1. October 2007 16:14
ESF Governing Council approves Forward Looks, EUROCORES
The European Science Foundation (ESF) Governing Council has, at a meeting in Helsinki last week, approved a number of important research and research strategy activities that aimed at advancing the European research agenda.
The approval of these activities from the Forward Looks and the EUROCORES scheme comes after the reviewing of the recommendations made by the new Science Advisory Board. The Board, which is chaired by the former President of the Academy of Finland Professor Raimo Väyrynen, held its first meeting on 26 September in Copenhagen.
Forward Looks
At the meeting in Helsinki the Council approved the launch of new Forward Looks topics "Religion and Belief Systems" and "Ageing, Health and Pensions in Europe".
The topic Religion and Belief Systems is expected to produce recommendations for new long-term research strategies and address questions such as “What do people believe in? What is it people cease believing in and why? How and why belief systems so powerfully affect action? And “how do religious norms and concepts and institutions intersect?
A synthesis workshop will make recommendations on interdisciplinary research requirements, exchanges with non-academic environments and how to foster the necessary expertise.
Meanwhile the topic Ageing, Health and Pensions in Europe will address three broad themes: 1) Labour market issues 2) Income security of an ageing population 3) Well-being of the elderly.
The Council was also informed that the Forward Look "Investigator-Driven Clinical Trials", approved in April 2007 following a proposal by the ESF's Standing Committee for the European Medical Research Councils, has been launched under the chairmanship of Professor Jürgen Schölmerich, Regensburg, Vice President of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) with the support of two Co-Chairs, Prof. Håkan Billig and Prof. Roger Bouillon. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) in the U.S. will also participate. The five strategic areas to be addressed during next year for this Forward Look will be: 1. Funding and Models of Partnerships; 2. Regulatory and Legal Issues, IPR and Data Sharing; 3. Design of Clinical Trials; 4. Management and Logistics of Investigator-Driven Clinical Trials and 5. Education, Training, Career and Authorship.
ESF Forward Looks enable Europe’s scientific community, in interaction with policy makers, to develop medium to long-term views and analyses of future research developments with the aim of defining research agendas at national and European level. Forward Looks are driven by ESF’s Member Organisations and, by extension, the European research community. Quality assurance mechanisms, based on peer review where appropriate, are applied at every stage of the development and delivery of a Forward Look to ensure its quality and impact.
European Collaborative Research Programmes (EUROCORES)
The Science Advisory Board also recommended to the Council six EUROCORES Themes to be developed into EUROCORES Programmes.The themes that were selected from 33 proposals received in June 2007 are: "Biogenic Volatile Organic Compounds In the Carbon Cycle – Climate System: Present, Past, and Future Projections"; "Chemical Control at the Nanoscale"; "Higher Education and Social Change"; "A study of the interaction of genetic and lifestyle factors on the incidence of coronary heart disease"; "Better Analyses Based on Endangered Languages" and "How cells shape and utilize their membranes".
The six chosen themes will be developed by means of preparatory workshops to be held during November 2007 to discuss and finalise Calls for Proposals, and by meetings with potential Funding Agencies. Subject to satisfactory development, the themes will be launched as full Programmes in mid-2008.
Meanwhile the Governing Council has stated its support for the EUROCORES as its preferred scheme of research cooperation across national boundaries, driven by researcher needs or by strategic demands of the research funding agencies.
The EUROCORES Scheme encapsulates ESF’s goals of enhancing synergy at a pan-European level by providing a framework which brings together national research funding organisations and which supports interdisciplinary research in non-traditional areas, thereby opening new horizons in science. ESF oversees the process of selecting EUROCORES programmes from start to finish, including international peer review, a ranking process and research dissemination and coordination activities.
At the Council meeting the ESF was encouraged by the Council to develop benchmark for peer review in Europe and to initiate pilot projects for benchmarking national research projects through common European peer review, as has been the case in the European Young Investigator Scheme (EURYI).
COST, budget
Separately the Council took note of the successful negotiation between the ESF and the European Commission (EC) on the €210 million COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology) contract under the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) that took place in the last week of July 2007. Under the contract ESF will continue to provide and manage the administrative, technical and scientific secretariat of The Seventh Framework Programme foresees a €210 million in support for COST with the possibility of another €40 million depending on a positive mid-term evaluation in 2010.
The Council has also approved a budget increase of 5.5 percent, for the third year in a row and asked the ESF “to continue to be ambitious in its proposals.”
Also at the meeting the Governing Council has approved the appointment of Professor Marja Makarow as the new Chief Executive of the ESF. Makarow will be the first woman to take the top post in the science organisation’s 33-year history and will take up her position on 1 January 2008.
The European Science Foundation, which is based in Strasbourg, France, is an association of 75 member organisations from 30 European countries. Since its inception in 1974, it has co-ordinated a wide range of pan-European scientific initiatives.
For more information on the new Chief Executive appointment please click here
Media contact:
- Mr. Thomas LauE-Mail
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