Diplomats debate international co-operation
Key ideas on increasing international research collaboration in Horizon 2020 have been developed by European diplomatic corps.
At a meeting of member state diplomats, policy makers agreed new possible ways of increasing research co-operation and knowledge transfer between the EU and other countries. Ideas debated include how to intensify the partnership between firms and universities in order to encourage innovation, increasing analysis-based decision making and the better assessment of future trends.
Speaking at the meeting, Máire Geoghegan-Quinn, European Commissioner for Research, Innovation and Science, said: “It makes perfect sense to cast the net wider and create and explore opportunities for research and innovation co-operation between Europe and the rest of the world. Not least because the societal challenges that we face today, such as climate change, the spread of infectious diseases or ensuring a steady supply of food and energy, are so big and so complex that we need the world’s best scientists to tackle them together.”
Horizon 2020 will begin on 1 January 2014, bringing together all existing EU research and innovation funding provided under FP7, the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme and the European Institute of Innovation and Technology.
International research co-operation is a key part of the Seventh Research Framework Programme, with an estimated 20% of projects including at least one international partner. Major collaborators have included the United States, China, India and Russia.
