What is an ERA-NET?*
Q: What is an ERA-NET? A: An ERA-NET project is a network of national ministries or agencies that run national programmes in different areas of science and technology (S&T). This scheme was designed to promote the coordination of such national programmes in European countries in order to support the development of the European Research Area. The European Research Area is a political concept endorsed by the European Parliament and Council, which aims to bring coherence to Europe's efforts in research and innovation. The ERA-NET scheme is mostly addressed at national bodies; that is, programme owners, programme funders or organisations acting on their behalf. The particular objectives of an ERA-NET are: To provide for information exchange between the entities involved; and to define, prepare, implement, fund and support joint research activities. Through joint calls devised and agreed upon by the partners of a given ERA-NET, researchers from the partners' countries may submit proposals on selected topics. All the coordination processes undertaken in the definition of these calls-evaluation procedures, decision-making on the selected projects, and follow-up-are decided upon within the structures of the ERA-NET consortium. It is important to note that the funding of the selected projects is provided by the national agencies themselves, which previously define their financial commitments. The FP7 funding for ERA-NET projects is purely for the running of the network. In other words, if national agencies wish to launch a call for transnational research projects, they have to draw upon their own budgets. What is the duration of an ERA-NET? Typically three-to-four years. An example of an ERA-NET launched in 2009 is the Black Sea BS-ERA.NET-January 2009 to September 2011. Q: The call FP7-ERA-NET-2010-RTD (launched in July 2009) is coordinated across five themes of the FP7 Cooperation Specific Programme. What does this mean for participants interested in the activities of ERANETs and who may wish to submit a proposal? A: This means that proposals for an ERA-NET can be submitted within the remit of the following thematic areas: Environment (including Climate Change); Health; Food, Agriculture and Fisheries and Biotechnology; Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials and Production Technologies; and Transport (including Aeronautics). The partners in such an ERA-NET are typically at least three independent legal entities. Each of these partners must be established in a different EU Member State or Associated Country. Q: To what extent are African research and policy institutions eligible to participate in activities under FP7 ERA-NET calls? A: This particular call (FP7-ERA-NET-2010-RTD) is not addressed to African institutions directly, though it may happen that the selected ERA-NETs might decide to approach non-European countries for joint activities via the joint calls elaborated within the ERA-NET. But African institutions would not be eligible to be partners in ERA-NET consortia. The thematic ERA-NETs mentioned above should be distinguished from INCO ERA-NETS, which I will elaborate on below. In the area of International Cooperation under the FP7 Capacities Specific Programme there is a call for an ERA-NET addressed specifically to Africa. This is a very special case of an ERA-NET that might include non-European institutions under certain conditions. It is important to note that there are but a few of these very special types of ERA-NETs oriented to non-European regions. Q: How are ERA-NET projects distinguished from other FP7 project models? A: ERA-NETs are neither research projects nor demonstration projects. As mentioned, ERA-NETs are essentially networks of national ministries, agencies or institutions that collaborate to exchange information, and prepare and implement coordinated activities, namely joint calls within the network so that research projects might be funded by national agencies in a coordinated way. The big difference between ERA-NETs and INCO-NETs (like CAAST-Net) is the fact that an ERA-NET is more about the coordination of programme owners or managers, and less about bi-regional dialogue, the promotion of regional participation in the Framework Programmes and the definition of mutual research priorities, which is the particular focus of an INCO-NET. SICAs (Specific International Cooperation Actions) are research projects in the thematic priority areas of the FP7 Cooperation Specific Programme. Q: A number of SICAs, for example, are funded under the so-called FP7 Africa call (FP7-AFRICA-2010) with a particular focus on areas such as health and the environment. How will ERA-NETs like the ERA-NET targeted at Africa in 2010 (INCO 2010-3.1 Africa) support sub-Saharan Africa-EU bi-regional cooperation?* A: The International ERA-NETs are explicitly targeted at a specific region of the world. And there are just a few: Africa, Russia, India, China, the Western Balkans, Latin America and the Black Sea region. This second type of ERA-NET may show important synergies with INCONETs such as CAAST-Net, and in this way support bi-regional cooperation. In particular, the ERA-NET for Africa will contribute to the coordination of existing or new European national or regional programmes with programmes in the countries and regions of Africa. In particular, it could address the critical areas such as health, climate change, energy, water and food security. It should also help the implementation of the 8th Partnership of the Joint Africa-EU Strategy. *Interview with Mr. José Bonfim of the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology.
Q: What is an ERA-NET? A: An ERA-NET project is a network of national ministries or agencies that run national programmes in different areas of science and technology (S&T). This scheme was designed to promote the coordination of such national programmes in European countries in order to support the development of the European Research Area. The European Research Area is a political concept endorsed by the European Parliament and Council, which aims to bring coherence to Europe's efforts in research and innovation. The ERA-NET scheme is mostly addressed at national bodies; that is, programme owners, programme funders or organisations acting on their behalf. The particular objectives of an ERA-NET are: To provide for information exchange between the entities involved; and to define, prepare, implement, fund and support joint research activities. Through joint calls devised and agreed upon by the partners of a given ERA-NET, researchers from the partners' countries may submit proposals on selected topics. All the coordination processes undertaken in the definition of these calls-evaluation procedures, decision-making on the selected projects, and follow-up-are decided upon within the structures of the ERA-NET consortium. It is important to note that the funding of the selected projects is provided by the national agencies themselves, which previously define their financial commitments. The FP7 funding for ERA-NET projects is purely for the running of the network. In other words, if national agencies wish to launch a call for transnational research projects, they have to draw upon their own budgets. What is the duration of an ERA-NET? Typically three-to-four years. An example of an ERA-NET launched in 2009 is the Black Sea BS-ERA.NET-January 2009 to September 2011. Q: The call FP7-ERA-NET-2010-RTD (launched in July 2009) is coordinated across five themes of the FP7 Cooperation Specific Programme. What does this mean for participants interested in the activities of ERANETs and who may wish to submit a proposal? A: This means that proposals for an ERA-NET can be submitted within the remit of the following thematic areas: Environment (including Climate Change); Health; Food, Agriculture and Fisheries and Biotechnology; Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials and Production Technologies; and Transport (including Aeronautics). The partners in such an ERA-NET are typically at least three independent legal entities. Each of these partners must be established in a different EU Member State or Associated Country. Q: To what extent are African research and policy institutions eligible to participate in activities under FP7 ERA-NET calls? A: This particular call (FP7-ERA-NET-2010-RTD) is not addressed to African institutions directly, though it may happen that the selected ERA-NETs might decide to approach non-European countries for joint activities via the joint calls elaborated within the ERA-NET. But African institutions would not be eligible to be partners in ERA-NET consortia. The thematic ERA-NETs mentioned above should be distinguished from INCO ERA-NETS, which I will elaborate on below. In the area of International Cooperation under the FP7 Capacities Specific Programme there is a call for an ERA-NET addressed specifically to Africa. This is a very special case of an ERA-NET that might include non-European institutions under certain conditions. It is important to note that there are but a few of these very special types of ERA-NETs oriented to non-European regions. Q: How are ERA-NET projects distinguished from other FP7 project models? A: ERA-NETs are neither research projects nor demonstration projects. As mentioned, ERA-NETs are essentially networks of national ministries, agencies or institutions that collaborate to exchange information, and prepare and implement coordinated activities, namely joint calls within the network so that research projects might be funded by national agencies in a coordinated way. The big difference between ERA-NETs and INCO-NETs (like CAAST-Net) is the fact that an ERA-NET is more about the coordination of programme owners or managers, and less about bi-regional dialogue, the promotion of regional participation in the Framework Programmes and the definition of mutual research priorities, which is the particular focus of an INCO-NET. SICAs (Specific International Cooperation Actions) are research projects in the thematic priority areas of the FP7 Cooperation Specific Programme. Q: A number of SICAs, for example, are funded under the so-called FP7 Africa call (FP7-AFRICA-2010) with a particular focus on areas such as health and the environment. How will ERA-NETs like the ERA-NET targeted at Africa in 2010 (INCO 2010-3.1 Africa) support sub-Saharan Africa-EU bi-regional cooperation?* A: The International ERA-NETs are explicitly targeted at a specific region of the world. And there are just a few: Africa, Russia, India, China, the Western Balkans, Latin America and the Black Sea region. This second type of ERA-NET may show important synergies with INCONETs such as CAAST-Net, and in this way support bi-regional cooperation. In particular, the ERA-NET for Africa will contribute to the coordination of existing or new European national or regional programmes with programmes in the countries and regions of Africa. In particular, it could address the critical areas such as health, climate change, energy, water and food security. It should also help the implementation of the 8th Partnership of the Joint Africa-EU Strategy. *Interview with Mr. José Bonfim of the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology.
Version 12.1 last modified by CAAST-Net Editor on 17/03/2011 at 13:01
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