International Service Facility of the European Commission

Advancing cooperation in science and research

Europe benefits from research cooperation with non-EU countries. That is why it is the task of DLR Projektträger to inform, train and network researchers and multipliers worldwide and to promote the EU as an attractive research location on behalf of the International Service Facility.

Urgent problems such as climate change, sustainable energy, the fight against cancer and access to clean water can only be solved together - with global partners and their access to international research infrastructures and cooperation. That is why the European Commission's Research Framework Programmes (FPs) are open for cooperation with non-EU countries. Europe also benefits from international contacts and cooperation – scientifically through concrete research results and politically through more stable conditions in the partner countries.

Advancing International Cooperation in Science and Research

The potential of international cooperation is still being used far too seldom. This is why the European Commission has launched a third-country campaign and commissioned DLR-PT to coordinate the framework contract "International Service Facility in Support of the Strategic Development of International Cooperation in Research and Innovation". On the basis of 31 individual commissions to date, we have been working with partners inside and outside Europe since 2016. All individual commissions have common goals: to advance international cooperation in science and research, to promote the current Framework Programme and to strengthen the European Research Area. To this end, we implement various formats aimed at researchers as well as multipliers in the field.

Our offer includes:

Seminars on applying for funding within the FP context
Information services on the web and in social media
An E-learning platform on Horizon 2020
Strategic advice to governments and public authorities on the topics of research and innovation
Round tables and networking events for researchers, institutions and public authorities
Country-specific analyses on research and innovation topics
High-level ministerial conferences

Over 10,000 potential applicants trained already

We have already held more than 120 Horizon 2020 Info Days in 48 countries. More than 10,000 participants have learnt in workshops what to consider when applying for European projects. In addition, we train National Contact Points in third countries – contact points for researchers who want to apply for funding from the FPs.

We accompany the events with an international communication campaign. For example, we accompanied the EU's research cooperation with South Africa with a video covering 20 years of collaboration.

We support the EU in measures to integrate the Western Balkans into the European Research Area. In addition to organising ministerial conferences and public relations work, this also includes the preparation of studies. Together with more than 700 regional actors, we have drafted three possible scenarios for 2035 in a foresight process to provide local decision-makers with a basis for planning.