By Pushpranjan, EuAsiaNews,
New Delhi : In order to raise awareness in the field of science and technology (S&T), the European Commission will launch the Framework Programme 7 (FP7) here at the end of July.
The Delegation of the European Commission to India, in cooperation with the Department of Science and Technology of the Government of India, will organise a series of information seminars in New Delhi, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore, Cochin, Mumbai and Pune from 7 to 18 July.
EU – India Science and Technology Cooperation is growing steadily. This growth is based at least partly on increased familiarity by key stakeholders in India concerning the European Union’s Research Framework Programme.
EU-India Co-operation in S&T reached a major new milestone with the first ever India-EU Ministerial Conference on Science, held last year in New Delhi.
The “New Delhi Communiqué” recognised important “windows of opportunity” for a significant increase in EU-India S&T co-operation; especially through the EU’s 7th Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development 2007-2013 and India’s 11th Five Year Plan.
Already, in the first year of FP7 for which results are currently available, 94 Indian organisations are involved in 62 projects funded by the European Union. This builds on Indian participation in FP6, where more than 130 Indian research organisations were involved in more than 95 research projects.
S&T activities are specially targeted for EU-India cooperation that include strategic workshops, EU-India Coordinated Calls for Proposals, FP7 targeted calls with India (SICAs) and other actions agreed by the EU-India S&T Steering Committee.