Consequently, those organisations in countries that contribute to the budget are assured funding for their FP7 participation.
For those organizations in countries that don’t contribute to the budget, like NZ, the possibilities for funding are linked to a small pot of funds for international co-operation. Although the international possibility for international co-operation with third countries is now an integral part of each of the Co-operation themes, there is a small amount of budget that has been specially earmarked to fund third country participation.
In practice, this means that funding for NZ participation is very limited but not impossible. Essentially, for a NZ organization to have a strong possibility of EC funding from FP7, either NZ should be mentioned in the workprogramme (see point 2 above), or else the NZ research should be a novel addition to the project. Therefore, where NZers are involved in a proposal, they should identify the unique skills brought to the project and the budget requested, although there is a strong possibility that this budget might be cut at evaluation/contract negotiation.
In any event, with the exceptions of fellowships and management costs, and flat-rate funded projects, the maximum funding rates for ANY organization (from Europe or not) are:
Remember, the EC is paying for the additional benefit to Europe of the ‘networking/consolidating research’ and so partners are expected to match the EC contribution with their own existing funding sources, whether in cold, hard cash, or in kind.
In September 2009, the European Commission developed the following information note, specifically related to the participation of third country organisations in FP7. This document explains, in simple terms, that NZ organisations can participate in FP7 projects but that the possibility of funding is as an exception to normal circumstances. The document also indicates the necessary criteria that must be fulfilled to allow EC funds to flow to NZ.
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There is no additional national funding source that can be directly used to fund NZ participation in the Framework Programme. The non-exhaustive list below identifies just some of the existing NZ funding schemes that could be utilized in participating in FP7 activities include:
These travel funds, administered by the Royal Society of New Zealand (RSNZ), could potentially be used to develop a proposal partnership, or perhaps to attend FP7 project meetings. Further information on this fund is available on the RSNZ website.
Administered by the Foundation for Research, Science and Technology (FRST) or the Health Research Council (HRC), depending on the research field in question, this programme funds research projects for up to three years with the aim of building international research collaborations. The IIOF programme could be used to leverage European funding through the Framework Programme, but the issue of the timeliness of any proposal may be problematic in some circumstances.
Further information on IIOF is available at the FRST website or on the HRC website.
Providing that the objectives and outcomes of the FP7 activity broadly align with those of an existing programme grant from either FRST or HRC, it may be possible to renegotiate that programme grant to take account of your participation in a Framework project. This will not normally involve any additional monies, and agreement on renegotiation will be on a case by case basis. Please contact your business manager for further information and assistance in this matter.
* According to the formal definition, third countries are any country which is not a Member State. This gives rise to a three tier system:
1. Member States 2. Associated third countries 3. Other third countries
Since both 1 and 2 contribute to the budget, and are both eligible for funding, I have combined them for simplicity.