General Information Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) - Overview

Website: ec.europa.eu/research/fp7




Commission proposal for the 7th research framework programme
Brussels, 6.4.2005, COM(2005) 119 final, EUR 21730EN, Directorate General for research.

---

Download COM(2005) 119 final - Brussels, 6.4.2005 (534 KB)

A (1396 KB) Slide show giving background information is also available.

---

This Document covers plans for FP7 as a DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT AND OF THE COUNCIL concerning the seventh framework programme of the European Community for research, technological development and demonstration activities (2007 to 2013)

The following information is extracted from the proposal.

Programmes

The 7th Framework Programme will be organised in four specific programmes, corresponding to four major objectives of European research policy:

Cooperation - Support will be given to the whole range of research activities carried out in transnational cooperation, from collaborative projects and networks to the coordination of research programmes. International cooperation between the EU and third countries is an integral part of this action.

Ideas - An autonomous European Research Council will be created to support investigator driven "frontier research" carried out by individual teams competing at the European level, in all scientific and technological fields.

People - The activities supporting training and career development of researchers, referred to as "Marie Curie" actions, will be reinforced with a better focus on the key aspects of skills and career development and strengthened links with national systems.

Capacities - Key aspects of European research and innovation capacities will be supported as research infrastructures; research for the benefit of SMEs; regional research driven clusters; unlocking the full research potential in the EU's "convergence" regions; "Science in Society" issues; horizontal" activities of international co-operation. In addition, there will be a specific programme for the non-nuclear actions of the Joint Research Centre.

Themes

The nine themes identified for the "Cooperation" part are:

• 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 the Humanities;
• Security and Space.

Budget

The maximum overall amount for Community financial participation in this seventh Framework Programme shall be EUR 72726 million. That amount shall be distributed among the activities and actions referred to in paragraphs 2 to 6 of Article 2 as follows (in EUR million): Cooperation 44432; Ideas 11862; People 7129; Capacities 7486; Non-nuclear actions of the Joint Research Centre 1817

The indicative breakdown among programmes is as follows (in EUR million): Cooperation 44432; Health 8317; Food, Agriculture and Biotechnology 2455; Information and Communication Technologies 12670; Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials and new Production Technologies 4832; Energy 2931; Environment (including Climate Change) 2535; Transport (including Aeronautics) 5940; Socio-economic Sciences and the Humanities 792; Security and Space 3960

Activities

The above sums of money will be used to support actions which will mainly be implemented on the basis of calls for proposals of the following types:

Collaborative projects - Support to research projects carried out by consortia with participants from different countries, aiming at developing new knowledge, new technology, products or common resources for research.

Networks of Excellence - Support to joint research programmes implemented by a number of research organisations integrating their activities in a given field, carried out by research teams in the framework of longer term co-operation.

Coordination and support actions - Support to activities aimed at coordinating or supporting research activities and policies (networking, exchanges, trans-national access to research infrastructures, studies, conferences, etc).

Individual projects - Support to projects carried out by individual research teams.

Support for training and career development of researchers - Support for training and career development of researchers, mainly used for the implementation of the Marie Curie actions.

Research for the benefit of specific groups (in particular SMEs) - Support to research projects where the bulk of the research is carried out by universities, research centres or other legal entities, for the benefit of specific groups, in particular SMEs or associations of SMEs.

Activities relevant to renewable bioproducts

Areas where relevant projects might be funded include the following (Note: these texts have been abstracted to highlight areas related to the interests of EPOBIO and BioMatNet, each section will also support a much wider range of project topics as detailed in the full text

Food, agriculture and biotechnology: Building a European Knowledge Based Bio-Economy (includes all industries and economic sectors that produce, manage and otherwise exploit biological resources and related services, supply or consumer industries, such as agriculture, food, fisheries, forestry, etc.) by bringing together science, industry and other stakeholders, to exploit new and emerging research opportunities that address social and economic challenges: the growing demand for safer healthier and higher quality food and for sustainable use and production of renewable bio-resources; the increasing risk of epizootic and zoonotic diseases and food related disorders; threats to the sustainability and security of agricultural production resulting in particular from climate change; and the increasing demand for high quality food, taking into account animal welfare and rural contexts. This includes

• Sustainable production and management of biological resources from land, forest, and aquatic environments: Enabling research, including 'omics' technologies, such as genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, systems biology and converging technologies for micro-organisms, plants and animals, including exploitation of their biodiversity; improved crops and production systems, including organic farming, quality production schemes and GMO impacts; sustainable, competitive and multifunctional agriculture, and forestry; rural development; animal welfare, breeding and production; plant health; sustainable and competitive fisheries and aquaculture; infectious diseases in animals, including zoonoses; safe disposal of animal waste; conservation, management and exploitation of living aquatic resources, developing the tools needed by policy makers and other actors in agriculture and rural development (landscape, land management practices etc.).
• Life sciences and biotechnology for sustainable non-food products and processes: Improved crops, feed-stocks, marine products and biomass (including marine resources) for energy, environment, and high added value products such as materials and chemicals, including novel farming systems, bio-processes and bio-refinery concepts; bio-catalysis; forestry and forest based products and processes; environmental remediation and cleaner processing.

Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials and new Production Technologies: Improve the competitiveness of European industry and ensure its transformation from a resource-intensive to a knowledge-intensive industry, by generating breakthrough knowledge for new applications at the crossroads between different technologies and disciplines.

• Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies - Generating new knowledge on interface and size dependent phenomena; nano-scale control of material properties for new applications; integration of technologies at the nano-scale; self-assembling properties; nano-motors; nano-machines and nano-systems; methods and tools for characterisation and manipulation at nano dimensions; nano and high-precision technologies in chemistry; impact on human safety, health and the environment; metrology, nomenclature and standards; exploration of new concepts and approaches for sectoral applications, including the integration and convergence of emerging technologies.
• Materials - Generating new knowledge on high-performance materials for new products and processes; knowledge-based materials with tailored properties; more reliable design and simulation; higher complexity; environmental compatibility; integration of nanomolecular- macro levels in the chemical technology and materials processing industries; new nano-materials, bio-materials and hybrid materials, including design and control of their processing.
• New Production - Creating conditions and assets for knowledge-intensive production, including construction, development and validation of new paradigms responding to emerging industrial needs; development of generic production assets for adaptive, networked and knowledge-based production; development of new engineering concepts exploiting the convergence of technologies (eg, nano, bio, info, cognitive and their engineering requirements) for the next generation of high value-added products and services, and adaptation to the changing needs.

Energy: Transforming the current fossil-fuel based energy system into a more sustainable one based on a diverse portfolio of energy sources and carriers combined with enhanced energy efficiency, to address the pressing challenges of security of supply and climate change, whilst increasing the competitiveness of Europe's energy industries.

• Hydrogen and fuel cells - Integrated action to provide a strong technological foundation for competitive EU fuel cell and hydrogen industries, for stationary, portable and transport applications. The Hydrogen and Fuel Cells European Technology Platform helps this activity by proposing an integrated research and deployment strategy.
• Renewable electricity generation Technologies to increase overall conversion efficiency, driving down the cost of electricity production from indigenous renewable energy sources, and the development and the demonstration of technologies suited to different regional conditions.
• Renewable fuel production Integrated conversion technologies: to develop and drive down the unit cost of solid, liquid and gaseous (including hydrogen) fuels produced from renewable energy sources, aiming at the cost-effective production and use of carbon-neutral fuels, in particular liquid biofuels for transport.

Environment (including Climate Change):

• Sustainable management of the environment and its resources through advancing our knowledge on the interactions between the biosphere, ecosystems and human activities, and developing new technologies, tools and services, in order to address in an integrated way global environmental issues . Emphasis will be put on prediction of climate, ecological, earth and ocean systems changes; on tools and technologies for monitoring, prevention and mitigation of environmental pressures and risks including on health, as well as for the conservation of the natural and man-made environment.
• Environmental Technologies - Environmental technologies for observation, prevention, mitigation, adaptation, remediation and restoration of the natural and man-made environment: related to water, climate, air, marine, urban and rural environment, soil, waste treatment, recycling, clean production processes, chemicals safety, protection of cultural heritage and of the built environment as well as technology assessment, verification and testing: methods and tools for environmental risk and lifecycle assessment of processes, technologies and products; support for sustainable chemistry, water supply and sanitation; scientific and technological aspects of a future European environmental technologies verification and testing programme.

Transport (including Aeronautics): Based on technological advances, developintegrated, "greener" and "smarter" pan-European transport systems for the benefit of the citizen and society, respecting the environment and natural resources; and securing and further developing the leading role attained by the European industries in the global market. This includes

• The greening of surface transport: reduction of environmental and noise pollution; development of clean and efficient engines, including hybrid technology and the use of alternative fuels for transport applications; end of life strategies for vehicles and vessels.

Click to display Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) - Overview Items relating to:

Background Information
FP7 ERA-Net (European Research Area)
FP7 Energy
FP7 Environment
FP7 IDEAS - The European Research Council (ERC)
FP7 Knowledge Based Bio-Economy (KBBE)
FP7 Nanotechnologies, Materials and Production Technologies (NMP)