Funding of "Research Training Networks" under the TMR programme
A total of 1,427 eligible proposals for "Research Training Networks" were presented under the first call for proposals for RTD activities under the Community's specific programme for the training and mobility of researchers (TMR) (OJ No C 12 of 17.01.1995). Of these 91 proposals were judged to be outstanding and were recommended for selection. As a result of this call, 702 research teams are due to start working on a TMR "Research Training Network". The average network consists of eight project partners and involves researchers drawn from all the countries of the European Economic Area (EU Member States and Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein). Considerable efforts were made by the programme to promote less-favoured region and industrial participation and this has resulted in good representation of both sectors. Out of the 702 teams, 113 (16%) are located in one of the less-favoured regions of the European Union and 18% contain one or more industrial partners. More detailed information on the TMR Research Training Network proposals accepted under the first call for proposals will be available on the CORDIS WWW Server once all the contracts have been signed and returned. In addition, the CORDIS WWW Server will advertise all available research posts linked with the successful networks. The Commission has, however, been concerned by the large number of high-quality proposals which have had to be rejected due to budgetary constraints. In order to try and increase funding possibilities for this area, without compromising quality, it has suggested both a reduction in the number of calls and a reduction in the financing for each network. There will, therefore, be only one further call for network proposals which will combine the budgets of the second and the third calls. The next call will be published in September 1996, with a submission deadline of 3 February 1997, and will be subject to the following restrictions: - Financing guidelines will be tightened; - Maximum project duration will be 3 years; - Research teams will receive on average between ECU 40,000 and ECU 70,000 per annum. A slight decrease in comparison to the first call for proposals; - Network contracts will normally not exceed ECU 1.5 million (in place of the ECU 2 million allowed for the first round).