INCO reports back on FP4
Those interested in the European Union's activities to promote cooperation in the international research community, may find a recently published report on the INCO programme of interest. INCO, the International Cooperation research programme, was launched under the Fourth Framework Programme, and ran from 1994 to 1998. The publication, 'European research open to the world' sets out the context in which the INCO programme was established: essentially to react to the growing globalisation of science and the economy. 'INCO has permitted the successful linking of European scientific efforts with those undertaken outside the Union or outside the Community framework', it reports. The report also outlines some of INCO's work that occasionally reaches beyond research activities, such as helping to prepare applicant countries for membership of the European Union and strengthening ties with both industrial and emerging economy countries. It traces the different areas of INCO's international cooperation in research and development, including how the programme interacts with other European RTD collaboration networks. Proposers to the Fifth Framework Programme's INCO calls may also be interested to read about the results of calls for proposals for INCO projects under the Fourth Framework Programme. The EU's activities in research collaboration initiatives in Eastern Europe and the developing world are also outlined in the report. The INCO programme has now been renewed and extended to operate under the Fifth Framework Programme, which runs until 2002.