EoI Service helps partners to find each other
Over 4000 potential participants in the Fifth Framework Programme (FP5) have expressed interest in the CORDIS Partners Web Service for finding a partner. To make the building of a consortium easier, a new special "Expression of Interest (EoI) Service" for FP5 was launched on 22 April 1999. Additionally the new Service makes it possible to update entries electronically. Since the European Commission provides financial support to projects carried out by transnational consortia, finding partner with whom to collaborate is an important step in the process. However, it is not always that easy, so the CORDIS EoI Service can be a useful tool, offering a two-way communication channel between the potential collaborators by: - Helping potential partners promote their interest in participating in an FP5 programme by registering their EoI information on CORDIS; - Looking for suitable partners for project consortium by searching EoI information submitted to CORDIS by other organizations. The new FP5 EoI Service enables potential participants to narrow down the search by selecting one or more specific research areas of a programme. For example, if the interested participant is looking for a partner in a proposal for a specific Key Action under an FP5 Programme, this selection can be done at the beginning of the search. Subsequently, this avoids spending time looking through different available partners who have all registered for that FP5 programme. To enable the electronic updating of records, the system has been changed to provide the user with a password after entering the record into the EoI Service. However, users who are already registered with CORDIS's automatic information delivery service, RAPIDUS, can use the same password and login name to enter the partners database and update their record. The FP5 EoI Service can be accessed through the CORDIS FP5 Web Service at: URL: http://cordis.europa.eu/fp5 Additionally, the IST (Information Society Technologies) Programme has established a special EoI Service at its own home page, accessible through CORDIS at: URL: http://cordis.europa.eu/ist/eoi.htm