People

Highly trained researchers are needed in order to advance science and underpin innovation, and to attract and sustain public and private investment in research. With growing global competition, the development of an open European labour market for researchers and the diversification of skills and career paths of researchers are crucial, and mobility, both transnational and intersectoral, is a key component of the European Research Area.

The Commission's proposal for the FP7 Specific Programme on 'People' aims to improve the quality of the human resources in European R&D and increase the number of employees working in the European R&D sector. It aims to achieve its goals by promoting a career path in research, encouraging European researchers to stay in Europe and making Europe more attractive to the best researchers from around the world. At the same time, training and career development of researchers will be actively supported.

The FP7 programme's 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
• Life-long training
• Industry academia
• International dimension
• Specific actions