177th MEETING OF THE COMMITTEE OF SENIOR OFFICIALS FOR SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNICAL RESEARCH (COST)
Brussels, 23 - 24 March 2010
The 177th meeting of the COST Committee of Senior Officials (CSO) was held in Brussels on 23 - 24 March 2010. The meeting was chaired by Professor Francesco Fedi, the President of the CSO.
COST, established in 1971, is an intergovernmental framework for cooperation and networking of European research activities. COST does not fund research itself, but supports networking activities such as meetings, conferences, short term scientific exchanges and outreach activities. COST receives financial support for its coordinating activities from the EU RTD Framework Programme (FP).
thematic actions : Biomedicine and Molecular Biosciences (BMBS), Chemistry and Molecular Sciences and Technologies (CMST), Earth System Science and Environmental Management (ESSEM), Food and Agriculture (FA), Forests, their Products and Services (FPS), Individuals, Societies, Cultures and Health (ISCH), Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), Materials, Physical and Nanosciences (MPNS), Transport and Urban Development (TUD) and the Transdomain Proposals Standing Assessment Body (TDP-SAB).
The presentations are available on the COST website: http://www.cost.eu/
Austria, Belgium, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Malta, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Republic of Serbia, Slovenia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom; Israel (cooperating state).
Joint meeting with COST Domain Committee Chairs
The Chairs of the COST Domain Committees1 had been invited to this meeting for a dedicated session. The Chairs presented the most important success stories of their respective Domains during the past 4 years as well as their views on the most promising and interesting fields for future research activities2.
Revision of COST Guidelines
The Committee approved an update of the "Guidelines for Assessment, Monitoring, Evaluation and Dissemination or Results of COST Actions" (doc. COST 4115/10) that will enter into force as from the next Collection Date of new Action proposals in September 2010.
The COST Guidelines consolidate the strategic vision of COST as to the nature of the COST Actions and enable the CSO to approve Actions in a streamlined manner following the assessment of the proposals received in the Open Call through a rigorous procedure based on external peer reviews. The assessment of proposals for new Actions, the monitoring of Actions in progress, and the final evaluation of completed Actions are the main responsibility of the COST Scientific Domains - formed by some of the most outstanding scientists in Europe.
COST Customer Satisfaction Survey
The Committee took note of the second Customer Satisfaction Survey, carried out by Ipsos Belgium in cooperation with the COST High Level Expert Panel. The Committee was pleased to note that the Survey emphasises the important role of COST within the European science community and, in particular, its support for young researchers. Furthermore, the findings reveal that satisfaction with the role of COST has increased among its target groups since 2006.
COST Impact Study
The Committee also welcomed the very positive conclusions on the COST impact assessment. The study had been commissioned at the request of the European Commission with a view to informing the Mid-Term Evaluation of the COST Grant Agreement in the 7th RTD Framework Programme taking place in 2010. The objective of the study was to understand the scientific, socio-economic and societal impacts of COST. The study concluded, i.a., that COST tends to attract networks that are new or, in some cases, are networks of networks. In doing so, COST has important effects on agenda setting and capacity building. Furthermore the study concluded that "COST has significant impact on science and society and plays an important role in the European research and innovation system. It is highly demanded and good value for money".
Reciprocal agreement with Argentina
The Committee agreed to the request from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovative Production of Argentina for a reciprocal agreement with COST to facilitate cooperation with researchers from Argentina. COST already has similar arrangements with Australia, New Zealand and South Africa that have proved successful in enhancing the cooperation.
Global participation in COST
COST has a tradition of being open to participation of institutions from non-COST countries following the bottom-up principle and mutual benefit. Currently 324 institutions from 36 "non-COST countries" already participate in 119 COST Actions.
At this meeting the Committee welcomed 51 new participants in COST Actions of institutions from Albania, Argentina, Australia, Belarus, Brazil, Canada, Egypt, Japan, Lebanon, Mexico, Moldova, Morocco, New Zealand, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Ukraine and USA.
Next CSO meeting
The next meeting of the COST Senior Officials Committee is scheduled for 25 - 26 May 2010.
For further information call the COST Secretariat at 02-281.68.96 or consult website
Rue de la Loi 175 B – 1048 BRUSSELS Tel.: +32 (0)2 281 6319 Fax: +32 (0)2 281 8026
press.office@consilium.europa.eu http://www.consilium.europa.eu/Newsroom
4114/10 (Presse ) 1
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