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European Research Council:
supporting frontier research
Rescue Robots and Formula
car by Greek research teams
Three NHRF open access
journals now in DOAJ
Two new robots for the search and rescue
of survivors after natural disasters have
been developed by the PANDORA research
team of the Department of Electrical and
Computer Engineering from Aristotle
University of Thessaloniki. The research
team has earned distinctions in interna-
tional competitions in Austria and China.
Another robot, in the same field of rescue
and assistance for the survivors of natur-
al disasters, has been developed by the
Technological institute of Kavala. ROXANI
was voted by the public as the best prod-
uct of digital technology and innovation
during the Athens Digital Week 2009.
Another international distinction for a
Greek research team was won by the
Aristotle Racing Team (Department of
Mechanical Engineers, Aristotle University
of Thessaloniki). The team was awarded
first prize for designing a formula car at
the International Formula Student Competition
that took place on 10-14 July at Silverstone
speedway, UK.
Highlights
INNO
VATION
RESEARCH
ΤECHNOLOGY
&
i
i
i
European Research Council
The European Research Council (ERC) - the
first European funding agency for investi-
gator-initiated frontier research - has sur-
passed its goals beyond expectations dur-
ing the first years of its operation. The feedback
of the scientific community has been enthu-
siastic, resulting in a positive spillover into
national systems. The Specific Programme
"Ideas" (7th Framework Programme) has
received around 15000 proposals in the first
calls and 600 contracts have already been
signed with a total EC contribution of 900
million euros. 11 projects submitted by Greek
scientists have been selected for frontier
research inAthens, Crete, Patras andThessaloniki.
Several countries have used the ERC assess-
ment and ranking system to give grants to
runners up from their countries that had
met the quality criteria but could not be
financed due to a lack of funds.
The ERC calls for Starting and Advanced
Grants are published on a yearly basis and
cover all scientific and interdisciplinary fields,
as well as high risk research. Proposals are
evaluated by internationally acknowledged
scientists and the sole criterion is excellence.
The total budget of the Programme amounts
to € 7.5 billion for the period 2007-2013,
and, until now, 22.10% of the budget has
been absorbed. On the one hand, the over-
subscription to the ERC calls demonstrates
the need in the EU for the funding of basic
research, but on the other, makes the oper-
ation and efficient running of the ERC dif-
ficult. The European Commission has recent-
ly published a reviewon the ERCmechanisms
and structures. The experts' panel chaired
by Vaira Vike-Freiberga found that, overall,
the ERC has succeeded in attracting out-
standing scientists across Europe and abroad.
However, there are fundamental problems
related to rules and practices regarding the
governance, administration and operation
of the ERC that are not geared to the nature
of modern frontier science management.
The three peer-reviewed open-access jour-
nals in the humanities run by NHRF have
been included in the Directory of Open
Access Journals (DOAJ), namely Byzantina
Symmeikta, Tekmeria, and The Historical
Review/La Revue Historique. The journals
are published in electronic form by the
National Documentation Centre.
The development of electronic journals
has been part of the project "National
Information System for Research and
Technology, Phase I I I - Open Access
Electronic Repositories and Journals".
More specifically:
1.
BYZANTINA SYMMEIKTA has been pub-
lished in print since 1966 at the Institute
for Byzantine Research/NHRF under the
title SYMMEIKTA. It publishes original
research and book reviews on Byzantine
Studies.
2.
Tekmeria has been published in print
since 1996. Initially published with the
University of Thessaloniki, since 2008
it has been published by the Institute
for Greco-Roman Research/NHRF. It
publishes original research on Greco-
Roman Antiquity.
3.
The Historical Review/La Revue Historique
has been published in print since 2004
wi th the Inst i tute for Neohel lenic
Research/NHRF. It publishes original
research and book reviews on Modern
Greek Studies.
All three journals, with a significant his-
tory of circulation in print, publish origi-
nal peer-reviewed papers and are sup-
ported by international advisory boards.
Their content is offered under open access,
that is, available without charge for read-
ing, downloading and/or printing. Their
inclusion in DOAJ comes as recognition
that these journals, their publishers and
EKT support the principle of open access
to knowledge. DOAJ is the most signifi-
cant indexing service for open access jour-
nals, providing access to more than 4000
journals originating from all over the world.
Interview of Aliki
Giannakopoulou, ECSITE,
Conference Communication
and Coordinator
i
ECSITE
http://www.ecsite.eu
ECSITE is the European network for sci-
ence centres and museums, linking sci-
ence communication professionals in 424
institutions from 52 countries across Europe
and the world. Members include science
centres and museums, science festivals,
natural history museums, zoos, aquari-
ums, universities, research organisations
and companies communicating and engag-
ing the public in science through acces-
sible, interactive exhibits and programmes.
Al i k i Gi annakopoulou, Conference
Communication and Coordinator, describes
the operation of the Network, the role of
institutions in science communication,
the opportunities offered by new tech-
nologies, and the participation of Greek
organizations in such initiatives.
ΚΑΙΝΟΤΟΜΙΑ
ΕΡΕΥΝΑ & ΤΕΧΝΟΛΟΓΙΑ
Ι
09 -10 / 2009
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