November 11 saw the long-awaited launch of Europe's Sixth Framework Program for Research (FP6), which will determine European Union research spending over the next five years. Although FP6 funds all scientific research, genomics and 'biotechnology for health' are priority themes, and these areas have been awarded a record budget of 2.25 billion Euros ($2.27 billion).

The launch followed months of debate and discussion between politicians and researchers on how funds would be administered. Final details remained undisclosed until the last minute and some of the biggest names in European research were left wondering what they might be eligible to apply for. “I'm still slightly confused,” says Leena Peltonen, leader of the Molecular Neurobiology Group at the University of Helsinki and founding chair of the Department of Human Genetics at the University of California Los Angeles.

Part of the confusion lies in the decision to create two new “instruments” to correct perceived flaws of FP5, namely that funds were often spread too thinly over too many different topics, and that collaborations fizzled out at the end of each research project. Thus, the first new instrument, “integrated projects”, will focus major funds on a smaller number of research programs. The second is “networks of excellence”, aimed at integrating network partners to establish long-lived “virtual” centers of excellence. But it is still unclear what “networks of excellence” will actually fund. Will they cover expensive lab equipment? Will particular research topics be supported?

Other European researchers struggling to understand the system might take heart from Peltonen's confusion, particularly as she is involved in a pilot project for the new system. Peltonen is leading a project to identify common disease genes in 600,000 European twin pairs. The effort comprises researchers in Europe and the US, and FP6 officials are keen to promote collaborations outside Europe. The measure of “excellence” in integrated projects and networks of excellence will be evaluated by internationally recognized experts who are not necessarily Europeans.

Johan Auwerx, a mouse geneticist involved in a similar pilot project, sees advantages to the new system. Studies of the mouse genome were in need of a shake-up in Europe, he says. “Although Europe has key players in this field, there was a shortage of structured initiatives to tackle mouse functional genomics in a systematic way,” says Auwerx, of France's Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire.

But he joins the chorus of dissatisfaction at the mountain of EU paperwork facing grant applicants. “There is too much bureaucracy,” complains Antoni Trilla of the University of Barcelona, coordinator of the EU-funded European and Developing Countries Clinical Trials Partnership (EDCTP). Trilla will be applying for 200 million Euros ($202 million) of “basic seed money” to establish the EDCTP, an African-European partnership to coordinate research into poverty-related diseases.

The first calls for proposals to FP6 are due in December. See http://europa.eu.int/comm/research/fp6/index_en.html