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The degree of opening for international participation varies a lot between the different
programmes of the different countries. While four programs from Tunisia, Jordan and
Palestine are reported not to be open for participation from “third countries”, i.e. partners
neither from the MPCs nor from the target countries, eight programmes show this
possibility. In Egypt, all funding programmes foresee the involvement of foreign researchers
if necessary. The foreign involvement should especially be used for consultancy purposes. In
Algeria, programmes are based on international schemes, so international consortia are per
se required for participation. In Lebanon different setups are used, and programs are open
for participation of researcher from Europe, the US and Canada. The international
component of the programs is in most cases aimed at exchanging experience between
experts in the field of research, and to build up network to face the main societal challenges
in the MPC.
Fig. 1 – Topics covered by MPCs national programmes
Some good practices of national programming in MPCs are given in the box below:
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Overall, there is a
high potential for a stronger integration of national research programmes of the
countries considered. In fact, we can conclude that there are “
potential benefits of a stronger
cooperation through multilateral activities. A multilateral funding scheme could address some of
the identified weaknesses of uni-or bilateral activities, e.g. fragmentation and the necessity to
build up a critical mass of funding. Cross-border cooperation on commercialization using the
different channels of technology transfer could be a driver for innovation activities. From the
technical side, the survey shows that programme owners in the MPC follow similar approaches to
Some relevant funding examples from MPCs
Science and Technology Development Fund in Egypt
The Egyptian Science and Technology Development Fund (STDF) constitutes an interesting example of
how a MPC supported three ambitious programmes in the period 2011-2013 regarding: i) water
desalination; ii) improvement of sustainable food production; iii) Renewable Energy Design,
Fabrication and Verification - for a total of 3M Euros. These programmes funded applied research,
capacity building and mobility projects aimed at achieving specific objectives related to the above
mentioned topics. The projects funded achieved significant results, such as the novo sequencing of
the Egyptian Buffalo Genome or the development of a prototype CSP (Concentrated Solar Power)
system. The programmes were opened to the participation of international researchers and
STDF
considers the further development and exchange of the results obtained with the international
community an important opportunity for the programmes considered, which constitutes a base to build
on for joint programming with other countries, both EU MS/AC and MPCs
CNRS-L Grant Research Programme (GRP) & PhD Scholarship Programme in Lebanon
The National Council for Scientific Research - Lebanon (CNRS-L) established and launched the Grant
Research Prorgamme (GRP) since 1962. It is designed to extend financial support to Lebanese
researchers working in various academic institutions concerned with scientific research in Lebanon.
With an annual budget of around 1.3 Million Euros, the Programme has funded a considerable number
of
research projects, having a strong impact with particular reference to the projects on Environment
and Public Health. This programme is a good example of coherence with national priorities, as the call
for proposals reflects the needs to face national challenges in Public Health, Social and Human
Sciences, Environment,
Food Security, Energy & National Resources Management.
In parallel, the CNRS-L through its Scholarship Programme, also supports Lebanese students who wish
to pursue their doctoral studies. PhD scholarships are granted nationally (through 6 national
agreements for co-funding PhD students within Lebanese Universities); or through co-direction with
French Universities (4 Agreements with French universities/institutions co-funding PhD).
National Research Strategy Morocco
In the period 2016-2018 Morocco has foreseen the launch of calls targeted to specific sectors,
particularly: cancer (with a budget of 2M Eur); agriculture (with a budget of 10M Eur); water (with a
budget of 2M Euro).
National Research Programme Tunisia
The Tunisian National Research Programmeis a programme aimed at the valorization of research
results in major societal challenges. In particular, in 2014, the programme used a budget of 4MEuros
to support a total of 95 projects in the following themes: Agriculture and fisheries (26
projects);
Industry and Energy (19 projects); Health (14 projects); Environment and Water
(12 projects); ICT (11
projects); Biotechnology (9 projects); Human and Social Sciences (1 project).