The European Commission (EC) published its third FP7 Monitoring Report in July 2010. The report covers the period 2007–2009 and shows that participation patterns are stable over the first three years of FP7. So far, there have been:
• 170 concluded calls
• 55’000 proposals received
• More than 9’000 projects involving over 50’000 researchers funded
• €15 billion funds committed by the EC
• An average success rate of 22%

Projects funded under FP7 have included researchers from 162 countries. The most active outside the EU Members States and Associated Countries have been the USA, the BRIC countries (Brazil, Russia, India and China), Australia and South Africa.

The monitoring report shows that there has been important progress regarding gender equality in the participation in FP7. Women represent 20.5% of individuals characterized as “contact persons for scientific aspects” in signed grant agreements. Also, more than a third (36.1%) of Marie Curie fellows as well as 19.4% of the Principal Investigators in ERC grant agreements were women. Despite the increase in women’s participation, compared to previous Framework Programmes, the set target of 40% for all programmes and projects is still a long way from being reached.

SME participation for the three years since the start of FP7 is at 14.5%. Despite increased rhetoric about including more SMEs in EU research programmes, the rate is actually down since the last monitoring report. The average SME participation for the first two years of FP7 was 15.5%.

In the period 2007- 2009 a total of 771 ethic reviews were carried out. Not a single project was stopped on ethical grounds.

Out of 1’601 requests for redress received only 19 led to a re-evaluation.

While the overall image conveyed by the third monitoring report is a positive one, it should be kept in mind that the report is based on specific indicators that do not include stakeholder’s views on FP7. The strong calls for reform and simplification of FP7 rules and procedures indicate that there is significant room for improvement for the remaining years of the Framework Programme. The upcoming interim evaluation of FP7 should fine-tune the picture given by the monitoring report.

The full third FP7 monitoring report is available <a href="www.era.gv.at/attach/third_fp7_monitoring_report.pdf">here</a>.

(Source: SwissCore Synopsis 2010/7).