Last week was an important week for us for two reasons: the first Horizon 2020 calls for proposals were finally launched on 11th December and we had our last training course of 2013, EU R&I Project Management and Financial Reporting, which took place in Vienna on 12-13 December.
It was Europa Media’s first time in Vienna to organise a training course. We are always keen to try new destinations, which is why in 2013 we have been for the first time in Madrid, Copenhagen and now in Vienna. In fact, we ended up travelling quite a lot in 2013. In addition to travelling for our general courses, we have been to Bilbao, Bonn, Brussels, Istanbul, Krakow, Leuven and London to deliver in-house courses at universities, research institutions and industry who wanted to get a kick-start to Horizon 2020 or tackle financial and technical challenges that they face during the implementation of their FP7 projects. We of course also travelled for kick-off or periodic meetings of our new and ongoing projects.
So, coming back to Vienna, we had a very good course and a very good time there last week. We welcomed 38 participants from 15 different countries representing all types of institutions including universities, research institutions, ministries, SMEs and large industry. This time we were in a quite designy hotel (see below the “Christmas tree” which was at the lobby), which also offered panoramic views of Vienna from its 18th floor.
Just like in our Budapest course the week before, we also had Christmas markets featuring our Vienna course. So, we had the chance to visit various Christmas markets of Vienna after an intensive day of training. Once we thought that we had enough glühwine, we naturally had to top it up with a Wiener Schnitzel at one of Vienna’s cosy cafés. This was also an occasion to celebrate the birthday of Gábor which coincidently was on the first day of the training.
We have now arrived to the end of the 2007-2013 financial period of the EU as well as to the end of the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7). We are now looking forward to stepping into the 2014-2020 period and the new EU Research and Innovation Framework Programme – Horizon 2020. Having had a very dynamic year full of training courses, projects and travels, our team definitely deserves a break and will be recharging for a kick-start to 2014. The next months will surely be much about putting together and submitting proposals for the first calls of Horizon 2020 while at the same time continuing to travel for training courses and project meetings.
We are now off to our yearly Christmas party and wish you happy holidays and the very best for 2014!
Ömer
