IPCP
INTRODUCTIONThe 7th framework program of the European Union offers opportunities for participation of countries outside of Europe: the International Cooperation Partner Countries (ICPC).
Of special concern is the theme: Environment and Climate Change with four main research areas.
The research projects are called by the European Commission and follow a top down approach, as they have to fulfill the research needs of the European Environmental Policy.
A network of National Contact Points (NCP) is established in Europe and supports applicants. In the project Environmental NCPs Together (ENT) it also provides training for ICPCs.
0. What is FP7?
1. FP7 Environment and Climate Change (FP7 ENV)
2. Why does the European Union (EU) support scientific international cooperation? (EU Policy for Support)
3. How does the EU encourage non-EU countries to participate? (Opportunities)
4. Who from outside Europe can participate in FP7? (Participation)
5. What are Third Countries? (Third Countries)
a. International Cooperation Partner Countries
b. High-income countries
6. What are Specific International Cooperation Activities (SICAs)? (Projects)
7. Registration and Submission (Registration)
8. Contracting with the EU (Contacting)
9. Payment Modalities for ICPC (Funding)
10. Where can I find help for participation? (Support)
11. Websites and Documents (Docs&Websites)
0. What is FP7?
FP7 is the short name for the Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development. It will last for seven years from 2007 until 2013. It is the European Union's main instrument for funding research in Europe and is designed to respond to Europe's employment needs, competitiveness and quality of life. The programme has a total budget of over € 50 billion.
The large area of objectives within FP7 is grouped into four categories: Cooperation, Ideas, People and Capacities. Cooperation holds the largest budget of € 32 billions, assigned to ten thematic areas: health, food and agriculture, environment and climate change, energy, transport, nanotechnologies, materials and industrial production (NMP), information and communication technology (ICT), security, space as well as socio-economic sciences and the humanities.
The European Commission has established Directorate General Research (DG Research) and innovation and Directorate General Enterprise (DG Enterprise) to develop and manage this large research program.
Link on CORDIS
Opportunities for researchers from outside Europe are placed in some Cooperation programmes, like Environment and Climate Change, as well as in the People programmes.
Call for Proposals
FP7 funding is distributed through specific procedures, the “calls for proposals”. For Environmental projects, there is one call for proposals per year. FP7 Calls
Each call is characterized by:
- launch date and a closure date
- An overall budget
- A work programme
- Information on the evaluation procedures
- A guide for applicants, written for newcomers to FP7
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1. FP7 Environment and Climate Change
EU Policies
Environment is a leading policy in Europe and every economic activity must take into account its own environmental impact. The EU adopted in 2002 the 6th Environment Action Programme (2002‐2012). It identifies four key environmental priorities:
- Climate change
- Nature and biodiversity
- Environment and health
- Natural resources and waste
This programme is in line with international agreements such as the Kyoto protocol on greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions, the Long‐range Transboundary Atmospheric Pollution protocol (LTAP) and the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDG) among others.
In order to increase European competitiveness in this area the EU adopted in 2004 the 2nd Environmental Technologies Action Plan (ETAP), which aims to:
- Promote knowledge and technology transfer
- Improve market conditions to favor these technologies’ take‐up
- Promote environmental technologies in emerging and developing countries
Structure of the programme
The main objective of research for the environment under FP7 is to promote the sustainable management of both the man-made and the natural environment and its resources. To this end, increased knowledge on the interaction between the climate, the biosphere, ecosystems and human activities is sought and new environmentally-friendly technologies, tools and services are developed.
The theme “Environment and Climate Change” supports four main research activities which are in line with the Environmental Action Programme and with ETAP:
6.1 Climate change, Pollution and Risks
- 6.1.1 Pressures on the environment and climate
- 6.1.2 Environment and health
- 6.1.3 Natural hazards
6.2 Sustainable Management of Resources
- 6.2.1 Conservation and sustainable management of natural and man‐made resources and biodiversity
- 6.2.2 Management of marine environments
6.3 Environmental Technologies
- 6.3.1 Environmental technologies for observation, simulation, prevention, mitigation, adaptation, remediation and restoration of the natural and man‐made environment
- 6.3.2 Protection, conservation and enhancement of cultural heritage, including human habitat improved damage assessment on cultural heritage
- 6.3.3 Technology assessment, verification and testing
6.4 Earth Observation and Assessment Tools
- 6.4.1 Earth and ocean observation systems and monitoring methods for the environment and sustainable development
- 6.4.2 Forecasting methods and assessment tools for sustainable development taking into account differing scales of observation
6.5 Horizontal activities
- 6.5.1 Dissemination and horizontal activities
The EU has earmarked a total of € 1.9 billion for funding this theme over the duration of FP7.
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2. Why does the European Union (EU) support scientific international cooperation?
Europe 2020 is the EU's growth strategy for the coming decade. In a changing world, the EU wants to become a smart, sustainable and inclusive economy. These three mutually reinforcing priorities shall help the EU and the Member States to deliver high levels of employment, productivity and social cohesion.
Concretely, the Union has set 5 ambitious objectives
• 75% employment rate
• 3% investment in R&D (3% of Europe‘s GDP)
• 20/20/20 targets for 2020
- 20% renewable energy
- 20% less CO2 production
- 20% increased energy efficiency
• Less than 10% school drop outs and at least 40% persons with a university degree
• Lifting at least 20 million people out of the risk of poverty or exclusion
Three priorities for sustainable growth and jobs build the heart of Europe 2020:
1. Growth based on knowledge and innovation
- Innovation
- Education
- Digital society
2. An inclusive high-employment society
- Employment
- Skills
- Fighting poverty
3. Green growth: a competitive and sustainable economy
- Combating climate change
- Clean and efficient energy
- Competitiveness
The international policy of the EU has the following three objectives:
• To support European competitiveness through strategic partnerships with third countries in selected fields of science and by engaging the best third country scientists to work in and with Europe.
• To enhance the production of knowledge and scientific excellence by enabling European universities, research institutions and firms to establish contact with their partners in third countries, thereby facilitating access to research environments outside Europe and promoting synergies on a global scale.
• To address specific problems that third countries face or that have a global character, on the basis of mutual interest and mutual benefit.
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3. How does the EU encourage non-EU countries to participate?
The European Union can benefit from strategic research partnerships with non-EU countries, in order to broaden its range of competences and enhance trade with these countries via technology transfers. Moreover, international scientific cooperation is essential to tackle issues of mutual concern, like climate change or biodiversity protection.
This is achieved
- By opening up most topics of FP7 Cooperation programme for their participation
- By offering the opportunity to organizations from these countries to coordinate FP projects and submit project proposals, provided they include at least two organizations from EU countries as members of the project consortium
- By proposing Specific International Cooperation Activities (SICAs) within the calls for proposals
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4. Who from outside Europe can participate in FP7?
The short answer is ‘in principle everybody’. Organisations and researchers from more than 100 countries all over the world are already involved in EU research programmes.
Participants can in principle be based anywhere, but there are individual categories of countries with different eligibility for funding:
• Member States - the EU-27:
• Associated Countries (AC) – with science and technology cooperation agreements that involved contributing to the framework programme budget.
Complete list of associated countries.
• Candidate Countries – currently recognised as candidates for future accession.
• International Cooperation Partner Countries (ICPC) - the participation of organisations or individuals established in countries that are not Member States, candidates or associated should also be justified in terms of the enhanced contribution to the objectives of FP7. Organisations and researchers from an international cooperation partner country (ICPC) may also receive funding. An ICPC is a third country which the European Commission classifies as a low-income, lower-middle-income or upper-middle-income country. Complete list of ICPCs
• Industry countries outside of Europe like USA, Canada, Japan, Australia, etc are all countries not included in the ICPC list and not associated to FP7. Legal entities form these countries may participate but are not funded by the EU.
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5. What are Third Countries?
Third Countries are all non EU countries, which are not associated to the Seventh Framework Programme of the European Community for Research, Technological Development and Demonstration Activities (FP7).
Third countries consist of two groups:
a) International Cooperation Partner Countries (ICPCs)
b) High-income countries
a) International Cooperation Partner Countries
Legal entities from ICPCs
- may participate in FP7 activities as partners (provided that the minimum conditions laid down in the FP7 ‘Rules for Participation’ (RfP) have been met).
- are eligible to receiving EU funding.
- may be the coordinator under specific circumstances. However, the acceptance of an entity from a third country as coordinator in an FP7 project should be very carefully assessed.
b) High-income countries:
High-income countries are all the countries not included in the ICPC list and not associated to FP7. These include in particular the United States of America, Canada, Japan, the Republic of Korea, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand. Taiwan, Hong Kong and Macao are also considered as high-income territories, as well as the Vatican, San Marino, Monaco and Andorra.
Legal entities from high-income countries may participate in indirect FP7 activities. However, they are normally not eligible to receive an EC financial contribution for their research activities.
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6. What are Specific International Cooperation Activities (SICAs)?
SICAs are activities dedicated to third countries where there is mutual interest with the EU on the basis of both the scientific and technical (S&T) level and the needs of the countries concerned. At least two SICA topics are inserted in each call for proposals after consulting International Cooperation Partner Country (ICPC) stakeholders to determine research priorities for these countries. SICAs also aim to encourage the participation of countries which lack capacity to participate in other topics of the FP7 Cooperation programme in general. The participation of at least two ICPCs and at least two EU states is compulsory for a consortium wanting to carry out a SICA project (if not stated otherwise in the work programme).
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7. Registration and Submission
Participants from ICPCs enjoy similar rights (e.g., funding, IPR) and are subject to the same obligations (e.g., financial and scientific reporting, audits, IPR) as the EU partners of the consortium.
In order to submit a proposal, the coordinator has to use the Electronic Proposal Submission System (EPSS). All partners have to register on the URF. To familiarise with the system, have a look at this EPSS presentation or consult the EPSS guide.
For registering in the EPSS you need:
1. Legal Entity Appointed Representative (LEAR)
Each legal entity must appoint one person (the so-called LEAR – Legal Entity Appointed Representative) for being the correspondent towards the Commission on all issues related to the legal status of the entity. The LEAR is identified by the management of legal entity. He/she and can view all legal and financial data and provides the Commission with up-to-date data. The LEAR communicates his/her role in his/her organisation and provides the PIC to other employees dealing with proposals and grant agreements. Further the LEAR can ask the Commission for changes and corrections. If your organisation has not yet appointed a LEAR download the LEAR Appointment form [PDF][DOC] and the LEAR role and tasks [DOC] document.
2.The Participant Identification Code (PIC)
The PIC is a unique code which every participating legal entity needs for the identification. The organisations that already have signed an FP7 grant agreement have already been assigned a PIC. Organisations without a signed FP7 grant agreement may obtain a PIC by registering in the Unique Registration Facility (URF) which is hosted in the Participant Portal.
3. The Unique Registration Facility (URF)
You will have to first create an ECAS account (European Commission Authentication System) in order to access the Participant Portal and its underlying services such as the Unique Registration Facility (URF).
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8. Contracting with the EU
After a positive evaluation of the proposal the coordinator is invited to negotiations which end in the signature of the Grant Agreement (GA). The GA is signed by the coordinator and the program officer and sets the terms and conditions for payment modalities for the beneficiaries. This document is the only legally binding contract between the consortium and the European Commission. It holds in the annexes a description of work as well as rules on intellectual property rights (among others).
Participants from ICPCs, like any other participant, will have to sign the grant agreement (GA) and, if applicable, the consortium agreement (CA).
The Consortium Agreement determines the relationship of the beneficiaries in a project among each other. It bases on the description of work of the Grant Agreement und specifies on tasks and deliverables in due time.
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9. Payment Modalities for ICPC
To get funded by the Commission, ICPC beneficiaries participating in FP7 projects have the choice between two payment modalities:
a) Being reimbursed on the basis of actual costs
Here costs must be actually incurred (actual costs). That means that they must be real and not estimated, budgeted or imputed.
b) Being reimbursed on the basis of lump-sums
Legal entities established in an ICPC may opt for lump sums. The Commission has defined three categories of ICPCs according to the average income level of the countries. In that case the contribution is based on the amounts shown below, multiplied by the total number of person-years for the project requested by the ICPC legal entity.
- Low-income ICPC: 8,000 Euro/researcher/year
- Lower middle income ICPC: 9,800 Euro/researcher/year
- Upper middle income ICPC 20,700 Euro/researcher/year
Details on the modalities are found in the "Guide to financial issues".
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10. Where can I find help for participation?
In all EU Member States, in the countries associated with FP7 and in several other countries, National Contact Points (“NCPs”) have been set up to give personalized help and advice to researchers and organisations intending to participate. Contact your NCP and explain your situation and your ideas. The NCP’s job is it to point you to the part of FP7 that might be of interest to you and to help you with your application. With their support, getting through the necessary paperwork will be much easier. By following this link you can easily find the contact details of the designated National Contact Points for your country. http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/ncp_en.html
The Commission has established a database with contacts in third countries who can give assistance to potential participants. For the moment, the list of countries is limited. http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/third-countries_en.html
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11. Websites and Documents
| What it is | Link |
| Community Research and Development Information Service | CORDIS CORDIS – Environment (useful links) |
| Open Calls in FP7 | FP7 Calls |
| Kyoto protocol on greenhouse gases emissions | GHG |
| Long‐range Transboundary Atmospheric Pollution protocol | LTAP |
| United Nations Millennium Development Goals | MDG |
| Environmental Technologies Action Plan | ETAP |
| All Associated Countries | AC |
| All EU Member States | MS |
| All International Cooperation Partner Countries | ICPC |
| Electronic Proposal Submission System | EPSS website EPSS preparation and submission guide EPSS presentation |
| Legal Entity Appointed Representative | LEAR |
| The Participant Identification Code | PIC |
| The Unique Registration Facility | URF |
| Guide to Financial Issues relating to FP7 Indirect Actions | Guide to financial issues |
| National Contact Points | NCP |
| FP7 Contacts in Third Countries | ICPC Contacts |
| Interlink FP7 Brochure | |
| Guidelines Third Country Participants | |
| United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, 2009 | Website |
| Cancún climate change conference 2010 | Website |
| Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change | IPCC |
| Sustainable Development | http://ec.europa.eu/environment/eussd/ |
| Gateway to the European Union | www.europa.eu |
| United Nations Environment Programme | http://www.unep.ch |
| European Technology Platforms | ETPs |