The 7th European Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development

Researchers in Switzerland from SMEs, industry as well as academia are equally eligible to participate at the European Framework Programme (FP) for research and development as researchers from any European member state. The 7^th FP will last from the end of 2006- 2013, during which time calls for proposals will be published on a regular (often yearly) basis inviting research project proposals in specific thematic areas. For each published call there is a detailed work programme stating exactly which research topics will be funded. The themes have been devised in the light of political debate, expert advice, and public consultation. They are not structured from the starting point of traditional research disciplines, but as strategic themes that will be achieved through combinations of scientific disciplines of different nations. A proposal submission in order to perform any type of action or project must be related to a call. Calls are published official invitations for researchers to submit project proposals for a specific area of the Framework Programme by a specific date. The work programme related to a call specifies very clearly what is required. Proposals that do not meet the specifications in the call have very few chances to be evaluated positively. However the overall success rate for proposal submissions is about 25%.

 

In FP7 the thematic areas that will be funded with the biggest budgets are: Information Communication and Technology (ICT), Health, Transport and Nanotechnology, of which all but Transport is of interest to the Swiss Biotech and Medtech community. In the thematic priority 1,

“Health”  http://www.euresearch.ch/?id=67

the overall objectives will be to improve the health of European citizens, to increase the competitiveness of European health-related industries and businesses, as well as to address global health issues including emerging epidemics. “Health” will be subdivided into three main areas of activity. The first main area is biotechnology, generic tools and technologies for human health. It particularly includes high-throughput research, such as fundamental genomics, sequencing and bioinformatics, as well as the improvement of detection, diagnosis and monitoring resulting in less invasive therapies. The second main area in “Health” will be the transposing of the knowledge of biological processes and mechanisms involved in normal health and in specific disease situations into clinical applications. The focus will be on systems biology integrating a wide variety of biological data and developing system approaches in order to understand and model biological processes. Research on anti-microbial drug resistance, brain diseases, HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB are just a few disease areas that will be open for research. Other major diseases in which research will be strongly encouraged are cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity and other chronic non-lethal diseases with a high impact on the quality of life at old age such as functional and sensory impairment. The third main area will be the optimization of the delivery of health care to European citizens. This area includes the enhancement of health promotion and disease prevention, focussing on health determinants and their interactions.

 Also of interest to the Medtech and Biotech community of Switzerland is the priority

"Information Communication Technology" (ICT) http://www.euresearch.ch/?id=112

which will cover topics such as the development of personal non-obtrusive systems that enable citizens to manage their well-being (e.g. wearable or implantable monitoring devices); emerging techniques such as molecular imaging for improved prevention; individualised medicine as well as modelling and simulation of organ functions and micro- and nano-robotic devices for minimally invasive surgical and therapeutic applications. Furthermore a joint “Health” and ICT call in the international Human Frontier Science Programme (HFSP) is planned. Another priority not to forget is

"Nanotechnology" http://www.euresearch.ch/?id=135

Mainly three areas are of interest in this context: 1. Nanotechnology-based diagnostics including imaging, 2. Targeted drug delivery and release and 3. Regenerative medicine. Research topics in the priority

“Food, Agriculture and Biotechnology” http://www.euresearch.ch/?id=131

may also be of interest, especially 2 areas: 1. “fork to farm: food, health and well being” focuses on dietary factors and habits as a major controllable factor in the development of diet-related diseases and disorders. Nutrigenomics and systems biology will be strongly supported. The 2nd area is “life sciences and biotechnology for sustainable non-food products and processes” aiming at developing advanced technologies for terrestrial or marine biomass production for applications in energy and industry. This will include plant, animal and microbial genomics and metabolomics.

For more information on FP7 or specific questions regarding how to actually find partners and/or submit an EU proposal the free of cost services from Euresearch, the Swiss Information Network for EU Research Programmes, are available. Our services include Motivation, Information and Advise on FP7. Do not hesitate to contact us at www.euresearch.ch.

 

 

 

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