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WP 3 IMPLEMENTATION OF JOINT STRATEGIC ACTIVITIES

January 2005 - January 2008

Workpackage leader: Partner 2 and 12 , Germany

Partner 2: German Research Council (DFG) and

Partner 12: Forschungszentrum Juelich GmbH (FZJ)

This workpackage comprises many activities that pave the way towards a truly European research area. It includes transnational strategic research discussions, preparation of contractual agreement documents, defenition of procedures for joint calls, joint research facilities and a database with running projects.

Objectives
  • Discuss about targets and focusses of the national plant genomics programs that join in running and new multi-lateral co-operations
  • Support the annual European Plant Genomics Meetings (PlantGEMs)
  • Provide a database with plant genomics projects running in Europe on the ERA-PG website
  • Open up national laboratories and facilities and develop mechanisms to share investments in equipment and personel of joint facilities
  • Prepare basic documents for contractual agreements
  • Prepare synchronised joint calls for proposals and common review approaches
  • Develop a common evaluation process of submitted proposals
  • Preparation of joint training activities and exchange of scientists
Tasks

Implementation of joint projects and programmes
An important aspect of joint plant genonomics research is the strategic orientation of national and transnational programmes in the future. Therefore, strategic discussions will be initiated between programmes that already collaborate, between partners of new joint calls, and between the European plant genomics research community as a whole. ERA-PG will sponsor PlantGEMs and organise workshops specifically aimed at ERA-PG within this annual meeting. Abstacts will be published on the ERA-PG website. Furthermore, the overview of all plant genomics projects running in Europe provided by Workpackages 1 and 2 will be made accessible by the ERA-PG webserver. This may start a a postiori clustering of related projects. ERA-PG will encourage scientific meetings.

Development of financial and legal frameworks
A stable and financially secured basis must be made for cooperation. Therefore the ERA-PG partners will work on allocation of a certain percentage or amount of money for transnational activities. First decisive and structuring steps for the creation of cross national funding structures will be taken aimed at creation of a European network on the basis of national and regional plant genome programs. Stable co-operation needs contractual agreements. ERA-PG will prepare a set of documents; an 'Umbrella Document' of a general agreement to co-operate, a 'Backbone Document' as a basis for co-operation contracts and checklists for project and contractpartners, inventories of technologies and resources, definition of rights for access, exploitation (patenting) and publication, joint programme management, and information flow. This collection may help to develop a European standard contract draft text.

Joint programme management
After financial resources have been defined for co-operation projects and a legal basis has been elaborated, joint calls for proposals are an important instrument to create a truly European research area. A first round is planned for early 2006 with multilateral calls (with at least three partners) where several calls may run in parallel. At the end of this project's running period a call for the whole network is envisaged. Plant GEMs may be used as platform for the creation of research networks by scientists and programme makers. The submitted proposals of the joint calls will go through an evaluation process which may contain of 2 steps. The first step is a selection based on scientific evaluation criteria, a second step may take the outcome of the scientific evaluoation as well as national interests and financial possibilities into account. Joint projects ask for project management well-enchored in co-operation contracts and joint Advisory Groups are envisaged for these projects. In running projects the project group may be extended by new partners to guarantee efficient use of resource available and optimise synergy.

Design of joint training activities, exchange of programme managers and facility sharing
Genomics is a research area that is extremely technology-oriented. Training and mobility of programme managers are fundamental as well as the design how to organise facility sharing.

Network co-ordination activities to support the consortium management
The network co-ordination activities by the consortium and the taskleaders are supported by the Joint Secretariat.

Events and Reports

Strategy meetings resulting in an ERA-PG strategy embraced by all partners are scheduled in the second and third year (2005-20063) of the project. A set of documents to facilitate multilateral co-operation will be delivered at the end of 2006. The announcement of the first round of joint calls is envisaged for 2006, and the second for 2007.