Final Report
ECRIUK
European Conference of Research Infrastructures
Accompanying Measures
implemented as
Specific Support Action
Contract No. 026055
Project coordinator:	University of Nottingham
Project website:	www.nottingham.ac.uk/ecriuk/
Period covered: from 1 July 2005 to 28 Feb 2006       Date of preparation: March 2006
Start date of project: 1 July 2005	Duration: 8 months
Project funded by the European Community under the “Structuring the European Research Area” Specific Programme
Research Infrastructures action

A. Final Activity Report

1:     PROGRESS REPORT
1.1   Summary of the activities and major achievements
ECRIUK was an Accompanying Measure action to support the organisation of the Third European Conference on Research Infrastructures (first in Strasbourg, 2000, second in Trieste, 2003) and was aimed at facilitating the circulation and maintenance of information that would be relevant to policy makers and other stakeholders in view of FP7 (2007-2013) in the domain of research infrastructures. The conference was held in Nottingham, UK on 6-7 December 2005 and was organised so as to coincide with the UK Presidency of the European Union, a crucial consideration for the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) for RTD. It also acted as a key milestone for the co-ordinated approach to research infrastructures in Europe as developed by the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI).
The purpose of the ECRIUK project was to promote, organise and manage an international conference that had prime objectives of:
•	clarifying the long-term scientific needs in relation to European research infrastructures
•	clarifying how a Research Infrastructure can generate impacts not only on scientific issues but also on socio-economic and policy development
That these aims were achieved has been demonstrated by the high degree of satisfaction that was expressed in a survey of representatives of the 350 delegates that attended the conference. The conference programme itself was structured to include plenary presentations by internationally-renowned figures from the research arena and parallel sessions that covered scientific, socio-economic and policy themes. The opportunity to elicit feedback from the delegates was taken both by review presentation given by rapporteurs allocated to each of the parallel sessions and by a ‘round table’ discussion conducted as a conclusion to the conference.
The only contractor involved in ECRIUK was the University of Nottingham which undertook the various Tasks in the project work programme covering the organisation and administration of the conference, IT support (including the development of a website), promotion and marketing, as well as performing the project management activities.
1.2 Consortium Management Activities
The following Management Team was appointed by the coordinator to oversee the project:
Dr R Masterman, Director, Research Innovation Services – Project Manager
Mrs H Hurman, Head of Regional Business Development
Dr L Archibald, Industrial Fellow
These persons were responsible for overall management and steering of the programme, day-to-day management of staff and financial resources within the University of Nottingham and interactions with external agencies in UK and Europe. The Management Team oversaw the activities of all staff involved in this initiative and co-opted other Team members, both internal and external to the University, to ensure efficient management and that progress was in line with the project Implementation Plan.

The Management Team met twice per month to discuss progress to date, actions for the next period and any issues that arose that could potentially affect the staging of the conference. The proceedings of all meetings were recorded and minutes distributed. The preferred means of communication was by email; any confidential information that needed to be circulated was done via a protected project intranet site to which only authorised personnel had access.
The project Tasks were managed in accordance with the Management Plan presented below.
Table 1: Management Plan Barchart

		Period (months)	
	12            3            4            5             6            7          8	
1	Management of AM	Dl	D2							
2	Definition of Programme and Sponsorship	M		D3			D4			
3	Registration and Secretariat (attendees)	M					D5			
4	Registration and Secretariat (speakers)				D6	D7				
5	Web Development and IT Support			M D8				D9		
6	Marketing and Advertising Activity			M						
7	Evaluation of Impacts and Reporting				M		DIO		Dll	

Key:    M – Milestone

D – Deliverable

During the course of the project, there were no deviations from this plan. Further details of management activities are given in Section 1.3 Task1.

1.3 Workpackage progress
Overview of the Actions Carried Out
•	The activities performed under this Accompanying Measure, AM, provided the infrastructure to successfully stage the Third European Conference on Research Infrastructures (ECRIUK) held at the East Midlands Conference Centre (EMCC), Nottingham, UK on 6-7 December 2005 and attended by stakeholders from across the EU
•	The University of Nottingham, as Project Coordinator, carried out all project management activities throughout the duration of the AM
•	The conference programme was defined in collaboration with representatives of the European Commission, EC, and the European Strategic Forum on Research Infrastructures, ESFRI
•	Prior to and during the conference, the Coordinator provided Secretariat and registration services for the delegates and speakers
•	The Coordinator developed and maintained a conference website that incorporated the conference programme, attendee registration, accommodation and logistical information
•	During the course of the programme, the Coordinator secured sponsorship funding to support the activities of the AM
•	Subsequent to the conclusion of the conference, an electronic feedback survey was conducted that showed satisfaction ratings by delegates of Good-Excellent in excess of 75% for all logistical categories

Task number	1
Task Title	Management of AM
Start month	1       End month    8
Objectives:
1)	To ensure that the programme is technically and financially well managed, the staff involved in project activities work as a team, implementation plan deliverables and milestones are reached on time, and that communications are effective and secure.
2)	To report progress at project meetings against the defined schedule in the implementation plan.
3)	To coordinate supply of external services to the conference.
Description of work:
o Recruit existing and contract staff and external agencies to create project team that will deliver the European Conference on Investment in Research Infrastructure.
The following persons were brought together to form the ECRIUK project team:
Management Team (University of Nottingham)
Richard Masterman, Helen Hurman, and Laurence Archibald Administrator (University of Nottingham)
Marlies Keller IT Support (University of Nottingham)
John Yellup Secretariat Support (University of Nottingham)
Ros Jones EMCC Management (University of Nottingham)
Joanna Wright ESFRI representative (CCLRC)
Terry Mawby
These persons represented people either specifically recruited, full- or part-time, by the University of Nottingham to work on the project or were employees of the University whose time was not charged to project costs; this latter situation also applied to Mr Mawby, the ESFRI representative. Further members of staff from the University of Nottingham were employed to provide administrative handson support before and during the conference.
The Management Team would like to place on record the support that was received from the EC staff associated with ECRIUK, in particular:
Herve Pero
Maria Carvalho Dias
Elena Righi Steele

o Project management and progress review of overall activities, regular programme meetings and communication to stakeholders.
The following management and general meetings were held and minuted:

Date	Title/subject of meeting	Location	No. of attendees	
27 Sept ‘05	Internal management meeting	Nottingham	5	
28 Sept ‘05	Review meeting with EC, CCLRC, emda	Nottingham	7	
12 Oct ‘05	Internal management meeting	Nottingham	5	
26 Oct ‘05	Review meeting with EC, CCLRC, emda	Nottingham	8	
8 Nov ‘05	Internal management meeting	Nottingham	4	
23 Nov ‘05	Internal management meeting	Nottingham	5	
5 Dec ‘05	Review meeting with EC, CCLRC, emda	Nottingham	11	
Deliverables:

Del. /MS	Deliverable/Milestone	Task	Delivered by	Planned	Achieved	
No.	Name	no.	contractor	(in months)	(in months)	
D1	Project Team confirmation	1	UNOTT	1	1	
	External Events Manager &					
D2	Marketing Coordinator recruited	1	UNOTT	2	2	

Task number 2
Task Title Definition of Programme and Sponsorship 
Start month 1       End month    6

Objectives:
1)	Support the definition of the conference agenda and the social programme.
2)	Definition of sponsorship package.
Description of work:
o Liase with ESFRI and the EC to confirm the programme content, speakers and delegates. The final conference agenda is presented in Appendix 1 at the end of Section A of this report. The 2 day programme comprised:
•	2 Plenary sessions with 11 presentations
•	4 Parallel sessions with 16 Keynote speakers and 34 presentations
•	A Review session with 4 presentations of the conclusions drawn from the Parallel sessions
•	A Round Table discussion chaired by a Moderator
o Ensure social programme meets requirements of EC and attendees.
The social programme comprised a Conference Dinner preceded by a cocktail reception held in the EMCC on 6 December 2005. Attendees at this event were the conference delegates plus representatives of UK stakeholder organisations.
o Itemise conference support costs and develop into individual packages for sponsorship.
Quotations were obtained for the various elements of cost that would be incurred in order to stage a successful conference. Two categories of cost were identified that could attract external sponsorship: the overall conference package (i.e. EMCC costs) and catering.
Deliverables:

Del. /MS No.	Deliverable/Milestone Name	Task no.	Delivered by contractor	Planned (in months)	Achieved (in months)	
D3	Sponsor package defined	2	UNOTT	3	3	
D4	Final conference programme established	2	UNOTT	6	5	
M1	EC contract negotiation completed	2	UNOTT	1	3	

Task number	3
Task Title	Registration and Secretariat (attendees)
Start month	1	End month	6
Objectives:
1)	Develop database for attendees; administer interactions with venue management and other, external service providers
2)	Produce delegate information packs.
Description of work:
o Liaison with EC to develop database showing attendance status of invitees.
The first invitation list of about 600 people was supplied to Nottingham by the EC on 4 Oct 2005. Invitations were e-mailed to everyone on this list. Subsequently, further lists were supplied and these people were also invited by e-mail. Ultimately, approximately 1200 people were invited to attend. This information was stored on a database which was used to record registrations as they were made. This database was continually updated to include requests from unlisted and alternate delegates to attend the conference. Such requests were forwarded to the EC and ESFRI for consideration before invitations were sent. The database also stored additional information, supplied by the delegates, such as personal address details and travel arrangements which were subsequently used to organise the provision of transport.
The database has been made available to ESFRI and the EC for use in connection with future conferences.
o Manage external agencies so that services are delivered as defined and on time.
A contract was established with EMCC to provide the venue, catering, hotel booking and audiovisual services required for the conference.
o Produce any hard copy information for use prior to the conference or as part of the event information pack.
An event information pack was provided containing:
•	an agenda and abstracts (provided by the EC)
•	ESFRI Annual Report 2004-05 (provided by the EC)
•	A list of delegates
•	A regional fact card for the East Midlands
•	An information sheet on Innovation East Midlands
•	British Library literature
•	Nottingham University literature
•	Speaker information sheet (speakers only)
o Register attendees.
Invitees were asked to register on-line via the conference website. Each application was checked against the invitation database to ensure only invitees were registered. The names of those not listed were forwarded to the EC and ESFRI for evaluation. A provisional e-mail confirmation of registration was sent out to delegates asking them to make their hotel bookings and travel

arrangements as soon as possible and inform the project Secretariat using the on-line form on the conference website. A formal invitation was issued to all delegates at the end of November 2005. 376 people registered for the conference with 38 people cancelling in the last 2 weeks. In total 338 attended the sessions with an extra 12 guests attending the dinner. A list of delegates has been included in Appendix 2.
o Coordinate local transport arrangements.
A decision was made to provide bus transport between the conference venue, the recommended hotels and Nottingham East Midlands Airport (NEMA). A local coach company was contracted to undertake this work. A transportation schedule and the capacities of buses required were determined based on the registration details in the registration database. Transport was provided from the hotels and NEMA to the East Midlands Conference Centre on the morning of 6 Dec 2005 in time for registration and the conference start. Return trips to the hotels were arranged after the conference dinner and then from the hotels to the venue on the 2nd day. At the conclusion of the conference, buses were provided to take attendees back to their hotels, to the Nottingham bus and train stations, and to NEMA.
o Oversee catering arrangements.
All the catering arrangements were organised by the East Midlands Conference Centre as part of their contract. This included both morning and afternoon tea/coffee breaks and lunch on both days and the conference dinner on the evening of 6 December. The cocktail reception prior to the dinner was sponsored by the British Library.
o Provide conference support staff.
Fourteen people acted as support staff for the duration of the conference: 5 from the EC, 7 from Nottingham University and 2 from CCLRC. These people handled the registration desk, ushered delegates and speakers and acted as facilitators for the sessions. A detailed staffing rota was drawn up before the conference to ensure that all aspects of administration could be covered. Staff at the East Midlands Conference Centre provided services as specified in their contract which included a Duty Manager, a manned information desk, IT and visual aids technicians, and all catering staff.
Deliverables:

Del. /MS No.	Deliverable/Milestone Name	Task no.	Delivered by contractor	Planned (in months)	Achieved (in months)	
D5	Complete delegates list in event pack	3	UNOTT	6	6	
M2	Venue booking and support actions confirmed	3	UNOTT	1	1	

Task number  4
Task Title : Registration and Secretariat (speakers)
Start month 1       End month    8

Objectives:
1)	Develop database for speakers
2)	Obtain abstracts of presentations and personal biographies
3)	Obtain final speeches / presentations.
Description of work:
o Confirm speakers with EC and ESFRI. The identification, organisation and confirmation of speakers were handled by ESFRI and the EC.
o Develop dedicated speaker database. The registration database, developed as part of Task 3, was also used to store details of the speakers.
o Coordinate receipt and processing of speaker abstracts and biographies.
Abstracts of presentations and speaker biographies were obtained by the EC and supplied to the University of Nottingham for inclusion, after the conclusion of the conference, in the final version of the website.
o Coordinate and manage the progress of the receipt of final presentations.
Final presentations were requested to be sent by e-mail prior to the start of the conference. About 40% were received beforehand the rest were provided upon registration. These presentations were checked by the ECRIUK support staff and loaded onto CDs for distribution to the meeting rooms where the 4 parallel sessions were being staged.
o Export presentations to EC for publication.
All presentations have been stored on the conference website in html format for direct viewing and as pdf files to download for general access. The presentations have also been distributed to specific persons in PowerPoint format on a CD.
Deliverables:

Del. /MS No.	Deliverable/Milestone Name	Task no.	Delivered by contractor	Planned (in months)	Achieved (in months)	
D6	Full programme of abstracts	4	UNOTT	4	5	
D7	Package of speakers’ presentations	4	UNOTT	5	6	

Task number	5
Task Title	Web Development and IT Support
Start month	1       End month    7
Objective:
Develop and update conference website incorporating registration, abstracts, presentation programme and logistics information.
Description of work:
o Design and set up a conference website with open homepage and password protected delegates’ pages including registration capability and conference programme details.
The website was set up during month 3. It consisted of the following pages:-
•	Home page
•	Objectives of the programme
•	Conference agenda
•	Venue details – link to East Midlands Conference Centre
•	Social programme
•	Registration – on-line form
•	Accommodation – links to hotel registration form and local hotels
•	Travel – links to geographic maps; bus and train timetables, flights arrival/departure information for Nottingham East Midlands and Birmingham Airports and on-line travel arrangement form
•	Contact & Links – list of websites relevant to the conference
o Update with amendments and additions as necessary.
The website was modified on presentation and content according to feedback received from the stakeholders. The conference programme was regularly modified in line with the latest information.
o Use website to generate e-mail alerts.
E-mail alerts were generated from an Microsoft XL database using the mail merge facility in Microsoft Word to send individualised e-mails to everyone on the invitation list.
o Install logistical information on local transport, accommodation and links to the relevant support organisations.
The accommodation and travel pages provided all required information. The East Midlands Conference Centre provided a hotel booking service for specified hotels.
o Design, install and progress feedback survey with evaluation capability. An on-line questionnaire was designed, in collaboration with ESFRI and the EC, and posted on the website immediately after the conclusion of the conference to gain the views of delegates on the organisation of the conference and their opinions on the content of the presentations.

o Provide IT support.
A unique e-mail address for the ECRIUK Secretariat was provided by the University of Nottingham for all communications regarding the conference. IT support during the conference was provided by EMCC staff.
Deliverables:

Del. /MS No.	Deliverable/Milestone Name	Task no.	Delivered by contractor	Planned (in months)	Achieved (in months)	
D8	Website with registration capability	5	UNOTT	3	3	
D9	Collated feedback survey	5	UNOTT	7	7	
M3	Website and URL established	5	UNOTT	3	3	
M4	Progress meeting	5	UNOTT	3	3	

Task number 6
Task Title Marketing & Advertising Activity

Start month 1       End month    8

Objectives:
1)	Secure sponsorship for the various external cost elements associated with the conference
2)	Identify and acquire the contents of the delegate bag
3)	Ensure effective coverage of event by local and national media.
Description of work:
o Market the sponsorship package, identified in Task 2, to obtain financial support to meet the infrastructure cost of the conference from RDAs and / or other public bodies.
Two sponsors were identified that agreed to support the conference financially:
East Midlands Development Agency, emda – contribution towards the cost of the EMCC package
The British Library – contribution towards the cost of the cocktail reception on 6 December 2005
o Maintain contact with prospective poster authors and devise layout of posters within the conference venue; source and purchase bags, gifts for speakers and other delegate pack items.
During the course of the conference, the following organisations had exhibition stands and literature on display:
•	European Commission
•	East Midlands Development Agency
•	University of Nottingham
•	British Library
•	CCLRC
•	BioKnex (an East Midlands networking initiative)
All delegates were provided with presentation packs containing a name badge, conference programme, conference background details, a delegates list, a UK Presidency writing pad and pen, a local area map and information from emda, ESFRI and the British Library
o Liaise with press, TV and radio in collaboration with ESFRI regarding appropriate coverage of the event.
Arrangements with the media were organised by the EC in collaboration with the University of Nottingham. A press briefing session was held in EMCC with 25 journalists immediately prior to the start of proceedings on 6 December.
Milestones:

Del. /MS No.	Deliverable/Milestone Name	Task no.	Delivered by contractor	Planned (in months)	Achieved (in months)	
 M5	Sponsors identified	6	UNOTT	3	5	

Task number	7
Task Title	Evaluation of Impacts and Reporting
Start month	1       End month    8
Objectives:
Obtain feedback from delegates that their objectives have been met; identification of future actions and recommendations; deliver final report.
Description of work:
o Develop and agree evaluation process for speakers and delegates, through use of conference website feedback survey (developed in Task 5). All delegates were e-mailed to request that they complete on-line the questionnaire produced during Task 5. A reminder was sent in January 2006 and replies were received until early February. A total of 70 responses were finally received.
The results of the survey are presented in Appendix 3 and can be summarised as follows: Questions 1.1 – 1.6 concerned the organisation and administration of the event and the delegates were asked to give ratings from Poor through Fair to Good and Excellent. Questions 2 – 4 dealt with issues arising from the conference itself; Questions 2.2 – 3.2 were straight choices (e.g. Yes/No) while Questions 2.1 and 3.3 – 4.2 asked for one of 5 rating categories from Strongly Disagree to Strongly Agree.
Overall, the event was very well received. 87% of respondents gave a Good to Excellent (G/E) rating for the conference realising its objective of stimulating discussion on the future of Research Infrastructures. High G/E ratings were also recorded for the quality of the venue (88%), the catering (84%), the transport provided (78%), the administrative support (87%) and the value of the website for providing information (84%). 50% of delegates gave Nottingham a G/E rating as a location for hosting international conferences; this is considered to be a reflection on the limited number of flights directly into Nottingham East Midlands Airport – a situation that Nottingham City Council has announced (Notice Nottingham, February 2006) will be rectified in the coming years.
Question 1.5 investigated the satisfaction levels of delegates with the duration of the conference. Three quarters of the respondents thought the 2-day duration appropriate to the subject, although one third of these thought that more time for networking would have been advantageous. No-one thought the conference to be too long. The current 2 years frequency of staging Research Infrastructures conferences (Question 2.3) met with the approval of 56% while 31% thought that every 3 years might be more appropriate. The mixture of both plenary and parallel sessions (Question 1.6) was also well-received with no-one giving this issue a Poor rating.
The conference was clearly successful in providing a new insight into the strategic issues that surround Research Infrastructures (Question 2.1) with 73% of respondents agreeing that this was the case. 59% thought that new opportunities had been opened up for them – 53% attributing this mainly to the presentations (Question 2.2).
Not surprisingly, the familiarity of the delegates with ESFRI issues was high with 87% aware of ESFRI’s aims and objectives before the conference and 74% aware of the Roadmap Project (Questions 3.1 and 3.2). The roadmapping issue provoked a somewhat mixed response (Questions 3.3 – 3.6). While 51% of respondents agreed they had confidence with the process itself (Question

3.3), a significant proportion (17%) disagreed and almost half were ‘neutral’ with regard to whether the Roadmap would achieve its aims (Question 3.4). Encouragingly, 68% agreed that the Roadmap would have a significant impact in the planning of new Research Infrastructures in general (Question 3.5) although this dropped to 52% when its usefulness in the respondents’ own areas of interest (Question 3.6) was considered.
Questions 4.1 and 4.2 looked at the threats to existing and future Research Infrastructures respectively. The biggest threat to existing RIs was seen to be a lack of co-ordination within Europe (70% agreement) and this level of agreement was maintained when considering the future. However, the biggest consensus on future threats was an 85% agreement on lack of funding (62% thinking this is a problem with existing RIs). A lack of qualified staff and developments outside Europe were not seen as major threats (about 70% disagreeing or neutral) although there was some polarisation of opinion on these subjects as, in all cases, 20-25% of respondents strongly agreed that these were real threats. A lack of vision by public authorities was seen as more of a problem than that by private bodies (62% compared to 40% agreement); public opinion was not seen as a significant issue (15% agreement). Finally, environmental issues were not seen as a current threat to Research Infrastructures (16% in agreement) although this figure rose to 21% for the future.
o Collate future actions and recommendations from plenary sessions and evaluation process in collaboration with the EC and ESFRI.
8 main conclusions were drawn from the proceedings; the conference:
1.	confirmed the importance of Research Infrastructures for ‘Capacity Building’
2.	underlined the importance of the ESFRI Roadmap
3.	called for an open, transparent and ongoing roadmap process
4.	highlighted the need for continuous support to existing RIs
5.	insisted on the need for more ‘opening-up’ of existing RIs
6.	stressed the growing importance of better ‘data storage and security’ at EU level
7.	recommended that ESFRI and the EC, together with relevant stakeholders, should take the initiative to study legal and management aspects of research infrastructures
8.	proposed reflections over an action plan for ‘global projects’
A discussion of these conclusions is presented in Appendix 4 and this has been widely disseminated e.g. to EC Commissioner Potocnik, MEP Buzek, all the Member State Science Ministers (via Lord Sainsbury), and other European organisations e.g. ESF, ESFRI members and have been placed on the ESFRI Website/CORDIS. Several of the conclusions are already helping to focus the work of both the EC and of ESFRI. A recommendation that further Conferences should be held has already been taken up and a conference in 2007 in Germany is already being planned.
Deliverables:

Del. /MS No.	Deliverable/Milestone Name	Task no.	Delivered by contractor	Planned (in months)	Achieved (in months)	
D10	Agreed evaluation and feedback specification	7	UNOTT	6	7	
D11	Final Report	7	UNOTT	8	8	
M6	Progress meeting					

1.4 Update of the non-confidential Project information PROJECT INFORMATION

Project acronym: ECRIUK

Proposal/Contract no.:026055
Accompanying Measure
European Conference of Research Infrastructures

1.	Project Summary
ECRIUK was an Accompanying Measure action to support the organisation of the Third European Conference on Research Infrastructures and was aimed at facilitating the circulation and maintenance of information that would be relevant to policy makers and other stakeholders in view of FP7 (2007-2013) in the domain of research infrastructures. The conference was held in Nottingham, UK on 6-7 December 2005 and was organised so as to coincide with the UK Presidency of the European Union, a crucial consideration for the Seventh Framework Programme (FP7) for RTD. It also acted as a key milestone for the co-ordinated approach to research infrastructures in Europe as developed by the European Strategy Forum on Research Infrastructures (ESFRI).
2.	Project Objectives
The purpose of the ECRIUK project was to promote, organise and manage an international conference that had prime objectives of:
•	clarifying the long-term scientific needs in relation to European research infrastructures
•	clarifying how a Research Infrastructure can generate impacts not only on scientific issues but also on socio-economic and policy development

3.	Reporting Period:
4.	Project website address:
Final (July 2005 – February 2006) www.nottingham.ac.uk/ecriuk/
5.       Project Achievements
That the aims of the project were achieved has been demonstrated by the high degree of satisfaction that was expressed in a survey of representatives of the 350 delegates that attended the conference. The conference programme itself was structured to include plenary presentations by internationally-renowned figures from the research arena and parallel sessions that covered scientific, socio-economic and policy themes. The opportunity to elicit feedback from the delegates was taken both by review presentation given by rapporteurs allocated to each of the parallel sessions and by a ‘round table’ discussion conducted as a conclusion to the conference.

6.
List of Participants

Participant number
(co-ordinator = N°1)	Participant name
(Organisation, city, country)	Short name	
1	The University of Nottingham, UK	UNOTT	

2:     LIST OF DELIVERABLES
The following is a consolidated list of all deliverables achieved during the programme.

Task No.	Deliverable No.	Deliverable name	Delivered by Contractor	Planned (in months)	Achieved (in months)	
1	D1	Project Team confirmation	UNOTT	1	1	
1	D2	External Events Manager & Marketing Coordinator recruited	UNOTT	2	2	
2	D3	Sponsor package defined	UNOTT	3	3	
2	D4	Final conference programme established	UNOTT	6	5	
3	D5	Complete delegates list in event pack	UNOTT	6	6	
4	D6	Full programme of abstracts	UNOTT	4	5	
4	D7	Package of speakers presentations	UNOTT	5	6	
5	D8	Website with registration capability	UNOTT	3	3	
5	D9	Collated feedback survey	UNOTT	7	7	
7	D10	Agreed evaluation and feedback specification	UNOTT	6	7	
7	D11	Final Report	UNOTT	8	8	

3:     USE AND DISEMINATION OF KNOWLEDGE
The key outcomes from the programme are the 8 prime conclusions that resulted from the discussions held during the conference, see Appendix 4. These conclusions have been widely disseminated to policy-making and interested scientific communities e.g. to EC Commissioner Potocnik, MEP Buzek, all the Member State Science Ministers (via Lord Sainsbury), and other European organisations e.g. ESF, ESFRI members and have been placed on the ESFRI Website/CORDIS.
The proceedings of the conference have been disseminated to delegates and other stakeholders via the conference website that will be maintained for the foreseeable future.
Dissemination to the wider public has been effected by publications associated with the journalists that were invited to the conference and given access to a press briefing session.