As part of the European Economic Recovery Plan, the Commission is launching three Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) in close cooperation with industry on "Factories of the Future", "Energy-efficient Buildings" and "Green Cars" to provide EUR 3.2 billion of support for long-term "smart" research investment in the manufacturing, construction and automotive sectors.

To meet the need for a rapid start-up, the initiatives will be implemented in the first instance through a series of cross-thematic Coordinated Calls under the Work Programme 2010 between the relevant FP7 themes. The total European Commission budget in 2010 for these calls is € 268 million. The Calls are planned to be published in July 2009, with the first research projects expected to start in the spring of 2010.

In order to support the preparation of proposals, the Directorates General for Research, Information Society and Energy and Transport of the European Commission are holding a Joint Information Day on Research PPPs on 13 July 2009 in Brussels, in the Charlemagne building, rue de la Loi 170.

For registration to this event, please visit https://rpid09.regware.be. Participation may also be a good opportunity to get in contact with other potential proposers and possible project partners. The possibility to present own project idea will also be given.

A preliminary agenda of the event and more information about this networking/brokerage opportunity can be found at http://ec.europa.eu/research/industrial_technologies/index_en.html.