" NEST-IDEA "
The NEST-IDEA project is a Specific Support Action (SSA) financed by the European Commission under the Sixth Framework Programme, which aims to raise awareness and give support to the scientific community regarding the NEST initiative, thus helping to bring European research to the forefront. The main objective of NEST-IDEA is to mobilize the scientific community and to provide assistance in setting up and organizing the NEST implementation in Europe. These objectives will be reached by:

• Exploring new ideas
• Mapping the best scientific centres in Europe, in particular unknown small research groups
• Establishing and networking between research groups regarding concepts related to new and emerging scientific and technological areas
• Assisting in consortia organisation and proposal elaboration for preparing unconventional projects

"RUSERA- EXE" : "Expanding ERA over Russia"
The RUSERA-EXE project is based on the achievements and results of the RUSERA Project (INCO-CT-2004-502262) which was successfully completed on the 30th of April 2004. The objective of RUSERA-EXE is to increase the quantity and quality of cooperation between Russian and EU researchers by creating long lasting "researcher-to-researcher" RTD partnerships. The project will focus on the 5 most promising and advanced RUSERA FP6 Regional Information Nodes (RINs) (Tomsk, Krasnoyarsk, St.Petersburg, Uljanovsk, Ulan-Ude) who actually will cover the whole territory of the existing RUSERA Network.

" Science and Technology Commercialisation "
EU-funded innovation project aims to promote the economic growth of Russia by creating value from science & technology and intensifying the innovation activities of the Russian Academy of Sciences in coordination with other knowledge-based organisations. Overall, the project's objectives are to:

• improve the conditions for the development of S&T innovation policies in the Russian Federation
• support the commercialization of Russian S&T results at national and international market levels
• support Russian ambitions to build an efficient national innovation system through which its outstanding S&T potential can be exploited.

" RUSERA " : "Supporting the participation of Russian regions in EU-RTD programmes"
An EU-funded project, RusERA was designed to increase research cooperation between the most scientifically advanced and promising regions in Russia and research organisations in the EU.
RusERA established a network of 37 "Regional Information Nodes" (RINs) across Russia , whose job it is to foster cooperation between Russian and EU scientists, particularly within the scope of the INCO programme. The project consortium also organised a major brokerage event in Moscow , as well as a total of 124 information days in Russian regions which attracted a total of 5,550 participants. The network of RINs conducted over 4,640 personal consultations on FP6 and its INCO programme, providing potential participants with valuable training on proposal writing and partner searches.

" IMPRESMAN-COEUR4LIFE " : " Improving Project & Research Management skills in third countries to stumulate their cooperatin with Europe for Life- Sciences "
Life science research is increasingly global. Much research potential outside Europe in this field remains untapped: many excellent research teams in various third countries around the globe would like to co-operate with Europe at the level they do with US organizations, but are hindered by various constraints. In order to participate in and fully benefit from FP6, they will need to adopt management and administration standards and procedures matching those applied by their partners in Europe . Much of the training currently provided in this field is fragmented, fails to address the appropriate target audiences and often does not address specific local conditions. This project aims to develop an unique program to improve R&P Management skills through a combination of:- fact finding on the local needs for professional development in the context of local research management and administration practices- interviews with high level staff to address different organisational contexts and develop a limited set of local case studies- delivering a customized program of interactive workshops using those case studies, to provide an effective environment for sharing good practice- for selected workshop trainees: direct aid to meet potential partners in Europe and attend relevant conferences- interaction with the NCPs or equivalent bodies in these countries to develop policy recommendations to create maximum benefits from international collaboration and mobility of highly educated personnel to and from Europe Collaboration with professional associations through established contacts will enable wider dissemination. This project aims to professionalize the management of research in these countries, so that international partnerships can be more efficient, public funding spent more effectively and the results of research projects can be validated. Thereby it has the potential to make an essential contribution towards a global role of the ERA.