Information Online
The above home page is hosted by CORDIS, the Community R&D Information Service. The CORDIS home page (http://cordis.europa.eu/) is a practical, integrated source of information on European research and innovation, providing:

• home pages for all research programmes;
• the information needed to prepare and submit proposals for research projects;
• information on opportunities for SMEs and services dedicated to promoting innovation;
• databases on R&D news, partners, projects, research results, programmes, publications, events and much more;
• "partner search" services to help organisations locate partners for project proposals;
• an update service (RAPIDUS) which e-mails you information matching your own criteria, from calls for proposals in a particular area to profiles of organisations looking for research partners; and much more.

General information on the Fifth Framework Programme is also available on the home page of Research DG http://ec.europa.eu/research/

Networking across Europe
CORDIS also provides further information on the Europe-wide networks dedicated to bringing European research and innovation to your region:

• the National Contact Points network provides local, personal access to information about the specific programmes, and support for organisations which wish to participate:
  http://cordis.europa.eu/fp5/src/ncps.htm
• a separate network exists to support SMEs: http://cordis.europa.eu/sme/src/sme-ncps.htm
• the network of Innovation Relay Centres (IRCs) promotes innovation, encourages the exchange of research results across Europe, and provides advice, consulting and training support - mainly to SMEs.
  European Commission, Enterprise DG
  Tel. +352 4301 38070
  Fax. +352 4301 34009
  innovation@ec.europa.eu
  http://cordis.europa.eu/irc/home.html

Publications

A range of magazines is available from the Research DG Communications Unit and the Innovation Help Desk (see below - the * or ** tells you which) to keep researchers and industry regularly informed on European research and innovation.

*RTD Info: a regular update on programme activities, calls and events, as well as information on research results - quarterly, in English, French and German.

**Innovation & Technology Transfer: everything the EU does in research, with an emphasis on innovation and technology transfer - bimonthly, in English, French, German, Italian and Spanish.

** Euroabstracts: provides a round-up of new publications on research and innovation from around Europe - bimonthly, in English only.

** CORDIS Focus: the latest news on EU research and research-related programmes and policies from the CORDIS News service - fortnightly, in English, French German, Italian and Spanish.

The Research DG's Communications Unit can also provide the following general brochures:

* The Fifth Framework Programme: a thorough, 75-page introduction to the programmes and their key actions, as well as opportunities for involvement.

* Programme Brochures: this brochure is one of seven. The other brochures cover:

• User-friendly information society
• Competitive and sustainable growth
• Energy, environment and sustainable development
• Confirming the international role of community research
• Innovation and participation of SMEs
• Improving human research potential and the socio-economic knowledge base