BRUSSELS—The European Commission has approved the next round of projects under the BRITE (Basic Research in Industrial Technologies for Europe) program.
Some 112 projects will receive 105 million ECU ($120 million) for work in such fields as laser welding, corrosion-resistant alloys for turbines and robot-controlled knitting plants. About 45 percent of the money will be released immediately to a collection of large and small industrial companies, research institutes and universities in 12 member states, with the rest to follow over the life of the project.
The two-year-old program was delayed earlier this year by objections from the British government to the scale of collaborative work in all research programs funded by the European Economic Community. Some 500 BRITE proposals were submitted, one-half of which were consdered worthy of funding. But the British-instigated cuts made in the overall Framework budget have meant that only 112 projects will receive money.
