Thanks to collaborative research, participants get knowledge from other partners, explore new solutions and have the opportunity to reach new markets.

In this type of projects, each partner remains the owner of knowledge he creates, while contributing its know-how to the consortium. This implies careful use of the intellectual property during and after the project.

Financing opportunities cover, among others, several programmes for which NCP-Wallonia offers its services:

• 7^th Research and Development Framework Programme (FP7) which constitutes the main community tool to support research and technological development in Europe. It is equipped with 50 milliard € budget for 2007-2013 period. 
  
• JTIs (Joint Technology Initiatives) are public-private partnerships involving industry, the research community and public authorities at a European scale. In key domains for European competitiveness (aeronautics, life sciences, ICT…), JTIs finance ambitious collaborative research projects. Wallonia participates in IMI and Cleansky. 
  
• Era-Net actions:
  The Walloon Region launches, in collaboration with other European regions, joint calls for proposals in which Walloon actors can take part.
  
• CIP (Competitiveness and Innovation Programme):
  Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme supports in particular the use of information technologies, eco-technologies and renewable energy sources. It provides also a better access to financing for enterprises.

• And for SMEs, more specifically:
• Eurostars is the financing programme specifically dedicated to research intensive SMEs.
• Eureka is a paneuropean intergovernmental initiative aimed at stimulating enterprises' research efforts.

Some of the programmes mentioned above offer interesting financing rates.

Are you concerned with European collaborative projects?

YES!

Collaborative research programmes constitute, for Walloon research actors, an important financing opportunity. It offers you several advantages: access to high level scientific competences, sharing of inherent risks to the research, networking, possibility to develop new markets…

These research programmes address small, middle and large enterprises, universities, research centres and researchers.

How to introduce a grant request?

You have to answer one of the proposal calls periodically launched by the Commission and/or the Walloon Region. The best projects are selected according to the evaluation achieved by a group of independent experts.

NCP-Wallonia, that gather scientific and administrative competences in the field of European projects, can help you write an adequate proposal, by guiding you at best in the various financing opportunities according to your project's characteristics.

The Walloon Region also offers a supplementary financial support to the projects preparation phase (Prime Horizon Europe).   

Convinced of the importance of European research for Wallonia, the Walloon Government has entrusted the Walloon Business Federation to the mission of National Contact Point for European collaborative research programmes.

For those programmes, NCP-Wallonia provides a supporting role towards the funding agencies.