The G8 Research Councils Initiative

The Heads of the Research Councils of the G8 states (G8-HORCs) met in Berlin on May 30, 2013. Each institution represented, including the French National Research Agency (ANR), put forward the latest developments in the national research landscape of its own country. The group also mentioned the future of the G8 pilot initiative that launched 3 successful calls for transnational proposals to tackle global challenges.

The annual summit of the G8-HORCs is an opportunity for member countries (Canada, Germany, France, Italy, Japan, Russia, United Kingdom, and USA) to tackle strategic and research policy issues. The ANR, represented by Pascale Briand, its Director General, mentioned the on-going changes in the French national research system, in particular the adoption of the national strategic research agenda “France Europe 2020”, and the next step of the Investments for the future programme: projects monitoring.

The high-level meeting was also the opportunity to examine the progress of the pilot initiative launched a few years ago by the heads of the funding agencies of the G8 countries. Three calls for proposals were launched between 2010 and 2012 on interdisciplinary and global issues:

The ANR took part in all of the three calls for proposals and have co-funded 14 multilateral projects. New funding opportunities in the field of exascale computing and big data were also mentioned during the meeting.

The next annual summit of the G8-HORCs will be organised by ANR following the Global research council meeting in Beijing in 2014.

For further information on the G8 calls for proposals:

ANR and the G8-HORCs pilot initiative in figures

3: calls for transnational proposals launched between 2010 and 2012

6: ANR partner countries: Germany – DFG, Japan – JSPS, USA – NSF, Canada – NSERC, United Kingdom – RCUK, Russia – RFBR

14: multilateral projects co-funded by the ANR

€4.3 M: ANR budget awarded to those projects