Swisscore reports increased funding and a simplification of the EC funded Marie Curie Actions to be envisaged for Horizon 2020, the next Framework Programme for Research and Innovation. In view of the widely acknowledged success of these actions in FP7, making research careers more attractive and creating a strong European research community, the European Commission proposes a budget increase from the €4.7 billion in the current Framework Programme (FP7) to €6 billion in Horizon 2020. In addition to a name change (from Marie Curie to Marie Skłodowska-Curie), to ease participation a simplification is envisaged, with the eight actions in FP7 being reduced to just four: i) Innovative Training Networks (ITN); ii) Research and Innovation Staff Exchange (RISE); iii) Individual Fellowships (IF); iv) Co-funding. IF, a scheme designed for experienced researchers, reflects the biggest change, incorporating the current Intra European Fellowships, International Outgoing Fellowships, International Incoming Fellowships and Career Integration Grants. Details of the implementation plan and the precise budget will not be published until 2013, when the final negotiations for Horizon 2020 have been completed. Discussions on the best way forward are still ongoing with many stakeholders pointing out that the objectives and formats of the individual instruments differ substantially and integration into a reduced number of actions will be difficult.

The IPR helpdesk has published a factsheet supporting the management of intellectual property in all stages of Marie Curie projects. You can download the factsheet here.

ICT Proposers Day 2012 - Get your trip to the Proposers Day in Warsaw reimbursed! Euresearch exceptionally will reimburse the accomodation costs (travel and hotel) of up to 5 Swiss participants to this networking and information event, on a first-come first-serve basis. This reimbursement is offered by Ideal-IST, with the purpose to facilitate the integration of EU12 partners in new ICT proposals.

The European Commission has launched the expected more than 40 calls for proposal with a budget of over 10 billion Euros! You can download all related information from the EC's participant portal. An overview has been made available by Euresearch. We will be delighted to support you in the preparation of your proposal, you are kindly invited to get back to us for further information.

The EC has published an orientation paper for "The Ocean of Tomorrow 2013" call on the Participant's portal.

The Orientation Paper 2013 for the FP7 Cooperation Theme Security has been published on the EC's Participants portal.

The Orientation Paper 2013 for FP7 Cooperation Theme 2 (Food, Agriculture and Fisheries and Biotechnologies), has been published on the EC's Research Participants Portal.

The European Commission published yesterday the "NMP orientation paper", a draft of the NMP work programme including the description of all topics to be called in July 2012.

You can download the paper here.

In preparation of the HEALTH call 2013, the EC has published an orientation paper on cordis. You can download it here.

On 16 Jan 2012, the EC has released a new version of the "Guide to Financial Issues relating to FP7 Indirect Actions". The main modifications concern

- Conditions for the submission of Certificates on Financial Statements (CFS, "audits"),
- Interest on pre-financing,
- Further details on cost eligibility of bank charges, flat rate for daily subsistence and accommodation, parental leave, travel costs, bonus payments, recruitment costs etc,
- Clarifications on the activities which may be charged under the category "other costs", including "Management costs".