Commission hails 2004 as successful year for European research
The Commission has published its annual report on research and technological development (RTD) activities for 2004, citing many developments that made it, in the Commission's opinion, a successful year. In 2004, almost 16,000 proposals were received under the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6), involving more than 84,400 participants. Almost 2,000 of these proposals, involving some 13,700 participants, were retained for funding. The activities introduced for the first time in FP6 - Scientific Support to Policy and New and Emerging Science and Technology (NEST) - continued to attract proposals, with over 120 selected for funding in 2004. The new instruments - Integrated Projects and Networks of Excellence - were used in some 900 proposals (5.6 per cent of the total received), and in 150 of the proposals selected for funding (7.5 per cent of successful proposals). 2004 saw a continuation of efforts to open up European research to the international community. Scientific and technological cooperation agreements were concluded with Brazil and Mexico, and agreements with Morocco and Tunisia were ratified. Association agreements with Israel and Switzerland on involvement in FP6 were signed, and cooperation agreements with the US and China were renewed. The annual report refers to a number of 'remarkable breakthroughs' in 2004. In particular, a communication on a European strategy for nanotechnology was published, a plan for implementing the second phase of the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) initiative was implemented, and progress was made towards implementing security research at European level with the launch of a preparatory project. The Commission also counts preparations for FP7 among the successes of 2004. The communication 'Europe and basic research' was published, followed by 'Science and technology, the key to Europe's future'. Two major consultations also addressed the way ahead for research and future thematic research priorities. Despite these achievements, the report notes that not enough progress has been made in terms of the Barcelona objective of increasing research investment to three per cent of GDP by 2010. The current annual growth rate in research intensity of 0.7 per cent is not sufficient, and if this trend remains unchanged, research intensity will reach only 2.2 per cent in 2010. Also, while the number of science graduates in Europe has been increasing by around four per cent each year, a recent study suggests that many go on to work outside of research. 'This signals profound changes in the labour market for researchers. The sources of demand are more varied than before. Knowledge-intensive services, including sectors of activity such as education, health and social work, employ most of these highly qualified people,' states the Commission.