Five brokerage events and seminars are planned. They will be organized in partners' institutions in:
Bulgaria - September 2-3, 2004, Sofia
France - January 20-21, 2005, Toulouse
Latvia - April 20-21, 2005, Riga
Malta - October 6-7, Malta
Sofia - November 23, 2005
Turkey - March 16-17, 2006
Once the event is over, all relevant information will be published on the web.
For the preliminary time-table of these events, please consult Gannt chart of Work package 4. Exact sequence and dates of the events in different countries will be discussed and decided at the first meeting in Bulgaria, September 2-3, 2004.
The scope to organize and implement brokerage events and seminars is to allow key representatives in research from European countries to meet with project partners and identify potential areas of collaboration and complementarily. These events will be specifically targeted to the establishment and strengthening of networking and collaboration between stakeholders and therefore directly support the fundamental aims of the START programme by contributing in practical terms to the stimulation of research and cooperation between stakeholder organizations. The brokerage events will contribute to the integration of the European Research Area and are intended to lead to the increased participation of START partners in the current and future Framework Programmes.
These goals will be achieved through the organization of four events, all of which will be held in different START partner countries. The events will be open to all stake-holders within the scope of Thematic area 1.4. The START project will accordingly fund the participation of representatives from each partner country and from 2 other selected European Member States for each event. In this way, an optimal use of resources to ensure success in the starting up and strengthening of collaboration between stakeholders in European Union MSs and ACCs.
The first two seminars will each include a course to train attendees in FP6 participation. The first course will detail the writing of successful proposals, whilst the second will address negotiation and the management/running of EU funded projects. It is intended that through the NCPs and key researchers attending these seminars and brokerage events will also act as information multipliers, thus maximizing the potential effect and returns of these activities.
