The number of research foundations involved in supporting research activities in the EU is unknown, as are their policies and impact on the overall European research effort. Yet these foundations have a unique role to play in supporting European R&D. They are able to act and react flexibly and quickly, free of political or market pressure. They can afford to take risks in the projects they support and the perpetuity of their funds allows them to be reliable long term partners. Centralised data on research foundations and their activities is unavailable in many Member States (MS), even in the published accounts of many foundations. This project will seek to promote the collection of data on research foundations, by developing common tools and a methodology to map their activities across MS. They will be validated by a quantitative and qualitative pilot study targeting representative European countries. The study will collect and compile data to quantify foundation support for research, provide an analysis of trends and policies in the target countries, in order to better understand the role of foundations in financing research. The experience of the pilot study will then be used to make recommendations to encourage further mapping of research foundations in the remaining EU countries. The recommendations will be aimed at foundations, associations of foundations, MS and European Institutions. By combining the publication of the results of the pilot study, of the recommendations, with making the methodology and tools developed freely available, the project will encourage stakeholders to undertake their own national mapping exercise. This will lead to the collection of comparable data across Europe, ultimately facilitating comparative studies between EU states and the development of Europe wide research policy.