Final Report Summary - CHINAACCESS4EU (Supporting the EU access to Chinese research & innovation programmes)
CHINAACCESS4EU is a 30 month Coordination and Support Action under the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) which started in January 2010 and ended in June 2012. Its activities have been conducted by 11 European and Chinese partners:
- Sociedade Portuguesa de Inovação;
- European Business and Innovation Centre Network;
- Université Joseph Fourier;
- Steinbeis Europa Zentrum, Steinbeis Innovation;
- China Policy Institute, University of Nottingham;
- Torch High Technology Industry Development Centre, Ministry of Science and Technology China;
- Institute of Policy and Management, Chinese Academy of Science;
- International Technology Transfer Centre, Tsinghua University;
- Zhejiang University;
- Hong Kong University of Science and Technology;
- EU Project Innovation Centre.
The CHINAACCESS4EU project has the following general objectives:
- increase the awareness and dissemination in the European Union (EU) of access opportunities for European researchers and research organisations in Chinese national research and innovation programmes;
- increase science and technology (S&T) cooperation between Europe and China, especially effective collaborations of European researchers and research organisations in Chinese national research and innovation programmes;
- help develop the reciprocity aspect of EU-China S&T agreements and improve EU's understanding of the respective research systems in China.
To this end, the project focuses on:
- mapping of the access opportunities in China;
- dissemination of the results to European research organisations and multipliers;
- monitoring of the participation of researchers from the EU in Chinese programmes;
- provision of feedback and recommendations to the European Commission (EC).
Main outputs available to the European and Chinese research communities include:
- fact sheets of Chinese research funding programmes;
- monthly alert with the latest S&T opportunities in China;
- biannual newsletters;
- case studies of European researchers participating in Chinese funding programmes;
- project training workshops and dissemination and match-making events in China and Europe;
- strategy paper for enhancing reciprocity in EU-China S&T cooperation.
The project website (please see http://www.access4.eu/China(odnośnik otworzy się w nowym oknie) online) offers a searchable database of opportunities for European researchers and research institutions offered by Chinese research funding programmes, an overview of Chinese funding programmes, project introduction, case studies, newsroom, event calendar, all publishable project deliverables, links to database of potential project partners and relevant projects and organisations, among others.
Project context and objectives:
Pursuing mutually advantageous agreements with China has long been a priority for the EC. The S&T agreement between the EU and China was signed in 1998 thereby providing a legal basis for future cooperation on science and technology between the two signatories. The agreement has resulted in the Chinese research community becoming increasingly involved in EU Framework Programme (FP) activities and many key S&T organisations from China were involved in the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) and currently in FP7. Initiatives include bi-regional coordination of S&T cooperation and bilateral coordination for the enhancement and development of S&T partnerships. In turn, China opened its national high technology research and development programme (the 863? programme) and the national basic research programme (the 973 Programme) to the EU counterpart.
However, the participation of EU researchers in Chinese research funding programmes is still low and the number of publications of China with EU is losing ground. EU could lag behind if it does not take advantage of China's research and development (R&D) developments which is changing the international landscape.
In addition, there are a number of structural / institutional access issues, barriers and obstacles related to EU-China S&T collaboration:
- lack of continued commitment on the part of the Chinese government and the European and Chinese academic and research community;
- lack of interest to participate in Chinese research programmes by EU researchers;
- lack of suitable Chinese partners;
- language and cultural differences;
- lack of transparency on the part of the Chinese research programmes.
Therefore, the CHINAACCESS4EU project has the following general objectives:
- increase the awareness and dissemination in the EU of access opportunities for European researchers and research organisations in Chinese national research and innovation programmes;
- increase S&T cooperation between Europe and China, especially effective collaborations of European researchers and research organisations in Chinese national research and innovation programmes;
- help develop the reciprocity aspect of EU-China S&T agreements and improve EU's understanding of the respective research systems in China.
Project results:
Through gathering information on Chinese funding programmes and policies as well as interacting with a wide range of stakeholders (including project partners, policy makers, participants from other EU projects, researchers, and industrial and public organisations), the project team has strived to provide an innovative approach to tackle the challenge of enhancing reciprocity in EU-China S&T collaboration and to ensure the dissemination of the results.
The main S&T results may be summarised as follows:
- fact sheets of Chinese national research and innovation (R&I) programmes and agencies;
- project workshops and dissemination and match-making events and proceedings;
- case study reports;
- project newsletters;
- monthly alerts;
- strategy paper for enhancing reciprocity in EU-China S&T cooperation;
- project website and call database.
Fact Sheets of Chinese national R&I programmes and agencies
The fact sheet is a document produced by the project team to present and keep track of useful information on the major Chinese funding programmes to the EU researchers. The information was collected with the support of Chinese project partners and in collaboration with central and local funding agencies such as NSFC and MOST, while pointing out the legitimacy of this project. Based on the results of such an analysis, fact sheets of each Chinese funding programme were prepared covering the following topics:
- introduction to the programme;
- national agency managing the programme;
- structure and research topics called;
- budget;
- rules of participation and funding;
- deadlines;
- how to apply;
- evaluation criteria;
- links and contacts for more information on the programme.
The factsheets on 43 mainland China programmes, 3 Chinese provincial programmes and 12 Hong Kong programmes were published at the beginning of the project and updated close to the end of the project.
Project workshops and dissemination and match-making events and proceedings
The project team organised two large dissemination / training workshops in Germany and France and three small dissemination / training workshops in the UK, Finland and Portugal. The project team invited representatives from national / regional S&T governmental bodies, industries, and research institutes, not only from the country where the workshop was held but also from neighbourhood countries in order to ensure the widest dissemination coverage in the EU. Through these workshops, the project team not only disseminated useful information to EU researchers, but also obtained contacts information of European scientists, which were added to the list of key stakeholders.
Case study reports
In an effort to identify successful cases regarding collaborations between European and Chinese researchers in Chinese research funding programmes and provide practical advice to the EU researchers, the CHINAACCESS4EU project team interacted with several European and Chinese stakeholders to achieve a greater understanding of their partnership approach in Chinese research programmes.
The case study reports drew conclusions from the interviews with the European researchers who have involved in Chinese research programmes, summarised important steps to prepare for applications and potential obstacles, as well as provided main recommendations to improve the participation of European researchers in Chinese programmes.
Project newsletters
The biannual newsletters included main findings from the interviews / case studies of EU researchers regarding their participation in Chinese programmes and as their Chinese counterparts, statistics on Chinese research programmes, as well as the main findings from the survey questionnaires regarding the participation of European / Chinese researchers in Chinese / European programmes.
Monthly alerts
The monthly alerts were disseminated to inform European researchers of the latest funding opportunities in China.
Strategy paper for enhancing reciprocity in EU-China S&T cooperation
Strategy paper for enhancing reciprocity in EU-China S&T cooperation aims to contribute to the discussions of the EC with China in the context of the joint committee meetings of the S&T agreements. The knowledge and expertise of the consortium has been applied in providing recommendations to the EC. The opportunities and obstacles encountered during the project have been analysed, and recommendations have been provided in order to facilitate and further EU-China cooperation in the framework of S&T agreements.
Project website and call database
The project website (please see http://www.access4.eu/China(odnośnik otworzy się w nowym oknie) online) provides users with access to a fully searchable database of opportunities for European researchers and research institutions offered by Chinese government research funding programmes. Users can search a call by programme, research area, and keywords. This provides added-value to European researchers as the information is mapped in an organised searchable format and available in English, thus overcoming the language barrier.
Potential impact:
The project partners include key European and Chinese organisations in the S&T field. This helped to achieve the following impact:
i) Increased S&T cooperation between Europe and China by identifying access opportunities to European researchers in research programmes managed by China
The project facilitated research collaborations between the EU and China through reducing the barriers caused by geographical distance and language / cultural difference. To bring about this impact, the following steps were taken:
- Identify and map access opportunities for European researchers in Chinese research and innovation programmes: A key aspect of the project was to inform EU researchers of opportunities to access Chinese research programmes such as 973 and 863 programmes. Information was mapped in an organised way in the project website, which provided European researchers with a one-stop location for finding and accessing opportunities and project partners in China. The project effectively served as a gateway to Chinese S&T for European researchers and research organisations.
- Identify project stakeholders for the dissemination of information: In order to have a targeted approach for the dissemination of information, the project partners identified stakeholders from the EU and China who are leaders in their respective S&T research communities and developed an extensive list of key stakeholders.
- Disseminate the results to European research organisations and multipliers, covering research organisations, universities, national / regional agencies and industrial organisations in the EU and China: By making information on Chinese funding programmes freely and easily available on the project website and by contacting researchers to encourage them to access the website via partners' existing networks and contacts throughout Europe and China, the project ensured that this information can be accessed by as wide a community as possible. In addition, the dissemination / training workshops held in different European countries and the dissemination and match-making events in China were excellent channels to promote the dissemination of project results.
ii) Measurable increase of effective collaborations of European research organisations in Chinese programmes
The project supported European researchers to further develop their S&T cooperation with China. It provided a context in which researchers can collectively profit from the opportunities generated by the networking activities. To achieve such impact, the following steps were taken:
- Encourage networking amongst researchers: The project provided various mechanisms by which researchers from Europe and China can network. The physical dissemination / training workshops and dissemination and match-making events allowed local participants to dialogue directly with potential partners and discuss research topics for future calls. For researchers that were not able to attend project networking events, the project provided other networking channels: email or telephone (through contact details in the 'Find project partners' section of the website). The project website allowed researchers to search for suitable partners in Europe and China, which translates into enhanced European participation in Chinese research programmes. Through such facilitated networking, European and Chinese researchers in common areas of interest who are geographically isolated but who have complementary skills could collaborate on research proposals and synergise on Chinese research funds.
- Monitor the participation of researchers from the EU in Chinese programmes: A bi-annual survey questionnaire with the purpose of monitoring the participation of EU researchers in Chinese programmes was carried out. The main outcome of the biannual survey was consolidated and included in biannual newsletters which were disseminated via the project website.
iii) Improvement of mutual understanding of the respective research systems in Europe and China with S&T agreements
To achieve such impact, the following steps were taken:
- Carry out a survey of EU-China bilateral S&T cooperation agreements and programmes: The project team identified bilateral S&T cooperation agreements and programmes between the EU Member States and / or Associated Countries and China. In addition, the survey identified activities carried under EU-China bilateral S&T cooperation agreements as well as existing national or European networks such as ERAXESS-LINKS / ERA-LINK or ongoing international cooperation ERA-NET projects (e.g. CO-REACH).
- Dialogue with selected S&T government bodies of EU Member States: The dialogue took place through communications and in-person meetings with an objective of creating interest and understanding the realities that pertain to bilateral S&T collaboration with China conducted by each selected EU Member State. The results of the dialogue were consolidated into the strategy paper.
- Provide feedback and recommendations to the EC as well as outputs useful inter alia in the context of the joint committee meetings of the S&T agreements: The project team has prepared a strategy paper for enhancing reciprocity in EU-China S&T cooperation to the EC. The document will contribute to the discussions of the EC with China in the context of the joint committee meetings of the S&T agreements. The knowledge and expertise of the consortium regarding European and Chinese S&T policy have been applied in providing recommendations to the EC. The main findings and conclusions of the project will undoubtedly facilitate and further EU-China cooperation in the framework of S&T agreements.
The project website will continue to be active for two years after the completion of the project. This will ensure a continuous impact on the facilitation of networking among researchers in the EU and China.
There are a number of existing related initiatives for enhancing EU-China S&T cooperation, such as EURAXESS CHINA, BILAT SILK, CO-REACH, with which the consortium tried to connect to ensure that efforts are not duplicated. The project partners took into account these existing international initiatives by utilising their contact networks to conduct project activities, inviting key stakeholders of these initiatives to project workshops, and linking the project website to the websites of previous or existing projects.
With a strong network of contacts with relevant government organisations in China and Europe, the project team advocated the importance of the project for promoting the mobility of European researchers towards the Chinese research and development programmes and motivated both the European and Chinese academic and research communities to actively contribute to the project activities. The project team identified a contact person at each identified stakeholder to ensure the development of a solid relationship on a continuous basis. Workshops organised in China convinced the Chinese authorities of the access issues for EU researchers and encouraged them to further open up Chinese research programmes. The three match-making events helped EU researchers find suitable Chinese research partners. In addition, the Chinese partners in the project consortium provided useful information on Chinese research programmes.
Main dissemination activities and exploitation of results:
The knowledge that has been produced by the CHINAACCESS4EU consortium primarily concerns knowledge of Chinese research programmes. The network also accumulated knowledge and information on the activities of other national or international organisations or initiatives involved in promoting S&T relations between Europe and China. The dissemination of such project information was achieved through the engagement of stakeholders involved in the project network, stakeholders outside the network as well as the public at large in Europe and China. The partners are already members of various networks each with different regional, international and disciplinary outreaches. The project undertook to establish and foster collaborations and information exchange with a wide variety of stakeholders, through the project events where different experts and local researchers were brought together, and dissemination activities via related websites and networks.
The beneficiaries of the dissemination activities include mainly:
- European researchers;
- European professional associations;
- European industry / SMEs;
- EU / national / regional programme holders.
The CHINAACCESS4EU work programme was designed to maximise user feedback and input to the project deliverables. Dissemination tools included the project website, project brochure, newsletters, targeted mailing, project documents, project events, and other multiplier events. By its nature this process helped spread excellence, exploit results and disseminate knowledge.
Project website
A professionally designed project website has been developed, which disseminates project results to a wide public. It is used to inform EU researchers of Chinese research funding opportunities and the project stakeholders of the project progress.
Project brochure
Professional brochures were developed in English and Mandarin Chinese. The brochures include information such as the project's objectives, methodology, outputs, partners and information about the project website, etc. They were disseminated to project stakeholders through project events and direct mailing. In coordination with other ACCESS4EU projects, a common ACCESS4EU brochure / flyer was developed. This project also created separate brochures / flyers to promote its own activities.
Project newsletters
Project newsletters and common ACCESS4EU newsletters have been produced. The project newsletter focuses on the project itself. The common ACCESS4EU newsletter aimed at gathering information from a number of ACCESS4EU projects in order to provide a complete picture of the opportunities in third countries.
Targeted mailing
Targeted mailing to the organisations included in the list of key stakeholders was done via email with project deliverables such as monthly alerts and biannual newsletters. Such internet-based dissemination activities were able to reach the greatest number of target groups with the lowest costs.
Project documents
The project documents including fact sheets of Chinese national R&I programmes and agencies as well as monthly alerts clearly mapped Chinese research programmes and described opportunities as well as constraints for EU researchers. This allowed researchers to approach appropriate Chinese programmes for undertaking collaborative research activities with China. Moreover, the strategy paper for enhancing reciprocity in EU-China S&T cooperation could be used to inform and guide European policy makers to prepare for future joint S&T committee meetings with China. These project documents have been published and disseminated via the project website.
Project events
Five dissemination / training workshops were held in Europe to disseminate information about Chinese research funding programmes. Project partners, policy makers, participants from other EU projects, researchers, and industrial and public organisations were invited to attend. The workshops brought together key stakeholders from research institutes and the industrial and public sector to network and begin developing long-term partnership opportunities. Moreover, three dissemination and match-making events were held in China to exploit and disseminate the project findings, promote the establishment of cross-border collaboration opportunities between Europe and China through area-specific one-on-one meetings between EU researchers or research organisations with their counterparts from China. These project events certainly served as an important platform for the project consortium to transfer its knowledge to the European research community. The outcome of the events was reported and disseminated to the project stakeholders via the project website.
Other multiplier events
The project team has disseminated the project information (either directly disseminating the project brochure or indirectly via the common ACESSS4EU newsletter), through multiplier events such as the First INCO Conference 'Supporting research integration' (Athens, 8 June 2010), ICPCNANONET project workshop (Beijing, 14-15 June 2010), INNO-Views workshop 'Innovation bridges between China and the EU' (Shanghai, 12 October 2010), Fifth EU-China Business and Technology Cooperation Fair (Chengdu, 18 October 2010), the ACCESS4EU Task Force Events (Bonn, 14 April 2011), ICPC NANONET project third annual workshop (St. Petersburg, 24-25 May 2011), ICT event (Budapest, 20 May 2011), EBN Congress (Toulon, 16 June 2011), SPRING Project Workshop (2-3 July 2012, Beijing), TCM-driven systems biology, personalised medicine and healthcare IT (Beijing, 27 September 2011), Sino-French Industry Cluster Cooperation Forum-EU-China Business and Technology Cooperation Fair VI (Montpellier, 25-27 September 2011), Final conference of the KORRIDOR project (Brussels, 10 November, 2011), and China Links Horizontal meeting-Mobility of European Researchers to China (Beijing, 7 December 2011).
In addition, the project has contacted CECO, RCUK China, DLR Germany, FP863 Project, SYNCHRONISER, STF, CO-REACH, CO REACH II, Euraxess Links China, BILAT-SILK, INNO-Views, and other related projects / organisations for dissemination of the project results.
Address of the project public website: http://www.access4.eu/China(odnośnik otworzy się w nowym oknie)
Contact:
Dr Sara Medina
Sociedade Portuguesa de Inovação (SPI)
Avenida Marechal Gomes da Costa, 1376
4150-356 Porto
Portugal
Tel: +35-122-6076400
Fax: +35-122-6099164
Email: saramedina@spi.pt
The above information could also be found under the 'Contact' section of the website at: http://www.access4.eu/China/262.php(odnośnik otworzy się w nowym oknie)
- Sociedade Portuguesa de Inovação;
- European Business and Innovation Centre Network;
- Université Joseph Fourier;
- Steinbeis Europa Zentrum, Steinbeis Innovation;
- China Policy Institute, University of Nottingham;
- Torch High Technology Industry Development Centre, Ministry of Science and Technology China;
- Institute of Policy and Management, Chinese Academy of Science;
- International Technology Transfer Centre, Tsinghua University;
- Zhejiang University;
- Hong Kong University of Science and Technology;
- EU Project Innovation Centre.
The CHINAACCESS4EU project has the following general objectives:
- increase the awareness and dissemination in the European Union (EU) of access opportunities for European researchers and research organisations in Chinese national research and innovation programmes;
- increase science and technology (S&T) cooperation between Europe and China, especially effective collaborations of European researchers and research organisations in Chinese national research and innovation programmes;
- help develop the reciprocity aspect of EU-China S&T agreements and improve EU's understanding of the respective research systems in China.
To this end, the project focuses on:
- mapping of the access opportunities in China;
- dissemination of the results to European research organisations and multipliers;
- monitoring of the participation of researchers from the EU in Chinese programmes;
- provision of feedback and recommendations to the European Commission (EC).
Main outputs available to the European and Chinese research communities include:
- fact sheets of Chinese research funding programmes;
- monthly alert with the latest S&T opportunities in China;
- biannual newsletters;
- case studies of European researchers participating in Chinese funding programmes;
- project training workshops and dissemination and match-making events in China and Europe;
- strategy paper for enhancing reciprocity in EU-China S&T cooperation.
The project website (please see http://www.access4.eu/China(odnośnik otworzy się w nowym oknie) online) offers a searchable database of opportunities for European researchers and research institutions offered by Chinese research funding programmes, an overview of Chinese funding programmes, project introduction, case studies, newsroom, event calendar, all publishable project deliverables, links to database of potential project partners and relevant projects and organisations, among others.
Project context and objectives:
Pursuing mutually advantageous agreements with China has long been a priority for the EC. The S&T agreement between the EU and China was signed in 1998 thereby providing a legal basis for future cooperation on science and technology between the two signatories. The agreement has resulted in the Chinese research community becoming increasingly involved in EU Framework Programme (FP) activities and many key S&T organisations from China were involved in the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6) and currently in FP7. Initiatives include bi-regional coordination of S&T cooperation and bilateral coordination for the enhancement and development of S&T partnerships. In turn, China opened its national high technology research and development programme (the 863? programme) and the national basic research programme (the 973 Programme) to the EU counterpart.
However, the participation of EU researchers in Chinese research funding programmes is still low and the number of publications of China with EU is losing ground. EU could lag behind if it does not take advantage of China's research and development (R&D) developments which is changing the international landscape.
In addition, there are a number of structural / institutional access issues, barriers and obstacles related to EU-China S&T collaboration:
- lack of continued commitment on the part of the Chinese government and the European and Chinese academic and research community;
- lack of interest to participate in Chinese research programmes by EU researchers;
- lack of suitable Chinese partners;
- language and cultural differences;
- lack of transparency on the part of the Chinese research programmes.
Therefore, the CHINAACCESS4EU project has the following general objectives:
- increase the awareness and dissemination in the EU of access opportunities for European researchers and research organisations in Chinese national research and innovation programmes;
- increase S&T cooperation between Europe and China, especially effective collaborations of European researchers and research organisations in Chinese national research and innovation programmes;
- help develop the reciprocity aspect of EU-China S&T agreements and improve EU's understanding of the respective research systems in China.
Project results:
Through gathering information on Chinese funding programmes and policies as well as interacting with a wide range of stakeholders (including project partners, policy makers, participants from other EU projects, researchers, and industrial and public organisations), the project team has strived to provide an innovative approach to tackle the challenge of enhancing reciprocity in EU-China S&T collaboration and to ensure the dissemination of the results.
The main S&T results may be summarised as follows:
- fact sheets of Chinese national research and innovation (R&I) programmes and agencies;
- project workshops and dissemination and match-making events and proceedings;
- case study reports;
- project newsletters;
- monthly alerts;
- strategy paper for enhancing reciprocity in EU-China S&T cooperation;
- project website and call database.
Fact Sheets of Chinese national R&I programmes and agencies
The fact sheet is a document produced by the project team to present and keep track of useful information on the major Chinese funding programmes to the EU researchers. The information was collected with the support of Chinese project partners and in collaboration with central and local funding agencies such as NSFC and MOST, while pointing out the legitimacy of this project. Based on the results of such an analysis, fact sheets of each Chinese funding programme were prepared covering the following topics:
- introduction to the programme;
- national agency managing the programme;
- structure and research topics called;
- budget;
- rules of participation and funding;
- deadlines;
- how to apply;
- evaluation criteria;
- links and contacts for more information on the programme.
The factsheets on 43 mainland China programmes, 3 Chinese provincial programmes and 12 Hong Kong programmes were published at the beginning of the project and updated close to the end of the project.
Project workshops and dissemination and match-making events and proceedings
The project team organised two large dissemination / training workshops in Germany and France and three small dissemination / training workshops in the UK, Finland and Portugal. The project team invited representatives from national / regional S&T governmental bodies, industries, and research institutes, not only from the country where the workshop was held but also from neighbourhood countries in order to ensure the widest dissemination coverage in the EU. Through these workshops, the project team not only disseminated useful information to EU researchers, but also obtained contacts information of European scientists, which were added to the list of key stakeholders.
Case study reports
In an effort to identify successful cases regarding collaborations between European and Chinese researchers in Chinese research funding programmes and provide practical advice to the EU researchers, the CHINAACCESS4EU project team interacted with several European and Chinese stakeholders to achieve a greater understanding of their partnership approach in Chinese research programmes.
The case study reports drew conclusions from the interviews with the European researchers who have involved in Chinese research programmes, summarised important steps to prepare for applications and potential obstacles, as well as provided main recommendations to improve the participation of European researchers in Chinese programmes.
Project newsletters
The biannual newsletters included main findings from the interviews / case studies of EU researchers regarding their participation in Chinese programmes and as their Chinese counterparts, statistics on Chinese research programmes, as well as the main findings from the survey questionnaires regarding the participation of European / Chinese researchers in Chinese / European programmes.
Monthly alerts
The monthly alerts were disseminated to inform European researchers of the latest funding opportunities in China.
Strategy paper for enhancing reciprocity in EU-China S&T cooperation
Strategy paper for enhancing reciprocity in EU-China S&T cooperation aims to contribute to the discussions of the EC with China in the context of the joint committee meetings of the S&T agreements. The knowledge and expertise of the consortium has been applied in providing recommendations to the EC. The opportunities and obstacles encountered during the project have been analysed, and recommendations have been provided in order to facilitate and further EU-China cooperation in the framework of S&T agreements.
Project website and call database
The project website (please see http://www.access4.eu/China(odnośnik otworzy się w nowym oknie) online) provides users with access to a fully searchable database of opportunities for European researchers and research institutions offered by Chinese government research funding programmes. Users can search a call by programme, research area, and keywords. This provides added-value to European researchers as the information is mapped in an organised searchable format and available in English, thus overcoming the language barrier.
Potential impact:
The project partners include key European and Chinese organisations in the S&T field. This helped to achieve the following impact:
i) Increased S&T cooperation between Europe and China by identifying access opportunities to European researchers in research programmes managed by China
The project facilitated research collaborations between the EU and China through reducing the barriers caused by geographical distance and language / cultural difference. To bring about this impact, the following steps were taken:
- Identify and map access opportunities for European researchers in Chinese research and innovation programmes: A key aspect of the project was to inform EU researchers of opportunities to access Chinese research programmes such as 973 and 863 programmes. Information was mapped in an organised way in the project website, which provided European researchers with a one-stop location for finding and accessing opportunities and project partners in China. The project effectively served as a gateway to Chinese S&T for European researchers and research organisations.
- Identify project stakeholders for the dissemination of information: In order to have a targeted approach for the dissemination of information, the project partners identified stakeholders from the EU and China who are leaders in their respective S&T research communities and developed an extensive list of key stakeholders.
- Disseminate the results to European research organisations and multipliers, covering research organisations, universities, national / regional agencies and industrial organisations in the EU and China: By making information on Chinese funding programmes freely and easily available on the project website and by contacting researchers to encourage them to access the website via partners' existing networks and contacts throughout Europe and China, the project ensured that this information can be accessed by as wide a community as possible. In addition, the dissemination / training workshops held in different European countries and the dissemination and match-making events in China were excellent channels to promote the dissemination of project results.
ii) Measurable increase of effective collaborations of European research organisations in Chinese programmes
The project supported European researchers to further develop their S&T cooperation with China. It provided a context in which researchers can collectively profit from the opportunities generated by the networking activities. To achieve such impact, the following steps were taken:
- Encourage networking amongst researchers: The project provided various mechanisms by which researchers from Europe and China can network. The physical dissemination / training workshops and dissemination and match-making events allowed local participants to dialogue directly with potential partners and discuss research topics for future calls. For researchers that were not able to attend project networking events, the project provided other networking channels: email or telephone (through contact details in the 'Find project partners' section of the website). The project website allowed researchers to search for suitable partners in Europe and China, which translates into enhanced European participation in Chinese research programmes. Through such facilitated networking, European and Chinese researchers in common areas of interest who are geographically isolated but who have complementary skills could collaborate on research proposals and synergise on Chinese research funds.
- Monitor the participation of researchers from the EU in Chinese programmes: A bi-annual survey questionnaire with the purpose of monitoring the participation of EU researchers in Chinese programmes was carried out. The main outcome of the biannual survey was consolidated and included in biannual newsletters which were disseminated via the project website.
iii) Improvement of mutual understanding of the respective research systems in Europe and China with S&T agreements
To achieve such impact, the following steps were taken:
- Carry out a survey of EU-China bilateral S&T cooperation agreements and programmes: The project team identified bilateral S&T cooperation agreements and programmes between the EU Member States and / or Associated Countries and China. In addition, the survey identified activities carried under EU-China bilateral S&T cooperation agreements as well as existing national or European networks such as ERAXESS-LINKS / ERA-LINK or ongoing international cooperation ERA-NET projects (e.g. CO-REACH).
- Dialogue with selected S&T government bodies of EU Member States: The dialogue took place through communications and in-person meetings with an objective of creating interest and understanding the realities that pertain to bilateral S&T collaboration with China conducted by each selected EU Member State. The results of the dialogue were consolidated into the strategy paper.
- Provide feedback and recommendations to the EC as well as outputs useful inter alia in the context of the joint committee meetings of the S&T agreements: The project team has prepared a strategy paper for enhancing reciprocity in EU-China S&T cooperation to the EC. The document will contribute to the discussions of the EC with China in the context of the joint committee meetings of the S&T agreements. The knowledge and expertise of the consortium regarding European and Chinese S&T policy have been applied in providing recommendations to the EC. The main findings and conclusions of the project will undoubtedly facilitate and further EU-China cooperation in the framework of S&T agreements.
The project website will continue to be active for two years after the completion of the project. This will ensure a continuous impact on the facilitation of networking among researchers in the EU and China.
There are a number of existing related initiatives for enhancing EU-China S&T cooperation, such as EURAXESS CHINA, BILAT SILK, CO-REACH, with which the consortium tried to connect to ensure that efforts are not duplicated. The project partners took into account these existing international initiatives by utilising their contact networks to conduct project activities, inviting key stakeholders of these initiatives to project workshops, and linking the project website to the websites of previous or existing projects.
With a strong network of contacts with relevant government organisations in China and Europe, the project team advocated the importance of the project for promoting the mobility of European researchers towards the Chinese research and development programmes and motivated both the European and Chinese academic and research communities to actively contribute to the project activities. The project team identified a contact person at each identified stakeholder to ensure the development of a solid relationship on a continuous basis. Workshops organised in China convinced the Chinese authorities of the access issues for EU researchers and encouraged them to further open up Chinese research programmes. The three match-making events helped EU researchers find suitable Chinese research partners. In addition, the Chinese partners in the project consortium provided useful information on Chinese research programmes.
Main dissemination activities and exploitation of results:
The knowledge that has been produced by the CHINAACCESS4EU consortium primarily concerns knowledge of Chinese research programmes. The network also accumulated knowledge and information on the activities of other national or international organisations or initiatives involved in promoting S&T relations between Europe and China. The dissemination of such project information was achieved through the engagement of stakeholders involved in the project network, stakeholders outside the network as well as the public at large in Europe and China. The partners are already members of various networks each with different regional, international and disciplinary outreaches. The project undertook to establish and foster collaborations and information exchange with a wide variety of stakeholders, through the project events where different experts and local researchers were brought together, and dissemination activities via related websites and networks.
The beneficiaries of the dissemination activities include mainly:
- European researchers;
- European professional associations;
- European industry / SMEs;
- EU / national / regional programme holders.
The CHINAACCESS4EU work programme was designed to maximise user feedback and input to the project deliverables. Dissemination tools included the project website, project brochure, newsletters, targeted mailing, project documents, project events, and other multiplier events. By its nature this process helped spread excellence, exploit results and disseminate knowledge.
Project website
A professionally designed project website has been developed, which disseminates project results to a wide public. It is used to inform EU researchers of Chinese research funding opportunities and the project stakeholders of the project progress.
Project brochure
Professional brochures were developed in English and Mandarin Chinese. The brochures include information such as the project's objectives, methodology, outputs, partners and information about the project website, etc. They were disseminated to project stakeholders through project events and direct mailing. In coordination with other ACCESS4EU projects, a common ACCESS4EU brochure / flyer was developed. This project also created separate brochures / flyers to promote its own activities.
Project newsletters
Project newsletters and common ACCESS4EU newsletters have been produced. The project newsletter focuses on the project itself. The common ACCESS4EU newsletter aimed at gathering information from a number of ACCESS4EU projects in order to provide a complete picture of the opportunities in third countries.
Targeted mailing
Targeted mailing to the organisations included in the list of key stakeholders was done via email with project deliverables such as monthly alerts and biannual newsletters. Such internet-based dissemination activities were able to reach the greatest number of target groups with the lowest costs.
Project documents
The project documents including fact sheets of Chinese national R&I programmes and agencies as well as monthly alerts clearly mapped Chinese research programmes and described opportunities as well as constraints for EU researchers. This allowed researchers to approach appropriate Chinese programmes for undertaking collaborative research activities with China. Moreover, the strategy paper for enhancing reciprocity in EU-China S&T cooperation could be used to inform and guide European policy makers to prepare for future joint S&T committee meetings with China. These project documents have been published and disseminated via the project website.
Project events
Five dissemination / training workshops were held in Europe to disseminate information about Chinese research funding programmes. Project partners, policy makers, participants from other EU projects, researchers, and industrial and public organisations were invited to attend. The workshops brought together key stakeholders from research institutes and the industrial and public sector to network and begin developing long-term partnership opportunities. Moreover, three dissemination and match-making events were held in China to exploit and disseminate the project findings, promote the establishment of cross-border collaboration opportunities between Europe and China through area-specific one-on-one meetings between EU researchers or research organisations with their counterparts from China. These project events certainly served as an important platform for the project consortium to transfer its knowledge to the European research community. The outcome of the events was reported and disseminated to the project stakeholders via the project website.
Other multiplier events
The project team has disseminated the project information (either directly disseminating the project brochure or indirectly via the common ACESSS4EU newsletter), through multiplier events such as the First INCO Conference 'Supporting research integration' (Athens, 8 June 2010), ICPCNANONET project workshop (Beijing, 14-15 June 2010), INNO-Views workshop 'Innovation bridges between China and the EU' (Shanghai, 12 October 2010), Fifth EU-China Business and Technology Cooperation Fair (Chengdu, 18 October 2010), the ACCESS4EU Task Force Events (Bonn, 14 April 2011), ICPC NANONET project third annual workshop (St. Petersburg, 24-25 May 2011), ICT event (Budapest, 20 May 2011), EBN Congress (Toulon, 16 June 2011), SPRING Project Workshop (2-3 July 2012, Beijing), TCM-driven systems biology, personalised medicine and healthcare IT (Beijing, 27 September 2011), Sino-French Industry Cluster Cooperation Forum-EU-China Business and Technology Cooperation Fair VI (Montpellier, 25-27 September 2011), Final conference of the KORRIDOR project (Brussels, 10 November, 2011), and China Links Horizontal meeting-Mobility of European Researchers to China (Beijing, 7 December 2011).
In addition, the project has contacted CECO, RCUK China, DLR Germany, FP863 Project, SYNCHRONISER, STF, CO-REACH, CO REACH II, Euraxess Links China, BILAT-SILK, INNO-Views, and other related projects / organisations for dissemination of the project results.
Address of the project public website: http://www.access4.eu/China(odnośnik otworzy się w nowym oknie)
Contact:
Dr Sara Medina
Sociedade Portuguesa de Inovação (SPI)
Avenida Marechal Gomes da Costa, 1376
4150-356 Porto
Portugal
Tel: +35-122-6076400
Fax: +35-122-6099164
Email: saramedina@spi.pt
The above information could also be found under the 'Contact' section of the website at: http://www.access4.eu/China/262.php(odnośnik otworzy się w nowym oknie)