Despite representing just 1% of the Spanish university system's teaching staff, UPF obtained 10% of all the funding with which the European Commission (EC) provided Spain's universities through its 7th Framework Programme (FP7). That statistic reflects "our research staff's high productivity levels compared to the average", according to Francesc Posas, vice-rector for Science Policy.

As the EC's main instrument for financing European research and development in the 2007-2013 period, FP7 "has been vitally important to UPF, because it has marked the beginning of our transition to a genuine research university, with results that have catapulted us into Europe's top division", states Àngel Lozano, vice-rector for Research.

In comparison to FP6, the EC's previous framework programme, UPF enjoyed a greater increase in funds for research activities than any other European university. The overall sum it obtained multiplied sixfold to stand at over €75 million, while the success rate of its applications for funding rose from 15% to 21%, with a total of 145 projects receiving financing.

• FP7's structure
• Focus on Europe
• Efficient management
• Horizon 2020: what lies ahead?
• Attracting talent: a priority
• Four of UPF's FP7's projects
  • LEAP
  • PRIMATESVs
  • Comp Music
  • IMPART

FP7's structure

"FP7 had a budget of more than €50 billion and was divided into 4 specific programmes, Cooperation, People, Ideas-ERC and Capacities", explains Eva Martín, the head of UPF's Research Service. The Cooperation programme, the core of FP7, fostered collaborative research across Europe and with other partner countries in a number of thematic areas, including information and communication technologies (ICTs), and socioeconomic sciences and the humanities. UPF is participating in 65 Cooperation projects and is coordinating 18 of them (15 in the ICTs area and 3 in that of health).

The aim of the People programme was to provide researchers within and beyond the European Union with support for mobility and career development. It was implemented via a set of Marie Curie actions designed to help researchers reinforce their skills and competences throughout their careers.

The Ideas-ERC (European Research Council) programme "fit UPF like a glove in terms of the type of researchers we have and aim to attract, people who are renowned in their fields, highly international, and very capable of working independently and managing ambitious projects", says Lozano. The number of grants obtained in this category has actually become a benchmark for gauging the quality of the institution's research and its impact worldwide.

In that regard, UPF is Spain's highest-ranking university and competes with the leading institutions at the European level. It obtained a total of 19 grants for 'frontier research', FP7's main new aspect.

Lastly, the Capacities programme sought to help strengthen and make the most of the research capabilities Europe requires to become a thriving knowledge-based economy. It encompassed areas such as research infrastructures, research for the benefit of SMEs, and science in society. UPF secured 15 grants in this category.

Focus on Europe

Posas is convinced that internationalization is the key to maintaining quality standards in research. It "not only greatly facilitates success when applying for funding in cases requiring consortia and networks; first and foremost, it facilitates success in general, as it means we're open to the world rather than restricting ourselves to our own talent pool", he declares.

Comparative data on the funds UPF has received also suggests that internationalization is the way forward. The Spanish administration, through the National Scientific and Technical Research Plan of the Ministry of the Economy and Competitiveness (MINECO), was the University's main source of income for research in 2009. In 2013, however, it was UPF's least significant source of such income.

In contrast, funding from the European administration has more than doubled over the last five years to become the University's leading source of research money. With the data in question in mind, "we're focusing on Europe, particularly where large, ambitious projects are concerned", comments Lozano. "Funding from the Spanish and Catalan authorities has either been frozen or substantially reduced", he explains.

Efficient management

None of all this would be possible without the good management that UPF's Research Service is tasked with providing. "We offer researchers advice on and help with identifying the most appropriate sources of funding for their type of project, as well as support for writing up applications", states Martín. "During the FP7 funding period, we introduced research promoters on each campus, specialists who are familiar with each area's researchers", adds
Lozano. "They monitor calls for applications, encourage our research groups to respond to such calls, and help them to do so."

The Research Service also carries out activities for making researchers aware of the importance of actively seeking funding. "We work with different stakeholders, including the EC, the Agency for the Management of University and Research Grants, the Catalan business support agency ACC1Ó and the Spanish Foundation for Science and Technology to organize information days for letting researchers know about funding opportunities and reflecting on various initiatives", says Martín. Such events have notably included ERCday in 2012 and a day on the Horizon 2020 research programme's social sciences and humanities area in January this year.

Additionally, the Research Service monitors each project's progress. " We make sure deadlines are met and the necessary administrative procedures undertaken to ensure that negotiations are successful and projects can begin", explains Martín. "We also provide management support for researchers for the entire duration of their project, keep track of finances and prepare documentation to justify expenditure."

Horizon 2020: what lies ahead?

Although some of the projects funded via FP7 will run until 2019, the programme is now over. UPF has therefore turned its attention to Horizon 2020, the EC's new instrument for financing research and innovation, which, as Martín observes, "entails an evolution of FP7 and is divided into three separate sections, Excellent Science, Industrial Leadership and Societal Challenges".

The University is approaching Horizon 2020 "with a burning desire to keep on improving our success rate", affirms Lozano. "We want this to be the framework programme that consolidates UPF's position in the Champions League of research", he remarks. At the same time, the institution is aware of the challenges it faces. According to Posas, they consist of " retaining our finest researchers against a backdrop of extreme competition from universities
and centres with greater resources, in the USA and Asia as well as in Europe; and continuing to attract talent in a complex, changing environment".

At the moment, the highly competitive process triggered by the most recent call for applications for funding through the MINECO's Networks and Operators programme has resulted in UPF obtaining over €160,000 "to develop a participation promotion strategy and support project proposals geared to Horizon 2020", reports Martín.

SUMMARY OF THE UPF'S RESULTS IN THE FRAMEWORK PROGRAMMES

Attracting talent: a priority

UPFellows is a project that the University has established to help attract talent and foster mobility in circumstances marked by fierce competition and cuts in resources. It boasts a budget of over €5 million, having received more than €2 million from FP7's People programme plus further funding from a pair of complementary sources, the 'La Caixa' Foundation and the MINECO's National R&D&I Plan. It offers career opportunities for postdoctoral researchers of any nationality who have internationally proven levels of excellence and the potential to become world leaders in their respective fields.

That applies, for example, to Mikhalis Markakis, who holds a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and has recently joined UPF's Department of Economics and Business. "The programme is really appealing as it offers very good conditions for carrying out quality research", he says.

Launched in May 2013, UPFellows offers 24 grants through 3-year contracts (renewable subject to satisfactory performance in assessments), funding for each researcher's work, and complementary support services.

FOUR OF UPF'S FP7 PROJECTS