European research resources in the forest-based sector remain fragmented due to multiple uncoordinated activities. ForestValue2 is to contribute i) to provision of a shared and robust knowledge base to make Europe’s transition to being the first climate neutral continent by 2050 a reality, and ii) overcoming the fragmentation of public research efforts in the EU and to reinforce work on research priorities that call for a stronger coordination and collaboration. Encouraging wide engagement, in particular early-stage researchers and EU widening countries, the CSA will strengthen the ERA. ForestValue2 brings together 14 owners and managers of national and regional RDI programmes in 11 Member States of the European Union - FI, IE, DE, ES, SI, LV, PL, SK, IT, EE, RO - and in one Associated Country (NO) with an aim to coordinate national and regional R&I programmes by pooling national resources and contributing to the alignment of national research and innovation policies. The project has four main objectives: 1) Identification of common research and innovation priorities agreed among the participating national and regional R&I programmes in the area of forest-based bioeconomy, taking into account international developments where relevant; 2) Implementation of a joint call(s), resulting in the funding of transnational collaborative R&I projects; 3) Implementation of other joint activities supporting the market, regulatory or societal uptake based on forest science results; 4) A multi-actor approach in addressing Global Challenges, including relevant contribution to the SDGs. Six of the partners come from the widening countries, whilst at the same time representing the BIOEAST Initiative. ForestValue2 will address “improving access to excellence” through a portfolio of actions that aim at building up R&I capacities especially in EU13 and Ukraine and Republic of Moldova, to enable them to advance to the competitive edge at European and international level.

CHANSE, Collaboration of Humanities and Social Sciences in Europe, is a joint initiative of 27 research funding organisations from 24 countries. The CHANSE Programme builds on the experience of two existing networks: HERA (Humanities in the European Research Area) and NORFACE (New Opportunities for Research Funding Agency Cooperation in Europe) supporting research in humanities and social sciences respectively. The main goal of the CHANSE inititive is to launch a transnational call for collaborative projects focused on the topic of Transformations: Social and cultural dynamics in the digital age. The objective of this call will be to help understand how digital innovations give rise to social and cultural changes, and are also influenced by society and culture. The joint research call combines the analytic and transformative powers of the humanities and social sciences in understanding processes of change and considering solutions when societies face the introduction of innovations. With a budget of over EUR 36 million, including expected EC co-funding, CHANSE consortium plans to fund excellent research projects conducted by research teams from at least three countries involved in the Programme. CHANSE will strive to produce a lasting effect on the research landscape by cultivating durable research collaboration across multiple national and regional borders, disciplinary boundaries, and stakeholders, thus supporting the sharing of excellence and promoting widening participation in the European Research Area. CHANSE will also strongly support knowledge exchange activities and foster relationships between academia and relevant stakeholders, as well as explore and develop new joint actions. By offering new opportunities for international research cooperation in a critical area of enquiry, the CHANSE Programme will deliver a broad range of academic, societal and economic impacts within, across and beyond the partner countries.

Worldwide, nearly 47 million people are currently estimated to be living with dementia, and the number is expected to almost double every 20 years, yet treatments that prevent or stop the progression of neurodegeneration are still lacking. Tackling this grand challenge requires enhanced coordination of national efforts to accelerate discovery. Such synergies have been created among 30 countries in the pilot EU JPI on Neurodegenerative Disease Research (JPND). JPND has a long standing experience in collaborative actions; since 2011, a cumulated funding of 132M€ has been dedicated to competitive transnational calls and JPND is now a reference for European and global knowledge and as an innovation platform in the area of neurodegenerative diseases. Building on earlier successes of the JPND Research Strategy in scaling-up and establishing synergies with Horizon 2020, there is a need to continue previous efforts to consolidate the JPND successes in defragmentation, better coordination and alignment amongst the

NCP_WIDERA.NET aims at support the capacity and effectiveness of WIDERA National Contact Points with a special attention to less experienced entities in low performing Member States (MS) and Associated Countries (AC) to bridge the knowledge gaps to enhance access to funding possibilities under the Framework Programme. Through strengthening and enhancing the role of the NCPs, the project shall support international networking and coordination, as well as improve the quality of proposals from legal entities from low R&I performing MS and AC providing them with better access to services during the application process in particular with regard to Widening Participation and Strengthening the European Research Area, as well as Pillar II actions. NCP_WIDERA.NET will focus on identifying and sharing good practices within NCP community and raising standards of support offered by NCPs to the applicants, taking into account the diversity of actors that constitutes both the Widening and ERA parts. Moreover, this project will equip the transnational network of NCPs to be in a better position to effectively address cross-cutting objectives such as gender equality and open science.

ERA PerMed will serve as a funding vehicle of topics identified in the Strategic Research and Innovation Agenda (SRIA) in Personalised Medicine and the Action Plan of ICPerMed. ERA PerMed will coordinate R&I efforts of the participating partners (funding agencies from EU, associate countries to H2020 and third countries). The main objective is planning, implementing, monitoring and disseminate up to four joint transnational calls (JTCs) tackling the value change in full to fund multidisciplinary transnational research projects covering each at least three slots of the value chain regarding Personalised Medicine. The ERA PerMed consortium is open to enlargement for the planned JTCs. According to funding scheme’s rules, ERA PerMed partners commit themselves to implement one call with top-up co-funding from the EC, and include funded project monitoring. Additionally, up to three non-cofunded calls will be carried, in order to broaden the scope of action of the efforts made by the EC and funding organizatio