Tag Archives: Máire Geoghegan Quinn

Funding opportunities from the European Union’s Horizon 2010 programme and US DARPA’s Young Faculty Award program

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A Dec. 12, 2013 news item on Nanowerk announces a call for proposals from the European Union’s (EU) massive science funding programme, Horizon 2020, which replaces the EU’s previous Framework Programme 7 initiative,

The European Commission presented for the first time today calls for Proposals under Horizon 2020, the European Union’s new 80 billion euro research and innovation program, which runs from 2014 to 2020. Worth more than 15 billion euros over the first two years, the funding is intended to help boost Europe’s knowledge-driven economy, and tackle issues that will make a difference in people’s lives. International cooperation is a priority in Horizon 2020 with the program open to participation of researchers from across the world, including the United States.

“It’s time to get down to business,” said European Research, Innovation and Science Commissioner Maire Geoghegan-Quinn. “Horizon 2020 funding is vital for the future of research and innovation in Europe, and will contribute to growth, jobs and a better quality of life. We have designed Horizon 2020 to produce results, and we have slashed red tape to make it easier to participate. So I am calling on researchers, universities, businesses including SMEs, and others to sign up!”

A Dec. 11, 2013 EU press release provides more details about the call and about Horizon 2020,

For the first time, the Commission has indicated funding priorities over two years, providing researchers and businesses with more certainty than ever before on the direction of EU research policy. Most calls from the 2014 budget are already open for submissions as of today, with more to follow over the course of the year. Calls in the 2014 budget alone are worth around €7.8 billion, with funding focused on the three key pillars of Horizon 2020:

  • Excellent Science: Around €3 billion, including €1.7 billion for grants from the European Research Council for top scientists and €800 million for Marie Skłodowska-Curie fellowships for younger researchers (see MEMO/13/1123).
  • Industrial Leadership: €1.8 billion to support Europe’s industrial leadership in areas like ICT, nanotechnologies, advanced manufacturing, robotics, biotechnologies and space.
  • Societal challenges: €2.8 billion for innovative projects addressing Horizon 2020’s seven societal challenges, broadly: health; agriculture, maritime and bioeconomy; energy; transport; climate action, environment, resource efficiency and raw materials; reflective societies; and security.

Background

Horizon 2020 is the EU’s biggest ever research and innovation framework programme with a seven year budget worth nearly €80 billion. Most EU research funding is allocated on the basis of competitive calls, but the budget for Horizon includes funding also for the Joint Research Centre, the European Commission’s in-house science service; the European Institute for Innovation and Technology and research carried out within the framework of the Euratom Treaty. Separate calls will also be published under specific Partnerships with industry and with Member States (see IP/13/668). In 2014 the total EU research budget, including these items and administrative expenditure, will be around €9.3 billion, rising to around €9.9 billion in 2015. Final 2015 amounts are subject to the decision on the 2015 annual budget.

The funding opportunities under Horizon 2020 are set out in work programmes published on the EU’s digital portal for research funding, which has been redesigned for quicker, paperless procedures. Participants will also find simpler programme architecture and funding, a single set of rules, and a reduced burden from financial controls and audits.

The 2014-15 calls include €500 million over two years dedicated to innovative small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through a brand new SME Instrument. Gender aspects are expected to be included in many of the projects, and there is funding to further stimulate debate on science’s role within society. There are also new rules to make ‘open access’ a requirement for Horizon 2020, so that publications of project results are freely accessible to all.

The EU’s Horizon 2010 programme has created a How to get funding? webpage, which should answer your questions and does provide links to applications and more.

Moving on: Jessica Leber writes about a US DARPA (Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency) call for research proposals in her Dec. 11, 2013 article for Fast Company (Note: Links have been removed),

The Pentagon’s advanced research arm is always dreaming up crazy, futuristic technologies that will shape the future of the military and society. DARPA was involved in early Internet development, and these days the agency works on everything from drone-slaying lasers to humanoid robots that could save your life.

Every year, DARPA gives out young faculty awards aimed at recruiting the “rising star” researchers in academia to devote their brains to the military’s technological needs. “The long-term goal of the program is to develop the next generation of scientists and engineers in the research community who will focus a significant portion of their future careers on DoD and National Security issues,” this year’s grant program announcement reads.

A Nov. 19, 2013 DARPA news release describes the Young Faculty Awards program, eligibility (you must be employed in a US institution of higher learning), and their areas of interest,

2014 YFA announcement increases the number of research topics from 13 to 18 and for the first time permits teaming with subcontractors

DARPA defines its research portfolio within a framework that puts the Agency’s enduring mission in the context of tomorrow’s environment for national security and technology. An integral part of this strategy includes establishing and sustaining a pipeline of talented scientists, engineers, and mathematicians who are motivated to pursue high risk, high payoff fundamental research in disciplines that are critical to maintaining the technological superiority of the U.S. military.

DARPA’s Young Faculty Awards (YFA) program addresses this need by funding the work of promising researchers and pairing them with DARPA program managers.  This pairing provides YFA researchers with mentoring and networking opportunities as well as exposure to DoD technology needs and the overall research and development process. The 2014 YFA solicitation includes technical topic areas in the physical sciences, engineering, materials, mathematics, biology, computing, informatics and manufacturing disciplines that are relevant to the research interests of DARPA’s Defense Sciences and Microsystems Technology Offices.

“YFA offers promising junior faculty members and their peers at nonprofit research institutions the chance to do potentially revolutionary work much earlier in their careers than they otherwise could,” said William Casebeer, DARPA program manager for the 2014 class. “By expanding the list of research topics this year from 13 to 18—our largest portfolio since the program started in 2006—we hope to attract even more creative proposals that could lead to future breakthroughs on critical defense challenges. The growth reflects how successful past awardees have been in supporting DARPA’s mission.”

Eligible applicants must be employed in U.S. institutions of higher learning and within five years of appointment to a tenure-track position, or hold equivalent positions at non-profit research institutions.

Researchers selected for YFA grants receive up to $500,000 in funding over a 24-month period. As many as four of the most exceptional performers may be selected to receive up to another $500,000 over an additional year under a DARPA Director’s Fellowship.

DARPA is, for the first time, permitting proposers to form partnerships with subcontractors. The subcontractor relationship cannot exceed 30 percent of the total grant value. In addition to enhancing the competitiveness of proposed research plans, this change is designed to provide young investigators with the opportunity to manage a multidisciplinary team and gain a better understanding of the work performed by a DARPA program manager.

“The YFA program represents a strategic investment in fundamental research and professional development of the next generation of scientists and engineers focused on defense and national security issues,” said Mari Maeda, director of DARPA’s Defense Sciences Office. “It also benefits the young researchers and their institutions by engaging them in valuable, high-risk, high-impact research, providing a mentoring relationship with a DARPA program manager, expanding channels for future ideas to flow, and, now, exposing them to the rigors of managing a multidisciplinary team.”

The list of technical topic areas for 2014 includes:

  • Optimizing Supervision for Improved Autonomy
  • Neurobiological Mechanisms of Social Media Processing
  • Next-generation Neural Sensing for Brain-Machine Interfaces
  • Mathematical and Computational Methods to Identify and Characterize Logical and Causal Relations in Information
  • Time-Dependent Integrated Computational Materials Engineering
  • Long-range Detection of Special Nuclear Materials
  • Alternate Fusion Concepts
  • New Materials and Devices for Monitoring and Modulating Local Physiology
  • Methods and Theory for Fundamental Circuit-Level Understanding of the Human Brain
  • Hierarchically Complex Materials that Respond and Adapt
  • Disruptive Materials Processing
  • Disruptive Computing Architectures
  • Appliqué Antenna Elements for Platform Integration
  • Modeling Phonon Generation and Transport in the Near Junction Region of Wide-Bandgap Transistors
  • Advanced Automation and Microfluidic Technologies for Engineering Biology
  • Energy Recovery in Post-CMOS Technologies
  • Thin Film Transistors for High-performance RF and Power Electronics
  • Neural-inspired Computer Engineering

You can go here  http://www.grants.gov/web/grants/view-opportunity.html?oppId=247637 for all the details about DAARPA’s YFA call for proposals,

As for deadlines, I had some difficulty finding one for the current 2020 Horizon call for proposals, as I gather there a number of calls being announced in the news item on Nanowerk,. You can find more information on the How to participate page but it is only one of several starting points for your journey through this remarkable and huge funding programme.

Meanwhile ,the current deadline for the DARPA YRA proposals is Jan. 7, 2014.

Good luck!

Europe’s Horizon 2020 and nanotechnology

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Michael Berger’s July 1, 2013 Nanowerk Spotlight article features a commentary on a recent European Union publication, Nanotechnology: the invisible giant tackling Europe’s future challenges, which provides an overview of the current nanotechnology efforts under the Framework Programme 7 (FP7) funding  and a very brief peek at plans underway for nanotechnology funding under the Horizon 2020 programme, successor to FP7 after 2013.

From Berger’s article,

A new publication by the European Commission outlines nanoscience and nanotechnology dedicated research expenditure in Europe over recent years, in particular via the 7th research framework programme (FP7). An overview is given of the main sectors where nanotechnology is enabling significant progress. It highlights a selection of exemplary projects financed through FP7 that are representative of major research themes, such as nanoelectronics, nanophotonics, nanobiotechnology, nanomedicine, self-assembly, catalysts, industrial applications, energy and environment, tools for investing the nanoscale, health/safety/environment and communication/societal impact. The final chapter focuses on future economic benefits for Europe, such as improving health care, rejuvenating traditional industries and bringing solutions to the most major challenges facing Europe, a secure affordable energy supply and reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

I did take a look at the report which is 44 pp PDF (42 pp print version). It offers some insight into the areas where the EU has chosen to focus its energies.  I was hoping for something a little more panoramic in scope, i.e., I would have liked to have seen a listing of all their currently funded nanotechnology projects arranged by theme. Still, they do offer a table which shows the funding and number of projects according to programme themes (Note: The information for this table is from p. 10 PDF version; p. 8 print version of the report)

Programme /Themes Number of Projects Funding in € million
ERC 296 514,5
Health 18 74,0
Energy 19 55,0
Environment 3 10,5
Food, Agriculture & Fisheries, & Biotechnology 13 39,5
NMP 238 896,0
Joint programmes 32 112,0
ICT 102 316,0
Security 4 10,2
Aeronautics 5 44,0
SPACE 9 24,3
Sustainable Surface Transport 3 7,0
SME 35 41,6
Science in Society 14 15,0
EraNets 4 10,5
Infrastructure 16 60,0
Marie Curie Actions 560 295,0
Regions 19 28,7
International Cooperation 10 6,3
TOTAL 1400 2560,0

* FP7 Funding of Nanoscience-Nanotechnologies between 2007 and 2011 (source EC: Common Research Data Warehouse (CORDA))

Perhaps this (excerpted from the report) better explains things (Note: A footnote has been removed),

Given the broad-reaching potential of nanotechnology, there has been a commensurate explosion in global research and development funding in recent decades. According to estimates, governments around the world have invested over USD 67 billion in nanotechnology research since 2000 and by 2015 investment, including that from corporate and private sources, could reach USD 0.25 trillion.

Europe’s funding levels are largely comparable to its major competitors, the US and Japan, standing at EUR 6-7 billion in 2007/8. The EC is currently nearing the end of its largest ever research funding initiative, FP7, with a total of EUR 50.5 billion available during 2007-2013 to support projects boosting the region’s competitiveness and tackling the grand challenges facing society in human health, climate change, energy and the environment.

Under FP7, the largest single share of funding for nanotechnology, some EUR 896 million for the period 2007-2011, comes through the dedicated Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials and new Production Technologies (NMP) stream, but significant support also comes through the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) stream (EUR 316 million), as well as the Health (EUR 74 million), Energy (EUR 55 million) and biotechnology (KBBE) streams (EUR 39.5 million). Meanwhile, the funding mechanisms that support individual researchers also serve as a conduit for nanotechnology-related funds, with the European Research Council (ERC) accounting for an estimated EUR 514.5 million and Marie Curie fellowships a further EUR 295 million. (from p. 10 PDF; p. 8 print version)

Oddly, there’s no mention of China as a major competitor relative to funding investment in the nanotechnology sector. These days one usually mentions China.

What follows in the rest of the report after the table is an overview of nanotechnology projects as organized by the EU’s  main themes. They are not religious in their approach so don’t expect that the table categories are followed exactly.

Other than funding, I found the peek into the future the most interesting aspect of this report,

Nanotechnology has exploded in recent decades and is now one of the centrepieces of the EU’s research funding programme. With its broad reach across diverse fi elds, nanotechnology stands on the verge of launching a new technological revolution. But while Europe has embraced the exploration of the nanoscale, European Research, Innovation and Science Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn warns that the region faces an “innovation crisis”.

The Commission is responding with a major new financial instrument, Horizon 2020, which will supersede the successful FP research funding initiatives when they come to a close at the end of the year. Running from 2014 to 2020, the proposed EUR 80 billion initiative aims to harness research and innovation to drive new growth and jobs in the region. For the first time, Horizon 2020 will bring together all research and innovation funding under one umbrella, including a EUR 24.6 billion dedicated science budget, EUR 17.9 billion for industrial innovation including a EUR 1.2 billion package specifi cally for small- and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and EUR 31.75 billion targeted at the most pressing issues facing Europe such as climate change, sustainable transport, renewable energy and the medical care requirements of an ageing population.

One of the already identified cornerstones of the Horizon 2020 programme, under the Future and Emerging Technologies (FET) competition, will be a EUR 1 billion, ten-year sustained initiative dedicated to the investigation and exploitation of the unique properties of graphene. This exceptional nanomaterial possesses such remarkable physical and chemical properties that it has been dubbed the wonder material of the 21st century with far-reaching potential in electronics, transport, energy and medicine. The ‘Flagship’ effort on graphene, which will involve over 100 research groups and 136 principle investigators including four Nobel Laureates, indicates just how important nanotechnology is and will be over the coming decades.

But while the clear priority of the new funding programme is to bridge the gap between research and the market, the central tenant of the European research effort remains excellent science, without which there can be no progress. (p. 42 PDF; p. 40 print version)

I’m glad to see they mentioned the graphene flagship (its funding announcement was announced here in a Jan. 28, 2013 posting). The over allconclusion is that  nanotechnology is important to Europe’s future. Cynics might say they’d have to reach that conclusion given all the funding that nanotechnology research has received.