ERA-Net

NEURON - Network of EUROpean funding for Neuroscience research
Duration (NEURON II): 2012-2015; first phase: 2007-2011

Objective
NEURON, an ERA-NET launched in January 2007, pursues several objectives that have been and will be realised in coordinated stages. The main goal is to overcome the fragmentation of European funding activities in the field of neuro-sciences. Optimised networking among national funding agencies forms a sound basis upon which the efficient promotion of transnational research activities can ultimately develop. This process began with the creation of joint communication structures and finally lead to the planning and implementation of joint calls for transnational research projects on a yearly basis. These calls shall enable Austrian neuro-science research groups to carry out ambitious projects as part of a highly competitive transnational network.

Participating countries/organisations
In 2007, NEURON started with 11 funding partners from 10 countries. In the follow-up project, NEURON II, 22 funding organisations from 16 different countries are participating. Two of them are non-European countries, namely Israel and Canada. Austria (FWF); Belgium (Research Foundation-Flanders, FWO); Germany (Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. Projektträger des BMBF im DLR, PT-DLR); Finland (Academy of Finland, AKA), France (French National Research Agency, ANR, French National Center for Scientific Research, CNRS, and French National Institute for Health and Medical Research, INSERM); United Kingdom (UK Medical Research Council, MRC); Israel (Chief Scientist Office-Ministry of Health, CSO-MOH); Iceland (The Icelandic Centre for Research, RANNIS); Italy (Ministry of Health, MOH); Canada (Canadian Institutes of Health Research, CIHR, and Fonds de recherche du Québec-Santé, FRQS); Luxembourg (National Research Fund, FNR); Poland (National Centre for Research and Development, NCBiR); Portugal (Foundation for Science and Technology, FCT); Rumania (National Authority for Scientific Research, on behalf of the Ministry of Education, Research, Youth and Sports, ANCS, and Executive Agency for Higher Education, Research, Development & Innovation Funding, UEFISCDI); Spain (Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness, MINECO, and Instituto de Salud Carlos III, ISCIII); Sweden (Swedish Research Council, SRC).

Role of the FWF
Among other functions, FWF is co-task leader within Work Package 3 (WP3), which mainly deals with the implementation of the joint transnational calls. Important aspects include the thorough analysis and the constant optimisation of the applied procedures.

Contact at the FWF
Herbert Mayer

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