The People Programme

The People Programme aims to stregthen the human resources of the R&D sector in Europe. Support will be provided for the training and career development of researchers. The programme will also try to increase the number of researchers by stimulating people to enter into research professions, encouraging European researchers to stay in Europe and making Europe more attractive for the best researchers from around the world.

Activities will be based on the long and successful experience of the Marie Curie actions and will cover all stages of a researcher's professional life, from initial research training to life long learning and career development:

Initial training of researchers to help improve core research skills and join established research teams.
Life-long training and career development of experienced researchers through individual fellowships awarded at Community level and by co-financing of regional, national or international programmes.
Support for cooperation programmes between universities and businesses, in particular SMEs, through staff secondments and workshops for exchanging information and experience.
International Fellowships to support exchanges and work-stays for non-European researchers. Partnerships between European research institutions and their counterparts in countries covered by the European Neighbourhood Policy or who have a Science and Technology Agreement with the EU will also be actively encouraged and supported.
Specific actions will be implemented to support the creation of a genuine European labour market for researchers, such as removing obstacles to mobility and enhancing careeer perspectives.