EPS Council Meeting 2011
The 2011 EPS Council Meeting took place on 1-2 April at the EPS Secretariat in Mulhouse. During the meeting Associate Members, Divisions, Groups, Individual Members and delegates from EPS Member Societies received reports on the activities of the EPS in 2010. In addition, the Council was pleased to welcome the new Executive Director of the Université d’Haute Alsace, M. Alexis Rinckenbach.
S. Randjibar Daemi from the ICTP gave an invited talk. He gave a detailed explanation of the ICTP explaining the role of ICTP in promoting physics in developing countries. Since its creation in 1964 by Abdus Salam, the ICTP has had over 120,000 visitors, and has awarded diplomas to 552 students from developing countries. Training and research programmes cover fields such as condensed matter physics, high energy physics, and earth systems.
C. Kurrer from the Directorate General Research and Innovation of the European Commission provided insight into the next EC funding programmes. FP7 will end in 2013, and the EC is planning to merge the Framework Programmes, the Competitiveness and Innovation Framework Programme and the EIT activity into one Common Strategic Framework for funding of research and innovation. A green paper describing important aspects of the EC’s plans has been prepared, and the EPS has been encouraged to provide input to this initiative.
