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Increasing the Dialogue between India and Europe by Improving EU Awareness and Access to Indian Research and Innovation Technology Programmes

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Europe's passage to Indian research

Indian researchers have good access to European research programmes, but the same cannot be said for European researchers with regard to Indian research programmes. An EU-backed initiative sought to rectify this by promoting greater reciprocal participation.

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With India's rapidly growing economy and increasing focus on research and development (R&D), international research collaboration with the EU has deepened in recent years. This is reflected in the science and technology (S&T) cooperation agreement initialled by the two sides in 2001 and extended in 2009. In addition, India is the fifth largest third-country participant in the EU's Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). However, although Indian researchers enjoy a high level of access to EU programmes, due to a lack of awareness and other barriers European researchers have been less successful in accessing Indian programmes. Financed by FP7's 'International cooperation' theme, the INDIA GATE project organised numerous activities to better balance the situation. Part of the wider Access4.eu initiative, which explores the possibilities for European researchers to enjoy full reciprocal access to partner countries' research programmes, INDIA GATE sought to open up Indian R&D to the EU research community. This involved raising awareness among European researchers of the opportunities available in India, and mapping India's R&D landscape and policies, especially when it comes to mobility and clustering. In addition to identifying funding opportunities open to European researchers in India, the project established an information point as the first point of contact and a one-stop shop for European researchers looking to get involved in Indian research. The info point provided valuable information on programmes and stakeholders, as well as support in completing applications and finding partners. During its lifetime, INDIA GATE managed to enhance and deepen EU–Indian R&D cooperation and has paved the way to the emergence of reciprocal research support services.

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