Summary

1. Science and Technology Policy and Innovation ICOSTEuropean Cooperation in the Field of Scientific and Technical ResearchPresented by:João SilvaPaulo Anastácio

2. Duration 3-5 years Concerted Actions and Networking Co-ordination No geographical restrictions, but with a minimum of 5 participants from 5 different member states “Non-competitive” (pre-normative; environmental and cross-border problems; public utility) Financed nationally Bottom-up approach Flexibility “A la carte” participation “Integration” Complementarity of EU programmes Exploratory Commission involvement Summary

3. EU EU R&D Framework Programme Network for market oriented EUREKA R&D national funding Creates networks of nationally funded research projects on COST European level ESA European Space Agency …….. …. European Technology Cooperation International Energy Agency

4. Description • Framework for scientific and technical cooperation, allowing co-ordination of national research on a European level; • The goal of COST is to ensure that Europe holds a strong position in the field of scientific and technical research for peaceful purposes • Established in 1971 by 19 European States within 17 Scientific & Technical domains;

5. Organisational structure • Committee of Senior Officials: • Decision making and highest body. • Composed of member states representatives, one of whom in each case acts as COST National Coordinator; • Technical Committees: • Responsible for a particular sector under the authority of the CSO • Responsible for technical preparation work; • Control the implementation of the Actions and aid in the co-ordination, evaluation in an advisory capacity;

6. Organisational structure • Management Committees: • In charge of implementating, supervising and co-ordinating Actions; • Formed by not more than two representatives of each Signatory Country; • COST National Coordinator: • One member of the CSO from each member state acts as national coordinator for COST Actions; • Provides the liaison between the scientists and institutions in his country and the Council COST secretariat;

7. Member countries • 34 COST Member States + Israel (Co-operating Country) • The European Commission; • International organisations and research establishments from non-COST countries: Armenia (2), Australia (2), Canada (4), India (1), Japan (3), Macao (1), Russia (11), Ukraine (3), USA (6). There are also 3 participating Non Governmental Organisations;

8. Membership history • 1971: Ministerial Conference, Brussels • 19 Member countries: AT, BE, CH, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GR, IE, IT, LU, NL, NO, PT, SE, TU, UK, YU • 1991: Ministerial Conference, Vienna • 4 new member countries: CS, HU, IS, PL • 1992 - 1993: YU gave place to HR, SI; and CS to CZ and SK • 1997: Ministerial Conference, Prague • 3 new member countries: EE, MT, RO • 1998: 4 new observer countries: BG, CY, LT, LV • 1999: 4 new member countries: BG, CY, LT, LV • 2000: Israel Co-operating state • 2001: Federal Republic of Yugoslavia • 2002: Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

9. Agriculture and Biotechnology Chemistry Environment Fluid Dynamics Food Technology Forests and Forestry Products Informatics Materials Medical Research Meteorology Nanosciences Oceanography Physics Telecommunication Information Sciences and Technology (TIST) Transport Urban Civil Engineering Scientific and technical domains

10. Scientific and technical actions • These are networks of coordinated national research projects in fields, which are of interest to a minimum number of participants (at least 5) from different member states; • The Actions are defined by a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by the Governments of the COST states wishing to participate in the Action; • The duration of an Action is generally 4 years;

11. Evolution of actions (1980 – 2002)

12. Number of actions per domain at the end of 2001 - 2002

13. Member participation (2002)

14. Non-member participation (2002)

15. Size of actions • One of the largest frameworks for research co-operation in Europe. • Today, there are nearly 200 Actions involving some 40 000 participating scientists from 32 European member countries; • Nearly 50 participating institutions from additional 14 different countries; • Execution value of over 2 Billion €;

16. Size of actions • This expenditure represents on average 0.5% of the overall national funding; • Used to cover co-ordination costs such as: • Contributions to workshops/conferences; • Travel costs for meetings; • Contributions to publications; • Short term scientific missions of researchers to visit other laboratories;

17. % of COST Budget Average for Actions / Year 60,000 € Average / Meeting / Participant 880 € Short Term Scientific Missions 11,500 € 7% Average for Publications 4,000 € 3% Average for Workshops 7,000 € 4% Final Evaluation up to 2,500 € 2% Size of actions

18. Budget size (2002) € Agriculture and Biotechnology 1,615,026 TIST 1,323,701 Chemistry 1,278,980 Forests and Forestry Products 980,825 Urban Civil Engineering 698,883 Materials 686,657 Medicine and Health 682,869 Transport 619,532 Social Sciences 609,655 Environment 594,110 Metereology 459,024 Food Technology 307,200 Miscellaneous 226,563 Physics 226,160 Nanostag 62,408 Fluid Dynamics 56,674 TOTAL 10,428,267

19. Advantages • Easy access to state-of-the-art research information; • Entry to broad international collaboration; • Fosters S&T Co-operation across Europe; • Partners and networks for future research cooperation; • Promotes co-operation between Candidate Countries and the EU (particularly the FP) and facilitates their integration; • Exploration of new areas of co-operative research endeavor;

20. Advantages • Increased international recognition; • Successful consortia for the bids for the EU FP; • Coordination costs like travel and meetings expensesare funded through the EU FP; • Creates lasting networks of scientists & researchers; • Participants mainly from: • Research institutes and universities • Some 20 % of the participants comefrom industry and enterprises

21. Cheers! joao.silva@networkcontacto.com panastacio@deq.isel.ipl.pt