Marie Curie Fellowships Success Stories
The European Commission, DG XII, has published a collection of Marie Curie Fellowship success stories, which have been compiled as a result of the Research Fellowship Activity of the European Union's Training and Mobility of Researchers programme (TMR). Marie Curie Fellowships are available to young European scientists who wish to further their academic or industrial career through research in a country outside their home country. An applicant may propose a research project of their own choice, in collaboration with the host institute. The proposals are then evaluated by panels of independent and highly qualified experts whose main objective is to select projects on the basis of their scientific merit and originality. Since the Community transnational fellowship programmes were launched, some 5,000 young researchers have been given the opportunity to realise their scientific ambitions at Europe's centres of research excellence. Examples of success stories in the book include one young scientist who undertook a two year study on a wide range of systems using numerous experimental methods. This work captured the interest of the international research world and 18 scientific publications have resulted from his Fellowship. Another used his twelve-month scholarship to develop a model to contribute to understanding of companies' strategies to respond to waste issues relating to discarded vehicles. This research has also proved valuable to EU policy-makers on the issue of end-of-life vehicles. The Training and Mobility of Researchers programme is coming to an end, and therefore no more applications for Fellowships can be made at present. However, Marie Curie Fellowships should be included in the Improving Human Potential programme within the Fifth Framework Programme, scheduled to start at the beginning of 1999.