The number of topics in the core NMP 2011 work programme is higher: 35 topics compared to 22 topics in the previous year.
The European Commission has the Framework Programmes (FP) to allocate research budgets. FP7 has a budget of 50 billion EUR over a period of seven years. The programme is divided in various topics, of which some are directly relevant to the SEMI community of companies, i.e. semiconductor and photovoltaic equipment/material suppliers and device/cell manufacturers.
In July 2010, the call was launched for 2011. For members, SEMI has listed some of the items which are most relevant. If you have never participated in an EU-funded project, this may seem daunting at first, but you can identify partners that can help. Within FP7, there’s a network of National Contact Points which is the main structure to provide guidance, practical information and assistance on all aspects of participation. In addition, SEMI can assist you.
Themes are:
- Theme 4: NMP - Nanosciences, Nanotechnologies, Materials and new Production Technologies (106 pages). For instance Nanosciences and Nanotechnologies, Materials, New Production, "European Green Cars," "Factories of the Future" (Budget: € 160 000 000).
- Theme 5 : NMP ENERGY (82 pages, budget 25 million EUR, call announced 20 July; deadline for proposals 25 November). This call includes: “Energy Efficiency and Savings, Renewable Electricity Generation, Hydrogen and Fuel Cells.” The Solar Europe Initiative includes ENERGY.2011.2.1-2: Development and up-scaling of innovative photovoltaic cell processes and architectures to pilot-line scale for industrial application and ENERGY.2011.2.1-3: Productivity and cost optimization issues for the manufacturing of photovoltaic systems based on concentration.
The key objectives of the European Commission framework programme for research are to improve the competitiveness of European industry and to generate knowledge to ensure its transformation from a resource-intensive to a knowledge-intensive base, by creating step changes through research and implementing decisive knowledge for new applications at the crossroads between different technologies and disciplines. This benefits both new, high-tech industries and higher-value (such as semiconductor and photovoltaic), knowledge-based traditional industries, with a special focus on the appropriate dissemination of RTD results to SMEs. The European Commission recognizes the importance of SMEs, so the NMP theme is particularly relevant to SMEs from all industrial sectors due to their needs and roles with respect to advanced technologies. Priority will be given to proposals demonstrating that SMEs play a leading role and that they represent in the order of 35 percent or more of the requested EU contribution.
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