Networking of National representatives and resources centres on Gender in R&I

This action focuses on the establishment of a forum/network of national representatives from EU Member States and Associated Countries in support of the implementation of the gender equality priority of the ERA Roadmap. Various activities will be developed, such as benchmarking, joint workshops, enhanced cross-border brokerage events, specific training. Special attention will be given to mutual learning to enhance the competence of national gender representatives, including helping less experienced national gender representatives acquire rapidly the know-how accumulated in other countries.

The consortium should be composed of national representatives of all the EU Member States. The participation of national representatives of Associated Countries is welcome. National representatives from EU Member States and Associated Countries shall be officially appointed by the relevant national authorities and the corresponding appointment letters provided in the proposal. The consortium shall have a good representation of experienced and less experienced gender representatives.

The consortium should have a good representation of experienced and less experienced gender representatives.

The network/forum will liaise with the Helsinki Group on gender in research and innovation.

The duration shall cover at least the remaining period of Horizon 2020.

The Commission considers that proposals requesting a contribution from the EU of the order of 1.95 million EUR would allow this specific challenge to be addressed appropriately. Nonetheless, this does not preclude submission and selection of proposals requesting other amounts.

This action allows for the provision of financial support to third parties in line with the conditions set out in Part K of the General Annexes.

In the 2012 ERA Communication, Member States are invited to create a legal and policy environment and provide incentives to remove legal and other barriers to the recruitment, retention and career progression of female researchers while fully complying with EU law on gender equality; address gender imbalances in decision making processes; and strengthen the gender dimension in research programmes.

The Roadmap adopted by the Competitiveness Council of last May (TBC) commit the Member States to ""Translating national equality legislation into effective action to address gender imbalances in research institutions and decision making bodies and integrating the gender dimension better into R&D policies, programmes and projects

This action will develop a more consistent and professionalised level of national gender representatives in support of the implementation of the ERA roadmap leading to better coordination of Member States' efforts; it will also help ensure the consistency between national gender equality strategies in research and innovation and the implementation of the gender equality objectives and initiatives in Horizon 2020