RPF was established by the Republic of Cyprus in 1996 to serve as the national organisation for the promotion of scientific and technological research in Cyprus. The Foundation is a non-governmental institution, governed by a Board of Directors, chaired by the Permanent Secretary of the Planning Bureau. Foundation’s resources are derived mostly from Cyprus Government; they are also derived from the Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development of the EU for specific activities. RPF has developed over the years a number of activities which fall into two broad categories:
Design, launching, funding and monitoring of national research and innovation programs;
Promotion of the participation of Cypriot researchers in European Research Programmes and International Organisations (EU Framework Programmes, COST, ESF, EUREKA, etc.) and implementation of bilateral agreements on R&D signed by the Government.
Concerning the first point, RPF has over the years developed a number of national funding programmes for research and innovation. These programmes cover a wide range of topics under the following Thematic Areas (TA): “Health and Biological Sciences”, “Technology”, “Sustainable Development”, “Information and Communication Technologies” and “Social, Economic Sciences and the Humanities”
Horizontal initiatives have also been developed aiming at enhancing the research infrastructure on the island and the industry’s capability of performing and exploiting research, as well as to increase the human potential involved in research. Such initiatives include Programmes addressed to young researchers and scientists from abroad, promoting, in this way the cooperation between researchers based abroad and Cypriot research organizations and enterprises.
Taking into consideration the importance of the MSP implementation in Cyprus, and its links to sustainable growth of the maritime sector, MSP might be included or related in one of the thematic areas in the future. However, there are no calls of proposal till the end of 2016 for any thematic areas mentioned above. New calls will be announced in 2017 through the RPF’s website.
RPF serve as the national organisation for the promotion of scientific and technological research in Cyprus. The Foundation’s resources are derived mostly from the Government but also from the Framework Programmes for Research and Technological Development of the EU for specific activities. MSP is not yet a direct topic for RPF but it can be included or related in one of the thematic areas in the future.
Cyprus governmental institutions and organisations, private research organization and NGOs are eligible to participate within the RPF’s Programmes. Also, countries involved in the EU Programmes and Bilateral Cooperation Programmes are eligible to apply.
The duration of project funded through RPF typically range between 24 and 36 months. New calls will be announced in 2017 through the RPF’s website.
RPF has funded more than 1,200 research projects until now. More specifically, 950 projects were funded through the calls that were launched in the period 2008 – 2015 (DESMI) and total funding for those projects was approximately €83 million.
More details on RPF’s funding Programmes are available on RPF’s official website: www.research.org.cy. RPF’s contacts are:
Research Promotion Foundation
PO BOX 23422, 1683 Nicosia, Cyprus
Tel: +357 22205000
Fax: +357 22205001
Email: ipe@research.org.cy