Strona główna >  doradztwo dotacje europa >  Wykaz wywiadów na temat funduszy europejskich >  NETWATCH – The R&D collaboration programmes’ platform

NETWATCH – The R&D collaboration programmes’ platform

Interview with Mark Boden and Amrie Landwehr Scientific / Technical Project Officer JRC- Joint Research Center NETWATCH

1) What is NETWATCH and why was it created?

NETWATCH is the European Commission\'s information platform on transnational Research and Development (R&D) programme collaboration. It contributes to the realisation of the European Research Area (ERA) by supporting the participants in transnational programme cooperation with information, analysis and an interactive mutual learning section. The current focus is on the ERA-NET scheme.



Under this ERA-NET scheme, national and regional authorities from a number of countries identify research programmes, usually in specific fields, which they wish to coordinate with or open up to each other through the establishment of a formal network. Working in this coordinated manner, programme management agencies from the participant countries can award funds on the basis of a public call for the submission of research project proposals in joint calls.



NETWATCH provides information on ERA-NET joint calls and aims to present evidence and analysis of the nature and impact of resulting programme collaboration. It also provides information on recommended procedures for the actors of the transnational programme networks.



NETWATCH is being developed by the Joint Research Centre\'s Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (JRC-IPTS) based in Seville, Spain, in collaboration with DG RTD Directorate B.




2) Who can benefit from NETWATCH and what is the public aimed by the platform?



NETWATCH is targeted at a number of stakeholders in the field of research. It supports researchers in locating funding sources via ERA-NET joint calls and facilitates mutual learning among programme actors. Research policy makers in Member States, R&D programme managers, and the Commission are assisted by providing relevant information and analysis to assess the efficiency and impact of transnational R&D programme cooperation.



In particular, NETWATCH supports European researchers in locating funding sources by offering:

• Practical information on research opportunities, through links to current transnational joint calls in the Call Calendar organised by ERA-NETs, thus giving possible access to transnational research projects.

• Strategic information, such as on active R&D programme networks, the thematic focus of R&D programme cooperation and joint calls.



NETWATCH supports national RTD programme actors (managers, agencies) coordinate the programmes by offering:

• Factual information on ERA-NETs, such as lists of national institutions involved in ERA-NETs, programme information including thematic focus, budgets and participation in ERA-NETs.

• Analysis of ERA-NET activities that will cover themes such as the thematic evolution of joint calls budgets, proposal success rates and numbers of funded projects.



NETWATCH supports national RTD policy makers in strategic decision making by offering:

• Information, such as statistics on national and European programme actors, programmes and programme cooperation participation.

• Analysis of the ERA-NET landscape, such as the thematic overlap, the ratio of participation in ERA-NETs, national programmes across Europe, the degree of involvement of national programmes and programme agencies and the effects of successful Joint Programming in terms of leverage on budget, project and researchers.



NETWATCH supports EU policy makers (particularly within the European Commission, but also within other EU Institutions) in policy elaboration by offering:

• Information, such as an overview of existing national RTD programmes and related statistics based on ERA-NETs, programme budgets, Joint Programming activities.

• Analysis, such as thematic complementarities and overlap of RTD programmes at national Member State and EU level, leverage in terms of budgets and participation (RTD participants, researchers) in transnational joint activities.

• In the future, assessments of the effects of the monitored Joint Programming activities for the European Research Area (ERA.



3) One of the services provided by NETWATCH is the ERA LEARN instrument. What is it exactly and how can it be used?



In addition to presenting its own monitoring and analysis activities, NETWATCH also provides access to the results of ERA-LEARN. Developed by a consortium of national agencies with significant experience in ERA-NETs, ERA-LEARN is a systematic investigation of experiences and acquired know-how with the perspective to identify good examples and to develop a set of recommended procedures for the implementation of ERA-NETs.



ERA-LEARN\'s activities include the examination of complementarities and synergies of the ERA-NET instrument with the other existing schemes and programmes at regional, national, trans-national, and international levels.

Based on a comprehensive analysis of existing and already validated procedures, ERA-LEARN facilitates the identification of tools that are suitable for wider use.



ERA-LEARN provides a \"Manual & tools for call implementation\", containing information needed to launch and implement a joint call, and \"Tools for internal review of ERA-NET participation\", which helps position the ERA-NET participation of an organisation. A section about Smart Coordination of ERA-NETs is under development.



4) Do you have other projects in collaboration with DG Research or Cordis?



NETWATCH is being developed in close cooperation with ERAWATCH, the European Commission\'s information platform on European, national and regional research systems and policies. The main objectives of ERAWATCH are to support policy-making in the research field in Europe and to contribute to the realisation of the European Research Area (ERA) by identifying policy options and improving the coordination of scientific and technological activities. It is a long term initiative jointly carried out by the European Commission\'s Directorate-General for Research and the Joint Research Centre\'s Institute for Prospective Technological Studies (JRC-IPTS). The ERAWATCH on-line service has been developed in collaboration with CORDIS.



ERAWATCH currently covers 49 countries: all EU Member States, countries associated to the EU Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) and main trading partners of the EU.



ERAWATCH presents concise and up-to-date information and analytical reports focused on selected research policy issues, including:

• periodic reviews of the status and evolution of research systems and policies and governance structures in EU Member States and beyond;

• emerging themes and trends in the structure, content and evolution of research systems;

• synthesis and overview of EU Member States\' progress towards ERA.



This collection, analysis and presentation of information on research policies and systems in all EU Member States and beyond can help improve coordinate research policies across Europe and support mutual learning initiatives.



5) How can NETWATCH influence the development of the ERA-NETs?




NETWATCH can help the strategic focussing of ERA-NETs by providing unique and timely analysis of these networks, their operation and impacts.



Through comparison with other examples of transnational RTD programme cooperation can help the networks to position themselves, to improve and to advance.



The information provided on NETWATCH, particularly in the ERA-LEARN section, can facilitate the management and start up of ERA-NETs. It can help the participants to identify possible partners, since it provides information on other national programmes.



NETWATCH aims to support this contact between networks and researcher by providing a single access point for researchers looking for funding, and thus leading to a high number of high quality research proposals for joint calls.



For networks that continue to exist beyond the formal lifetime of ERA-NETs, NETWATCH provides a platform for data exchange and enables them to maintain visibility.



6) What future developments do you see for the platform?



NETWATCH will continue to evolve in close cooperation with its stakeholders. Access for researchers will be facilitated, in order to provide them with a direct link to funding sources.



It is also envisaged the publication of novel analytical results, refined over time as an increasing body of evidence on the operation of ERA-NETs is collected.

Further search possibilities are also under development.



NETWATCH will also offer an interactive space for mutual learning among programme actors, and will enable direct contact between stakeholders
In time, NETWATCH will extend its focus beyond ERA-NETs, to comprise information on other developments in transnational research collaboration and the European Research Area, particularly the development of Joint Programming initiatives.



The main Netwatch website:
http://netwatch.jrc.ec.europa.eu/nw/