Search
Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt e.V. (DLR) is Germany’s national research centre for aerospace, energy, transport, security and digitalisation, and one of the largest organisations for implementing R&I funding programmes in Germany. Its Project Management Agency, with its main branches in Bonn, Berlin and Brussels, provides funding management, strategy consulting, analysis, evaluation, communication, and capacity building services to more than 130 countries, with approximately 1,600 staff.
In POLICY ENLARGE, DLR leads the work package WP2 Policy Guidance and Learning covering the analytical work on ERA Integration and Widening: investigating how the enlargement economies participate in EU R&I calls, identifying obstacles to their integration into the European Research Area (ERA), documenting success stories from Horizon Europe applicants in the region, and producing a Policy Brief with findings and recommendations. DLR also co-organises a regional policy conference bringing together policy makers, researchers and funding agencies from the enlargement countries. Furthermore, DLR co-designs the open call mechanism with the partner FBA, defining the terms and criteria for the funding instruments, and oversees the follow-up of third-party projects selected through those calls, evaluating their progress and validating results before payments are made.
DLR has worked with the Western Balkans and the enlargement region for over two decades in the frame of EU funded projects. Since 2017, it has led the European Commission’s International Service Facility and Global Service Facility consortium, facilitating R&I policy dialogue among others between the EU and the Western Balkans through Ministerial Meetings, Steering Platform meetings and analytical studies. In the EU funded predecessor project POLICY ANSWERS, DLR led the work package on monitoring for agenda setting, producing ERA Country Reports and Monitoring Cards on the implementation of the Western Balkans Agenda. DLR has also been managing multilateral calls for research projects between German researchers and Western Balkans partners on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Research, Technology and Space since 2019.