Funding, News and Announcements

The European Commission’s Horizon 2020 program serves as the main financial tool through which the EU supports research and development activities covering almost all scientific disciplines.  Though projects and other activities funded by Horizon 2020 must be led by EU partners (in consortia comprising a minimum of 3 EU institutions), international collaboration with third countries such as Canada is actively encouraged.  Canadians can be eligible for EU financial support, although the EU proponents must make a convincing case that the Canadian contribution to a particular research project is essential to the project’s success, and that the expertise brought by the Canadians cannot be found within the EU.

Last week, a series of calls was announced for Horizon 2020’s various Work Programmes for 2016-17.  The folllowing programmes will be of most interest to researchers:

Industrial Leadership Pillar
·         Information and Communication Technologies
·         Nanotechnologies, Advanced Materials, Biotechnology and Production
·         Space

Societal Challenges Pillar
·         Health, demographic social change and wellbeing
    o    continued grant to the Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases (which coordinates with CIHR)
·         Food security, Sustainable Agriculture and Forestry, Marine and Maritime and Inland Water Research and the Bioeconomy
    o    SFS-39-2017: How to tackle the childhood obesity epidemic?
    o    BG-09-2016: An integrated Arctic observation system
    o    BG-10-2016: Impact of Arctic changes on the weather and climate of the Northern Hemisphere
    o    BG-11-2017: The effect of climate change on Arctic permafrost and its socio-economic impact, with a focus on coastal areas
·         Secure, clean and efficient energy
·         Smart, green and integrated transport
    o    MG-3.2-2017: Protection of all road users in crashes
    o    MG-3.5-2016: Behavioural aspects for safer transport
·         Climate action, environment, resource efficiency and raw materials
·         Europe in changing world – inclusive, innovative and reflective societies
·         Secure societies

The italicised calls above are those which have specifically indicated that Canadians should be included in project consortia.

Click here to view a press release with details of the new Work Programmes (valued in total at nearly 16 million euro), and links to the calls themselves.

Dal faculty working in these areas, who have existing collaborative relationships with colleagues in the EU, are encouraged to investigate whether any of the calls might provide an opportunity for a proposal they have in mind with their European partners.  If so, the next step would be to contact their European counterparts to signal their interest in collaborating on these proposals.

As these are large and complex initiatives, interested faculty are strongly encouraged to contact the International Research Facilitator (jennifer.morawiecki@dal.ca) to register their interest and to obtain additional information.