Intergovernmental organisation for research and development funding
Eureka
(often abbreviated as
E!
, or
Σ!
) is an
intergovernmental organisation
for
research and development
funding and coordination. Eureka is an open platform for international cooperation in innovation. Organisations and companies applying through Eureka programmes can access funding and support from national and regional ministries or agencies for their international R&D projects.
As of June 2022
[update]
, Eureka has 43 full members, including the
European Union
(represented by the
European Commission
) and four associated members (
Argentina
,
Chile
,
South Africa
, and
Singapore
).
[3]
[4]
[5]
All 27
EU Member States
are also members of Eureka.
Eureka is not an EU research programme, but rather an intergovernmental organisation of national ministries or agencies, of which the EU is a member. Cooperation and synergy are sought between Eureka and the research activities of the EU proper, such as with European Union's
Horizon 2020
and the
European Research Area
.
History
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Founded in 1985 by prominent European political figures, Eureka has grown to one of the longest running European organisations dedicated to the financing of joint European R&D projects.
Foundation
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Eureka was established with the "Paris Declaration" of 17 July 1985, and its principles are based on the later Hannover Declaration, subscribed by Ministers on 5 November 1985. The two main founders were former head of states
Francois Mitterrand
(France) and
Helmut Kohl
(Germany). Other important personalities involved were
Hubert Curien
, French ex-Minister of Research and former Chairman of the European Space Agency and
Jacques Attali
, adviser to Francois Mitterrand.
Briefly, it is about assuring the technological independence of Europe in the key domains of the future; encouraging, wherever possible, co-operation between European businesses and researchers; mobilising the necessary financial resources; accompanying the efforts of our enterprises by creating the necessary environment and supporting the unification of our internal markets.
There are numerous obstacles. Once the initial idea of Eureka was formulated, we were able to foresee the difficulties to be faced. But we know that each time we come together ? for example to address high-energy physics, research into nuclear fusion, the development of an integrated space programme or the construction of crucial scientific equipment ? our successes encourage us in the idea that we can work together in R&D areas close to industrial markets, despite the problems arising from the normal and legitimate competition between firms.
Francois Mitterrand, Paris, 17 July 1985.
[6]
Structure
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Chairs
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Before 1989, Eureka chairmanship changed hands every six months. Since then, the chairmanship rotates every 1 July, for a period of one year.
Membership
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Significant projects
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Eureka projects are numbered, preceded by 'E! '.
- E! 45 helped to fund the
Prometheus
project for safer road vehicles, such as through
autonomous driving
with 745 million euros.
[N 1]
- E! 95 was a 730 million euros
HDTV
project, which created the
HD-MAC
standard for high definition television.
[N 2]
- E! 147 was a 93 million euros digital audio broadcasting project whose technologies went into
Musicam
, and which was used as the basis for
MPEG-1 Layer II
(MP2) and used in
DAB
(Digital Audio Broadcast), and ASPEC (Adaptive Spectral Perceptual Entropy Coding), which was used in a modified form in
MP3
audio.
[N 3]
- E! 127 paid 3.8bn euros into the
JESSI
project (Joint European Submicron Silicon Initiative) whose goal was to regain ground lost to Asia and the US in microchips.
[N 4]
- E! 2551 cost 6.1 million euros for the integration of existing
CAD/CAM
programs under a common user interface, part of which was paid to
Vero Software
.
[N 5]
- E! 3674 is
Information Technology for European Advancement
(ITEA2), an industry-driven cooperative R & D programme for maintaining European leadership in software-intensive systems, with the project due to end in January 2014 having received 3.0bn euros. ITEA2 Projects notably include
WellCom
, OSAMI-E Open Source AMbient Intelligence) and
Easy Interactions
.
[N 6]
- E! 4986 AlienVault developed a security software called
OSSIM
(Open Source Security Information Management) that is now not only a reference in the field but also an essential component in modern cyber-wars. E! 4986 received 1.2 million euros.
- E! 3728 OMIM (MIMO) invented a new method of medical waste disposal. MIMO is safe for the environment and treats infectious waste by applying a combination of heat and pressure. This is an alternative to incineration methods that use fossil fuels. The project was an initiative between Spain, Portugal and Morocco. E! 3728 received 0.37 million euros.
Programmes
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The Eureka annual report describes the following programmes:
[8]
- Eurostars
Eurostars
is Eureka's flagship SME funding programme that supports R&D-performing SMEs (alongside other types of organisations) leading international project consortia. It is co-funded by 36 participating Eureka national funding bodies and the European Union Horizon 2020 framework programme.
- Clusters
Clusters
are long-term, strategically significant industrial initiatives. They usually have a large number of participants, and aim to develop inclusive technologies of importance for European competitiveness mainly in
ICT
, energy and more recently in the biotechnology and automation sectors. Eureka
Clusters
are known to have had a particular impact on the ability of the European microelectronics sector to compete with other continents.
Eureka
Clusters
are:
- CELTIC NEXT: Telecommunications
- EURIPIDES: Electronic packaging and
smart systems
- ITEA 3: Software-intensive systems
- PENTA: Micro and nanoelectronics enabled systems and applications
- EUROGIA2020: Low-carbon energy technologies
- METALLURGY EUROPE: New metals
- SMART: Advance manufacturing programme
- Network projects
Network projects
is a flexible funding programme for all organisations collaborating on international R&D projects. It is open for applications all year, but there are also country-specific calls for projects launched frequently. These are sometimes thematic and can be for bilateral or multilateral collaborations.
- Globalstars
Globalstars
follows the same programme model as Network projects. Calls for projects are launched between Eureka countries and one non-Eureka country. In recent years, national funding ministries/ agencies from e.g. Brazil, India, Japan and Singapore have collaborated with Eureka using this programme.
- InvestHorizon
InvestHorizon
is the only Eureka programme that doesn't offer funding, but rather trainings, workshops and international events. It is a European Union-funded joint investment readiness programme in collaboration with Eureka that supports deep tech SMEs seeking Series A investment.
- Umbrellas
Umbrellas
no longer exist as Eureka programmes. Umbrellas were thematic networks within the Eureka framework focusing on a specific technology area or business sector. The main goal of an
umbrella
was to facilitate the generation of Eureka projects in its own target area.
Past Eureka Umbrellas:
- Eureka Tourism (ended 30.06.2012)
- Eureka build 2 (2010?2013)
- EuroAgri Foodchain (2009?2013)
- Pro-Factory (2007?2011)
- E! SURF (2010?2015)
- Eniwep (ended 1.2.2010)
- Eulasnet II (ended 31.5.2010)
- Logchain + (ended 21.2.2011)
References
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Notes
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External links
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