BONUS+ attracts interest from over 900 researchers
19.03.08
Baltic Sea research is currently proving to be something of a magnet for many leading European scientists and researchers. A fresh example is provided by the European BONUS research programme: the first call for BONUS+ project proposals attracted no less than 149 letters of intent.
BONUS for the Baltic Sea Science – Network of Funding Agencies is an Academy-coordinated ERA-NET that was launched in 2004. The call for BONUS+ project proposals has a budget of around 23.3 million euros, which will be apportioned to joint Baltic Sea research projects scheduled to run for no more than three years.
National research funding accounts for 15.5 million euros of the total budget, the remaining 7.8 million euros will come from the EU.
“By the end of December last year we received 149 letters of intent from 19 different countries. The standard was excellent throughout. Following a rigorous scientific review, 55 research teams were invited to submit full proposals. In the end perhaps one-third of them will be funded,” says Programme Manager for the BONUS ERA-NET project, Kaisa Kononen.
The total value of applications filed in the call for Baltic Sea research amounted to around 190 million euros, compared to the 23 million euros available. The competition is tough indeed.
Greatest interest in Sweden
Organised under Finnish coordination, the BONUS+ programme aims to promote a strong multidisciplinary orientation to Baltic Sea research and to produce useful results to inform political decision-making. “We’re delighted to see many applications that met these very criteria, in addition to more traditional lines of research,” Kononen continues.
The next step in the applications process comes in June when the number of applications will be further reduced to perhaps one-third, i.e. to 18–20.
It seems that the interest in Baltic Sea research is greatest in Sweden. In the first round of applications, the number of Swedish researchers involved was no less than 208; Finland came in a close second with 180 researchers. A total of Finnish 84 researchers were involved in the teams shortlisted for the second round.
“The high interest shown by Finnish researchers in BONUS+ is partly explained by the Baltic Sea Research Programme in 2003–2006, which produced a large number of doctoral theses on subjects related to the Baltic Sea.”
Even though much has happened in the field of Baltic Sea research during the past few years, much more scientific knowledge is still needed to back up environmental protection orders, says Kononen, herself a former Baltic Sea researcher.
Cooperation is crucial
Every BONUS+ project is expected to have researchers from at least two different countries. “Once the projects get underway, we’ll be encouraging researchers to collaborate with different projects as far as possible.”
Ultimately the aim of the BONUS programme and organisation is within the next couple of years to establish itself as an EU Article 169 programme that is eligible to receive funding directly from Brussels and to allocate these funds independently. “The Commission reviewed 80 potential projects and shortlisted just four. We are one of those select four.”
Text: Tiina Ruulio
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