Shaping Egypt’s association to the European Research Area and Cooperation Action Plus

Considering Egypt’s research and political landscape, and with the aspiration to address the current challenges of STI cooperation, ShERACA+, is designed to support the institutional dialogue and foster the collaborative activities between Egypt and the EU in the fields of research and innovation. ShERACA is a word that means partnership in Arabic and is the acronym for "Shaping Egypt’s association to the European Research Area and Cooperation Action". ShERACA+ builds on the activities and the lessons learned from the first BILAT project (ShERACA) while taking the EU-Egypt partnership a step further towards a sustained partnership in Horizon 2020. ShERACA+ denotes the continuation of the existing efforts while complementing it with broader ranges of activities anticipating future needs. The overall objective of ShERACA+ is to support the policy dialogue and contribute to the definition and implementation of joint strategic agendas for research, development and innovation between the European Union and Egypt. The specific objectives of the ShERACA+ derive primarily from the analysis and recommendations of the recent review study of the EU-Egypt S&T cooperation, the lessons learned from the first BILAT project (ShERACA), and the priorities identified in this call for proposals. Through its various activities, ShERACA+ will positively impact EU-Egypt STI cooperation capitalizing on the existing partnerships and programmes and paving the way towards new joint collaborative activities based on specific mutually identified societal challenges.