Saturday, July 31, 2010
Structure

FP7 is composed of four key elements (aka Specific Programmes):

Co-operation

Budget: 32,365 million Euros

Aim: to address issues of fragmentation in research across Europe

Mechanism: Major collaborative research, networking and support activities bringing together multi-disciplinary, multi-sectoral, multi-national consortia to respond to a prescribed workprogramme of projects to address the economic, environmental, public health and industrial challenges that face Europe in its bid to become the most dynamic knowledge based economy. Ten research themes identified as priorities, as illustrated in the programme structure below.

Ideas

Budget: 7,460 million Euros

Aim: to address the need for competition between European research teams

Mechanism: Successive Framework Programmes have encouraged the best European research teams to collaborate. However, if was felt that if Europe wants to increase the excellence of its best research teams, a new mechanism was needed. Through the FP7 Ideas programme, the European Research Council (ERC) will seek to encourage the best researchers in Europe to compete against each other, across borders to carry out high-risk, high-impact, frontier research.

People

Budget: 4,728 million Euros

Aim: to address the need for more and better trained researchers in Europe

Mechanism: Building on the experiences of the Marie Curie Actions in previous Framework Programmes, the People programme aims to promote excellence in research training and offer researchers the best opportunities for career development from through international mobility and transfer of knowledge between countries and sectors. 

Capacities

Budget: 4,217 million Euros

Aim: to address the need to consider social and policy issues both in and through research

Mechanism: Through a seven point programme brings together various activities to structure the European research landscape. The Capacities programme includes activities toward the development of European research infrastructures; to better link SMEs to research providers; to enhance networking at both regional and international co-operation levels; to better integrate issues of society and science; and to provide overall support to policy development.

 A detailed breakdown of the areas included in each of the specific programmes is provided below, with links to relevant pages on each activity.