Science at the service of Europe. A guide to the 2009 annual activity report of the European Commission’s Directorate-General for Research

Research activities in Europe seek to promote scientific excellence and innovative breakthroughs to increase Europe's competitiveness and to benefit its citizens. The main instrument to support cross-border cooperative research at EU level is the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7), the largest of its kind in the world.

In 2009 with the financial and economic crisis still ongoing, FP7 entered its third year. The EU research programme continued to fund research and training of researchers on the basis of the activities dedicated to specific research fields, and targeted part of its funds to initiatives to help Europe cope with the economic crisis. Its funding mechanisms were firmly in place and financial procedures were made more user-friendly.

In this brochure based on the 2009 Annual Activity Report the European Commission's Directorate-General for Research presents a brief overview of the year's main achievements, illustrated by a selection of successful projects, providing information on some of the work in progress and results obtained. It also contains information and results of completed projects from the previous framework programme.