To tackle environmentally related health issues. RTD priorities include diseases and allergies related to or influenced by the environment; risk assessment and risk management processes to reduce causes and harmful environmental health effects.

5. Sustainable Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry, and Integrated Development of Rural Areas including Mountain Areas

To implement innovative approaches to production and exploitation and to improve the quality of life, RTD should concentrate on: Competitiveness and its direct implications for employment in rural and coastal areas, especially in light of the need to adapt to the evolution of the Common Agricultural and Fisheries Policies, to the evolving world trade situation and globalisation of the markets, to E.U. enlargement and to the limited availability of natural resources; Reduction of the vulnerability of the relevant sectors through the diversification of production, taking full advantage of Europe’s proven technological skills to develop new products and services from natural resources; Response to societal demands for sound environmental practices, sustainable use of renewable resources and for products complying with consumer health and environmental requirements.

6. The Ageing Population and Disabilities

To mobilise research (a) in order to enhance the quality of life, autonomy and social integration of older people with an emphasis on healthy ageing and well-being in old age and (b) in order to improve quality, efficiency and user-friendliness of care and welfare provision and to enable older people to stay in their own homes. RTD priorities include age-related illnesses and health problems to prevent, treat or delay onset; determinants of healthy ageing and well-being in old age; demographic and social policy aspects of population ageing; coping with functional limitations in old age; health and social care services to older persons.

II.3.2. Research and Technological Development Activities of a Generic Nature

These activities aim to reinforce the knowledge base in chosen areas of strategic but generic importance for the Life Sciences related to humans, animals (both terrestrial and aquatic) and plants. This is in contrast to the mission oriented problem solving approach in the Key Actions, which place the emphasis on the linkage between discovery and exploitation.

Projects will be encouraged that promote interaction between basic and applied research and that involve both the research and health sectors in order to ensure maximum transfer of knowledge between research and its users, including industry. The networking of projects will also be promoted in order to create a critical mass for optimum exploitation of results.

The generic research activities are:

7. Chronic and Degenerative Diseases, Cancer, Diabetes, Cardiovascular Diseases and rare Diseases

8. Research into Genomes and Diseases of Genetic Origin

9. Neurosciences

10. Public-health and Health-services Research (including drug-related problems)

11. Research relating to Persons with Disabilities

12. Bioethics

13. Socio-economic Aspects of Life Sciences and Technologies

II.3.3. Support for Research Infrastructures

Within the QoL Programme, the term "research infrastructures" refers to facilities and resources that provide essential services to the research community in the life sciences⁸. The objectives of the Programme in supporting research infrastructures (in this action line as well as elsewhere in the Programme where research infrastructures are supported) are: (i) to encourage the optimum use of Europe's research infrastructures, notably by fostering transnational cooperation in their rational and cost-effective use and development and, in conjunction with the QoL system of Marie Curie Fellowships, by broadening access to these infrastructures particularly for young researchers; (ii) to improve the European-wide consistency and complementarity of these infrastructures and their competitiveness at world level; and (iii) to help improve the quality and user-orientation of services offered to the European research community. The role of the Programme’s activities in support for research infrastructures is to add value at the European level in the context that the construction and operation of research infrastructures is the responsibility of national authorities.

This particular action of the QoL Programme will provide support for research infrastructures in the following fields: biological collections, biological information resources, clinical research facilities, pre-clinical research facilities, facilities for aquaculture and fishery research .

It should be noted that the QoL Programme will not provide support for tasks that involve the construction and routine operation of research infrastructures, nor for the collection of data (unless the collection is an integral component of the research in an infrastructure RTD project). The cost of activities aimed at stimulating the introduction and use of trans-European broadband communication networks for research will however be considered eligible.

II.4. Synergies with other programmes

Interactions with horizontal activities and across programmes are described in Annex 3 of the Work programme.

II.5. Implementation of the programme

II.5.1 Types of Calls for Proposals

The following types of Calls for proposals are envisaged:

Periodic calls: These will be open for the submission of proposals for RTD projects and related activities, within a defined scope and with fixed deadlines, to be specified in the Official Journal of the European Communities and outlined in the indicative timetable for programme implementation.

Open calls: Calls for SME specific measures (exploratory awards and co-operative research), support for Research Infrastructure (thematic networks, concerted actions and RTD projects), training, international initiatives and accompanying measures, will be launched at the start of the programme and remain open until the last year of the Fifth Framework Programme. Periodic evaluations will be carried out at least twice a year.

Dedicated calls: These will be published in the Official Journal normally once or twice per year and be limited to a number of very specific topics and/or activities. The Commission may also publish a request for interested parties (Expression of Interest /Needs) to suggest ideas for activities that could be included.

II.5.2 Implementation Modalities (“Types of actions")

The “Quality of Life and Management of Living Resources” programme is implemented through the following types of actions:

1. Shared-cost actions, excluding “Support for access to research infrastructures”⁹

2. Concerted actions

3. Thematic networks

4. Marie Curie Training Fellowships

5. Accompanying measures

6. INCO bursaries

In addition to these types of action, the Quality of Life programme encourages the submission of “Cluster” proposals, which are essentially a cluster of sub-projects (“component” projects).

Details of the different types of actions (“implementation modalities”) and cluster proposals are given in Section IV.2 of Part 2 of this Guide.

The types of actions that will be funded and the research areas covered will vary from call to call. Please refer to details of the specific calls published in the Official Journal and Part 2 of the “Guide for Proposers”, which will give you further, call specific, information, including a detailed description of the types of actions supported.

II.6. References

Decision on the Fifth Framework Programme		http://www.cordis.lu/fp5/src/decisions.htm
Decision on the “Quality of Life and Management of Resources” Programme		http://www.cordis.lu/fp5/src/decisions.htm
Quality of Life homepage		http://www.cordis.lu/life
Call text for “Quality of Life and Management of Resources” Programme		http://www.cordis.lu/life/src/library.htm
Work Programme “Quality of Life and Management of Resources” Programme		http://www.cordis.lu/life/src/library.htm
Quality of Life Documents		http://www.cordis.lu/life/src/library.htm
Quality of Life contacts		http://www.cordis.lu/life/src/contacts.htm
Marie-Curie fellowships homepage		http://www.cordis.lu/improving
SME-specific measures homepage		http://www.cordis.lu/sme
INCO-web site (Bursaries, international co-operation)		http://www.cordis.lu/inco
Other programme web sites accessible via		http://www.cordis.lu/fp5/

III. Participation in activities in the Fifth Framework Programme

This section describes the conditions of participation in activities within the Fifth Framework Programme, the process whereby the Commission selects among the proposals submitted to it, and the manner in which selected projects should be carried out.

It is based on the Annex IV of the decision on the Fifth Framework Programme¹⁰, the decision on the rules of participation¹¹, and other subsequent texts or documents¹².

III.1. The participants

III.1.1. Who ?

The Framework Programme, with its corresponding financial support, is open to all legal entities established in the Member States of the European Union – e.g. individuals, industrial and commercial firms, universities, research organisations, etc. including SMEs. The Programme is also open to all legal entities established in any of the other States associated to the Programme (see box 4).

Participation and financing for legal entities established in other countries (‘third countries') is governed by common conditions which are applied throughout the Fifth Framework Programme (see boxes 3 and 4), with the exception of the Programme ‘Confirming the international role of Community research’ under which some entities are entitled to receive Community funding depending on their country of origin¹³.

III.1.2. How many?

Proposals submitted to the Commission should demonstrate a Community dimension. As a general rule, this means that they should involve at least two legal entities, independent of each other, and established in two different Member States, or one Member State and one Associated State. (The Joint Research Centre of the European Commission is considered as a participant of a Member State).

However, certain actions may vary from this general rule - either by requiring more participants or by permitting a single one (see box 6).

III.1.3. Role of the participants

Participants in a proposal fall into a number of different legal categories, according to the type of activity proposed and the nature of a participant’s role in it (see box 6 and III.5.3.).

III.2. Proposal submission

III.2.1. call for proposals

Calls for Proposals published in the Official Journal will open certain parts of a Specific Programme’s Work Programmes for proposals, indicating what types of actions (RTD projects, Accompanying measures etc.) are expected. In addition to those with a fixed closing date, the Commission will open certain Calls on a longer ‘open’ basis, with periodic evaluation of received proposals. A provisional timetable for the Calls of a Specific Programme is included in each Work Programme.

A Call may address the full programme, a key action, one or several research themes, areas, sectors, action lines, objectives, topics. In order to ensure co-ordination among the Specific Programmes, common Calls may be published. The objectives to be achieved may also be fully detailed, for example in the case of key actions or dedicated calls¹⁴.