Rossiyskaya Gazeta (22 January 2008 #11)

A million euro bet

EU and Russia will co-fund the first ever joint research calls for proposals

Cooperation

Sergey Demenko

Representatives of the European Commission and representatives of Rosnauka (i.e. Russian Federal Agency for Science and Innovation) have recently met in Moscow to discuss new and unprecedented forms of cooperation for EU and Russian scientists.

Our (Russian) scientists actively participate in various European research projects, in particular, under the EU’s Sixth Framework Programme. So far, Russian researchers got into these attractive projects on their own. Those who were able to favourably present themselves and to successfully negotiate had good chances to get on board of an international team and receive access to the money pot.

- Today, this situation is drastically changing, - said the Rosnauka’s Deputy Head and correspondent member of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Alexander Klimenko, in his interview to Rossiyskaya Gazeta. The idea is the following. In accordance with the provisions for international cooperation of the EU Framework Programmes, research projects have to be implemented by groups of scientists from different countries. Such “mixed” teams often consist of researchers from almost all continents. Today, however, projects envisaging the participation of research teams from the EU and Russia only are being planned (& prepared). Thus, we are getting our own “playground” in EU projects. And you will agree with me that these conditions are more favourable than the previous ones.

Russians have “climbed into a niche” where their own interests match those of the EU to the maximum extent: energy, nanotechnology and Life Sciences – biotechnology, health, food & genomics. To begin with, the EU and Russia have agreed on four joint projects equally co-funded by both sides. These are “Power generation from biomass” and “Innovative operational and monitoring tools for large power systems” in the area of energy, and “Plant-produced vaccines” and “Molecular modelling for rational design of industrial enzymes” - in the area of biotechnology. The projects will last for three years and will receive two million euro each from the budgets of the European Commission and Rosnauka.

- It is crucially important to note that the participants of joint projects will be selected through a joint call, -said Klimenko. – It is foreseen that an equal number of experts from the EU and Russia will evaluate the proposals. One important detail should be noted in this context. While Russian researchers may participate in the EU evaluation, the evaluation on our side will be conducted by Russian experts only. It is not that we are afraid of letting foreigners into our calls. It is simply that the conditions differ. The Russian legislation allows only 10 days for the evaluation, while in the EU it takes several months. I hope that in future the composition of experts will be the same. The [Russian] calls for proposals in Energy will be published in late February and for the Life Sciences - in June.

There is a problematic issue related to the intellectual property which would appear as a result of implemented joint projects. Who will be its owner? According to Alexander Klimenko, a final solution has not been found yet. Most likely, it will be specific to each case. However, it is important to take into account all details when preparing a proposal so as to avoid the possibility of harming Russian interests.