Coordination on upcoming EU calls
NeIC has for the first time gathered the members of Expert Network for Nordic and EU Collaboration (NENEC) to discuss upcoming EU calls and potential mutual interests regarding them. The meeting was held on 24 November in Espoo, Finland, with participation from the Nordic countries, Estonia, the Netherlands, and even Bosnia and Hertzegovina.
This meeting was a workshop planned around selected upcoming Horizon Europe calls, hosting in total of 20 participants. The members had the chance to explore shared interests and collaboration opportunities. Future strategy and interests of the EOSC Association were also presented. The discussion was mostly focused on the HORIZON-IFRA EOSC calls for 2024, but also included HORIZON-INFRA DEV, TECH, and HORIZON-EUROHPC-JU calls, with deadlines in 2024.
Several fruitful discussions took place. As the first NENEC workshop, this was a great opportunity for the network members to get to know each other and to gather knowledge on the scope of interest and competence of other organisations based on which, future collaboration opportunities can be shaped. Opportunities to join already established consortia and to compose new ones for the calls in scope were also discussed.
The overall feedback was that NENEC is a great forum for connecting experts and sharing knowledge and collaboration interests. It was pointed out that it would be beneficial for NENEC to start the process as early as possible in the future – when the call drafts are available, for example – to avoid missing out on important opportunities.
What is NENEC?
NeIC’s Expert Network for Nordic and EU Collaboration was established in late 2022. The network acts as an agile group of experts investigating and discussing interesting EU call opportunities, joint interests, and possible collaboration bearing in mind the NeIC strategy, Nordic Added Value, and interests of the national providers. The network strengthens NeIC’s ability to gather information on upcoming calls and prepare for them as early as possible, rather than joining in at the late stage as a lesser or disjoint partner or an observer. The diverse and complementary competencies of the network members allow building a vast view of the possibilities and interests. With this network, NeIC wishes to endorse openness and facilitate information sharing and collaboration across borders concerning new, interesting opportunities and project calls.
– The primary goal for NeIC is not to coordinate consortia ourselves but to make it possible for the members of this network to explore synergies and join forces. With the LUMI supercomputer, we witnessed that cross-border sharing of information before relevant calls can be very beneficial in preparing a successful proposal, says Abdulrahman Azab, the coordinator for NENEC.
In 2024, NeIC will continue to offer these experts a platform to come together and discuss interests regarding upcoming project calls. In between meetings, members of the network can engage in topical discussions online and suggest topics and calls to be included in future gatherings.