In support of Turkey's SMEs and research capabilities
Turkey is among the nations that have applied for EU membership, and its scientific community has already started working more closely with European counterparts. The EU-funded project TR-Access contributed to the country's scientific rapprochement to the EU. The project facilitated participation of Turkish stakeholders in projects under the EU's Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) by establishing a network of information multipliers across the country. Coordinated by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK), it strengthened industry by encouraging small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to participate in EU projects and brought disparate research efforts together. TR-Access successfully raised awareness among the Turkish research community on EU Framework Programmes. Using electronic tools through a series of events, it trained project candidates to write proposals and manage projects, attracting hundreds of researchers and organisations nationwide. In addition, the project oversaw mobility of human resources and helped disburse grants to implicated researchers to promote mobility. It then undertook technology audits for 100 SMEs to outline their research and development potential, using the results in three SME workshops to promote EU programmes. Achievements also included marked improvements in research centre databases and making them available online. Thanks to these efforts and training sessions for researchers, the project significantly facilitated participation of Turkish researchers in EU Framework Programmes. TR-Access became the principle vehicle for achieving this aim and enabled local SMEs, academia and industry to tap into the EU arena.
