IT Project Traineeships
IT Project Traineeships are a new initiative set up under the Information Technologies programme (ESPRIT) of the Fourth Framework Programme. The third call for proposals for the IT programme was launched on 15 June 1995, and closes on 15 February 1996. IT Project Traineeships respond to the need to ensure that there are people able to exploit the opportunities arising as a result of on-going IT R&D. They are designed to be integrated with R&D projects in order to train people drawn from outside the projects on the know-how and technology being developed within the projects, so that these trainees can subsequently use this knowledge in roles external to the projects. An IT Project Traineeship is proposed by a consortium of organizations that will host the trainee. The consortium, which will both contribute to and benefit from the provision of the training, would typically consist of some (or all) of the participants in an ongoing IT R&D project and any such additional members as are necessary for the training proposed. A consortium proposes a detailed training scheme of its own design. This must include the objectives of the training, in terms of the specific knowledge and level of attainment, and the benefits to the consortium, as well as a training plan describing how the training will be provided. Each consortium will be responsible for selecting its own trainee(s) according to an open process of its own definition. This process must be acceptable to the Commission. Only a trainee's salary and any essential additional costs directly associated with the training are eligible for funding. The Commission will select and award contracts and funding to successful consortia, not to the trainees themselves. The consortium's coordinating partner will be responsible for all contractual and financial arrangements with the trainee(s). Given the objectives of an IT Project Traineeship, it would typically start after the associated R&D project (i.e. once tangible know-how and technology were available). However, some of its component activities may well extend beyond the end of the project. IT Project Traineeships are designed to be tailored to the specific objectives of the consortium by the consortium itself. The following list of examples is only indicative: - The consortium consists of the developers of micro-sensor technology, the trainees come from an SME in the medical instruments industry, and the benefits are to promote the early adoption of the technology in the healthcare sector. - The consortium consists of the developers of a hardware/software co-design system, the trainees come from a number of training organizations, and the benefits are to establish the mechanisms for training potential users in advance of the system coming to market. - The consortium consists of the developers of planning and scheduling technology together with potential users of systems based on the technology, the trainees come from an applications development organization, and the benefits are to establish a "critical mass" of expertise in the technology's use in advance of it coming to market. For further information on IT Project Traineeships, please refer to the specific information package "IT Project Traineeships Pilot", which is available on request from: European Commission IT Programme Bd. du Souverain 191-197 B-1160 Brussels Fax +32-2-6637200 All relevant documents on the IT programme are also available on the World Wide Web: http://www.ecrc.de/eu/Esprit/home.html http://cordis.europa.eu