PEN (formerly PESC) aims at providing specialist advice and input on a wide range of ESF actions, at contributing to the development of the ESF Science Policy Agenda and at taking strategic views of the scientific area for which it has responsibility.
ESF Junior Summit "Water: Unite and Divide"
An ESF Junior Summit "Water: Unite and Divide". Interdisciplinary approaches for a sustainable future will take place in Stresa, Lago Maggiore, Italy, 27-30 August 2012.
Further information are available here
The Human Brain: from Cells to Society
The European Science Foundation (ESF) strategic initiative “The Human Brain: from Cells to Society” aims to enable Europe’s scientific community, in interaction with policy makers, to develop medium to long-term views and an analysis of future research developments with the aim of defining research agendas at national and European level.
Further information about this initiative can be found here
PEN (formerly PESC)'s Exploratory Workshop follow-up Strategy
7 Exploratory Workshops are being funded in the PEN (formerly PESC) domains during the calendar year 2011, following a selection by the Standing Committee in October 2010.
In addition, PEN (formerly PESC) has decided to support two additional workshops from its own budget:
PEN (formerly PESC)'s Exploratory Workshop follow-up strategy: Result from the meeting with the PEN (formerly PESC) Core Group and Exploratory Workshop Convenors, August 2010.
On 1 September 2010, the Core Group held a strategic meeting with the convenors of 8 Exploratory Workshops (EW) supported in 2009 and early 2010. As a result of a similar meeting in early 2009, PEN (formerly PESC) had set aside some of its Strategy budget to provide selected EWs with support for follow up activities to develop the outcomes through to the next stage. Possible follow-up activities are roadmaps for future collaborations or major proposals).
This meeting allowed the Core Group to judge the impact of the EWs and also to gauge the merits of its follow-up support policy. The EW convenors strongly supported the EW instrument, and those that had received follow-up support were able to demonstrate meaningful added value from the initial financial contribution.
The meeting with EW Convenors resulted in a clear decision to maintain PEN (formerly PESC)’s Exploratory Workshop follow-up strategy.
ESF Forward Looks
The Forward Look Final report and Success Stories booklet - now available
Mathematics provides a universal framework for innovation, which is vital for society and industry. However, the interaction between mathematics and industry is far from optimal.
Consequently, a strong inter-connected community and a vision for Europe are needed more than ever.This Forward Look which had its kick-off meeting in Rome, Italy, on 15 April 2009, in conjunction with the PEN (formerly PESC) plenary meeting, explores ways of stimulating and/or intensifying the collaboration between Mathematics and Industry. Three working groups concentrate on specific topics, dedicated to:
• Training and career development
• Academia-Industry interface
• Opportunities and challengesForthcoming and recent activities:
• Alignment Workshop: 16-17 November 2009, ESF, Strasbourg
• Consensus conference: 26-27 April 2010, Madrid, Spain, Spanish EU Presidency
• Final conference: 2 December 2010, Belgium, Belgium EU Presidency
NuPECC Long Range Plan 2010
The goal of the Nuclear Physics Forward Look LRP2010, launched in October 2009, is to bring together the entire Nuclear Physics community in Europe to formulate a coherent plan how to best develop the field in the next decade and beyond.
One of the most important NuPECC activities has been the periodic review and development of the field by producing long range plans (LRP).A need to develop a new long range plan for Nuclear Physics in Europe for the next ten to fifteen years was identified, and it was agreed to proceed via a bottom-up approach involving the entire nuclear physics community in Europe.
Following a successful consensus conference held in Madrid in May 2010, the Forward Look presentation conference took place under the Belgian EU Presidency on 9 December 2010 at the Académie Royale des Sciences, Lettres et Beaux-arts in Brussels, in the presence of Dr. Beatrix Vierkorn-Rudolph, Chair of ESFRI.
The NuPECC LRP report as well as the booklet on "Nuclear Physics: Science and Applications - Perspectives for Research in Europe" have been officially released.
2010 Annual Meeting with ESF Member Organisations
The 2010 Round Table with Member Organisations (MO Round Table) which will focus on the topic of "Interdisciplinarity" took place in Istanbul, Turkey at the kind invitation of The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK) on 17-18 June 2010 involving all five ESF Standing Committees.
Temporary Expert Committee in Materials and Engineering (MatSEEC)
Following thorough discussions with major stakeholders about the needs and future opportunities for Materials Science and Engineering research in Europe, the European Science Foundation (ESF) announced in July 2009 the establishment of a new ESF Temporary Expert Committee in Materials Science and Engineering (to be known as MatSEEC) to provide the focus for discussion and the coordination of effort.
MatSEEC is an ESF Temporary Expert Committee in the remit of and associated with the ESF Standing Committee for Physical and Engineering Sciences (PEN (formerly PESC)) with a task related term of 5 years starting on the date of its inauguration meeting.
To-date, 22 organisations have agreed to participate in MatSEEC. The Committee is chaired by Professor Günther Bauer. Click here for further details
US-Europe Workshop on "Reverse Engineering of the Human Brain"
ESF-NSF-AFSOR Workshop on “Reverse Engineering of Human Brain” in Dubrovnik, Croatia, 23-26 May 2010 (Workshop report available)
The initiative of organising a workshop on Reverse Engineering of the Human Brain was taken as part of the occasional but very successful series of events organised jointly by the European Science Foundation, the US National Science Foundation (NSF), and the US Air Force Office of Scientific Research (AFOSR). In the past, these workshops have resulted in initiatives by both the NSF and ESF such as the EuroBioSAS EUROCORES Programme. While the previous events have mostly concerned PEN (formerly PESC), this year, the interdisciplinary of the topic brought together four ESF Standing Committees (PEN (formerly PESC), LEE (formerly LESC), HUM (formerly SCH) and MED (formerly EMRC)). Participants were selected amongst leading US and European scientists in the fields of engineering, neurosciences, cognitive sciences and medicine. The meeting was chaired by Professor Rahmat Shoureshi from the United States and Professor Giulio Sandini from Italy.
Discussions were focused on the identification of main challenges in the field and had the aim of outlining a research roadmap for reverse engineering of the human brain in the next decades. Given the excellent multidisciplinary coverage of participants, this complex topic was addressed from very different viewpoints providing a unique opportunity to exchange ideas and to constructively plan future activities.
