Cristina Russo of the European Commission DG Research & Innovation meets with the European Office

The Director of International Cooperation of the European Commission Directorate General for Research and Innovation has met with the European Office. At the meeting, Cristina Russo explained the European Commission’s understanding of international cooperation and presented its strategy and its interest in both Horizon 2020 and other Commission policies being open to associated and third countries. She also presented the European Commission's vision for the coming years: a Europe that is “Open to the World”, fostering “open science” and “open innovation”.

The European Office presented its work supporting Spanish institutions in improving their participation in H2020; Spain's positive results in the programme were also discussed. The Office also explained how, given its conviction of the need to reinforce the international nature of science, it had launched a line of work into science diplomacy, putting special emphasis on collaboration with associations of Spanish scientists abroad, which it considered talent focal points with high potential for participation in H2020.

FECYT’s work in EURAXESS was also explained. FECYT is convinced that the initiative is making a substantial contribution to the European Research Area. The Spanish science coordinators from the Embassies in Berlin, London and Washington were also introduced, and discussions were held about how to improve coordination with European Commission representation in other countries.