Malta gearing up for research opportunities
The Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST) is organising a half-day conference next Thursday entitled Research: Towards a Competitive Economy. This conference will serve as a platform for the official launch of the Seventh Framework Programme...
The Malta Council for Science and Technology (MCST) is organising a half-day conference next Thursday entitled Research: Towards a Competitive Economy. This conference will serve as a platform for the official launch of the Seventh Framework Programme for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration (FP7). Prime Minister Lawrence Gonzi will deliver the opening address.
The aim of this conference is to officially launch FP7 locally and to raise awareness of national and European research, and to discuss the measures that need to be taken in order to fully benefit from the opportunities that the programme will present. A number of success stories from the previous Framework Programme (FP6) will also be presented.
The European Commission is this year allocating €1.2 billion (Lm512 million) of EU funding to new information and communication technologies (ICT) research projects under FP7. This has led to the largest single call for proposals ever launched in the history of EU-funded research.
The MCST said Malta has been very active in the past Framework Programmes, with 44 projects and €3.1 million (Lm1.2 million) awarded to Maltese organisations during FP5 and with 108 project and €9.4 million (Lm4 million) awarded in FP6. To further build on this success, and to achieve a good level of involvement in the first calls for proposals, it is in the interest of the Maltese academia, private sector and government entities to fully understand the workings of this programme.
This first call for proposals for ICT projects under FP7 was launched on December 22 and will close on May 8. Project participation is open to all organisations in Europe and beyond. Project consortia must submit a joint proposal which will then be evaluated by independent panels of experts. The quality of the proposals determines whether they will be successful.
More information on FP7 at www.mcst.org.mt. To register for this conference contact Michael Refalo, michael.refalo@mcst.org.mt
The aim of this conference is to officially launch FP7 locally and to raise awareness of national and European research, and to discuss the measures that need to be taken in order to fully benefit from the opportunities that the programme will present. A number of success stories from the previous Framework Programme (FP6) will also be presented.
The European Commission is this year allocating €1.2 billion (Lm512 million) of EU funding to new information and communication technologies (ICT) research projects under FP7. This has led to the largest single call for proposals ever launched in the history of EU-funded research.
The MCST said Malta has been very active in the past Framework Programmes, with 44 projects and €3.1 million (Lm1.2 million) awarded to Maltese organisations during FP5 and with 108 project and €9.4 million (Lm4 million) awarded in FP6. To further build on this success, and to achieve a good level of involvement in the first calls for proposals, it is in the interest of the Maltese academia, private sector and government entities to fully understand the workings of this programme.
This first call for proposals for ICT projects under FP7 was launched on December 22 and will close on May 8. Project participation is open to all organisations in Europe and beyond. Project consortia must submit a joint proposal which will then be evaluated by independent panels of experts. The quality of the proposals determines whether they will be successful.
More information on FP7 at www.mcst.org.mt. To register for this conference contact Michael Refalo, michael.refalo@mcst.org.mt