CATAPULTA: The Oceanic Platform of the Canary Islands as a catalyst for innovative marine projects

The main objective of the CATAPULTA Project is to deploy the potential of the PLOCAN Singular Scientific and Technological Infrastructure (ICTS) to return and secure international funding that drags and roots R&D&I in the maritime and marine field towards Spain. This development will be strategically oriented towards:

• The increase in attracting and managing the number of project proposals, both for ICTS users and for the development of PLOCAN infrastructures in the new European Union Framework Programme Horizon 2020, and other international programmes (COSME, Interreg, Eurostars, etc.).
• The improvement and technification, aligned with international standards and best practices, to improve the quality of PLOCAN’s Integrated R&D&I Project Management System, from its conception to its justification.

CATAPULTA will have a duration of 3 years with an estimated start date of 1 January 2015 and an estimated end date of 31 December 2017. In order to achieve its main objective, the project is structured around the following specific objectives:

• To develop the area of fundraising and preparation of international project proposals for the users of the ICTS PLOCAN.
• Create and implement a continuous training programme in the EU’s Horizon 2020 Framework Programme and internationally accredit new staff in project management.
• Strengthen and optimise PLOCAN’s Integrated Project Portfolio Management System.

The expected result of these actions is that in the 3 years of this project PLOCAN will increase, with respect to its participation in the FP7 programme, the number of proposals submitted to the H2020 programme by at least 70%, both in projects aimed at developing the PLOCAN infrastructure itself and those aimed at promoting the European participation of the users of the infrastructure, and that this will translate into an increase of at least 95% in the number of approved proposals.