EU FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT TIPS

The main objective of these ERA-NETs is to pool the necessary financial resources from the participating national (or regional) research programmes and the EU and to implement joint trans-national calls with EU co-funding in the above areas (one co-funded call per grant agreement, resulting in grants to third parties). Thematic focusing of these calls should be commensurate with the funds available, so as to ensure a reasonable rate of success in the call. The ERA-NETs should seek synergies with other relevant European and international research and innovation initiatives affecting sustainability and resilience of agriculture and food systems, in particular the FACCE and HDHL Joint Programming Initiatives.

Expected impact:

•          improve coordination and reduce the overlap between national and EU funding in relevant fields of research;
•          achieve a critical mass and ensure better use of limited resources in fields of mutual interests;
•          share good practices in implementing research programmes;
•          promote transnational collaboration and new knowledge generation and innovation;
•          mobilise SMEs, when appropriate, in the transnational projects to enhance innovation.
•          provide mapping of on-going research activities (where relevant);
•          establish a network of research activities carried out at national and regional level, including a mutual opening of national and regional research programmes (where relevant).

The next biodivERsA call, cofunded by the European Commission will cover the two following themes:

• Theme #1: Understanding and managing the biodiversity dynamics of soils and sediments to improve ecosystem functioning and delivery of ecosystem services
• Theme #2:  Understanding and managing biodiversity dynamics in land-, river- and sea-scapes (habitat connectivity, green and blue infrastructures, and naturing cities) to improve ecosystem functioning and delivery of ecosystem services

The call is planned to be launched in May 2015, with a closing date in early November 2015.

The indicative global budget for this call is ca. 30 million euro.

To be eligible, transnational research consortia should be composed of members from at least three countries participating in the call. So far, Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Estonia, France, Germany, Hungary, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, and the United Kingdom have shown preliminary interest, and will have to confirm their participation by April.