Overview
Aim of the project was to improve and promote cooperation of EU and Western Balkan countries in the field of surface transport research and technologies. This would contribute to establishing a network of researchers and universities to increase the scientific capacity of the region. To implement the project objectives, the partners would map the existing structures and summarise the specific needs of scientists in the field of transport, disseminate the good practices and organise training and support in FP7 knowledge, set up a Project Lab and promote creative contacts between academic institutions and SMEs, carry out expert study visits between the WBC and EU partners in order to expand networking between the regions, and develop a Roadmap for research capacities and funding opportunities.
Overall objective of the project was to improve and promote closer Scientific and Technological (S&T) cooperation opportunities between Europe and the Western Balkan Countries (WBCs) in the area of Surface Transport. The project seeked to establish an EU-Balkan Transport network of researchers and universities among these countries in order to improve and/or enlarge the research capacity of Western Balkan centres of competence in transport in terms of improving their research programs, and scientific and technical human resources.
The project aimed to fulfil the following specific goals:
- Identifying the existing capacities and specific needs of surface transport researchers in the Western Balkan countries in terms of FP7 funding opportunities;
- Training and support in FP7 knowledge and best practices. Enhance the readiness of the Balkan transport research community to participate in European RTD programmes (FP7). Setting up a matching tool - Project Lab - supporting the creation and preparation of efficient and innovative project proposals; Implementing expert study visits between the WBC and EU partners in order to expand scientific relationships and networking between the two regions;
- Stimulating various partnering schemes and national collaboration between researchers and industry in the surface transport sector in the Balkan region.
Expected activities and tangible results of this project included, among others: a Roadmap for research capacities and funding opportunities in WBCs transport research, 150 researchers informed and stimulated towards FP7, a database with 100 R&D results, 10 national idea generation events (2 per each WBC + Bulgaria), 50 new project proposal ideas and 5 events in the Balkan countries linking transport researchers and industry.
Funding
Results
ARC Fund designed a methodology for mapping the WBC research potential in the surface transport domain, which was implemented in the participating Western Balkan Countries (WBCs), plus Bulgaria. All target beneficiary groups (universities, researchers, research companies, research NGOs, government bodies in the surface transport domain) were approached in order to record their research profiles and technology expertise as a basis for following activities under the project. A total of 191 collaboration profiles and 91 profiles of exploitable research results and technologies have been collected during the mapping.
Parallel to that, the consortium partners from Bulgaria, Greece and Malta mapped (additional to FP7) funding opportunities (available locally or on a bi-lateral basis) for international research projects with WBC partners, in order to better understand the environment in which researchers in the WBCs operate.
In methodological terms, EU partners from Greece and the Netherlands developed a guide on FP7 for transport researchers in English, which was then translated into the national languages of participating WBCs and Bulgaria, while the partner from Malta developed the concept of the 'Ideas Generation Events' and elaborated a guide on how to organise such events.
With respect to capacity building activities for WBC partners, a three-day training on FP7 plus practical coaching for WBC partners was organised in Malta. The training encompassed:
- Training on FP7 with a focus on transport;
- Training on consortium building and proposal development;
- Training on proposal budgeting;
- Training on negotiations and IPR issues;
- Training on how to organise 'Idea Generation Events'.
In addition, the following activities were carried out: participation in an information day in Thessaloniki, Greece, publishing a guide on FP7 for transport researchers, in English as well as in the national languages of the WBC partners and in Bulgarian, and study visits for forming research consortia.
All project objectives have been fully achieved within lifetime of the project. The TransBonus project achieved the following results:
- Methodology for mapping of potential FP7 participants, transport researchers and the existing funding opportunities for international cooperation in the Balkan region;
- 'Roadmap to excellence in transport' - report;
- FP7 handbook 'The Guide for Transport Researchers';
- 232 expert study visits for exchang
Innovation aspects
The innovative feature of the project was the internal call for pre-proposals, which was first launched in August 2009 with the aim to gather new research ideas, to evaluate them and assist proposers in submitting projects to the Transport theme of FP7 (Cooperation). 30 New research ideas were submitted in the first call in 2009 (against the target of 50 research ideas as per the Work Program).
Strategy targets
Innovating for the future: technology and behaviour: A European Transport Research and Innovation Policy