European Research Management

Photo credit: Jorisvo/iStock

Photo credit: Jorisvo/iStock

The EU Commission has mapped out European research funding for the coming years with the “Horizon 2020 Framework Programme for Research and Innovation”. Horizon 2020 has a total budget of approximately 77 billion euro with which it contributes to the implementation of the “Europe 2020” strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth based on the following three programme lines: “Scientific Excellence”, “Industry Leadership” and “Societal Challenges”. We are closely involved in the implementation of Horizon 2020 at the national level.

We host five of the National Contact Points (NCPs), which advise German applicants on European research funding, on behalf of the relevant ministries: the NCP Bioeconomy, the NCP Environment and the NCP Materials (Federal Ministry of Education and Research), as well as the NCP Energy and the NCP Navigation and Marine Technology (Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs and Energy). We are also the appointed programme coordinator for the thematic areas of bioeconomy, materials, energy and the environment.

The establishment of a competitive European Research Area (ERA) is a declared objective of the European Commission. We support our clients in achieving this objective by administering various funding instruments including the European Research Area Networks (ERA-Net, ERA-Net Plus, ERA-Net COFUND), Coordination and Support Actions (CSA), Joint Programming Initiatives (JPI), European Innovation Partnerships (EIP), measures pursuant to Article 185 and Inno-Nets.

We also support the ministries in their work on the EU Commission’s programme committees, thereby making an important contribution towards shaping future EU research policy. In addition to the programme committees, we are active on numerous panels and support our clients at the national and European level in identifying future topics for the promotion of research and innovation.