FP6 Calls for Proposals

* An offer by the Plant Industrial Platform for a successful FP6 proposal - download the WORD file
  • Networking, technology transfer, dissemination of results, PR: use the service offered by PIP !

    • Executive Summary

    The Plant Industrial Platform has developed strategies to support potential consortium co-ordinators before submitting a EU Framework Programme-6 proposal as well as after the proposal has been selected for funding. The platform will assist in finding background data or partners and participate in public relation activities such as the dissemination of relevant information to targeted user groups. The Plant Industrial Platform invites FP6 applicants with interest in agriculture and plant sciences to contact the secretariat (pbp -at- bart.nl) and discuss specific wishes or find out how the Plant Industrial Platform may add value to their proposal.

    Why? - Dissemination tasks - Other contributions - Further contacts - Legal aspects
    Therefore.. - Contact - FAQs - ANNEX-1 - ANNEX-2

    Background

    When preparing a FP6 proposal for funding, there are a number of requirements that are not easily fulfilled by individual partners from academia or SME's. The consortium co-ordinator is expected to realise an efficient system of dissemination of research results. External relations, publications, conferences, workshops and Web-based activities must be aimed at disseminating the knowledge and technology produced. The socio-economic benefit and good overall project management will be assessed on quality. The tasks of a project co-ordinator, beyond doing good science, has inflated each subsequent Framework Programme.

    Fortunately there are satellite organisations, such as the Plant Industrial Platform, that offer help to support project co-ordinators in these tasks. Tangible proof of the good working relationships between research groups and the Plant Industrial Platform are evident from similar activities during FP5, the co-operation on science themes between the Plant Industrial Platform and the EU Plant Science Organisation (EPSO) and PIP's initiatives during earlier Framework Programmes.

    Before submitting a FP6 proposal the Plant Industrial Platform would be happy to assist prospective consortium co-ordinators with the following issues: i) the screening of relevant FP5 projects and FP6 EoI's for additional partners, and ii) advertising of proposed initiatives in order to find industrial partners among PIP's membership or associated SME contacts.

    After a proposal is selected to be funded, the Plant Industrial Platform is ready - as a member or sub-contractor - to carry out tasks such as: i) dissemination of project objectives and cleared results ; ii) co-organisation of project meetings ; ii) management or assisting in the production and circulation of web-based publications such as mirrored project sites and targeted e-newsletters.

    Why? ^

    The instruments of the Framework Programme 6 are radically different from previous FP's. However, there is a basic requirement in all instruments that project results will need to be communicated to user and interest groupings outside the consortium. In addition it may be needed, during project execution, to find new participants who may help in the exploitation of results (e.g. standardisation, ethical and regulatory aspects, etc.). It may also be needed to carry out an assessment of the expected socio-economic impact of the knowledge and technology generated. Since the size of the consortia is expected to be much larger than before, there may also be finances to be made available for exchange or training visits.

    In the sections below it will be shown that for all such issues the involvement of the Plant Industrial Platform could be instrumental and a great help for project management. In addition it will be easier to demonstrate that the consortium will be able to reach its objectives, show results and meet milestones.

    Dissemination tasks ^

  • Dissemination (1) . . It will be essential to communicate project objectives, public interim results and reports to user / interest groups outside the consortium. While general information on funded research will eventually be available from CORDIS, it is in the interest of the consortium partners to communicate their project initiatives and progress. This will allow finding of additional partners for feasibility studies for the creation of spin-offs and "take-up" activities to promote the early or broad application of state-of-the-art technologies.

    Involvement of the Plant Industrial Platform ensures that i) the EU plant science industrial community will be served through its publications (newsletter, web-site, email service). ii) a greater network of specialists is reached through Plant Industrial Platform's e-mail database of contacts ranging from post-docs to policy makers and iii) press releases can be distributed to appropriate press centres in Europe.

  • Dissemination (2) . . Whichever strategy the partners in a consortium choose for intellectual property protection, there will be a moment when cleared data will be made public through a scientific publication or a conference contribution. The protection of this knowledge resulting from the project (including patent searches, filing of patent (or other IPR) applications, etc.) must be organised within the consortium. However, it is likely that results or materials will be produced which are only of interest to specialist parties outside the consortium.

    It is therefore proposed that the Plant Industrial Platform secretariat is deployed for a rapid, targeted search for interest among its members or associated circle of SME's. All relevant documents distributed will be personally addressed and clearly labelled: 'CONFIDENTIAL', in order to prevent data from entering the public domain. The limited time-frame prior to actual publication or presentation should be sufficient to expand the scale of technology transfer and stimulate take-up activities including the assessment, trial and validation of promising, but not fully established, technologies and solutions.

    It will be the responsibility of consortium member(s) and dependent on the existing agreements how to proceed and involve outside partners. In order to ensure that this system will work convincingly, it is essential that the methodology will be described in the submitted project proposal.

    Other contributions ^

  • Assisting the consortium co-ordinator with any of the following activities: maintenance of (mirror)-consortium webpages ; production and distribution of internal / external consortium (e-)newsbriefs ; production and distribution of press releases ;

  • Organising / assisting in (sub) consortium conferences, workshops or satellite meetings. Any of these activities form an efficient method to carry out dissemination and public relation activities. The Plant Industrial Platform assists or fully organises meetings and may help in selecting speakers / participants from other user / interest groups. Project meetings may include an open session to which Plant Industrial Platform members or representatives of associated SME's could be invited for information exchange and interaction with the project partners. Finally, reporting and publication of proceedings, inclusion in internet based news media and communication to the press could be co-ordinated by PIP's secretariat.

  • Feedback from user / interest groupings. Information on activities, developments and needs of the industrial community usually does not easily reach the scientific community. It is suggested that the Plant Industrial Platform expands the distribution list of its publications and includes consortium partners and lab co-workers. Actively solicited information from external parties and information on developments in the industrial plant science community, legal aspects, IP or socio-economic aspects will support the consortium management decisions.

  • Training and exchange visits. The secretariat of the Plant Industrial Platform may be deployed to identify, promote and / or co-manage exchange or training visits at industry locations.

  • Contact database. The Plant Industrial Platform maintains a database on a range of actors, active in plant biotechnology such as: industry, scientists, regulatory officials, press, biotech associations, policy makers, Commission representatives. It is suggested to make this resource available to the project partners in order to support individual dissemination or networking activities.

    Further contacts ^

    The Plant Industrial Platform has good relations to other industrial platforms, the EU Plant Science Organisation, a range of FP5 funded plant science research co-ordinators, the EU organisation of freelance science writers and the multimedia company BioVisions Unlimited.

    Legal aspects ^

    The Plant Industrial Platform has a legal status since it is an association according to Dutch law. PIP members are plant science companies with a research facility in Europe an pay a yearly fee. The (in 2002) 19 full members are usually represented by a research director (see annex-1). Associate members, among which are many SME's, receive a restricted suite of information but do not pay the members fee. There are a number of options to include the Plant Industrial Platform as a partner in your submission:

  • PIP may take part in the consortium as a full member, but with restricted rights to prior or current knowledge, while waiving any rights on the outcome of the research. The consortium may also wish, for administrative reasons, to include the SME that runs the PIP secretariat in the consortium.

  • Alternatively, the Plant Industrial Platform may act as a sub-contractor to the project management. Such a status in the consortium precludes any rights on knowledge or materials shared by its members.

    Therefore.. ^

    It is expected that PIP's offer to carry out networking and dissemination tasks in a FP6 research consortium with plant science aspects, will positively contribute for the following reasons:

  • The extension of a pool of technological know-how, available from Plant Industrial Platform members, who are not part of the project consortium, has the potential to extend possibilities for innovation and quality of research. The sharing of resources to investigate unforeseen opportunities is another element, which would positively contribute to the science and technology aspects of the project.

  • The efficiency of the project management would profit from the involvement of the Plant Industrial Platform, since interaction with the European industry would be in the hands of a professional secretariat. The tasks of the Plant Industrial Platform's secretariat could include: i) the dissemination of progress reports, pre-publications, ii) an active role in dissemination of industry-related information both from and to external parties, ii) invite interested, external, parties to (the public part of) project meetings, iv) stimulate feedback and communication with potential partners to reach the stage of patent application or exploit acquired patents. Optimisation of management tasks is essential, as failure to be ranked in the category may lead to early rejection of a FP6 proposal.

  • The number of industrial project partners may be limited for reasons such as scope, quality, budget and efficiency as well as to prevent conflicts of interest. In order to maximally profit from generated results, it is advisable that project management devotes extra efforts to efficiently communicate the progress of the project to outside European parties. It is very likely that the finite number of partners in the project would neglect certain results and achievements, which would have certain value for parties in other lines of business. If such opportunities would be ignored, the original owners of certain pieces of intellectual property may damage their interests. Extension of the project network thus favourably contributes to the European dimension of the proposed work, and adds to European policies by informing SME's on current research, opportunities for partnerships and application. The involvement of the Plant Industrial Platform furthermore would allow access to an extensive database of European contacts besides industry: policy makers, press and public organisations. Effective dissemination of press releases, success stories, or fact sheets would thus be made possible with a minimum of effort.

  • Increased awareness among European companies of project objectives, of progress and research results would potentially have a positive effect of European employment. The dissemination of project achievements, the possible sharing of resources and active networking approach would add to the development of skills and know-how throughout the European industrial and science community.

  • From the above it is obvious that the quality of possibilities for exploitation increases when the number of potential candidates with exploitation plans increase. These candidates may either employ previously protected intellectual property of the project partners, or be joint patent applicants, if other partners in the project have no interest to pursue specific project output. The proposed scheme thus adds to the strategic impact of the proposed project by informing a wider, and in addition diverse, range of potential users.

    Contact ^

    If you are interested in to make use of Plant Industrial Platform's services during the FP-6, please contact the secretariat to discuss further details. The Plant Industrial Platform channel can also be used to identify potential industrial partners for your research proposals. It is suggested that non-disclosing objectives or research tasks are sent around the Plant Industrial Platform network as an invitation.

    Plant Industrial Platform secretariat: dr. Gert E. de Vries, Meerweg 6, 9625 PJ Overschild, the Netherlands, ph: ++31-596.566.321; fax: ++31-596.566.508; email: pbp -at- bart.nl

    Frequently asked questions ^

    Why is it important to involve (additional) industrial partners?

  • The text of the evaluation procedures clearly show that, while first rate quality science is essential, there are additional requirements before a research proposal makes a chance of getting funded. For a co-ordinator it is increasingly difficult to cope with the different tasks, let alone finding the right parners at the stage of submission. Plant Industrial Platform's proposal is intended to cover and optimise a sub-set of requirements.

    Will Plant Industrial Platform's involvement cause a conflict of interest with industrial partner?

  • No. Since the interaction with Plant Industrial Platform would take place after inter-project clearance has been obtained, the process would not frustrate the interests of existing industrial partners.

    Does dissemination of information make such information public?

  • No. All information, disseminated through the Plant Industrial Platform channel will be addressed personally and clearly labelled 'CONFIDENTIAL'. Therefore research results will not prematurely enter the public domain.

    Would Plant Industrial Platform's involvement affect the speed of publication?

  • No. The dissemination scheme, which is proposed is designed such that no obstruction to publication speed will occur. Instead, in a normal timeframe of publication, the authors would enjoy additional possibilities of obtaining unforeseen value from their research results

    Would Plant Industrial Platform have claims on the outcome of the project?

  • No. Plant Industrial Platform either waives such rights or proposes to act as a sub-contractor to the co-ordinator of the project, to support his/her management tasks. Plant Industrial Platform thus functions as a service provider and the Plant Industrial Platform will not act as a full research member in the consortium. Funding for subcontractors is fully reimbursable by the Commission according to the rules of a contract with Plant Industrial Platform.

    Do research scientists profit from Plant Industrial Platform's involvement?

  • Technology transfer is optimised in Plant Industrial Platform's proposal, but the interaction and results from the increased networking activity is fully controlled by potential partners. Primary advantage for researchers exist because of the expanded possibilities in finding value for research results. The scheme also extends the scope of know-how and resources which can be exploited, if so desired by the consortium partnership. Plant Industrial Platform's database and feedback on European industrial developments is yet another information source to be exploited by the project partners.

    What are the costs of Plant Industrial Platform's involvement?

  • These depend on the tasks for which the Plant Inustrial Platform secretariat will be contracted. In case of a minimum involvement there are only four activities that need attention: personnel, mailing, meeting attendance and overhead. Certain tasks will be identical if PIP is involve in a number of FP6 consortia. In that case costs will partly be covered by Plant Industrial Platform's concurrent activities.

    How do we include Plant Industrial Platform's activities in a research proposal?

  • Plant Industrial Platform will prepare sample texts which may be used directly or which may serve as an example for the different sections in the application forms. Please contact the Plant Industrial Platform secretariat to discuss specific wishes (pbp -at- bart.nl).


    ANNEX -1 : Members of the Plant Industrial Platform (31/12/2002) ^

    Dr. Carreer Bayer CropScience N.V. Gent Belgium
    Dr. Nielsen DLF-Trifolium A/S Roskilde Denmark
    Dr. Mikkelsen Danisco A/S Copenhagen Denmark
    Dr. DeRose RhoBio Evry France
    Dr. Verel Centre Int. Recherche Daniel Carasso Le Plessis Robinson France
    Dr. Devaux Florimond Desprez Veuve & Fils Cappelle en Pevele France
    Dr. Grand R.A.G.T. GENETIQUE S.A. Rodez France
    Dr. Weyen Saaten-Union Resistenzlabor GmbH Leopoldshöhe Germany
    Dr. Nehls PLANTA Pflanzengenetik Biotech.GmbH Einbeck Germany
    Dr. Martinelli CIV Consorzio Italiano Vivaisti San Giuseppe di Comacchio Italy
    Dr. Nilsson Svalöf Weibull AB Svalöv Sweden
    Dr. Vos Keygene N.V. Wageningen The Netherlands
    Dr. van der Heijden Cebeco Seeds B.V. Lelystad The Netherlands
    Dr. van den Heuvel De Ruiter Seeds Bergschenhoek The Netherlands
    Dr. Pennings Seminis Vegetable Seeds Enkhuizen The Netherlands
    Dr. Dourleijn Advanta Seeds B.V. Rilland-Bath The Netherlands
    Dr. Verhoeyen Unilever Research Bedford United Kingdom
    Dr. Purcell Monsanto Plc Cambridge United Kingdom
    Dr. Bright Syngenta Zeneca Agrochemicals Bracknell United Kingdom

    ANNEX - 2 : Associate members of the Plant Industrial Platform ^

    The Plant Industrial Platform considers the subscription by industry representatives to its mailing list as an associated membership. During the year 2002 the Industrial Platform has registered more than 60 associated members from EU plant science companies.

    The full mailing list (>550) also includes individuals from academia, research institutes, policy makers, consultants and associations, press and patent lawyers.