An SMEs experience with the Marie Curie Industry Host Fellowship programme
The 6th Framework Programme of Research and Technological Development is now fully operative. On 17 December 2002, the first calls were published. As in the past, industrial organisations have a choice of participating in classic research projects co-funded by the EU, or to apply for a contribution for training and mobility of researchers. It should be pointed out that the available budget of the Human Resources and Mobility programme, has been significantly increased to its current 1580 million Euro. Companies can be involved in the programme by providing research training to researchers in an early stage of their careers (either in a mono-partner proposal or as part of an international network), or by creating strategic partnerships with Universities and research centres for the transfer of knowledge, realised through various forms of staff exchange of experienced researchers between the two sectors. ,The Marie Curie host fellowships provide total coverage of the costs related to hiring foreign researchers and a contribution to research and management costs. The advantage for the industries is to gain access to new competences and to enhance their training capacities. Participation of SMEs is especially encouraged. To testify an SMEs experience in the Industry Host Fellowship scheme of the previous Framework Programme, we propose two interviews: with the head of the research department of a medium-sized pharmaceutical company, Molteni Farmaceutici, and with the research fellow receiving training in this company. ,Dr. Roncucci:,I am head of the research department at Molteni Farmaceutici, a company founded in 1892, following the early operation set in the old Farmacia Molteni situated in the historical centre of Florence. Molteni Farmaceutici is now a dynamic firm devoted to innovation and quality improvement employing 170 people, more than 65 of which are scientists and skilled technicians. The premises of the new factory span an area of 10,000 m2 and are equipped with facilities for production, control, research, services and administration. Injectables represents one of the most important sectors of production of Molteni Farmaceutici. Since its origin Molteni devoted much effort to the production of sterile preparations, from the first (1894) sterile hypodermics hand-sealed over flame, the firm progressed to advanced technology of sterile production of vials, bottles and cartridges for dental use, as well as for productions of gels. Molteni has always been very strong in the therapeutic sector, triplicating its value in the last 8 years, as its investments in technological innovations and research since 1992. ,Our research program involves the development of photodynamic therapy (PDT) techniques, to synthesize and characterize the molecular structure and the biophysical features of phthalocyanine derivatives and/or phthalocyanine metabolites, as a powerful class of new photosensitizers to be used for microbial inactivation. Having synthesized molecules with suitable characteristics within a structure activity relationship study still in progress, we are also aiming at their immediate development. These molecules can be used in combination with or alternatively to antibiotics, especially for treatment of bacterial strains which have become resistant to antibiotics and this project is expected to lead to the first product commercialised by Molteni. This product is of course based on a molecule discovered by our own research and for the perspective treatment of topically localized infections. I first learnt about the opportunities offered by the Marie Curie Industry Host Fellowships reading job inserts from other companies in scientific magazines - such as Science and Nature which made reference to the Marie Curie grant. I also had some direct experience, because I used to work for Sclavo S.p.A - now Chiron - before I moved to Molteni, where I met researchers who were involved with Marie Curie grants. ,When you work in a small-medium sized company, you are always engaged with so many urgent matters that sometimes it is not easy to find the time to write funding applications, but I must say that the Industry Host application is not complicated once you have your ideas straight about the scientific aspect of the project. Luckily we had the chance to receive news from the Commission that our project had passed the selection after a few months. With national funding, we are sometimes used to waiting much longer for the outcome of evaluations; in this case I can say that the whole process of signing the contract with the Commission went smoothly and quite rapidly. Dr. Velders, who first joined us after a meeting and personal interview, has specific competences in fields which were lacking in our group, and I am sure he will contribute to the project significantly. At present, he is still getting oriented, having arrived little more than two months ago, but we are very satisfied with his curriculum and his attitude. He became a part of the team immediately and gets along well with everyone.,Our research team has 15 members, with different backgrounds, going from chemical synthesis to biological evaluation, to pharmacology and toxicology. They are all Italians, and having a foreign fellow with different background and scientific culture is a very exiting experience for us. We already had some experience with internships from young graduates, and this has almost always been positive for Molteni so far. Two of these interns are now still working with us, and all of the others have found a job, thanks also to the experience acquired in our company.,Admittedly, you need to dedicate some time and attention to training these young research fellows, but if your effort succeeds, the feedback is very rewarding, both at the personal level and in terms of results for the company. In this specific case, I am confident that the experience already matured by Dr. Velderss previous work will permit an immediate integration with the other scientists and an improvement of the standard of the entire group.,Due to the complexity of our research projects we need to outsource certain non strategic parts of the research to University laboratories (four Universities in Italy are already involved, and we also have on going collaborations with Germany, UK and the USA) which will involve the collaboration of Dr.Velders. At first, collaborating with accademia is not always easy and straightforward due to the different mentality, but by using a severe screening it is possible to find a fruitful collaborations. After all, we could not accomplish our multidisciplinary research program without the academic expertise, and we are now lucky to have found people who are highly motivated and qualified. I would certainly recommend other SMEs to apply for a Marie Curie Industry Host grant. For us it has been a very good experience so far, and it gives us access to highly skilled personnel with competences that integrate those of our own team in a promising way. ,I would also especially recommend fellows to opt for a period with an SME, rather than a large enterprise, because you get a much better awareness of the industrial reality. ,Dr. Velders (research fellow from The Netherlands):,Whilst I was busy applying for a Mary Curie Individual Fellowship, I learned from friends of the opportunity for a Marie Curie Industry Host Fellowship at Molteni Farmaceutici in Florence. I had already heard from the possibility of Marie Curie Industry Host Fellowships before, but, to be honest, I had had quite some difficulty to find specific information on this regard on the CORDIS website, where I got lost several times. Therefore, initially, I had focussed on the Individual fellowships rather than Industrial Host fellowships, until I got informed by friends on the Industry Host fellowship. After my first contact with the company, in two months I started to work for Molteni. My integration has taken place very smoothly and rapidly. The research department of Molteni Farmaceutici consists of a group of young and enthusiastic people where a very relaxed but productive atmosphere is present. I am very satisfied with the project. The project covers a multidisciplinary research with aspects of fundamental as well as very applied research. The training aspects are good and the balance between applied and fundamental research, including the collaborations with several university groups, is just fine. So I can say that this two-years fellowship offers the possibility to really get into different aspects of a new area of research. ,Besides that, it is a great experience to move to another country for a few years. A two-years contract implies a complete integration in the host country, a full immersion in a new culture, with all administrative aspects with national and local authorities coming along, too. It really is a worthwhile experience and makes clear that the European Union is becoming reality, but at the same time emphasizes that it is still a long way to go before we will really be European. Definitively this fellowship is a plus point on ones CV. Besides the experience abroad, the industrial experience is very valuable. This Marie Curie fellowship is a most useful opportunity for those who aim for an academic as well as an industrial career. I also recommend an Industrial Host MCF instead of an Individual fellowship because in the first one the former project has already been approved and you only have to apply directly to the host institution. This procedure drastically shortens the application time for the fellow, and, furthermore, the company takes care of major part of the administrative aspects of the fellowship. ,I have started my fellowship just a few months ago, but I am very confident that I will rate this experience with maximum votes.,The assistance of the National Contact point (APRE) has been most valuable for me. ,