Results of the first call for proposals under the Standards, Measurements and Testing (SMT) programme On 15 December 1994, the European Commission published its first call for proposals for the specific programme for research and technological development in the field of standards, measurements and testing (1994-1998). This covered three specific areas of the programme: - Mea... On 15 December 1994, the European Commission published its first call for proposals for the specific programme for research and technological development in the field of standards, measurements and testing (1994-1998). This covered three specific areas of the programme: - Measurements for quality European products and prenormative research for industry; - Research related to written standards and technical support to trade; - Measurements related to the needs of society (health and safety, environmental monitoring, cultural heritage, justice system). Proposals for shared-cost actions relating to measurements for quality European products, including written standards for industry (Theme I) had to be submitted before the closing date of 19 April 1995. A total of 177 proposals were received by the above-mentioned deadline. A two stage evaluation process was applied. This included: - A first-stage evaluation, involving 40 experts chosen for their specialist knowledge of the fields to be treated, based on the technical quality of proposals; - A second-stage evaluation, involving 14 experts selected for their global knowledge of industrial requirements, Community and standardization policy, classifying the technically good proposals. Of the 126 eligible proposals received, 73 were classified as technically good in the first stage of the evaluation. The proposals were then classified according to four categories, A1 (outstanding), A2 (excellent but requiring minor modifications), B (good quality but requiring significant modifications) and C (not to be retained). Contract negotiations are presently underway and should be completed by 27 October 1995. Based on these negotiations, a list of final proposals to be funded will be established and contracts will be passed after Commission's approval. The proposals classified as A1 and A2 (44) cover the following areas: - Chemical industry; - Construction; - Electric/Electronics/Telecom; - Food/Agriculture/Bio-industry/Biotechnology; - Machining/Manufacturing; - Materials (Physical testing); - Medical/Clinical/Pharmaceutical; - Product testing (standards). Proposals received for thematic networks, which may be submitted at any time up until the end of 1997, were also evaluated at this time. Six projects were selected: - Industrial enzymes: developing measurement methods for air concentrations; - Harmonization of characterization methodologies for porous membranes; - In-situ monitoring of surface structure during deposition and post-deposition treatment; - E-Stat: study of electrostatics related problems in industry; - Chemometrics for measurement and testing - a feasibility study for a thematic network; - Food analysis using isotopic techniques. A series of proposals were also selected in the area of technology stimulation in favour of SMEs (CRAFT-SMT). The projects listed below correspond to exploratory awards for the preparation of cooperative projects: - Advanced magnetic characterization technology; - Beta dosimetry; - Preparation and development of a chamber detector; - Laser testing of advanced circuits for radiation dense environment; - Portable and fully-automatic sampling and measuring system for Dioxin/Furan emission in gas streams; - Development of sandwich materials fatigue testing demonstrator.
