A total of 110 proposals has been submitted to the first ERA-CAPS joint call that closed on 15 February 2013. The proposals involve 500 research teams from 21 European and non-European countries including Canada, New Zealand and the USA. Researchers from 5 countries outside the call consortium were able to secure the means necessary to join applying consortia. Several companies have also provided letters of support to applying consortia.

The call entitled “Expanding the European Research Area in Molecular Plant Sciences” was launched on 19 November 2012. An international review panel has been set up to evaluate the proposals. The results of the scientific evaluation are expected in September 2013. For more information about the call, please visit http://www.eracaps.org/joint-calls/era-caps-calls. It is expected that the next ERA-CAPS call will be launched in the fall of 2013 and will address a specific theme in relation to molecular plant sciences research.