Each area of FP7 has a National Contact Point (NCP)- a named person who you can contact for more information and this support is repeated across Europe. To find a NCP for a specific area of FP7, please click here.

Defra and the Food Standards Agency fund Beta Technology as a nominated National Contact Point. We offer a free and confidential service for the FP7 themes 'Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, and Biotechnology' and 'Environment (including climate change). This service is available to organisations that would like to find out more information or participate in either of these two themes. The services available are:

Beta's National Contact Point services include:

• Helpline - Monday to Friday, 9.00am to 5.00pm. tel: (+44 01302 322 633)
• Pre-screening of proposals for eligibility and fit
• Partner searching
• Regular information bulletins sent via e-mail
• Presentations at events and meeting
• Advice on administrative procedures and contractual issues

In addition to the NCP service, there are several other sources of help which you may find useful.

• FP7 Financial Helpdesk is a portal and helpdesk for the latest FP7 financial information.
• BIO-NET, a network of Food, Agriculture and Fisheries, and Biotechnology NCPs and can help with partner searching and FP7 information.
• ENV-NCP-Together, a network of Environment NCPs and can help with partner searching and FP7 information.
• Ethics Help Desk for FP7 projects provides information on issues and offers consultation regarding the ethical aspects of research. Scientists can receive advice from the Ethics Review Sector of DG research and by experts in the ethics field concerned, in order to reach their research objectives and meet the ethical requirements of their work.
• IPR HelpDesk offers two main services: an informative website open to all interested parties, and a free legal Helpline aimed at participants in Framework Programmes projects.

DG Research

For a general overview of the European Commission and the main contacts for each Directorate, including Heads of Units, please click here to download a DG Research organisation chart. For an up to date list of these contacts please click here to take you to the Europa website.

Scientific Officers

If there is a particular call topic you are interested in, it is always advisable to contact the Scientific Officer (SO) at the European Commission responsible for that area of the work programme. The Scientific Officers are very approachable and can often provide guidance and advice.

For each KBBE and Environment call, a list of the topics in the work programme and a Scientific Officer responsible for each topic is provided. The lists of Scientific Officers below are from the previous call but their area of expertise remains the same. If there is a call topic similar to your area of interest, chances are that the Scientific Officer listed will be the correct contact. However, if you would like Beta to make contact with the EC on your behalf, or would like guidance on the best Scientific Officer to contact, please let us know.

KBBE Scientific Officer List - 2012 call

Environment Scientific Officer List - 2012 call