Portugal benefits from a financial rate of return with regard to the Seventh Framework Programme for Research in excess of its contribution. However, it is desirable to increase the participation of national companies, argued a represntative from the Ministry of Science and Technology.
According to Virginia Cooke, director of the Office for Promotion of the Research Framework Programme (GPPQ) - a part of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education (MCES) - the level of financial return to Portugal is currently estimated at 1.3 percent, while the country's contribution for this program of funding for scientific research stands at around 01 per cent of its total value.
The Seventh Research Framework Programme, which runs from 2007 to 2013, has a value of around 50 billion euros.
Although the director of GPPQ noted that she "had remarked greater business engagement in the seventh frame" and that the number of Portuguese companies involved "has been improving since 2007," she considered it necessary "to increase participation still further"
The GPPQ is responsible a group of for researchers, teachers and Portuguese businessmen who traveled to Brussels to attend the final discussion of the proposed simplification of rules of participation for European science and innovation. The rapporteur is MEP Social Democrat Maria da Graca Carvalho.
The draft report was discussed at today's committee on Industry, Research and Energy European Parliament (EP), which should be voted on by the end of September, following the assessment of the EP in October.
The aim of this paper is to simplify procedures that hamper the participation of agencies and countries, particularly the smaller ones, in community programmes because of their complexity and red tape.
The PSD MEP told Lusa, after the adoption of the report in October, there are are a number of steps that can come into force later this year.
According to data from the European Commission in March, 4400 Portuguese participants presented proposals for submission to the Seventh Research Framework Programme, which represents two percent of the total tenders received and places Portugal. in 13th place our of the 27 member members.
Of the total, 1,400 are from SMEs - which had 225 projects approved, representing a success rate of 16 percent, three percentage points below the average of 27 for these entities.
The areas of funding that were most sought after by the Portuguese were information technologies at top of the list, followed by training programmes for researchers and programme specific support to SMEs.
HM