The future of the Marie Curie
Actions in the 7th Framework Programme
With the 6th Framework Programme (FP6) having entered into its second
half, preparations are underway for FP7 which
is due to be launched in late 2006. The multi-annual
framework programmes are an important instrument for the implementation
of the European
Research Area, and the activities in the area of "Human Resources
and Mobility", i.e. the Marie Curie Actions,
are an essential part of this.
At a "Stakeholders Meeting" in Brussels on 20 December 2004, the
European Commission presented its ideas and proposals regarding the
future of the Marie Curie Actions to a selected group of participants.
The Chair of the MCFA attended this meeting on behalf
of the Association. Shortly before the meeting the Commission sent
a number of (draft) documents to the participants in order to prepare the
discussions. These documents were declared "confidential" so that
the MCFA did not have the chance to conduct a broad consultation of its
members regarding the Commission's plans for the Marie Curie Actions in
FP7. However, following internal discussions the MCFA
Administrative Board and Advisory Board prepared a document in
reply to the proposals discussed at the meeting. This document was sent
to the Commission in early January 2005.
At
the end of January the Commission documents that had been distributed before
the "Stakeholders meeting" in December were posted on the web site of KoWi
(European liaison office of the German research organisations) and were
thereby made available to the wider scientific community. We follow
KoWi's example and provide you with links both to the Commission
documents and the MCFA's reply. We also include the reply to the
Commission submitted by Conor O'Carroll, Irish Delegate to HRM
Programme Committee and Mobility Steering Group as well as the UK Comments to
the Commission Proposals (kindly made available to us by Martin Penny, Director
of the UK Research Office in Brussels).
In order to foster an open debate about the various proposals
presented, the MCFA has opened a special folder in its Public
Discussion Forum (which is separate from the MCFA Members'
Discussion Forum). We invite all interested parties to contribute to
the discussion, but would be particularly interested in the views of
Marie Curie fellows (past or present) as well as co-ordinators and
scientific supervisors involved in the Marie Curie Actions.
Marie Curie Actions in FP7 - proposals by the European Commission
For the Individual Marie Curie
Fellowships the European Commission suggests the co-funding of
regional, national or international programmes which are corresponding
to the Framework Programme objectives. The individual applicants would
then submit their proposals to the co-funded programme under a joint
Marie Curie fellowship action and the programme's label. During a
transitional period the current application mode would remain in
existence. However, the idea is to phase out the current
(Intra-European) Individual fellowships completely and to switch
entirely to a co-funding mechanism.
The European Commission plans to merge
the actions Early Stage Research Training (EST) and Research Training
Networks (RTN) to one single action, the "Marie Curie Networks" (MCN)
in FP7. This action would be implemented through the selection of
small- to medium sized networks with typically not less than 3 and not
more than 10 partners.
The participation of industry in the
Marie Curie Actions will receive special attention in FP7. In order to
achieve this, the Commission proposes a new Industry-Academia
partnership scheme, similar to the one currently implemented in FP6,
but with more flexible rules concerning the criteria for the
eligibility of researchers to be recruited within this scheme.
The main objective of this new scheme
is to expand the collaborations between research centres/researchers
from less-favoured regions in Europe and other EU research centres. It
includes special measures to fight brain-drain from the less favoured
regions of the EU and to encourage the return of nationals from these
regions having left their country.
Under this header the Incoming/Outgoing
International Fellowships are discussed, which will be continued but
with more flexible conditions. It is proposed that the International
Reintegration Grants shall become available to researchers having left
Europe for three years (instead of the current five years). A special
focus is also put on international S&T agreements and the European
Neighbourhood Policy.
Stakeholders Replies
(more documents may be added if made available to us)
The MCFA welcomes many of the proposed
changes but also expresses concern about a number of issues, in
particular the envisaged complete abolishment of the Intra-European
Individual Fellowships. While we agree that a certain level of
co-funding of regional, national or international programmes is a good
incentive to make these programmes more in line with the Framework
objectives, we would consider it a great mistake to completely replace
the current (Intra-European) Individual actions by a co-funding
strategy.
In its document the MCFA also makes a proposal for a specific action in
order to enhance the networking opportunities of mobile researchers.
The recommendations put forward by the
Irish Delegation are the introduction of a long term (seven year) post
PhD fellowship to support career enhancement and establishment, the
introduction of a specific host fellowship scheme for industry based on
the current Transfer of Knowledge Development Scheme, and the
introduction of a specific fellowship scheme (paying a full salary) to
attract back to Europe the research Diaspora.
According to the UK comments on the Commission proposals
the Marie Curie Actions should focus on the following three
main principles: the transfer of knowledge through people, enhancing industrial
research training, and supporting and enhancing research careers.
It is also proposed that a new action line should be introduced, namely
"Marie Curie Researchers Conferences" aimed specifically at fellows who have
been funded under the Individual Fellowship actions. The objective would be to
give Marie Curie individual fellows the opportunity to present current and
future research ideas and results, to network, and to develop collaborative
links with other Marie Curie researchers. Such events could also
lead to the establishment of European research networks of high potential.
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