RTD-Partners
RTD-Partners is the European partner search service provided by CORDIS (Community Research and Development Information Service) under the VALUE programme. Currently holding 6251 entries, the database has been developed to help research organizations and individuals in both the public and private sectors to find partners. The geographic breakdown shows coverage of Germany, France, UK, Benelux, Italy and Spain and growing numbers of entries are being received from Denmark, Ireland, Greece, Portugal as well as from EFTA countries. Types of organizations represented range from service companies, manufacturers and technology transfer agencies to universities and public research centres. Organization profiles are described often at the specialist department or unit level. Around half the entries on the database are from the private sector and the majority of these are SMEs. 80% of the current entries are positively seeking collaboration in a specified CEC programme. In order that a changing pool of organizations could at any time become involved in Community RTD, eligibility for placing an entry on RTD-Partners is general: residence in the EC Member States or EFTA countries. While sharing a common aim with other European partner search initiatives, there are distinct advantages in dissemination of organization profile and/or collaboration requests via RTD-Partners: - Permanence of a database entry (with appropriate updating); - Flexibility and interdisciplinarity; - Wider dissemination of key R&D organization profile information. With permanent entries that outlast the timespan of specific Commission calls for proposals, an organization's technological capability can be recognized at any time for collaborative RTD work. This aids in meeting the short deadlines for setting up consortia for proposals, as swift identification of partners is possible. Comprehensive data on organizational profiles have been received from the BRITE/EURAM, DELTA, TELEMAN, FAR and Environment programmes and information can be found on other programmes such as ESPRIT. SMEs seeking R&D collaborative work under the EUROMANAGEMENT initiative can also be viewed. RTD-Partners is flexible and covers all subject areas from energy and environment to materials and manufacturing technologies are covered. It can be used to help find partners in response to calls for project proposals, or used to locate specialized RTD expertise. Additionally, RTD-Partners can help in finding a marketing associate or commercial exploitation of a research result.