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European Science Bytes

Next Wave Staff

9 January 2004

EUROPEAN SCIENCE BYTES INDEX 2004

	Genomics Scientists Get Networking
	Nordic Nations Get European Agencies
	Research Skills Training
	Early-Career Fellowships
	France Gives Young SMEs a Tax Boost
	Write to the Top
	Innovation From Nature Competition
	Space Science at Cardiff

Genomics Scientists Get Networking

GeNeYouS, the networking organisation for young Dutch researchers in the field of genomics, is to hold its first symposium on 20 January in Utrecht. A morning of lectures will be followed by a choice of workshops in the afternoon, examining issues such as finding funding and entrepreneurship. Next Wave's CareerDoctor, Sara Shinton, will be leading a workshop on academic career planning. Registration is just ?10 for members (you can sign up for free membership).

Nordic Nations Get European Agencies

Sweden and Finland were agreed as the homes for two new science-based European agencies at the EU heads of government meeting on 13 December. Sweden is to host the brand new European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control; the Swedish government is to decide in which city it will be located. Meanwhile Helsinki had previously been chosen as the headquarters of the European Food Safety Authority, but following a protest by the Italian government this will now be located in Parma. Instead Helsinki will be home to the European Chemicals Agency.

Research Skills Training

A training course for Ph.D. candidates from across the Nordic and Baltic states and northwest Russia is being organised by NorFA, the Nordic Academy for Advanced Study, in Lithuania, 5 to 12 June 2004. The course, which aims to gather students from a wide variety of disciplines, will provide fundamental knowledge in scientific theory, philosophy, and ethics, as well as training in research skills such as defining, financing and managing a research project and communicating science. Up to 40 places will be available, with application details to be published on the NorFA Web site later in January or in early February.

Early-Career Fellowships

Approximately 25 Early-Career Fellowships providing career development opportunities in all fields are up for grabs from the Leverhulme Trust. The Trust will contribute 50% of each fellow's salary up to a maximum of £18,000 (about ?25,580) per annum, the rest of the salary costs being covered by the fellow's host institution. Each fellow may also ask for as much as an additional £5000 (about ?7100) per year in research expenses. The fellowships are for a duration of 24 months and should be taken up between the beginning of the 2004/2005 academic year and 1 May 2005.

To be eligible for this prestigious award, you need to be a member of the UK academic community and intend to remain so, have a Ph.D. or equivalent research experience, and be under 35. Applications from those past 35 will be considered if they have had a career change or taken a career break. You may download an application form from the Leverhulme Web site. The closing date for applications is 16 March 2004. Don't leave it to the last minute though--application details will no longer be available after 9 March 2004. Results will be given by the end of May 2004.

France Gives Start-Ups a Tax Boost

Just before Christmas, the French Parliament adopted a new status, Young Innovative Companies (Jeunes Enterprises Innovantes), which will make France a much more attractive location for start-ups. The new label applies to companies which are fewer than 8 years old and which spend at least 15% of their annual expenditure on research and development. These companies will be exempt from local business tax and from paying any social costs for all employees involved in R&D. In addition, they will pay no income tax during their first 3 profitable years, and will receive a 50% discount on their tax bills in years 4 and 5 (up to a maximum of ?100,000). The status came into effect on 1 January.

Write to the Top

Young scientists from the New Independent States of the former Soviet Union who have received fellowship or grant funding from INTAS are invited to enter the funding body's third writing competition. A first prize of ?800 is up for grabs for the best piece of writing of no more than 1,000 words about the recipient's research. The judges will be looking for simple, journalistic story telling, which highlights the relevance of the research and its applications on a national or international level. To be eligible, candidates must have completed their INTAS-funded research since January 2001. The closing date for entries is 16 February, and more information is available on the INTAS Web site.

Innovation From Nature Competition

The Bundesministerium für Bildung und Forschung (BMBF) in conjunction with the Jülich Research Center have launched a new competition called "Bionic--Innovations from Nature." Scientists and engineers are called to submit proposals where ingenious scientific solutions that have evolved in nature itself can be applied to scientific and technical challenges in research. Thirty proposals will be chosen for funding. The BMBF has committed ?1 million towards the initiative. The closing date for applications is 12 March 2004. For more information e-mail Forschungszentrum Jülich GmbH.

Space Science at Cardiff

A multimillion pound investment in new facilities is expected to boost space science and technology research at Cardiff University. The new Laboratory for Experimental Astrophysics is home to the Astronomy Instrumentation Group, which offers access to instruments such as ground-based telescopes, as well as satellite and balloon-borne observatories. The group, headed by Professor Walter Gear, aims to probe the very early universe and answer questions about how stars, planets, and galaxies have evolved from the tiny seeds created at the time of the big bang.

As well as training undergraduate and postgraduate students, the group has a spin-out company, QMC Instruments Ltd, with an annual turnover of £1million (about ?1.42 million). "The calibre of the work undertaken at Cardiff enhances the skills of those employed or trained within the group and enables our students and visitors to go out into the world spreading the name of Cardiff University and Wales as a major centre for technical and scientific excellence in astrophysics and space science," says Professor Walter Gear. The laboratories are funded by grants totalling nearly £2 million (about ?2.84 million) from the Higher Education Funding Council for Wales and the Joint Infrastructure Fund--an initiative of the Wellcome Trust and the Department for Trade and Industry's Office of Science and Technology--and administered by the Particle Physics and Astronomy Research Council.

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