Research and Innovation News and Highlights from the Austrian Presidency

Brussels, 03 January 2006

The European Union's research and innovation portal CORDIS launched today a new service (/austria/) that will enable users to follow the Austrian Presidency's initiatives and activities for advancing the decisions on the Union's research budget, the Seventh Framework Programme, and for enhancing the EU's innovation and competitiveness. The service also puts Austrian research and innovation players in the spotlight, providing show cases, statistics and contacts, as well as exploitable technologies from Austrian involvement in EU research programmes.

The new CORDIS Austrian Council Presidency Research, Development and Innovation Information Service highlights the Presidency's programme and priorities and will feature interviews with Austrian policy makers during the country’s Presidency term (1 January – 30 June 2006). The service offers the latest news, plus in-depth coverage of key high-level events designed to give impetus to the building of a European Research Area and knowledge-based economy.

Developed jointly by the Austrian Federal Ministry for Education, Science and Culture and the European Commission's research and innovation portal CORDIS, the service is part of a larger gateway to national research, which uses the Internet to make EU research policy more transparent and participatory. It will offer insights to the implementation of the Austrian Presidency research priorities, including:

• Negotiations on the budget and implementation mechanisms for the Seventh Framework Programme for Research and Technological Development (FP7);
• The 3% objective for national research investments;
• Creation of a European legal structure for ITER, the International Thermonuclear Experimental Reactor, which will be constructed in France;
• Promoting the debate on the Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) and on a future European Space Programme;
• Better research relations with other regions of the world, in particular with the Western Balkans, Latin America and the Caribbean.

The new CORDIS service will provide timely information on the various high level events, illustrating these priorities, such as:

• The Age of Simulation: 12 - 14 January, Linz
• European Science: A Modern Interpretation of Basic and Applied Research, 26-27 January, Vienna
• European Conference on Security Research, 20-21 February, Vienna
• Europe-wide Policy Coordination in Grid Research, 27-28 February, Linz
• Strengthening Higher Education and Research in South-Eastern Europe, 2-3 March, Vienna
• European ICT-Research and Innovation Policy - i2010. The European IST Prize Award Ceremony, 22-23 March, Vienna
• A Market for GMES in Europe and Its Regions, 19-20 April, Graz
• European Technology Platforms, 4-5 May, Vienna
• A Researcher's Labour Market: Europe - A Pole of Attraction?, 1 - 2 June, Vienna
• Aeronautics Days, 19-21 June, Vienna
• The 7th Framework Programme and the new European Research Council, 22 June, Washington

To foster better understanding of science in society, the Presidency has also scheduled between 3 June and 15 July 12 public places in Vienna along the underground, featuring “x.06 - Visions and Versions of European Research”.

The Austrian Presidency service will offer news, interviews and documents on the three meetings of the EU Competitiveness Council, scheduled for March, May and June 2006 and the Informal Competitiveness Council, which will take place from 20 to 22 April 2006 in Graz.

The service also represents a useful source for access to statistics, examples and background stories on Austrian technological achievements, with specific showcases, highlighting national contribution to key European research and innovation projects and initiatives. The 2005 European Innovation Scoreboard¹ published by the European Commission shows that Austria ranks fifth among the EU innovation league, following Sweden, Finland, Denmark and Germany. The new CORDIS service offers insights to this success.

The service will be a useful tool not only for researchers and policy makers, but also for small companies seeking to understand and tap on the opportunities in the emerging European internal market of knowledge and new technologies.

The service is updated in both English and German.

To visit the service and to register for free e-mail news alerts: /austria/

For further information on CORDIS:
Virginia Mercouri, CORDIS press contact,
Tel: + 32 2 238 17 36
Fax: + 32 2 238 17 98
E-mail: CORDIS Helpdesk
Web site: /press/