Current Framework Programme Research Articles

The European Commission’s approach to supporting environmental health research

S08: Setting the European Environment and Health Research Agenda, 2020-2030: the HERA project, Room 217, Floor 2, August 26, 2019, 1:30 PM - 3:00 PM Research on environment and health has been supported by the European Union’s Framework Programmes of Research and Innovation at least for 25 years. Until today, over 400 multi-partner projects have been funded, which have received over €1.2 billion from the Framework Programmes. My presentation will give a short overview of the major achievements of activities supported in the past 20 years and the principal policy drivers behind. I will present the priorities for the three final years of Horizon 2020 (the current Framework Programme for Research and Innovation), especially the recent and planned calls for proposals. In addition, I will highlight some of the potential drivers and programmes for research to be undertaken under the environment and health-related activities planned under the European Commission’s proposal for Horizon Europe – the next Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, to run from 2021 until 2027.

Shaping the Horizon: social sciences and humanities in the EU framework programme “Horizon 2020”

Since the 1980s, the European Union (and predecessors) invests in the promotion of a ‘European Research Area’. Framework Programmes were created, numbered consecutively. In January 2014, the current Framework Programme, was launched. This article looks back at 30 years of EU research funding development, and it sketches the future of EU research funding with a focus on Social-Sciences and Humanities (SSH). Horizon 2020– that is the keyword for the new strategy; the article gives a general outline on what we can expect in this framework. Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) have always had a hard time securing EU-funding. It is the special focus of the article to illuminate the position of SSH-research, including an encouragement for more pro-active participation of researchers in the processes of designing and shaping new work programmes for Horizon 2020.

Surface Transport Management Projects in the Sixth Framework Programme of the European Union

The Framework Programme (FP) is the European Union's (EU's) primary instrument for the funding of European research projects. The impossibility of obtaining comprehensive information on projects and thus of planning future research is a major problem for stakeholders and the research community. This project aims at providing an overview of the main areas of interest with regard to surface transport management in the EU by identifying which kinds of projects have been funded, the extent to which various nations have participated in and coordinated various projects, the degree of international cooperation within these projects, the amount of contributed funds and consequently the percentage of total EU funding for the surface transport management sector, and other relevant information. More than 700 projects related to transport were identified among the 4,634 projects financed to date by the current FP, the Sixth Framework Programme. Of the 700 projects, 106 had a direct impact on surface transport management and were analyzed. The analysis proposes to emphasize which research areas have attracted major interest within the EU and to clarify and integrate existing findings relevant to the institutional dimensions of surface transport management projects. It also proposes to stimulate, concentrate, and coordinate research efforts to overcome important shortcomings with regard to the political and economic dimensions of the EU and the pursuit of particularly promising themes related to the surface transport management sector. This study presents itself as an initial ground for future comparison of surface transportation R&D programs.

Prospects for Transport Research under the European Sixth Framework Programme

The European Commission provides an important source of funding for research and development in many sectors including transport. Recent analysis indicates that the European Commission currently funds almost a quarter of all publicly financed research and development projects in the European Union (Schelhowe, 2002). The vast majority of European research funding comes from the EU’s research ‘framework programmes’: multiannual programmes for research, technological development and demonstration (RTD) activities. The current framework programme, the Fifth Framework Programme (FP5), sets European research priorities for RTD activities up to 2002. Beyond 2002, a new framework programme, the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6), will set EU research priorities. Preparations are now well underway within the European Commission for this new framework programme, which will identify European research priorities for RTD activities up to 2006. At the time of writing (early 2002), the European Commission is close to adopting proposals regarding the specific programmes and the implementation of FP6. This article examines the draft proposals for FP6 and identifies the prospects for transport research funding from the European Commission over the next few years. Of course it is possible that the content of the Sixth Framework Programme will not exactly match the draft proposals reported in this paper although it is most unlikely that any of the main areas of research will change.

Science and technology in Europe: EC subsidiary research

The decline in European competitiveness in high technology products has been causing concern at the European Community (EC) for a number of years. The current Framework Programme covers the years 1987 to 1991 and overlaps with the recently approved 1990–1994 Programme. The main aim of these EC exercises is to help strengthen the technological potential of European industry. Several single programmes under the Framework Programme involve sensor technology, including BRITE/EURAM, currently budgeted at some 500 million ECU for four years (1989–1992).