Austria works to boost regional research cooperation
'There can never be enough cooperation between Central and Eastern Europe,' said Austrian Science and Research Minister Johannes Hahn on the signing of a trilateral Memorandum of Understanding between Austria and the EU's two newest Member States, Bulgaria and Romania. The document pays particular attention to collaboration between the three countries under the EU's Seventh Framework Programme and calls for wider cooperation between universities. 'Cooperation with the new EU Member States is an important matter for me,' commented Minister Hahn. 'As a science and research location we need a strong network in Central and Eastern Europe.' In addition to his Bulgarian and Romanian counterparts, Dr Hahn invited the research ministers or state secretaries of the Czech Republic, Slovenia, Hungary, Slovakia, Poland and Switzerland to Austria. There they agreed to work more closely on common infrastructure projects. Currently, many of these initiatives are located in Germany, France and the UK, with few being found in the rest of Europe. 'We need a geographical balance for research infrastructures,' commented Dr Hahn. 'Through common infrastructure projects with our neighbours from Central, Eastern and Southern Europe we can become visible in the Europe of 27 in the long run.' According to Dr Hahn, it is important for Austria to have neighbours who are economically strong and have resources for science and infrastructure projects at their disposal. At their meeting in Salzburg, the ministers also discussed 'brain drain', and hoped that by locating major infrastructures in the region, more scientists would be tempted to move to and stay in the countries involved. The ministers will meet again in Salzburg later this year.
Countries
Austria, Bulgaria, Romania