17.05.2010 - 18.05.2010 | Minsk, Belarus
The Workshop on EU-EECA cooperation in Information and Communication Technologies held in Minsk, on 17-18 May 2010 was focused on Technologies for Nanoelectronics and Photonics.The Workshop was organized within the framework of the EU funded project ‘S&T International Cooperation Network for Eastern European and Central Asian countries’ (IncoNet EECA). It was chaired by Dr. George Bonas, IncoNet EECA project coordinator and by Olga Meerovskaya, BelISA on behalf of the Belarusian Institute of System Analysis and Information Support of Scientific and Technical Sphere ‘BelISA’, the hosting Institution.
Presentations were made by George Bonas on “S&T Cooperation in the EECA region: The IncoNet EECA Project” and by Olga Meerovskaya on “The 7th Framework Programme: content and opportunities for cooperation in the field of Technologies for Nanoelectronics and Photonics”.
Leading scientists in Nanoelectronics and Photonics from both the EU Member States and the EECA countries participated in the Workshop (26 scientists in total, among which 17 from EECA countries – AZ, BY, GE, MD, RU, UA, UZ and 9 from EU Member States and Associated countries – DE, ES, GR, LV, RO, TR, UK). For the selection of the participants the National Academies of Sciences in EECA, other relevant national authorities and NIP structures in the EECA countries, large research organizations both in EU MS and in EECA countries, as well as consortia of two ICT Support Actions (‘EXTEND’, SCUBE-ICT’) have been contacted to propose suitable candidates. The selection criteria included: relevance of research interests and academic background in the field of Nanoelectronics and Photonics, past experience with the Framework Programmes, fluency in English, as well as nationality and gender balance.
The Workshop provided the representatives of the research communities of the EU and the EECA regions with a unique opportunity to exchange views on state-of-the art developments and on the mutual EU-EECA interests in the specific fields, in a true brainstorming session. Following a comprehensive discussion, the participants identified and agreed on a limited number of key research topics providing a brief description and a justification for the pertinence and importance of each one of them. The identified topics constitute a valuable input for the European Commission in view of forthcoming revisions of the ICT Work Programme.
The Workshop also included a brief presentation of the ICT Support Actions ‘EXTEND’, ‘SCUBE-ICT’, ‘ISTOK-SOYUZ’ and ‘IDEALIST2011’ by Dr. Tatyana Lyadnova (‘BelISA’), followed by a discussion among the participants on the way they established contacts with colleagues from EU or EECA for participation in joint FP projects, as well as on the benefits and difficulties they experienced.
See List of the participants, short report in Russian and photos at http://fp7-nip.org.by/ru/6rp/news/Sem_photonics.html.
Source: Olga Meerovskaya, BelISA
