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New Year 2010
From the Chair
New members
Sci Comm news
Eurochat
Feature: The dawn of
another industry
Event Report: Swineflu,
pandemic or hamdemic
Event Report: My worst
day in the office
Interview: Romana
Canneti,
media lawyer
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Stempra newsletter
Eurochat
Lisbon uber alles!
It has been a long time coming, but at last the Irish and the Czechs have seen sense and signed up. Back in December, the Lisbon Treaty came into force across the EU with much singing and dancing across the Brussels Euro-zone. Among the celebrating Eurocrats was Britain’s own surprise success, Catherine Ashton, who got the High Representative position without the added hassle of being tipped for the job by any media pundits beforehand.
A better known UK name could be a contender for the newly-created high profile post of Chief Scientific Advisor. The announcement by re-elected Commission President José Manuel Barroso that he wants to bring in someone who can "deliver proactive, scientific advice throughout all stages of policy development and delivery" was as welcome as it was unexpected. Could it be that true science-based policy may at last become a reality across the European Commission (EC)? And does Sir David King, the ideal candidate, need the work or the hassle?
The Chief Scientific Advisor is one of a number of new posts that will be created when the new executive (the Commissioners) are sworn in, and forms part of a possible significant revision of how the Commission organises its science, research and innovation directorates in the new year.
Grand challenges, great ideas
Early concepts for the next EC Research Framework programme, FP8, focus on Grand Challenges and Great Ideas. The first involves translating major issues facing EU citizens and society into a series of Grand Challenges via a 'top-down' exercise and acting to meet them through research. Examples from social cohesion, global security, education, climate change, environment and energy fall into this category. By contrast Great Ideas is a 'bottom-up' concept that looks to universities, research institutes, and companies in pan-European teams to develop new 'higher risk' research concepts with a focus on cross-disciplinary, cross-institutional research.
A practical guide
For those already confused by the bewildering world of EU funding, the Commission has published a new does-what-it-says-on-the-tin guide: the 'Practical Guide to EU funding opportunities for Research and Innovation'. This useful electronic tome offers advice on how to combine different funding sources, describes each fund, and includes innovative checklist that allow you to quickly identify exactly how (or if) you can get your share of EU largesse at every stage of a project.
At last... statistics explained
Last but not least, more useful information. The European Union’s Statistics (Eurostat) website contains all the stats you will ever need on all things European, but unless you are statistically inclined, or have the patience of a saint, getting to the stats you want can be somewhat challenging.
But now EuroStat has produced a ‘wiki’ sub-site: Statistics Explained, which is considerably more user-friendly. It consists of a series of themed articles put together by statistical experts and then edited by more communication-orientated people. It might just be the Euro-resource you’ve been waiting for! Find out what we really mean by NUTS at the EuroStat website. Stempra also held an event on statistics in March, and will be holding more practical workshops like throughout the year.
A bientôt - Tim
Tim Reynolds
Inta Communication Ltd
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