularly updated at http://cordis.europa.eu/inco/agreements_fp7_en.html
Cooperation projects - Funding
• Third country participants on the list of
International Cooperation Partner
Countries (ICPCs) are funded by the
Commission
• Normally they are funded on exactly the
same basis (percentages of eligible costs)
as participants from an EU Member State
– nationality plays no role in the
calculation of payments
• Alternatively - and unlike Member State
participants - they may opt for a lumpsum payment
ICPCs
The International Cooperation Partner
Countries are defined as the countries that
are classified as low or middle-income
third countries. The ICPC countries are
listed in Annex 1 to the Workprogramme.
In short, they are:
• all the countries in the rest of Europe
• the developing countries overseas
Financing for non-ICPCs
Organisations from third countries which are
not on the ICPC list (i.e. the high-income
countries overseas) can in exceptional
circumstances be funded :
• if essential for carrying out the action
• if provided for in the Specific Programme
decision or in the Workprogramme
• if provision for funding is provided for in a
bilateral agreement between the European
Union and that country
Non-ICPC countries
All proposal Part Bs have a section under the
“IMPLEMENTATION” evaluation criterion:
Other countries:
If a one or more of the participants requesting EU funding
is based outside of the EU Member states, Associated
countries and the list of International Cooperation
Partner Countries, explain in terms of the project’s
objectives why such funding would be essential
Opportunities for third country participation
Some actions in a Workprogramme may specifically
involve an international dimension, e.g. in ICT
Coordination and Support Actions
1.4. Secure, dependable and trusted infrastructures
1.5. Networked media
1.6 New paradigms and experimental facilities
1.7. Critical infrastructure protection
3.1. Next generation nanoelectronics components and electronics
integration
3.5. Photonic components and subsystems
3.7. Networked embedded and control systems
5.3. Virtual physiological human
6.2. ICT for cooperative systems
7.1. ICT and ageing
7.2. Accessible and inclusive ICT
Collaborative Projects
3.3. Embedded systems design
FET Open + Proactive Initiatives
Opportunities for third country participation
Specific International Cooperation Actions (SICAs)
• These are international research actions
explicitly identified in a theme’s Workprogramme,
e.g. in ICT
Call 1 in the objective ICT-2007.5.2: “Advanced ICT for Risk
Assessment and Patient Safety” (for cooperation with Latin
America)
Call 2 in the objective ICT-2007.6.3: “ICT for Environmental
Management and Energy Efficiency”
• They have a special minimum consortium
requirement of 4 participants independent of
each other, 2 in the EU or Associated states and
2 in the target region
Opportunities for third country participation
International cooperation can be the subject of
“horizontal” CSAs, e.g. in ICT Obj. 9.1
Identification and Promotion of cooperation opportunities,
support for policy dialogues
Identification of cooperation opportunities
Promotion of ICT Programme
Increasing visibility for EU funded projects
Networking existing projects
Strengthening policy dialogues with main partners
Coordination with INCO actions under Capacities
Support to coordination of national/international activities
Development related ICT Cooperation Roadmaps
Open Source Software
Language and speech technologies
Accessible and inclusive ICT
Electronic
Submission
• The EPSS allows partners from anywhere in the
world to participate in the writing of the proposal as
easily as if they were co-located with their
European partners
• If you are the proposal coordinator, you don’t have
to stop preparation early to allow time for a courier
to take your proposal to Europe
• Proposers who fail to submit successfully via the
EPSS are those who waited till the last minute. If
overseas, allow yourself even more time for the
uploading and verification of your proposal
• Call deadlines are expressed in Brussels (Central
European) time
Ethical issues
The decision of the European Parliament and the
Council concerning FP7 states that all research
activities should respect fundamental ethical
principles, including those reflected in the Charter of
Fundamental Rights of the European Union and take
into account opinions of the European Group on
Ethics in Science and New Technologies (EGE)
The inclusion of an overseas partner in a
project cannot be used as a means to
conduct research which would not be
permitted within the EU
Support actions
Support action proposals can be presented by a
single organisation from a third country
But remember:
• SA projects are focused activities to support the work of
the EC staff in running the framework programme. They
are not a third world aid programme
• As for all other instruments, for SAs we clearly define in
the Workprogramme what actions we want. Proposals for
activities not included in the Workprogramme are
rejected without evaluation, as “out-of-scope”
• Support actions do not conduct S&T research. A research
project disguised as a Support action will be recognised
and rejected without evaluation
Finding European partners for
Cooperation projects
The EC supports:
• Information days and briefings in Brussels
and elsewhere in Europe and worldwide
• Partner search facilities within the different
themes e.g. for ICT http://www.ideal-ist.net
• And a network of National Contact Points in
Europe and beyond:
http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/ncp_en.html
Your NCP will inform you of any national
arrangements for funding proposal
preparation or project participation