At the San Joaquin Campus of the Pontifical Catholic University, the Liaison Office-European Union Programme of CONICYT organized a dissemination event on July 30 about the opportunities offered for Chilean researchers in the field of Food, Agriculture, Fisheries and Biotechnology (FAFB) by the Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP7), the European Union's main instrument for funding research in Europe.
The event was followed with great interest by more than thirty participants. They wanted to know all the details of the possibilities of cooperation with Europe, especially since the calls of the Work Programmes for 2011 of the Seventh Framework Programme have just been published.
Beatriz Bustos, CHIEP-II Project Coordinator in the Department of International Relations of CONICYT, explained the role of the Liaison Office in FP7 and the opportunities offered for Chilean researchers.
Then, professor Gonzalo Ruiz, National Contact Point (NCP) in Food, Agriculture, Fisheries and Biotechnology, informed about the new calls in this area, whose deadline is January 25, 2011. He said one of the challenges of this call is to encourage the participation of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) in the projects. Other subjects included in the call are agriculture adaptation to climate change; food security for Europe and the world; greening industry with biotechnology applications; as well as oceans for the future.
The National Contact Points (NCP) offer help and advice to researchers and organizations interested in participating in the FP7. Each area has its own NCP.
Dr. Ruiz is a Biochemical Civil Engineer from the Pontifical Catholic University of Valparaiso (PUCV), with a Ph.D. in Environmental Chemical Engineering at the Universidad de Santiago de Compostela (España). He teaches at the Biochemical Engineering School of PUCV.
The interesting event ended with a workshop led by Maria Mesonero, Biocircle Project Coordinator at CONICYT, who informed all the details necessary to submit a project proposal to FP7. She also referred to legal and financial aspects, and all the subjects related to intellectual property rights.
Biocircle is a project funded by the European Commission. It aims at increasing the participation of researchers from outside Europe in research projects under the Food, Agriculture, Fisheries and Biotechnology theme (FAFB).
The Liaison Office-European Union Programme is part of the Department of International Relations at CONICYT.
More information, e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ,
www.biocircle-project.eu
All the Work Programmes for 2011:
cordis.europa.eu/fp7/wp-2011_en.html