ERA-NET

ERA-NET

ERA-NET (European Research Area Networks) is the policy instrument of the European Commission (EC) for coordinating the national research programmes in Europe. In an ERA-NET there is cooperation and coordination among European research funding agencies (like NWO in the Netherlands). The purpose of ERA-NET is to counter the fragmentation of research and to promote research quality. It addresses problems many research councils wrestle with: for certain types of research – for instance research into rare diseases - they do not have enough participants/patients, no sufficient budget, no critical research mass. An ERA-NET enables such research. ERA-NET is one of the instruments of the EC for developing the European research space.

As the name indicates, an ERA-NET is first and foremost a network in which the research sponsors explore potential partners for cooperation and the research areas where this might take place. In some cases it remains a mere network. In other cases a number of partners develop a joint research programme with a common budget. Researchers from Europe can sign up via a Call for proposals at one of the participating agencies. NWO coordinates about ten ERA-NETs in different fields, from chemistry to the humanities. There are also ERA-NETs in which European research funders jointly seek to establish cooperation with countries outside Europe, such as the ERA-NET CO-REACH with China.

NWO actively participates in a number of networks in the conviction that these ERA-NETs contribute to the quality of European research and eventually to strengthening Europe’s position in the global knowledge economy. NWO favours ERA-NETs that have an added value for researchers at Dutch institutions. It involves fields where researchers (can) excell and where problems of compatibility and administrative burden need to be solved. ERA-net's generally receive for a period of 4 to 5 years funding suport by the European Commission. After that period some networks receive support for a prolongued period, some others are terminated or continued by the [partners without additional funding. As of the Seventh Frameworkprogramme the Commission opended the possibility to provide top-up funding for research funded under joint calls. These are indicated as ERA-net plus.

In which ERA-NET's are NWO and ZonMw involved?
(in bold ERA-nets which are coordinated by NWO or ZonMw)

Active ERA-NET's:

  • ASPERA-2: Coordinating efforts in astroparticle physics
  • ACENET: Applied Catalysis for Europe Network
  • ASTRONET-2: Coordinating Strategic Planning for European Astronomy
  • BiodivERsA-2:  research for the understanding of European and overseas biodiversity
  • COMPLEXITY-NET: European Network for the Coordination of Complexity Research and Training Activities
  • CO-REACH-2: European Research Cooperation with China
  • ERA-IB: Towards an ERA in Industrial Biotechnology
  • ERA-Instruments: Infrastructure Funding in the Life Sciences
  • ERA-PG: Plant Genomics
  • E-RARE-2: ERA-Net for research programmes on rare diseases
  • New INDIGO: Science brings Europe and India closer
  • SEAS-ERA: Towards Integrated Marine Research Strategy and Programmes
  • Transcan:  ERA-Net on Translational Cancer Research

ERA-net plus networks:

  • ERASysBio+: ERA-net for Systems Biology
  • HERA-JRP: The Humanities in the European Research Area
  • NanoSci-ERA+: Nanoscience in the European Reseach Area
  • NORFACE+: New Opportunities for Research Funding Agency Co-operation in Europe – A Strategy for Social Sciences

Finished ERA-net's or which are continued without EU funding or NWO/ZonMw participation:

  • COMPERA: creation and support of Competence research Centres
  • ECORD-net: European consortium of ocean research drilling
  • ERA-AGE: European Research Area in Ageing research
  • ERA-Chemistry: Implementation of joint bottom-up European programmes in chemistry
  • ERA-SAGE: Ethical Legal and Societal Aspects of Genomics Research in the EU, Canada and the US
  • EuroPOLAR: The European polar consortium: strategic coordination and networking of European polar RTD programmes
  • EURYI: European Young Investigators Award
  • MarinERA: Coordination of national and regional activities in marine RTD activities in Europe
  • PRIOMEDCHILD: Coordination of research on priority medicines for children
  • Snowman:  Sustainable maNagement of sOil and groundWater under the pressure of soil pollution and soil contaMinAtioN

Via the subsidy guide further information can be found on funding possibilities by NWO .