Research*EU Magazine | Number 27 (November 2013)

Spotlight on international cooperation under FP7

Summary:

When it comes to climate change, space exploration or even consumer protection, in an increasingly interdependent world with limited resources, pooling expertise from different countries has become a must — and science is no exception. The EU’s Research Framework Programmes, such as the soon-to-end FP7 or the upcoming Horizon 2020, are often thought of as being limited to EU Member States and, perhaps, Associated Countries. But many projects involve participants from outside these regions where it makes sense from a scientific or economic perspective. The objective is threefold: supporting European competitiveness through strategic partnerships; enhancing knowledge and scientific excellence of European firms and institutions via access to external research environments; and addressing specific problems either faced by third countries or global in character, on the basis of mutual interest and mutual benefit.

This issue of the Research*EU results magazine gives the floor to projects building on these mutual benefits. We reveal how such projects cover the whole spectrum of science topics — from biology and medicine to social sciences, energy, transport, space, ICT and industrial technologies — even in fields where most people might think competition is more important than cooperation.

Contents:

Energy

Digital Economy

Industrial Technologies

Climate Change and Environment