Brussels, 19/07/2011 (Agence Europe) - On Tuesday 19 July, EU Research and Innovation Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn announced nearly €7 billion to kick-start innovation through research. This is the biggest amount yet granted by the European Commission under the EU's Seventh Framework Programme for Research (FP7), being 9% higher than the last year.
“Europe is again showing its commitment to putting research and innovation at the top of the political agenda for growth and jobs. EU-wide competition for these funds will bring Europe's best researchers and innovators together to tackle the biggest issues of our time, such as energy, food security, climate change and our ageing population. The Commission is proposing a significant increase in research and innovation funding for our Horizon 2020 programme post-2013 and I want to show taxpayers already with the calls we are announcing today our determination to get the best value for every euro”, said Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn, adding: “The €7 billion we are investing will create an estimated 174 000 jobs in the short-term and almost 450,000 jobs and nearly €80 billion in GDP growth over 15 years.” Universities, research organisations and industry will be among more than 16,000 funding recipients. Special attention will be given to SMEs, including a package close to €1 billion.
The majority of the calls for proposals (invitations to bid for funds) will be published on 20 July and the Commission expects to allocate funding to individual projects during the course of next year.
For the ageing population, nearly €400 million has been set aside - cash that will come from two separate funds (one for research into health issues and one for developing information and communication technology (ICT). The remainder of the funding for ICT, nearly €1.16 billion, “will go to key developments in network and service infrastructures, in nano-/micro-systems, photonics and robotics, in digital content and language technologies and for applications such as ICT for health and ICT for energy-efficiency”, explains the Commission in a press release. Research into nanotechnology will be granted €488 million and digital technologies will get €3bn. The nanotechnology research will focus on areas such as factories of the future, green cars and energy efficient buildings.
The €265 million reserved for environment research will help address major challenges such as climate change, biodiversity loss or resource efficiency.
In response to the increasing demand for safer, healthier food and sustainable bio-resources, the European Commission will invest over €307 million to encourage sustainable bio-resources and improve food security. Research and innovation for cleaner, safer and more efficient transport and mobility will get €313 million.
In addition to the funding for specific industries, there will be a new EU Prize for Women Innovators whose work has been funded by FP7 or earlier programmes to encourage women into innovation and develop EU talent to help the EU compete more effectively against the United States and China, explained Geoghegan-Quinn. The European Research Council (ERC) will provide €1.6 billion to ground-breaking frontier work by star researchers.
The ERC is viewed as the main way of ensuring Europe is attractive to researchers and to stop the brain drain. To help bridge the gap between frontier research results and commercialisation, a small scale “Proof of Concept” initiative has been introduced. Around €900 million in support for researchers' mobility and careers will be provided through Marie Curie Actions for around 10,000 highly-qualified researchers.
This will include €20 million for a pilot project to fund “European Industrial Doctorates”, to stimulate entrepreneurship and cooperation between universities, research institutions and companies. Another initiative is the new “ERC Synergy Grant” to support a few small groups of researchers working together on the same project. (J.K./transl.fl)