SHERACA

Shaping Egypt’s association to the ERA and Cooperation Action

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 Obiettivo del progetto (Objective)

'The overall objective of “ShERACA” (an Arabic word meaning “Partnership”) is to enhance the participation and involvement of Egyptian R&D stakeholders and key players in the various ERA activities. Such an objective will be carried out in synergy with the regional and bilateral actions currently running; namely the Mediterranean Innovation and Research Coordination Action (MIRA-FP7 project) and the Research Development and Innovation (RDI) Programme. The work packages, highly interrelated, have been developed in order to achieve the targeted goals in the context of the specified objectives in response to the call. The project will promote, enhance and support the partnership between the stakeholders of the EU and Egypt in the field of science and technology and innovation, strengthen research cooperation capacity, increase the visibility of the Egyptian research potential in Europe, support and reinforce the NCP structure in Egypt, assist in enhancing the scientific dialogue between EU and Egypt. ShERACA will build the capacity of national thematic advisors for EU funded programmes, will enhance the mobility of researchers by developing a mobility portal, will increase the visibility of Egypt research capacity to EU counterparts as well as identify common research priorities between EU-Egypt in the different thematic areas. ShERACA will positively impact EU-Egypt Science and Technology Cooperation by providing sustainable access to information and identifying priorities and best partners. The Work Packages design ensures realizing the project objectives. Sustainable impact will be accomplished through the described project activities and their expected outcomes, aligned with the policy dialogue of the EU-Egypt Joint Science and Technology Cooperation Committee (JSTCC) and capitalizing on the synergetic activities of programmes with similar/complimentary objectives.'

Introduzione (Teaser)

An EU project helped Egypt and the EU extend their collaboration. Training programmes built capacity and improved quality, while new partnerships developed synergies with other projects and advanced Egyptian participation in the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7).

Descrizione progetto (Article)

Egypt hopes to improve its research capacity, partly through collaboration with Europe. European officials also see the collaboration as beneficial; hence, several agreements facilitating research exchange have been enacted since 2005.

An additional initiative facilitating such exchange was the EU-funded project 'Shaping Egypt's association to the ERA and cooperation action' (http://www.sheraca.eg.net (SHERACA)). The four-member partnership began in December 2009 and ran until May 2013. Its goal was to enhance the participation of Egyptian researchers in various European Research Area (ERA) activities, working in conjunction with other EU projects having the same aim.

Work performed during the project's first 18 months went close to plan. The main focus was enhancing the capacity of Egypt's FP advisors through a training programme, covering administrative and technical issues. The outcome was a clear improvement in the quality of assistance provided to the Egyptian research community, resulting in improved Egyptian participation in various FP7-2011 calls. SHERACA's activities led to developing synergies with other regional projects, including better sharing of resources and improved visibility of Egyptian research in Europe.

Egyptian political events beginning in January 2011 impacted several of the project's planned activities. This resulted in a delay, and the European Commission granted a project extension of six months, which did not affect the budget.

The project developed a user-friendly web portal and suitable content. The portal proved important in creating linkages, and enhancing communication. Team members also fostered partnerships. These were achieved by increasing the visibility of Egyptian research capacity in Europe, and by assessing Egypt's participation in FP7 to evaluate the current cooperation agreements. SHERACA built the capacity of national advisors for EU-funded programmes via training and benchmarking analysis. The list included thematic experts, National Contact Points, research administrators and industry liaison officers.

Additionally, the project hosted training activities, synergy-building activities, and various other events and workshops. Selection of external trainers was based on a learning-needs analysis.

SHERACA resulted in improved research cooperation between Egypt and Europe. Specifically, the project provided access to information, enhanced current exchange agreements and identified best partnerships.