"Building the European Research Area of Knowledge for Growth"

The complete name of FP7 is 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development. It will last for seven years from 2007 until 2013. The programme has a total budget of over € 50 billion.

This money will (for the most part) be spent on grants to research actors all over Europe and beyond, in order to co-finance research, technological development and demonstration projects. Grants are determined on the basis of calls for proposals and a peer review process, which are highly competitive.

In order to complement national research programmes, activities funded from FP7 must have a "European added value". One key aspect of the European added value is the transnationality of many actions: research projects are carried out by consortia which include participants from different European (and other) countries; fellowships in FP7 require mobility over national borders. Indeed, many research challenges (e.g. fusion research, etc), are so complex that they can only be addressed at European level.

But in FP7 there is also a new action for "individual teams" with no obligation for transnational cooperation. In this case, the "European added value" lies in raising the competition between scientists in fundamental "frontier" research from the national to the European level.

FP7 is the natural successor to the previous programme, FP6. It is the result of years of consultation with the research community from both the public and private sectors, with economic actors, and with political decision makers in Europe.

FP7 is both larger and more comprehensive than its predecessors. It is also more flexible, with simplified procedures.

The Framework Programmes for Research have two main strategic objectives:

• to strengthen the scientific and technological base of European industry;
• to encourage its international competiti veness, while promoting research that supports EU policies.

How to find your way through

In all EU Member States, in the countries associated with FP7 and in several other countries, National Contact Points ("NCPs") have been set up to give personalized help and advice to researchers and organisations intending to participate. The NCP's job is it to point you to the part of FP7 that might be of interest to you and to help you with your application.