Documents

Summary conclusions of the High Level Group for Joint Programming (GPC) Meeting on 23 December 2014.

Provisional Work Programme 2014-2016 of the High Level Group for Joint Programming (GPC)

Report on ERA-NETs, their calls and the experiences from the first calls under Horizon 2020. Published by the EUROPEAN COMMISSION, Directorate-General for Research and Innovation, Directorate B — Innovation Union and European Research Area, Unit B.2 — ERA Policy and Reform. October 2014.

This Biennial Report marks the transition from the ”start-up” phase to a more mature phase of the GPC life cycle. While the “start-up” phase was mainly dedicated to the identification and selection of the proposals for Joint Programming Initiatives (JPIs), to the launch of the 10 JPIs and to the production of a set of Voluntary Guidelines for implementing the framework conditions for joint programming, the current phase aims at consolidating the strategic role of the GPC as a forum for Member States, Associated Countries and the Commission to oversee the Joint Programming Process. This function corresponds to the wish expressed by the Council to see alignment of national strategies, priorities and research programmes with the jointly agreed strategic research agendas, in order to tackle major societal challenges.

The newsletter features latest news and information on: *) ERA-LEARN: 2009 to 2014; *) New tools are available on www.ERA-LEARN.eu; *) ERA-LEARN 2020: a preview; *) New approach for ERA-NETs under Horizon 2020 well understood by the applicants; *) ERA-NET Cofund proposals submitted to the Horizon 2020 calls in 2014; *) Joint Programming: latest news; *) From FP6 to Horizon 2020: European Commission Report on ERA-NETs and their calls

A crucial element of the Joint Programming Process is the alignment of national and European strategies and research programmes with Strategic Research Agendas (SRAs) of Joint Programming Initiatives (JPI). The Working Group was tasked with drafting a report to the GPC with the objective of exploring the concept of alignment in order to develop a common understanding of the ways alignment is undertaken in the context of Joint Programming; producing practical recommendations to implement actions that lead to alignment and making proposals for establishing measurable targets to help monitor the progress of alignment.

The NETWATCH online platform collects and presents information to support the analysis of transnational research programme cooperation. Its content centres on the participants and activities of ERA-NETs and ERA-NET Plus. However, information is also collected on Article 185s,1 Joint Programing Initiatives (JPIs)2 and networks that continue but no longer receive EU support (known as self-sustaining networks). The information collected is used to map and monitor the transnational research programming landscape and to produce policy briefs on issues pertinent to the policy debate, which are also published on the platform.

Building on these data, this report sets out an assessment of the impact of the FP7 ERA-NET scheme on stakeholder organisations and on the research and innovation systems in which they operate.

Summary conclusions of the High Level Group for Joint Programming (GPC) Meeting on 18 September 2014.

This Working Group’s (WG) mandate was to:

1. give suggestions for measuring the progress of JPIs (monitoring dimension)
2. give suggestions for assessing the impact of JPIs (ex-post evaluation dimension)
3. contribute elements for the Terms of reference of the JPI strategic evaluation foreseen by the Commission in the Horizon 2020 Work Programme for 2014-2015.

The group decided to build on the work on Evaluation of JPIs which was undertaken by the Coordination and Support Action (CSA) 'JPI to Co-Work' with the collaboration of nine of the 10 JPIs. It also recruited the CSA coordinator and experts involved in the CSA to validate the quality of its suggestions.

The recommendations in this report are subject to endorsement by the GPC, which mandated the establishment of the Working Group. The recommendations are based on views expressed by GPC members, JPIs and Commission officials and the Working Group would like to express its appreciation of the time taken by all concerned to provide their valuable input to this Report.

The Council of the EU, in its Conclusions of 29 November 2010, welcomed the Voluntary Guidelines (VG) for Framework Conditions on Joint Programming and encouraged “their regular review in the light of new experience of the JPIs in applying them”. On the basis of this mandate by the Council, the GPC set up a Working Group to carry out such a review. With this report, the Working Group presents the results of its findings. The report attempts to point out issues with regard to the Framework Conditions which are important for the further development of JP and JPIs, with a view to significantly contributing to the enhancement of the European Research Area.

The work presented in this report provides a descriptive analysis of the networks included in the NETWATCH database (i.e. active ERA-NETs, ERA-NET Plus, Article 169/185s and self-sustaining networks). The report monitors the landscape of schemes and provides an analysis of key aspects of research programme cooperation within Europe. Reference is made to previous reports and time series analysis is included to provide an indication of the evolution of such programme cooperation within the European Research Area (ERA). These findings aim to support policy makers to make informed decisions on the future design and implementation of these, and related initiatives.

The first mapping and monitoring report (D3.2.1) compared networks from 2010 and 2011, while the two subsequent mapping and monitoring exercises (D3.2.2 and D 3.2.3) further enhanced the monitoring dimension by adding an additional periods for comparison (i.e. two periods in 2011). The current report builds on the prior work in order to have a comparison, while focussing the analysis on the most recent information derived from networks active in September 2012. The cohort included 72 active networks: 46 FP7 funded ERA-NETs, nine FP7 funded ERA-NET Plus, four FP7 funded Article 169/185 networks, one FP6 funded Article 169/185, one FP7 funded Coordination and Support Action, and 11 self-sustaining networks.

The work presented in this report provides a descriptive analysis of the networks included in the NETWATCH database (i.e. ERA-NETs, ERA-NET Plus, Article 169/185s, Joint Programming Initiatives, and self-sustaining networks). The report monitors the landscape of transnational collaboration schemes and provides an analysis of key aspects of research programme cooperation within Europe. This builds on previous reports and includes time series analysis to provide an indication of the evolution of programme cooperation within the European Research Area (ERA). The current report focuses on those networks active in September 2013. The cohort comprises 78 active networks: 43 FP7 funded ERA-NETs; 10 FP7 funded ERA-NET Plus; four FP7 funded Article 169/185 networks; one FP6 funded Article 185 action: 10 self-sustaining networks; and, for the first time, 10 Joint Programming Initiatives (JPIs).

NETWATCH Policy Briefs aim to contribute to the current policy debate on R&D programme transnational cooperation by presenting findings, based on NETWATCH analytical work, in the policy arena at European level. The target audience is EU policy officials and national policymakers, as well as fora such as the High Level Group on Joint Programming in Research (GPC).

The newsletter features latest news and information on: * ERA-NET Cofund under Horizon 2020 - the principles * Topics in the Work Programme 2014/2015 * Synergies between Horizon 2020 and the European Structural and Investment Funds (ESIF) * Article 185 status report * Infoday on ERA-NET Cofund – 16 January 2014, Brussels * Upcoming annual survey on ERA-NET and JPIs calls * Commission launches Pilot on “Synchronised Call Initiatives” * Workshop on the implementation of Joint Calls

Example Distribution of funds in an EC co-funded call (ERA-Net Plus)

Directorate B – European Research Area B.4 – Joint Programming; May 2013

The newsletter features latest news and information on: + Sustainability of ERA-NETs + Upcoming Workshop on Implementation of Joint Calls + Implementation of cost-benefit analysis + Latest statistics on ERA-NET, ERA-NET Plus and JPI joint calls + Results of latest FP7 ERA-NET call + Profiles of CORNET, FACCE, BESTF & ERA.NET RUS + ERA-NET HORIZON 2020: what you need to know + NETWATCH networks database and call calendar.

ERA-LEARN Workshop Report 28 February 2013 Dublin

Analysis of Options for Future Platform: results of a survey among stakeholders (carried out late 2012)