With the new European research programme Horizon 2020 due to open in January now is the time to start networking and seeking out projects which you could become partners on. This is never an easy thing when time and budgets prevent you from getting to conferences in Europe. An alternative way to get a foot in the door can be through using groups on Linked In www.linkedin.com
There is a group called ” HORIZON 2020 ” : Framework Program for Research and Innovation which is a very good starting place. This group is a general discussion place for the H2020 programme, but also has subgroups linking to the H2020 themes. For example, environment, health, Marie Curie or ICT. The group is one of the largest and most active groups on LinkedIn and has surpassed 74,000+ members within just over 2 years and it is ranked within the top 200 out of 1.7 million LinkedIn groups.
The aim of this group is to become an international forum, where professionals working in all types of organizations from around the world could share ideas, knowledge & experiences, and explore new partnership and business opportunities.
Joining the groups can help you to find people who are working in similar areas to you and give you a chance to share ideas and possibly link up to work on a research project together.
Further details: Join group http://www.linkedin.com/groups?home=&gid=3731775&trk=anet_ug_hm