Czech-German co-operation in Research, Development and Innovation Dr. Hans-Jürgen Donath International Bureau of the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF) Innovation 2006 The Week of Research, Development and Innovation in the ČR XIII International Symposium INNOVATION 2006

What has been reached so far? Since the early 90s BMBF and MŠMT have been co-funding projects in the frame of scientific-technological co-operation aiming to establish sustainable links between scientists and engineers to create a solid basis to build-on for future collaboration. During a period of now more than 15 years a fruitful co- operation in various fields of scientific and technological R&D has been carried out between Czech and German research institutions. Highlights of the past: Environmental research Nanotechnologies Life sciences

What has been reached so far?  Since 2000 BMBF has supported more than 120 projects.  More than 120 German Higher Education establishments have co- operation agreements with 37 Czech Institutions.  Within the exchange programmes of the DAAD more than 500 Germans went to the Czech Republic and about 900 Czech Students and Scientists have visited Germany in the year  Other German institutions like the Alexander von Humboldt- Foundation, the Max-Planck Society and the Helmholtz Association also were very active.

What has been reached so far? The instruments used by BMBF to support this goals have shifted during that time from traditional bilateral co-operation of single researchers or institutions to a more or less multilateral networking approach. Why that? The answer is that Globalisation does also influence research and development, so we have to meet these challenges by adapting our strategies to what the markets demand!

Where are we now? For this reason BMBF has introduced a specific programme to support the preparation of integrated multilateral research projects, as this has become both a very time and resources consuming process. “Regional Call” International Co-operation in Education and Research – Central, Eastern and South Eastern European Region ( orwww.bmbf.de

The programme “Regional Call” Objectives:  awareness building for options of joint research within national and European programmes  focussing the „classical“ government supported bilateral cooperation towards the initiation of complex projects, financed under the respective national or European programmes  strengthening international cooperation in national programmes  strengthening joint participation in European programmes  supporting the preparatory phase of joint projects in strategic scientific areas

The programme “Regional Call” The “Regional Call” aims to set-up and implement joint R&D projects with CEE/SEE countries. Which have to be submitted either to a suitable strategic funding programme of the BMBF or to one of the research programmes of the European Union

The programme “Regional Call” Instruments:  preparatory missions  individual contact visits  expert meetings  pilot investigations  investigations of feasibility  thematic workshops

The programme “Regional Call” Funding can be provided for:  travel expenses of German experts  costs of visits of foreign experts to Germany  staff costs for investigations of feasibility (max. 1-3 months)  costs of events (workshops, thematic conferences)  physical resources (e.g. consumables for pilot investigations) Maximum amount of funding: up to 50,000 € for preparation of particularly complex projects

The programme “Regional Call” Who can apply? Applications may be submitted by  public and private institutions of higher education  non-university research establishments  commercial companies especially SMEs Size of consortia  German applicant and at least two further institutions, one of them from CEE/SEE country Preference will be given for applications involving SMEs

The programme “Regional Call” Evaluation criteria:  prospects of the proposed project for receiving funding from national or European programme  originality of the idea  qualifications of the coordinator and the project partners  potential for solving problems  benefit of co-operation  new partnerships  commercial exploitation of the anticipated results  promotion of young research talent

Key areas of BMBF Strategic Funding Programmes and current calls NEW TECHNOLOGIES (  Information society (  Nanotechnology (  Optical technologies (  Research for the production of tomorrow (  Materials innovation for industry and society (

Key areas of BMBF Strategic Funding Programmes and current calls LIFE SCIENCES (  Health research (  Biomedical research (  Biotechnology ( SUSTAINABILITY (

Key areas of the 7th Framework Programme of the European Union  Health  Food, Agriculture and Biotechnology  Information and Communication Technologies  Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials and New Production Technologies  Energy  Environment (including Climate Change)  Transport (including Aeronautics)  Socio-economic Sciences and the Humanities  Security and Space

Contacts Applications for regional call to International Bureau of the BMBF at the DLR Königswinterer Straße D Bonn Tel.: +49 (0) , Fax:+49 (0) Internet: desk officers responsible for the respective country Internet: Specialist information and counselling on funding programmes of the BMBF: Auskunftsstelle BMBF Förderung (Information Bureau for BMBF Programmes) Tel.: +49 (0) Internet: Counselling on regional call Hungary and Joint Research Bases Karin Wedde - Mühlhausen International Bureau of the BMBF Tel.:+49 – (0) Fax:+49 – (0) Slovak Republic: Dr. Hans-Peter Niller, Tel Czech Republic: Dr. Hans-Jürgen Donath, Tel Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania: Dr. Michael Lange, Tel South Eastern Europe: Ralf Hanatschek, Tel