On the 30th July the European Union launched the 4th call for proposals for its €50 billion 7th Framework Research Programme (2007-2013). The call announces a suite of collaborative research funding opportunities under a number of Thematic Programmes.
Full details of the call are available on the EU's Cordis website:
http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/dc/index.cfm?fuseaction=UserSite.FP7CallsPage&rs
Irish marine researchers are currently participating in 22 collaborative FP7 projects supported under the first two calls (2007-2008) and drawing down grant-aid in excess of €8.8 million. A further nine projects (worth over €2.8 million in grant-aid) under the Third Call are currently under contract negotiation.
Full details of the 22 marine projects with Irish participation can be found in the Marine Institute's FP7 Marine Directory.
Deadlines of interest to marine researchers:
- Theme 9: Security 26th November 2009
- Research for the Benefit of SMEs. 3rd December 2009
- Capacities Programme : Infrastructures-1 3rd December 2009
- Theme 10: Space. 8th December 2009
- Theme 6: Environment including Climate Change 5th January 2010
- Theme 2: Food, Agriculture, Fisheries & Biotechnology 14th January 2010
- Theme 7: Transport 14th January 2010
- The Ocean of Tomorrow Programme 14th January 2010
- Regions of Knowledge: 14th January 2010
- International Co-operation Activities (INCO) 19th January 2010
- Theme 5: Energy 4th March 2010
Among the topics and projects of specific interest to marine researchers are:
Theme 2: Food, Agriculture, Fisheries & Biotechnology
(Deadline 14th January 2010)
- Using results-based management to achieve CFP objectives.
- Understanding of the basic mechanisms involved in coping strategies of fish towards improvement of welfare.
- Improving European mollusc aquaculture: disease detection and management.
- Improving research in support to scientific advice to fisheries management in the Mediterranean and Black Seas.
- Approaches towards bioremediation of the Mediterranean Sea by exploring its microbial diversity.
- Sustainable culture of marine microorganisms, algae and/or invertebrates for high added value products.
- Modification of marine or freshwater algae to better suit industrial applications.
- Innovative aquatic biosensors.
- Microbial diversity and metagenomic mining for biotechnological innovation.
- Learning from research projects: specific dissemination action to potential users in marine genomics.
See also Food quality, safety and nutrition
Theme 5: Energy
(Deadline: 4th March 2010).
- Cross-sectoral approach to the development of very large offshore wind turbines.
- Support to the coordination of stakeholders' activities in the field of wind energy.
- Biofuels from algae (up to 3 projects).
Theme 6: Environment including Climate Change
(Deadline: 5th January 2010).
- Atmospheric chemistry and climate change interactions.
- Changes in carbon uptake and emissions by oceans in a changing climate.
- Underpinning work to enable provision of local scale climate information (annual to decadal timescales).
- Impact of ocean acidification in the Mediterranean in a changing climate.
- North Atlantic Ocean and associated shelf-seas protection and management options.
- Global plankton data set building in view of modeling.
- Development of technologies for long-term carbon sequestration.
- Reduction of the use of animals in eco-toxicological safety testing.
- Supporting the integration of European and international R&D programmes in GEO
- Building observational datasets for the predictability of global atmospheric, oceanic and terrestrial processes using reanalysis techniques
- Integrating new data visualisation approaches of earth Systems into GEOSS development.
Theme 7: Transport
(Deadline: 14th January 2010).
- Carbon footprint of freight transport.
- Energy efficiency of ships.
- Advanced after treatment solutions for mitigation of emissions from ships.
- Transport modelling for policy impact assessments.
- Efficient interfaces between transport modes.
- Safety and security by design in transport stations and terminals.
- Improved through-life asset management through application of advanced production, retrofit and dismantling processes.
- Upgraded maritime transport information management.
- ERA-NET MARTEC II.
- Demand/supply management and logistics for transport of passengers through increased co-modality and understanding of social behavior.
Theme 9: Security
(Deadline: 26th November 2009).
- European-wide integrated maritime border control system - Phase II.
- Monitoring and tracking of shipping containers.
See also other aspects of security and crisis management.
Theme 10: Space.
(Deadline: 8th December 2009)
Space-based applications at the service of European Society / Integration, harmonisation, use and delivery of GMES data:
- Stimulating the development of downstream GMES services.
- Stimulating the development of services.
- Contributing to the "S" in GMES - Developing pre-operational service capabilities for Maritime Surveillance.
- Fostering downstream activities and links with regions.
The Ocean of Tomorrow Programme
(Deadline: 14th January 2010)
This new initiative draws joint funding from Themes 2, 5, 6, 7 and 8.
- Quantification of climate change impacts on economic sectors in the Arctic.
- Vectors of changes in marine life, impact on economic sectors.
- Sub-seabed carbon storage and the marine environment.
Capacities Programme : Infrastructures-1
(Deadline : 3rd December 2009)
Support to existing infrastructures:
- Research Infrastructures for Atmospheric Research.
- Sites and experimental platforms for long-term ecosystem research.
- Research Infrastructures for Polar research.
- Research Infrastructures for Coastal Research, including for Integrated Coastal Zone Management and Planning.
- Research Infrastructures for offshore renewable energy devices: ocean-, current-, wave- and wind energy.
Support to new infrastructures
- European Carbon Dioxide and Storage Laboratory (ECCSEL).
- European Marine Biological Resource Centre (EMBRC)
NOTE:
In reading the above lists, interested parties should be aware that:
- The lists are not exhaustive and there may be other projects of interest under a specific theme.
- Thematic areas supported under the Ideas (European Research Council), People (Marie Curie) and Capacitates (including the SMEs) Programmes are generic or bottom-up and while marine may not be indicated as a specific target, marine projects are eligible and have been supported in the past.
- While the official launch date is/was 30th July, information on eligible topics has been in circulation for some time and well formed consortia bidding against specific projects may already be established.
For further information on any of the above Programmes, please contact the National Contact Point: http://www.fp7ireland.com/contacts.aspx
Other sources of useful information:
Details of projects supported under FP6 and some National Programmes (the EurOCEAN/MarinERA database):
http://marinedb.marinera.net/
Details of projects funded under FP7 for which contracts have been concluded: http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/projects_en.html