Introduced roughly a year ago, Teaming is a European Commission program that, well, teams research institutions (or consortia) from high performing and low performing members of the Commission. It’s one of several programs geared toward broadening participation in European research as part of the Horizon 2020 program (including a Policy Support Facility). According to ScienceInsider Teaming received 169 submissions, and even with a 20 percent increase in the program budget, it may only be able to fund sixteen percent of the submissions.
The ultimate outcome of the program is to build research infrastructure and networks in areas of Europe that could benefit. In a way, Teaming is trying to do the same thing that the various EPSCoR (Experimental Program to Stimulate Competitive Research) programs do in the United States. The pairing is a distinct difference between the two programs, though EPSCoR programs also seek to leverage existing resources to assist grant recipients. Teaming in the U.S. might look like researchers in the University of Washington system pairing with colleagues in Montana on projects, with the additional benefit of building up infrastructure in Montana.
First stage winners will be selected in February 2015, with second stage recipients announced by 2016. Given the significant interest in the program, there will be at least one more cycle of funding by 2018.
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