Periodic Report Summary - ACCESS2MEXCYT (Promoting High-Quality Research Opportunities for European Researchers in Mexico)
The project ACCESS2MEXCYT has been funded under the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) - Capacities -International Cooperation.
The project is part of the ACCESS4EU strategy, set up by the European Commission (EC) in the third call of proposal of the INCO programme, that aims to increase European researchers' awareness on funding opportunities for international research projects in several International Cooperation Partner Countries (ICPC).
The main goal of the project is to improve the development of the Euro-Mexican research area and, in particular, to identify access opportunities for Europeans researchers in research and innovation programmes managed by Mexico.
Moreover, the initiative has been planned for achieving the following further objectives:
- to produce information useful for the international dimension of the European Research Area (ERA);
- to monitor the European participation in Mexican projects, scholarship and their access modalities;
- to increase the reciprocity stressed in the Euro-Mexican bilateral agreement of 2004;
- to provide feedbacks to the European Union (EU)-Mexico Joint Steering Committee (JSC).
The project started on 1 November 2009 and the expiration date is foreseen for 31 October 2011.
The activities implemented in the first year of the project are mainly related to:
- the mapping phase of the Mexican programmes opened to the Europeans (WP2);
- the production of the dissemination tools (WP3);
- the dissemination of the opened opportunities (WP4, Task4.1);
- coordination with other ACCESS4EU projects for dissemination purpose.
As far as the mapping activities of the Mexican Science and technology (S&T) system is concerned, the consortium investigated all the opportunities opened for Europeans both in terms of research fund / programmes and bilateral agreements, analysed the S&T Mexican system and scientific publications.
In terms of tangible results, the mapping phase produced:
- Report on the Mexican research funds and programmes: it offers a detailed list of Mexican S&T programmes and funds opened to European researchers and students, and presents an analysis of their level of openness towards Europe and of the accessibility to the information related to these programmes.
i) Report on bilateral agreements between Mexico and European Member States, that includes all the following cathegories:
- intergovernmental agreements signed by the ministries;
- agreements signed between the CONACYT and its homologous institutions in the European Union (EU);
- interinstitutional agreements signed directly between universities and research centres (for example, agreements signed by the UNAM).
ii) Report on S&T Mexican system.
iii) Report on the most relevant scientific publications in Mexico: it includes all the information about the Mexican S&T production and its impact related to the global scientific production.
Regarding the dissemination activities, the partnership set up all the communication tools needed. The tools have been used by all partners to spread the information about the project and especially about the opportunities for Europeans (opened during the first year of the project). Such dissemination campaign has been realized, for example, to give evidence of Mexican call for proposal in the energy sector - hydrocarbons.
In terms of tangible results, the dissemination strategy produced:
- logo;
- leaflet;
- newsletter;
- website: http://www.access2mexcyt.eu.
The results expected for the second half of the project are mainly related to the dissemination campaign. It will be set up in order to inform the Europeans about the Mexican opportunities and to encourage their participation in Mexican research programmes. The consortium will organise three dissemination events in Europe and one brokerage event in Mexico. The general objective that the consortium would like to achieve is to facilitate the participation of European researchers in Mexican research programmes.
The project is part of the ACCESS4EU strategy, set up by the European Commission (EC) in the third call of proposal of the INCO programme, that aims to increase European researchers' awareness on funding opportunities for international research projects in several International Cooperation Partner Countries (ICPC).
The main goal of the project is to improve the development of the Euro-Mexican research area and, in particular, to identify access opportunities for Europeans researchers in research and innovation programmes managed by Mexico.
Moreover, the initiative has been planned for achieving the following further objectives:
- to produce information useful for the international dimension of the European Research Area (ERA);
- to monitor the European participation in Mexican projects, scholarship and their access modalities;
- to increase the reciprocity stressed in the Euro-Mexican bilateral agreement of 2004;
- to provide feedbacks to the European Union (EU)-Mexico Joint Steering Committee (JSC).
The project started on 1 November 2009 and the expiration date is foreseen for 31 October 2011.
The activities implemented in the first year of the project are mainly related to:
- the mapping phase of the Mexican programmes opened to the Europeans (WP2);
- the production of the dissemination tools (WP3);
- the dissemination of the opened opportunities (WP4, Task4.1);
- coordination with other ACCESS4EU projects for dissemination purpose.
As far as the mapping activities of the Mexican Science and technology (S&T) system is concerned, the consortium investigated all the opportunities opened for Europeans both in terms of research fund / programmes and bilateral agreements, analysed the S&T Mexican system and scientific publications.
In terms of tangible results, the mapping phase produced:
- Report on the Mexican research funds and programmes: it offers a detailed list of Mexican S&T programmes and funds opened to European researchers and students, and presents an analysis of their level of openness towards Europe and of the accessibility to the information related to these programmes.
i) Report on bilateral agreements between Mexico and European Member States, that includes all the following cathegories:
- intergovernmental agreements signed by the ministries;
- agreements signed between the CONACYT and its homologous institutions in the European Union (EU);
- interinstitutional agreements signed directly between universities and research centres (for example, agreements signed by the UNAM).
ii) Report on S&T Mexican system.
iii) Report on the most relevant scientific publications in Mexico: it includes all the information about the Mexican S&T production and its impact related to the global scientific production.
Regarding the dissemination activities, the partnership set up all the communication tools needed. The tools have been used by all partners to spread the information about the project and especially about the opportunities for Europeans (opened during the first year of the project). Such dissemination campaign has been realized, for example, to give evidence of Mexican call for proposal in the energy sector - hydrocarbons.
In terms of tangible results, the dissemination strategy produced:
- logo;
- leaflet;
- newsletter;
- website: http://www.access2mexcyt.eu.
The results expected for the second half of the project are mainly related to the dissemination campaign. It will be set up in order to inform the Europeans about the Mexican opportunities and to encourage their participation in Mexican research programmes. The consortium will organise three dissemination events in Europe and one brokerage event in Mexico. The general objective that the consortium would like to achieve is to facilitate the participation of European researchers in Mexican research programmes.