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Autumn 2008
From the Chair
New members
Sci Comm news
Eurochat
Feature: Handbags and
test tubes
Feature: Stories that matter to a changing
world
Event Report: Silly season stories
Event Report: Are press conferences old news?
Interview: Jane Gizbert, NICE
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Stempra newsletter
Eurochat
Well, we are all still alive and the LHC hasn't (yet) sucked us into oblivion. But whatever your view on the potential for the mega-atom smasher to reveal the secrets of the universe or initiate an unfortunate rift in the space-time continuum (or a combination of both) we must, as media relations professionals, salute the CERN press office led by James Gillies.
CERN’s PROs have worked on a sustained and impressive campaign for many years and have managed to keep this piece of fundamental physics on the "front page" for a considerable period of time. Many of our colleagues in the science media may have privately grumbled about the 'hype' but the 10 September event provided a platform to bring science up close and personal to an immense audience in Europe and across the world.
The CERN approach has been to invite the media in, to be willing and ready to spend time with them, provide high quality materials and also be open to creative ideas. A case study in science PR - long may it continue!
EIT goes Budapest
Regular readers of this column will now that I am not a big fan of the European Institute of Innovation and Technology (EIT). I am not alone in failing to grasp how its mission of "transforming innovative ideas into reality" will be accomplished in the "real world". Nevertheless establishing the EIT is moving at a remarkable pace for a new EU institution. In June the location for the EIT HQ was announced: Budapest. And the Commission has also appointed the EIT Governing Board. It consists of 18 eminently sensible figures, including Julia King, so perhaps something sensible will come out of this initiative. We wait and see.
Georgia conflict – science a casualty?
Increased scientific collaboration between Russia and the EU could be amongst the casualties following the recent conflict in Georgia. In its "get tough" response the EU has threatened to suspend or shred recent closer cooperative ties with the Ruskies. The ink was barely dry on the joint statement of the EU-Russia Permanent Partnership Council on Research, which met for the first time on 26 May in Slovenia, when the tanks rolled in. At risk are co-funded projects in the areas of health, nanotechnologies and new materials – and fuller Russian participation in FP7.
Open access to EU R&D
Finally, the Commission is trying (again) to get the results from the research that it funds – worth around €50 billion (equivalent to 10 LHCs) between 2007 and 2013 - more widely disseminated. The broader communication of these findings should "guarantee maximum exploitation and impact in the world of researchers and beyond" it claims.
The new initiative aims to set up an open access depository for EU funded research results. It seems that FP grant recipients will be required to deposit peer reviewed research articles or final manuscripts resulting from FP7 projects in said online repository.
The depositions will be effectively embargoed for six or twelve months after publication, depending on the research area, before becoming available to all on the open access website. This closed period should allow scientific publishers to get a return on their investment.
According to EU Science Commissioner, Janez Potočnik, the open access pilot is an important step towards achieving the mysterious 'fifth freedom' (the free movement of knowledge) I mentioned in the last column.
The release proclaiming this novel idea promised that the Commission will reveal all via the "Open Pilot" website [http://ec.europa.eu/research/science-society/index.cfm?fuseaction=public.topic&id=1680].
A bientôt - Tim
Tim Reynolds
Inta Communication Ltd |
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