'Science and Society' expressions of interest published on CORDIS
More than 220 expressions of interest, submitted by European citizens and regarding the science and society section of the Sixth Framework Programme (FP6), have been published on CORDIS, the European Commission's Research and Development Information Service. The ideas have been submitted by individuals, public and private bodies, as well as research, civil society and media organisations in 29 countries in response to the European Commission's call for expressions of interest in the 'Science and Society' section of FP6. Their publication on CORDIS provides an opportunity for science and society stakeholders across Europe to make contacts and forge collaborations for FP6 on topics of mutual interest. While the area 'public awareness' attracted the highest level of interest, all themes of science and society have been addressed, including scientific advice, governance, ethics, public awareness, young people, and women and science. The Commission is now revising the science and society work programme for 2004, taking account of the submitted ideas and planning new calls for the funding of projects before the end of the year. CORDIS has developed a dedicated service for the expressions of interest, offering the choice to search the submissions by the topics of the Science and Society Action Plan, by work programme activity areas (ethics, scientific advice, etc), or by the practical actions envisaged (networks, conferences, research, etc). There is also a free text search option, facilitated by a list of science and society key words related to EU research funding. The database is fully integrated into the broader science and society web service on CORDIS, which offers news and access to partners, documents and other practical information necessary for FP6 project proposals in the area of science and society.