53
Chart
21
Partnerships in projects coordinated by Greek organisations, by type of organisation
4.3 Collaborations with companies
The
7
th
Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (2007-2013) foresaw that a minimum
of 15% of its budget should go to SMEs. In FP7-HEALTH first call 10% of the budget was dedicated
to SMEs whereas from 2011, more than 20% of the EC contribution reached SMEs and 29% in
2013.
The FP7-HEALTH programme pioneered support towards SMEs by putting in place 3 major
initiatives to strengthen SME participation:
SME targeted topics focused on SMEs’ needs and required that a minimum percentage of the
budget was allocated to SMEs (15%, 20%, 30%).
SBIR-like topics: Inspired by the Small Business Innovation Research Programme (SBIR) in
the US, related topics were dedicated to SMEs. Projects were limited to 3-5 European
partners, had a 3 year duration and a maximum EU contribution of €6 million, with at least
50% of it allocated to SMEs.
Simplified submission process: The two-stage call involved a very short proposal in the first
stage (6 pages maximum, 3 pages maximum for SBIR-like topics) which has significantly
reduced the burden for applicants, especially for SMEs that may not have the resources
comparable to those of big research organisations, while ensuring that the higher success rate
at the 2nd stage (40%) makes the effort worthwhile for the applicants.
The companies that participated in the projects funded by FP7-HEALTH during 2007-2013 account
for 19.4% of the total number of partners while their funding accounts for 20.7% of the EC total
contribution to these projects. The participation of Greek private entities in funded projects reached
8.63% of the number of Greek participants, accounting for 7.5% of the funding. 15 participations
(12 from SMEs & 3 from industry) have received over 3,8 Mio euros.
The FP7-HEALTH & IMI programmes have dedicated 18,2% & 16,4% of EC contribution to SMEs
respectively (~1000 Mio. Euros to 1.230 unique SMEs). In addition, 289 unique industries received
181 Mio. Euros which represent a share of 3,4% & 2,7% respectively of FP7-HEALTH & IMI EC
contribution.
The average EC financial contribution per participation is 400.000 Euros considering all countries:
~500.000 Euros for SMEs & ~360.000 Euros for industry. However the average EC financial
contribution for Greece is 330.000 Euros per participant: around 300.000 Euros for Greek SMEs
and ~400.00 Euros for Greek industry.
28,9%
27,0%
18,4%
5,4%
47,4%
54,1%
3,9%
5,4%
1,3%
8,1%
Coordinator: Research
organisation (REC)
( 7 Projects)
Coordinator : Higher and
secondary education
organisations (HES) (4
Projects)
Research organisation (REC)
Private-for-profit organisations (PRC)
Higher and secondary education organisations (HES)
Public bodies excluding education (PUB)
Other (OTH)
