EU and EECA push for better research ties
Building better research relations between the EU and EECA (Eastern Europe and Central Asia) nations is an important objective for everyone, and the EECAlink project, which has received EUR 600,000 under the Health Theme of the EU's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), is determined to make this happen. Launched in June 2009, the EECAlink ('Promotion and facilitation of international cooperation with Eastern European and Central Asian countries') project is identifying joint research priorities and bolstering scientific collaboration for three stakeholder groups: policymakers, university and academic partners, and the wider research public. The EECAlink consortium comprises 17 partners from Armenia, Belarus, the Czech Republic, Georgia, Hungary, Italy, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Poland, Russia, Ukraine and Uzbekistan. Over a period of 30 months and due to end in November 2011, the EECAlink partners are fuelling and promoting international cooperation in the field of health by offering systematic support to encourage researchers to take part in FP7 calls, as well as to either further extend their participation or support their preparation for FP7 calls. The project partners are also working to identify joint research interests between the EU and EECA, as well as to guarantee their effective communication to key policymakers. Led by Professor Stanislav Stipek of the First Faculty of Medicine at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic, the EECAlink team is also working on further stimulating and advancing cooperation in research between participating universities and academic partners. Two other objectives established by EECAlink are to heighten and bolster academic and university capacities for solid participation in FP7 projects, and to endorse the FP7 to other research audiences including industrialists, especially those from small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The EECAlink consortium says the project's core deliverables include, among others, proposal submission support for new research consortia (provided by the FP7 experts taking part in the project, including the Hungarian Science and Technology Foundation, and Poland's Cracow University of Technology), as well as outreach support to bring EECA countries into the FP7. Scientists from EECA countries would also receive travel grants worth EUR 200 in order to take part in brokerage events of complementary FP7 actions targeting the Health priority. The EECAlink partners plan to hold a final conference, in addition to a brokerage event with around 100 participants, once the project comes to an end. This conference is organised by one of the partners in the consortium - the Czech Liaison Office for Research and Development (CZELO) - and will take place in Brussels in September 2011. Also on the project's agenda is the delivery of 12 national capacity-building 2-day events in all the countries participating in the project. The researchers say single capacity building events will be arranged in all participating EU Member States and EECA project partner countries. Up to eight policy sessions will be conducted in the EECA countries, with contributions made by an expert group of five national representatives and the EC officer, to examine the gaps and overlaps in the health research area. These talks will give the participating members the support they need to identify potential joint research topics for future cooperation under the Eighth Framework Programme (FP8).