In this ISSUE. ISSUE 05 December International Training for FP7 Newcomers: 23 February 2012, Zagreb, Croatia

Transcription

1 ISSUE 05 December 2011 In this ISSUE Training for FP7 Newcomers International Strategy Development Workshop SUCCEED-IT - Collaborative platform Standards your key to knowledge transfer OpenAIRE- Open Access Infrastructure National SME Fora International Training for FP7 Newcomers: 23 February 2012, Zagreb, Croatia Fit for Health is organising a free of charge full-day international training session addressing newcomers to the 7th EU Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP7). The event provides persons not familiar with FP7 yet with concise and comprehensive information on the opportunities and rules of European research funding. It addresses all those involved in biomedical, clinical and public health research: representatives and researchers from companies, clusters, universities, research institutes, hospitals, patient organisations etc. Small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) play an ever bigger role in FP7 Health calls: Our training sessions take this into account and we specifically encourage researchers from SMEs to participate. Apart from general introductions to FP7 and the Health theme, the programme features presentations and exercises on consortium composition and how to find project partners as well as legal/financial aspects. Special attention is given throughout the event to provide information of particular interest to SMEs. The event is presented by a team of European experts with a vast experience in FP7 and is free of charge. The next (and last) call for proposals for Health research with an estimated budget of well over 700 million Euros (about 25% to go to SMEs) is expected to be published in summer If you are considering to submit / participate in a proposal for this call but are not yet familiar with FP7 and the general principles of EU Health research, this is your opportunity and the perfect time to get onboard the FP7 train! More information, including a preliminary agenda and a link for registration can be found on the Fit for Health website

2 In the Long Run - International Strategy Development Workshop for Life Science Executives We are running two workshops in 2012 and 2013, offering personal development for life sciences managers to help them tackle the strategic challenges of their current role. These are free of charge to the participants, and the industry experts and trainers are also giving their time without fees, to create this unique opportunity for life sciences entrepreneurs. Registration for these events is not open to consultants. Two venture capital firms, TVM and Index Ventures are supporting the event and will be keen to meet delegates. The first event is in Stockholm on 6 th / 7 th March We feel that an organisation considering the option of a European grant application needs to think long term about how this fits with their other long term plans. In fact, any executive in a young life sciences organisation should be taking time out to consider the big picture. The workshops are a 24 hour experience, arranged so that an executive can leave work at midday, fly to an evening reception in the city where the event is hosted, and can catch a plane home the following evening and be back at work with just the one day s absence. Preparation begins with a self assessment questionnaire completed at home, that asks the executive to think about the challenges their role currently involves and will involve in the future, both for themselves and their organisation. The evening reception introduces them to their fellow participants and to the VCs, facilitators and industry experts who will take them through the intensive day ahead. The day s work contains keynote speeches which outline some of the difficulties that executives face developing their technology and their organisation over a span of 5 years or longer. The 3 personal development modules that follow divide the participants into small groups to work through the issues that are of most relevance to them; they will be able to learn from each other and from the successful industry figures assisting each workshop. After the event, networking will continue online through structured focus groups. Interested managers can register by going to tohttp:// long-run-a-personal-strategic-development-workshop-for-life-science-managers-in- smes/180.aspx. To discuss attendance before registering please contact our UK partner in Fit for Health, Crispin Kirkman on crispin.kirkman@emtechna.com or your local fit for health partner.

3 Use the Collaborative platform SUCCEED-IT free of charge to prepare and manage your successful FP7 project online SUCEED-IT is a free Collaborative platform provided by Fit for Health initiative. It allows FP7 project initiators and their collaborators to share an access-restricted collaborative Work Section and to be guided by partners of the Fit for Health network in preparing the application, as well as in the negotiation and management of their research FP7 project ( It is an easy and efficient way to prepare successful FP7 projects. This collaborative platform offers information sharing, specific advice, training material, document repository and Q&A services to researchers and SMEs for the preparation phase of FP7 participation. Each project coordinator can use this professional virtual management platform to develop its project content, communicate with its collaborators, and to prepare task implementation and budget on a direct and real-time basis online. Each user finds his own updated documents and receives personalized digests with updated information and the latest list of deliverables, themes developed in the Discussion Fora, agenda items, reporting procedures, etc. Collaborative work sections created are restricted to invited persons only and cannot be accessed by external visitors. This platform is accessible to FP7 Health project initiators. We would like to offer you a free demonstration of the SUCCEED-IT Collaborative Platform which is already used by international organisations, professional federations and large European research projects. To create a new section or invite collaborators in your work section, please send a request to info@fitforhealth.eu with the details of your collaborators (Company/organisation, name of the person, telephone and address). You will find guidelines and training material for FP7 newcomers in the Main Directory at Your access password will be automatically sent in separate s. The Collaborative platform is an Xtranet-ISA platform developed by EuroTop (

4 Standards your key to knowledge transfer At a time when Europe needs more innovation in order to remain competitive on the global stage, standardization can be a bridge between research and innovation. Standards are useful to researchers because they embody an industrial state of the art which is easily accessible and must be taken into account by researchers. Using the standardization tools available, researchers can exploit, disseminate and bring their results to the market. CEN and CENELEC, the European Standards Organizations, have a long history in the development of European Standards in the Healthcare sector. More than 20 Technical Committees in the sector are active in CEN and CENELEC, and hundreds of experts pool their knowledge to draft state of the art standards on: Dentistry Electrical equipment in medical practice In vitro diagnostic medical devices Ophthalmic optics Respiratory and anaesthetic equipment Health informatics Chemical disinfectants and antiseptics The role of standards has already been recognized by some FP7 projects in the healthcare sector such as SPIDIA ( Standardisation and improvement of generic preanalytical tools and procedures for in vitro diagnostics ) which started in A huge number of European companies/laboratories do extensive research on generic preanalytical tools and procedures for in vitro diagnostics. The results of their research is being fed in to the standardisation system through CEN/TC 140 In vitro diagnostic medical devices. CEN and CENELEC provide targeted support to researchers interested in learning more about standardization or in integrating standardization in their project proposals through the Research Helpdesk. Contacts: Research and FP7 support Andreea Gulacsi research@cencenelec.eu Healthcare Standardization - Alexandre della Falle de Leverghem healthcare@cencenelec.eu

5 OpenAIRE - Open Access Infrastructure for Research In Europe Open Access is the immediate, online, free availability of research outputs without restrictions on use commonly imposed by publisher copyright agreements. Open Access includes the outputs that scholars normally give away for free for publication; it includes peer-reviewed journal articles, conference papers and datasets of various kinds. The European Commission is conducting a pilot initiative on Open Access to peer-reviewed research articles in its Seventh Research Framework Programme (FP7) to ensure that the results of the research it funds are disseminated as widely and effectively as possible to guarantee maximum exploitation and impact in the world of researchers and beyond. Open Access to research articles helps to increase the impact of the European Union s investment in research and development and to avoid wasting time and valuable resources on duplicative research. With access to a wider selection of literature, researchers can build upon this knowledge to further their own work. Small and medium sized businesses and entrepreneurs can also benefit from improved access to the latest research developments to speed up commercialisation and innovation. The European project Open Access Infrastructure for Research in Europe OpenAIRE provides a network of open repositories providing free online access to knowledge produced by scientists receiving grants from the Seventh Framework programme (FP7) - specifically in the fields of Health, Energy, Environment, Social Sciences & Humanities, Science in Society, as well as parts of Information & Communication Technology and Research Infrastructures - and from the European Research Council (ERC). OpenAIRE s three main objectives are to i. build support structures for researchers in depositing FP7 research publications through the establishment of the European Helpdesk and the outreach to all European Member States through the operation and collaboration of 27 National Open Access Liaison Offices; ii. establish and operate an electronic infrastructure for handling peer-reviewed articles as well as other important forms of publications (pre-prints or conference publications). This is achieved through a portal that is the gateway to all user-level services offered by the e-infrastructure established, including access (search and browse) to scientific publications and other value-added functionalities (post authoring tools, monitoring tools through document analysis and usage statistics); iii. work with several subject communities to explore the requirements, practices, incentives, workflows, data models, and technologies to deposit, access, and otherwise manipulate research datasets of various forms in combination with research publications. More information, including guidance documents for researchers, repository managers and policy makers, can be found on the project website at:

6 National SME Fora: The Romanian Experience and Future Perspectives The National SME Fora are events dedicated to SMEs and researchers offering the opportunity to exchange practical experiences gained through participation in FP7 projects. In Romania, the two SME Fora events were strategically planned and offered support in the most needed moments. One event was organized before the launch of the 2012 Work Programme for Health and before the start of the Virtual Brokerage Event of the Fit for Health project ( ), thus leading to the necessary level of information and practice necessary for promoting their project ideas. The second event, organized before the deadline for the first stage of project submission, gave the opportunity to improve their knowledge regarding proposal development, with an emphasis on IPR and financial issues. All the participating SMEs were assisted in creating a visible and interesting profile, to upload project ideas in the Fit for Health database, but also to submit project proposals. Based on the feedback received from the participants that considered the events to be extremely helpful, in 2012 the next SME Fora will also be connected to the call launch of the last call of proposals for the FP7 Health theme, and will cover the topics requested by the participants in the 2011 events, such as financing opportunities, proposal development, IPR issues and success stories. As a conclusion, if you are an SME interested in participating in the next FP7 Health call for proposals and wish to gain support and exchange experiences with other participants, you are welcomed to join us at the next SME Fora! Latest news & Health-related Events on our Website Towards a global initiative on gene-environment, interactions in diabetes/obesity in specific populations (09-10/02/ Brussels, Belgium) International Training for FP7 Newcomers organised by "Fit for Health" (23/02/ Zagreb, Croatia) In the long run: a personal strategic development workshop for life science managers in SMEs (07/03/ Stockholm, Sweden) Your comments and feedback for the improvement of the Fit for Health Newsletter are more than welcome. Please contact us! Project coordinator is FFG-Austrian Research Promotion Agency European and International Programmes. Fit for Health is an FP7 CA grouping of 27 expert organizations in Europe that supports SMEs and researchers in FP7 Health-oriented projects.