COST re-elects chairman and welcomes FYR back into committee
At a meeting of the Committee of senior officials for scientific and technical research (COST) in Akureyri, Iceland on 7 and 8 June, Gösta Diehl was re-elected as chairman for a second term, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY) was readmitted to COST and 12 new actions were agreed in principle. Gösta Diehl became the first CSO chairman to ever be re-elected for a second term in office. He was first elected in 1998, and will now serve another three years. Delegates approved an application to join COST from the FRY introduced by the country's Assistant Foreign Minister, Jelica Minic. 'The recent democratic transformation in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia has lead to an intensification of our relations with the European Union and other European countries in all fields. It is thus only natural that our scientific community is keen to enhance cooperation in the fields of science and research and wishes to actively participate in the COST network,' wrote the Assistant Minister in her application letter. The Committee also agreed to several requests for participation in individual COST actions following applications from scientific institutes in Ukraine, the USA, Japan, Russia and international bodies such as the UNESCO Biotechnological Educational and Training Centre, the World Organisation for Animal Health and the von Kármán Institute for Fluid Dynamics. The Committee agreed in principle to the launching of the following 12 new actions: - Telecommunications 1) Knowledge and exploration in science and technology 2) Computational and information infrastructure in the astronomical datagrid - Transport 1) Reinforcement of pavements with steel meshes and geosynthetics 2) The accessibility of coaches and long distance buses for people with reduced mobility - Meteorology 1) Short range forecasting methods of fog, visibility and low clouds - Agriculture and biotechnology 1) Quality legume based forage systems for contrasting environments 2) Bio-markers for array technology in agriculture - Food science 1) Health implications of dietary amines - Urban civil engineering 1) Technical infrastructure and vegetation - improving relations 2) Improving urban buildings envelopes - Chemistry 1) Prebiotic chemistry and early evolution - Forests and forestry products 1) GenoSilva: European forest genomics network