30. November 2007 17:14
The 2007 ESF General Assembly gives green light to 3 new Member Organisations, vice presidents
The 34th annual General Assembly of the European Science Foundation (ESF), attended by over 70 senior representatives of ESF Member Organisations and other international bodies, took a number of important decisions in order to strengthen the ESF’s future.
The Assembly, which took place on November 30 at the Maison de la Region Alsace in Strasbourg, unanimously approved the admission of three new Members Organisation (MOs), bringing the total number of members to 78 from 30 countries – a move that will further secure ESF’s position as an important force in the European research landscape.
The new Member Organisations are the National Foundation for Science, Higher Education and Technological Development of the Republic of Croatia, the Agence National de la Recherche of France and the Slovenian Research Agency, who join the ESF with effect from 1 January 2008. On informing the delegates of these organisations of the Assembly’s decision, ESF President Professor Ian Halliday “We welcome you very warmly and we hope we can work together successfully in the future, for the benefit of your organisations, for the benefit of ESF, and most importantly for the benefit of European research”.
Another major decision made by the General Assembly was to approve two new Vice-Presidents, Dr. Arnold Migus, Director General of the French CNRS, and Professor Matthias Kleiner, President of the German DFG, for a three year period, starting from 1 January 2008. They will replace Dr. Richard Dyer and Professor Katherine Richardson Christensen who were warmly thanked for the great support they had given to the ESF over the past 7 years.
“I feel honoured. I believe this job needs an engagement to strengthen the ESF and I will provide that engagement,” said Professor Kleiner.
In his annual report to the Assembly, Dr. John Marks, ESF Chief Executive highlighted the wide range of ESF’s successes during 2007. The Assembly congratulated the ESF office on these achievements and its professionalism and especially thanked Dr Marks who will stand down as CEO at the end of the year.
“It has been highly rewarding to see the growing engagement of MOs and the increasing support for both the strategic role of ESF through Forward Looks and for the researcher driven collaborative research programmes EUROCORES,” Dr. Marks told the Assembly.
The ESF’s next annual General Assembly and Science Policy Conference with take place in Stockholm 26-28 November 2008, with the support of the ESF’s Swedish Member Organisations, VR and FORMAS. The theme will be Climate research as an example of contemporary challenges in knowledge production.
Media contact:
- Mr. Thomas LauE-Mail
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