  We construct the networks of collaboration between partners for projects
carried out with the support of European Commission Framework Programs FP5 and
FP6. We analyze in detail these networks, not only in terms of total number of
projects, but also for the different tools employed, the different geographical
partitions, and the different thematic areas. For all cases we find a scale
free behavior, as expected for such social networks, and also reported in the
literature. In comparing FP5 to FP6, we show that despite a decrease in the
number of signed contracts, and the total number of unique partners, there is
an increase in the average number of collaborative partners per institution.
Furthermore, we establish a measure for the central role (hub) for each
country, by using the Minimum Spanning Tree (MST), which we construct in detail
for each thematic area (e.g. Informatics, Nanoscience, Life Sciences, etc.).
The importance of these network hubs is highlighted, as this information can be
used by policy planners in designing future research plans regarding the
distribution of available funds.
