The strengthening of cooperation between Cyprus and Austria in research and innovation was the focus of a meeting held on September 5, at the offices of Austria's national R and D funding agency, FFG, in Vienna, the Cyprus Research and Innovation Foundation (RIF), said in an announcement on Monday. The meeting, it said, was attended by the Director General of the RIF, Theodoros Loukaidis, the Managing Director of FFG, Henrietta Egerth, as well as other executives of both organisations. 'Both institutions presented their R and D and I ecosystems and performance both nationally and internationally during the meeting', it adds. 'This was followed by a discussion on methods for designing and maximising the impact of national funding programmes and an exchange of views on specific actions implemented by the two organisations to support each country's participation in the EU's Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, Horizon Europe', it notes. The Director General and a delegation from the RIF also met with the Head of the European and International Programmes Department of the FFG, Margit Noll, and other senior staff of the organisation. 'They discussed, inter alia, common challenges and possible actions to strengthen cooperation between Cypriot and Austrian institutions, with a view to jointly submitting proposals to Horizon Europe', it adds. The Director General of the Foundation said that they were 'very keen to strengthen our collaboration both in terms of learning from each other but also to facilitate and support more collaborations between our respective ecosystems especially in Horizon Europe'. On her part, FFG Managing Director, Henrietta Egerth, said that 'RIF has been a long-standing partner of FFG and numerous Austrian R and I stakeholders, demonstrating impressive growth over the past few years'. 'We look forward to continuing our exchange and strengthening the ties between our national ecosystems. There is much we can learn from one another to enhance our services and provide stronger suppo rt to our R and I communities', she said, according to the announcement. Source: Cyprus News Agency