By: Prof. Paul Singer (deceased), chairman of the National Science Foundation until his death in 2004
The European framework programs are the largest programs in the world that encourage international collaborations between industry and academia. The programs have been operated for about 20 years by the European Union Commission with a growing budget from 3 billion euros for the first framework program (1984-1987) to 17.5 billion euros that will be allocated to the sixth framework program starting in 2003. The main principle of the framework programs is that the submission of the research proposal and its execution are done by consortia that join together for this purpose, where the members of the consortium are industrial and academic bodies from the countries that are members of the framework program.
The sixth framework program constitutes 6% of the public R&D support budget in Europe and its goals are economic and social. Mainly, increasing the competitiveness of the European economy against the rest of the world, first and foremost the USA and East Asia, by combining basic science with industrial applications.
Bringing Israeli science closer to Europe
Israel was admitted to the Fourth Framework Program in August 1996 as an accompanying country to the program, with the aim of enabling industrial synergies between Israel and Europe. In fact, the intention was to take advantage of the integrative processes inherent in the principle of the framework plans to achieve the goal. At the same time, it is expected that a process of bringing Israeli science closer to Europe will take place.
The "entrance ticket" to the club is purchased for a fee. The amount of the payment is determined as a % of the total framework budget according to the country's GNP. For 4 years of participation in the Fifth Plan, the State of Israel transferred 154 million Euros, half of which was financed directly by the Ministry of Finance and the other half is divided between the "active" bodies, namely: from the budgets of the National Research Institute (50%), the Chief Scientist of the National Research Institute of Israel (40%) ) and the Ministry of Science (10%).
The body entrusted with the implementation of cooperation between Israel and the European Union in R&D is ISERD - the Israeli administration for the framework program - which is guided by a steering committee whose members are representatives of the funding bodies and representatives of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Finance.
Israel joined the fourth program about a year and a half after it began and under inferior financial conditions, so this program served for us mainly as a "learning ground". However, the Israeli participants managed to "return" about half of the amount invested. University personnel, experienced in international partnerships, quickly integrated themselves into the program's projects, and they were responsible for the majority of Israeli participation in the fourth program.
For the industry this was a learning period. Indeed, in the fifth plan, the expected balance in terms of the achievements of industry and academia is already well felt (see diagrams).
The total European obligations for grants to Israeli entities until the end of the fifth framework program will reach 160 million euros - a situation that will return the "fund" and leave an excess return both in funds and especially in additional donations.
It is very important to emphasize that an additional, equally important contribution, especially for the industrial sector, is the R&D information available to every partner in a European project. This additional contribution can be estimated according to the partnership of Israeli entities in the results of projects with a financial value of about 1.5 billion Euros. It can be estimated that between 1/4 and 1/3 of this amount, i.e. 250-350 million euros, is an important contribution to the Israeli bodies.
Another aspect is creating connections and partnerships with colleagues in Europe, which will be used for additional projects and building bridges for industrial and academic collaborations. The following picture illustrates the distribution of collaborations of Israeli bodies in the fifth framework program.
Israeli researchers from all Israeli research institutions participate in submitting research proposals to the program. About half of the 2600 submissions by Israeli bodies came from researchers at the academy, of which 330 won research grants. The research programs in the fields of life sciences are the most prominent in the participation of the Israeli Academy; as well as the "researcher mobility" program, designed to support exchange of researchers, participation in thematic networks and infrastructure facilities for use by visiting researchers from abroad.
Among Israel's achievements in participating in the fifth framework we count the 240 leaders (coordinators), who initiated and led the process of building the consortium and submitting the research proposal on behalf of the group. 66 of them succeeded and they are now leading the group during the execution of the projects. Also, we listed 200 proposals that were submitted in which there is cooperation between two Israeli bodies and sometimes even more, mainly between academia and industry.
The extensive participation of the industry in the fifth plan highlights the great interest that this sector has, especially the high technology enterprises, in cooperation with Europe. As Mr. Carmel Varnia, the Chief Scientist of the Ministry of Defense, pointed out in an interview with the European Community Bulletin (Cordis Focus, 12.2.01): "...Europe is as important to us as the USA in terms of the size of the market, the technological base and the potential for partnerships.
I think it's worth noting that Israel has always been interested in Europe, but Europe discovered us only recently..."
Cultivation in collaboration with scientists in Europe
As for the universities, it is known that the Israeli scientific community has strong scientific ties with researchers in America and Europe, ties that developed even before the European framework programs were activated. Israel contributes a little over 1% of all publications in the international professional press in the fields of science and technology, and it occupies a prominent place in the BIL league in terms of the percentage of joint publications with foreign scientists. Out of over 6500 (all data mentioned here, from the publication NSF Science and Engineering Indicators, 2000) articles in the BIL professional press, published by the Israeli researchers in 1997, approximately 38% of them were written with partners from the BIL community. This is a significant percentage, but lower than countries similar to us like Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, Switzerland, where this percentage varies between 40% and 50%.
It is also interesting to note that partnerships with scientists from the USA in Israeli publications have decreased
From 67% in 1986-1988 to 57% in 1995-1997. On the other hand, partnerships with scientists from European countries increased in those years to the extent of 15% with Great Britain to
to 40%-50% with France, Germany, the Netherlands and Italy. It is worth noting that these data refer to the beginning of the partnership with the European community in the framework programs, and they express the great interest that Israeli scientists have in interacting with their colleagues in Europe.
Participation in European R&D programs opens an "institutionalized" window for Israeli science, allowing Israeli researchers to be an integral part of scientific collaborations operating at the forefront of global research and also dealing with advanced industrial applications of scientific developments. When a large-scale scientific-technological program is operating in Europe, our closest "neighbor", standing on the sidelines could be offensive to Israeli science.
There is also another important aspect to our participation in the framework programs - this is the free access to the most advanced research facilities in Europe in all fields of scientific activity. About 200 such facilities were chosen to be available to all scientists of the framework programs, and this impressive list includes centers in chemistry, physics, technology, energy, bioengineering, social sciences and more. Three Israeli facilities are also included in this list: the Submicron Center at the Weizmann Institute, the Desert Research Institute of Ben Gurion University and the Brain Research Institute at the Hebrew University.
New tools in the sixth framework program
Today we are in the midst of preparations for the sixth framework program 2003-2006, which will focus not only on the research achievements thanks to the collaborations but also on raising the level of the capacity of the research groups within the European Research Area. In the sixth framework program, two new "tools" for collaborations will be activated, which will take precedence over the traditional "tools" that have been activated so far:
1. Networks of Excellence - networks of centers of excellence, whose purpose is to increase the capacity of the network components (in groups of researchers or departments) by exchanging knowledge, training, strengthening common work tools such as communication.
2. Integrated Projects - integrated projects, whose goal is to achieve tangible research results of inclusive "super projects" consisting of a cluster of secondary projects around the main topic.
According to the European Commission, the programs in the sixth framework will be more "friendly" to the participants from a bureaucratic point of view in the submission of proposals as well as in the management of the projects afterward.
The research topics in the sixth framework program will focus on the following 7 priorities:
1. Genomics and Biotechnology for Health
2,200 MEuro
2. Information Society Technologies
3,600 euros
3. Nanotechnologies, and Nanosciences, Knowledge-Based Multifunctional Materials, and New Production Processes and Devices – 1,300 MEuro
4. – Aeronautics and Space 1,075 Meuro
5. Food Quality and Safety
685 Meuro 6. Sustainable Development and Global Change and Ecosystems including Energy Systems and Surface Transport 2,120 Meuro
7. Citizens and Governance in a Knowledge-Based Society – 225 Meuro
In addition to these thematic issues, the sixth plan will finance other actions such as researcher mobility and investments in scientific infrastructures.
During this period, before the publication of the calling voices of the sixth framework, the largest research groups in Europe are in the stages of organizing for them. The major research institutes and the major industries will be among the leaders of the major projects, and therefore it is of great importance for Israeli researchers to contact their European colleagues to remind them of their ability and desire to integrate into their plans, and preferably one hour before.
On March 20, 2002, a proposal was published for the submission of "Expressions of Interest", intended to contribute to the process of formulating the work plans for the various thematic priority areas; and to help researchers identify potential partners, and in particular coordinators, in future excellent projects and networks. It is highly recommended that Israeli researchers, both those who wish to serve as coordinators and those who do not wish to serve as coordinators, participate in this procedure and submit proposals as part of it, in order to take an active part in the formation processes of the sixth plan.
As we mentioned, the Israeli success in the fifth framework program can be attributed to the increased participation of industry alongside academia. In light of the structure of the sixth framework program, the academy will have to be a very active factor to bring about the next success.
