Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn announced today nearly €6.4bn of European Commission investment in research and innovation. The package, the biggest ever, covers a vast range of scientific disciplines, public policy areas and commercial sectors. This funding is claimed to "advance scientific boundaries, increase European competitiveness and help solve societal challenges such as climate change, energy and food security, health and an ageing population." About 16,000 participants from research organisations, universities and industry, including about 3,000 SMEs, will receive funding.

While the EU programme will provide 165,000, the Irish innovation programme of at least €20nm in public funding, is targeting almost 120,000 jobs. Grants will be awarded through "calls for proposals" (invitations to bid) and evaluations over the next 14 months. Many calls will be formally published on 20th July. This package is an economic stimulus expected to create more than 165,000 jobs. It is also a long-term investment in a smarter, sustainable and more inclusive Europe. It is a key element within the EU's Europe 2020 Strategy and in particular the Innovation Union Flagship, which will be launched in autumn 2010.

Commissioner Geoghegan-Quinn said:"Investment in research and innovation is the only smart and lasting way out of crisis and towards sustainable and socially equitable growth. This European package will contribute to new and better products and services, a more competitive and greener Europe, and a better society with a higher quality of life. We are offering researchers and innovators €6.4bn for cutting-edge projects focusing on big economic and societal challenges: climate change, energy and food security, health and an ageing population. This is a huge and efficient economic stimulus and an investment in our future."

More funding than ever before

There will be an opportunity to bid for funding from the EU's Seventh Framework Programme across a wide range of policy areas. For example, health gets over €600m. There is a €1.2bn boost to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) research, which will help deliver the Commission's commitment in the Digital Agenda for Europe to maintain the pace of yearly increases in ICT funding.

More than €1.3bn are reserved for the best creative scientists selected by the European Research Council. Mobility grants for 7, 000 highly qualified researchers will be provided through "Marie Curie Actions", worth €772m

€800m SMEs

Top priority is given to Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SME), the backbone of the European innovation system, representing 99% of all European businesses. SMEs, will receive close to €800m and for the first time, there will be ring-fenced budgets in several areas. For example, in health, knowledge-based bio-economy, environment and nanotechnologies SME participation must reach 35 % of the total budget for a number of topics.

New products and services

Translating research into new technologies, products and services is at the heart of the package.

In health research alone, around €206m - - one-third of the overall budget for 2011 - -will be spent on investigator-driven clinical trials to get new medicines on the market quicker.

In nanotechnologies (€270m), the focus will be on research that could lead to patenting and commercialisation opportunities.

Around €600 million of ICT funding is earmarked for next generation network and service infrastructures, robotic systems, electronic and photonic components, and digital content technologies. More than €400m will support research into how ICTs can address challenges such as a lower-carbon economy, an ageing society, and adaptable and sustainable factories. €90 million is also earmarked in 2011 for the Future internet Public Private Partnership to make key European infrastructures "smart"

New pilot open access for environment research results

Environment research projects will get about €205m. The Commission is introducing this year steps to speed up sharing of environmental research results: beneficiaries of EU grants will commit to making freely available - - after a certain embargo period - publications arising from their research.