Science and Technology Policy and Innovation I

COST

European Cooperation in the Field of

Scientific and Technical Research

Presented by:João Silva

Paulo Anastácio

Summary

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

European Technology Cooperation

International Energy Agency

Network for market orientedR&D national funding

Creates networks of nationally funded research projects onEuropean level

European Space Agency

EU R&D Framework ProgrammeEU

EUREKA

COST

ESA

…. ……..

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;

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;

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;

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;

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

Scientific and technical domains

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 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;

Evolution of actions (1980 – 2002)

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

Member participation (2002)

Non-member participation (2002)

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 €;

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;

Size of actions

% 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%

Budget size (2002)

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

TOTAL 10,428,267

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;

Advantages

Increased international recognition;

Successful consortia for the bids for the EU FP;

Coordination costs like travel and meetings expenses

are funded through the EU FP;

Creates lasting networks of scientists & researchers;

Participants mainly from:

– Research institutes and universities

– Some 20 % of the participants come

from industry and enterprises

Cheers!

joao.silva@networkcontacto.com

panastacio@deq.isel.ipl.pt