Seventh Framework Program: the Framework Program for research and technological development is the European Union's chief instrument for funding research over the period 2007 to 2013.
The program has a total budget of over € 50 billion.
2011 budget increased to over € 6 billion.
The FP7 programs are based on cooperation between various companies and academic institutes from different EC as well as Associated Countries.
The companies conduct together a project according to a specific call for proposals. The EC publishes calls for proposals on various topics.
