The European Commission issued a call for proposals in 32 research areas, for which it is making available about €1.75 billion from Framework Programme 7.
Areas it wants to back include environmental issues such as rising sea levels and the impact of climate change on Arctic Ocean ecosystems, the impact of ultraviolet radiation on human health, and modelling the future impact of energy use on the environment.
In the food, agriculture and fisheries and biotechnology, the Commission wants to support research to promote a better understanding of obesity and to develop new methods for the production of clean and carbon efficient biofuels.
There is a strong emphasis on international scientific collaboration with all areas open to partnerships from outside the European Research Area. In addition there are some specific projects, such as joint research with India on materials science and with Russia on power generation from biomass and tools for large power systems.
A network of national contact points is available at http://cordis.europa.eu/fp7/home_en.html. showing the areas of areas of interest and to help researchers create the partnerships that are required to access European funding.
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