HEALTH-NCP-NET

HEALTH-NCP-NET is the network of all officially appointed Health National Contact Points (NCPs) and Contact Points in third countries. It provides information, guidance and technical assistance on European funds for health research projects. The clients are researchers and research institutions willing to participate and be successful in FP7. Since most of the NCP host institutions are funded by national governments, their services are offered free of charge.

SM-BIO-POWER

SM-BIO-POWER empowers SMEs in biomedical engineering to participate in EU research. The consortium of ten partners helps SMEs to get their voice heard at the European Commission and gain international visibility for their company. SM-BIO-POWER also provides information on the latest trends in EU support for biomedical engineering research together with best practice examples from other SMEs in EU projects. An online helpdesk is available for registered users as is personal assistance in identifying funding opportunities and project partners. Personalised updates include selected information such as call alerts, partner searches and consortia and project opportunities. All SM-BIO-POWER services and information are offered for free. Registration is open at www.smbiopower.eu.

SMEs go Health

"SMEs go Health" project has ended on 31 January 2010 but continues as a network of experts and NCPs in 30 countries. The members of this new consortium continue their support of SMEs and academia.

SMEs go Health experts help research centres, universities and innovative SMEs to find project partners, build or participate in European R&D projects in the EU-funded "Health" thematic priority of FP7.
Importantly, the related initiative "Health NCP Net" (www.healthncpnet.eu) contributes to the maintenance of the SMEs go Health database and ensures highest quality of expertise profiles from SMEs and academia gathered in this outstanding pool.

LIFE COMPETENCE

The Life Competence database is an online network and knowledge sharing contact system filled with EU research projects in healthcare biotechnology that have been funded by the EU Commission under FP6. It enables companies, universities, NGOs to find out what research is going on in their area and who are the partners, people and organisations (companies and universities) working in this field.

EECAlink

The EECAlink project (www.eecalink.eu) is a coordination & support action under the Health priority theme.

The main priorities of the project are:
1. Encouragement and promotion of the international collaboration in the Health sector through systematic support to create new research consortia,
2. Stimulation of the further development of research consortia for FP7 calls and their support in proposal preparation,
3. Identification of joint research interests of the EECA and the EU Member States and effective communication to relevant policy makers
4. Strengthening and broadening of existing research collaboration among participating universities/academia partners,
5. Building up and strengthening the capacities of participating EECA countries for effective collaboration within FP7 projects and in their administration,
6. Promotion of FP7 among wider research audience targeted by the work programme - SMEs, universities and other research institutes existing beyond the project consortium and
7. Stimulation of mutual exchange of experience and dissemination of good-practice among the project partners.

The project is coordinated by the First Faculty of Medicine of the Charles University in Prague with 17 partners from 12 different countries (4 EU-member states and 8 EECA countries).

USEandDIFFUSE

USEandDIFFUSE is a project that is co-financed by the European Commission, under FP7, and aims to support the dissemination and exploitation of results resulting from research projects involving small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs).

The USEandDIFFUSE initiative gathered information on and analyzed current practices in terms of the use of RTD results in projects involving SMEs in order to draw upon best practice and guidelines that can be carried forward and disseminated to benefit existing and future R+D effort involving industry. A central Project component is the creation of a practical, public accessible Best Practice Manual or Guide entitled "Make European Research Work For Your Company".

This practical and complete Guide will provide SMEs (and indeed Research Performers as well) with a step by step approach to ensuring that they get the most out of the results of research and development projects and that they put all the right pieces in place in order to be well prepared to uptake and manage the resulting IP.

Readers of the Guide will benefit from a close look at success stories and case studies, methods and approaches for creating an effective strategy for the dissemination and exploitation of RTD results, as well as advice on how to realistically tap into the real market potential of research results.

More information about the guide and the project can be found under www.useanddiffuse.eu