FP7 OVERHEADS LEAFLET PUBLISHED
Indirect Costs (also known as Overheads) can be claimed in FP7 Projects in addition to any Direct Costs. For R&D projects and
Networks of Excellence, Beneficiaries must select one of the following overhead Calculation methods: 20% flat rate, 60% derogation rate or Actual Costs. The EC preference is that overheads are calculated either via the Simplified or Analytical Accounting method described in the “Guide to Financial Issues relating to FP7 Indirect Actions”. Both of these methods are known as “Actual Costs” calculations of overheads.
The Finance Helpdesk has produced a leaflet which explains:
- The different overhead methods;
- The difference between Simplified and Analytical accounting methods;
- Correctly applying Overhead Rates to FP7 R&D projects.

More info: http://www.financehelpdesk.org/front/ShowArticle.aspx?ItemID=1219#Overheads

PROINNO EUROPE AND EUROPE INNOVA CALLS LAUNCHED
PRO INNO Europe call was published on 12 November 2008, and concerns the setting up of INNO-Nets and INNO-Actions with a view to fostering transnational cooperation on support for innovation. The deadline for submission of proposals is 12 February 2009. PRO INNO Europe initiative contributes to closer cooperation between innovation policy makers and public support organisations at different levels with a view to contributing to the development of new and better innovation policies in Europe.
The Europe INNOVA call was published on 11 November 2008 and concerns the setting-up of Innovation Platforms for transnational cluster cooperation, knowledgeintensive services, eco-innovation and the promotion of novel tools and service
concepts for innovation support. The deadline for submission of proposals is 11 February 2009.
Europe INNOVA initiative is oriented towards the development and testing of new practical innovation support services for SMEs, notably start-ups, delivered in the field by platforms of partnerships between European innovation professionals in view of
their wider application. The overall objective is to accelerate innovation processes and thus to facilitate the commercialization of innovative products and services.

More info: http://ec.europa.eu/enterprise/funding/files/themes_2008/calls_prop.htm

FIRST EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT FOR ENTERPRISES
The event took place in Brussels, on 14th of October and was attended by more than 750 entrepreneurs. The main issues and problems facing today European companies of all size were discussed, such as current financial turmoil, implementation of the Small Business Act for Europe, international trade, climate change and demographic shifts. EUROCHAMBRES and its network of Chambers of Commerce have conveyed the results of the European Parliament of Enterprises to the French Presidency of the EU on the occasion of the European Council of 15 & 16 October.
They will continue to do so in all future discussion to make sure that entrepreneurs' views are heard. It is planned that such events will be repeated every 2 years.

More info: http://www.eurochambers.eu/Content/Default.asp?Pageid=122

PRACTICAL GUIDE TO EU FUNDING OPPORTUNITIES FOR RESEARCH AND INNOVATION PUBLISHED
EU support for RTDI is provided mainly through the Seventh Research Framework Programme, the Competitiveness and
Innovation Framework Programme and the Structural Funds. When operating individually, these three funding sources
already act as effective tools in support of RTDI. However, their value can be further enhanced by combining them. How
can this be done? The answer to this question is provided by the "Practical Guide to EU funding opportunities for Research and Innovation". In addition to practical information on combining the different funding sources, the guide includes a description of each fund, advice for policy makers and an innovative Checklist and Scorecard. These allow potential beneficiaries to quickly identify exactly how they can access European funding at every stage of a project.

More info: http://cordis.europa.eu/eu-funding-guide/home_en.html

5th ERASME CALL FOR PROPOSALS OPEN
The 5th call for trans-national projects of the EraSME partnership did open on December 8, 2008.

EraSME strives to strengthen the market position of SMEs in search of enhanced access to research capacities by establishing a fruitful cooperation with research and technology organisations (RTOs) on an international level. Conversely, RTOs are
given the opportunity to benefit from business expertise of SMEs.
Funding possibilities will be offered to two project formats, in either case the consortium must involve at least two countries: smaller trans-national co-operation projects (at least two SMEs and one RTO).
This call will be open to cooperation proposals in all fields of technology. Funding possibilities are given for projects from the following countries/regions: Austria, Czech Republic, Flanders/Belgium, France, Germany, Iceland, Ireland, Italy/Tuscany, the
Netherlands, Slovenia, Spain/Madrid and Sweden.

Closing date of the call will be March 31, 2009.
The EraSME2 project is an EU initiative covering research and innovation programmes from 17 countries/regions and funded by the 7th R&D EU Framework Programme under the ERA-NET scheme. The projects will be funded by the respective national
funding programmes.

More info: http://www.era-sme.net

FP6 FINAL REVIEW - SUBSCRIPTION, IMPLEMENTATION, PARTICIPATION
The purpose of this report is to present final figures on FP6 implementation and participation, including success rates and time to contract (excluding Fusion contracts under Euratom). Where possible, the FP6 statistics are presented against the corresponding FP5 figures so that meaningful comparisons can be made.

More info: http://ec.europa.eu/research/fp6/index_en.cfm?p=0_docs

THE OUTCOME OF THE EUROSTARS SECOND CALL
The second call for the Eurostars SME research programme attracted over 300 proposals for projects by the
21 November 2008 cut-off date - 50% increase over the first call. Proposals involved more than 75% industrial
partners, with some 70% R&D performing SMEs. As with Call 1, the majority of projects covered three main areas:
information and communication technologies: biomedical and healthcare; and industrial manufacturing materials.
There was an average 3.5 partners per project with an average funding requirement of 2.9 million euro.

More info: http://www.eureka.be/home.do

CORNET
CORNET is an ERANET project and stands for COllective Research NETworking. It is a network for information
exchange and collaboration between national and regional programmes and schemes for collective research across
Europe. The objective is to promote close cooperation between the responsible national/regional ministries and agencies and to create opportunities to set up transnational collective research with national/regional funding.
This means that CORNET partners in the 13 participating countries and regions are working together to align programme conditions and procedures.
All CORNET coordination activities are financially supported till the end of February 2010 by the European Commission through the ERA-NET scheme of the Seventh Framework Programme.
Twice a year CORNET issues calls for proposals for transnational cooperation projects in the field of collective research and technological development. The 7th CORNET call for proposals will open in January 2009 and close on April 30, 2009. The calls follow a bottom-up approach, i.e. research topics are not pre-defined and can be decided by applicants themselves. Funding is made available through national or regional programmes.
CORNET thus enables consortia of SME associations, SMEs and research institutes all over Europe to work together in transnational projects to perform research for the benefit of SMEs.
Collective research is R&D performed for the benefit of a broad target group of firms, especially of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). Collective research is typically initiated by groupings of enterprises with common interests, such as
associations, professional federations, clusters, and trade associations. It is frequently carried out by specialised research institutes or technological centres which work on behalf of a particular industrial sector.

The objectives of collective research are often pre-competitive and pre-normative, related for example to the development and preparation of (technical) norms and standards. Collective research may also involve the search for improved processes or
materials of wide application in an industry. Collective research results are actively promoted and disseminated across the sector for exploitation.

More info: http://cornet-era.net/index.php

FORTHCOMING EVENTS:
22.01.2009, Budapest, Hungary FP7-ICT Proposers’ Day 2009

27.01.2009, Brussels, Belgium FP7 Financial Workshop

09-13.02.2009, Brussels, Belgium European Sustainable Energy Week 2009

17.02.2009, Brussels, Belgium FP7 Financial Workshop