Due to a high demand for information on Horizon 2020 (the new framework programme of the European Commission for science, technology and innovation), PACE-Net Plus partners continue to organise InfoDays or Info sessions. The most recent event in Auckland reunited most of the project partners based in the Pacific as well as 15 research and funding organisations1 from New Zealand at the University of Auckland, on the 10th and 11th of June 2014.
Organised by Landcare Research New Zealand Ltd (LCR), this PACE-Net Plus networking and information event brought together research managers and researchers from New Zealand research institutes and universities with representatives from the Pacific2 and Europe3.
The event was opened by Sir Peter Gluckman, Chief Science Advisor to the Prime Minister of New Zealand and a real champion for setting up international linkages. The talks that followed, by New Zealand and international presenters, outlined the major opportunities in Horizon 2020 (including mobility programmes), provided an overview of the New Zealand funding environment, and discussed examples of the lessons learned through earlier EU-NZ or EU-Pacific collaborative projects. It was also an opportunity to present the PACE-Net Plus roadmap for 2014 to New Zealand researchers and research managers.
Finally, this event was also an occasion to network among attendees – a prerequisite for any future initiatives to combine resources and identify further opportunities for research collaboration in areas of priority for the Pacific.
This event was made possible through funding provided by the New Zealand Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE).
PACE-Net Plus will continue to disseminate up- to-date information on new developments within Horizon 2020 to facilitate the participation of research actors in the Pacific in this framework programme.
More information on this event: http://plus.pacenet.eu/events/infoday-auckland-2014
More information on PACE-NET Plus: http://plus.pacenet.eu/
1 Auckland University of Technology, ESR, GNS, Landcare Research, Lincoln University, NIWA, Plant & Food Research, Royal Society of New Zealand, Science New Zealand, Scion, Tertiary Education Commission, University of Auckland, University of Canterbury, University of Otago, University of Waikato.
2 CNRT, National University of Samoa, University of Papua New Guinea, University of the South Pacific.
3 Cooperation attaché at the Embassy of France in Wellington, the Official Representative of New Caledonia to New Zealand, and of the Science and Innovation Officer at the British High Commission.
