European Union research initiatives

The high costs associated with specialist ultrafast laser techniques can make their purchase prohibitive to many university research laboratories. However, centralised national and international research infrastructures hosting a variety of large scale sophisticated laser facilities are available to researchers. In Europe access to these facilities is currently obtained either via successful application to Laser Lab Europe (a European Union Research Initiative) [35] or directly to the research facility. Calls for proposals are launched at least annually and instrument time is allocated to the research on the basis of peer-reviewed evaluation of the proposal. Each facility hosts a variety of exotic techniques, enabling photoactive systems to be probed across a variety of timescales in different dimensions. For example, the STFC Central Laser Facility at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory (UK) is home to optical tweezers, femtosecond pump-probe spectroscopy, time-resolved stimulated and resonance Raman spectroscopy, time-resolved linear and non-linear infrared transient spectroscopy, to name just a few techniques [36]. 

The ITER R D project is the latest international research initiative on nuclear fusion for power generation. The ITER initiative has partners from the European Union, including Switzerland, Japan, Russia, China, South Korea, India and the United States. The project is expected to run for the next 30 years, of which 10 years will be needed for construction of the reactor in Cadarache, France, and 20 years for operation. The cost is approximately 10 billion and the first plasma operation is... 

Outside of the U.S., major initiatives in Germany, the United Kingdom, Japan, Spain and handful of other countries spur on technology research and implementation of renewable power. The European Union set a goal for its member countries to double the amount of power generated by renewable sources... 

This work was supported by the TMR initiative of the European Union, the EPSRC and the ICI Strategic Research fund. DAL is an EPSRC Advanced Research Fellow (AF/982324). 

International Conference on Harmonisation (ICH) The ICH was formed to provide an opportunity for tripartite harmonization initiatives to be developed with input from both regulatory and industry representatives. The ICH is sponsored by the European Commission, the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industry Associations, the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare, the Japanese Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Association, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. The objective of the ICH is to harmonize the technical requirements for the registration of pharmaceutical products in the European Union, Japan, and the United States. 

We thank the EPSRC (under research grant GR/J76026 and for beam time at the synchroton source at DRAL), the Commission of the European Union (under contract number CT92AV10012 of the Aviceime Initiative), and the Malaysian Government (for a scholarship to WA.) for support. 

Harrison, D. and Radov, D. (2002). Evaluation of Alternative Initial Allocation Mechanisms in a European Union Greenhouse Gas Emissions Allowance Trading Scheme, National Economic Research Associates, prepared for DG Environment, European Commission, http //europa.eu.int/comm/environment/ climat/pdf/allocation.pdf... 

The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union s Seventh Framework Programme (FP7/2007-2013) for the Clean Sky Joint Technology Initiative under grant agreement No 270599. 

The Innovative Medicines Initiative (IMI) is Europe s largest public-private initiative aiming to accelerate the development of better and safer medicines [27]. IMI supports collaborative research projects with the building of networks comprised of industrial and academic experts in order to boost European pharmaceutical innovation. It is a joint undertaking between the European Union and the European pharmaceutical industry association EFPIA [28]. 

The development and subsequent market entry of new, innovative materials and products from renewable resources, such as bioplastics and other biodegradable polymer-based products, as well as the current research in this field, is of the utmost importance for the future of Europe. That is why since its introduction in 2004, the concept of KBBE has become a major sector of European Union (EU)-funded research, and currently represents a great share in EU research programmes and EU policy initiatives. 

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