At the end of May, the National Academy of Sciences of Armenia hosted a training seminar in the country’s capital of Yerevan for 14 National Contact Points (NCPs) of the EU’s biggest research and innovation programme, Horizon 2020.
The one-day intensive training programme included the presentation of the Eastern Partnership PLUS (EaP PLUS) project, designed to stimulate cooperation between researchers from the Eastern Partner countries and EU Member States and enhance the active participation of the Eastern Neighbourhood countries in the Horizon 2020 framework programme.
The seminar discussed minimum standards and guiding principles for NCPs. It also focused on the promotion of the opportunities available through Horizon 2020, practical tips for the submission of applications, partner searches and many other useful hints and tips on the formation of consortiums and generation of proposals for grants and opportunities available through the programme.
A separate session of the training was devoted to cross-cutting activities covering Individual Fellowships for Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA) – an instrument available for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) – and cooperation with the Enterprise Europe Network.
A suggestion was also made to create a corner for NCPs on the website of the Horizon 2020 National Information Point of Armenia.
Horizon 2020 is the EU’s biggest ever research and innovation framework programme, with a budget of €77 billion over seven years (2014-2020). The vast majority of this funding will be allocated on the basis of competitive calls which are open to applications from researchers, businesses and other interested organisations located in any of the EU Member States or countries associated to Horizon 2020, including the EU Neighbourhood countries: Armenia, Georgia, the Republic of Moldova and Ukraine.
As of October 2017, Horizon 2020 has in total provided more than 15,000 grants, amounting to €26.65 billion.
