Turkey to chair Eureka program

ISTANBUL - Anatolia News Agency

The president of TÜBİTAK, Turkey’s science council, Yücel Altunbaşak . AA photo

Turkey has begun its term chairmanship of the Eureka organization, which will continue until June 2013.
Eureka supports market-oriented research and development and innovation projects by industry centers, research centers and universities across all technological sectors. Eureka , which has 42 member countries, is an intergovernmental network that was launched in 1985.

Eureka will dominate research and development policies in Turkey over the course of the next year, said the Science, Industry and Technology Minister Nihat Ergün at a conference marking Turkey’s chairmanship of the network.

The initiative has supported more 4,000 projects and created nearly 30 billion euros for research and development, Ergün said. “One billion euros of public finance support to a Eureka project creates an added value of 13 million euros, according to analysis conducted between the years 2000 and 2005,” Ergün said.

Turkey was the 28th country within the Eureka program in terms of project volume in 2007, but it had climbed to 11th spot last year.

“Every Eureka project saves small and medium size enterprises three to five years of time. It is very important for them to take part in [Eureka program],” said Yücel Altunbaşak, the president of the Scientific and Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) in his speech at the event.