“The 2005 ‘Researchers in Europe’ Initiative”.

Σανόπουλος ΔημήτριοςΕθνικό Κέντρο Έρευνας και

Τεχνολογικής Ανάπτυξης (ΕΚΕΤΑ)

Θεσσαλονίκη Μάρτιος 2005

The 2005 ‘Researchers in Europe’ Initiative

The need to raise the public awareness about the role ofresearchers in society and to attract more young people intoscientific careers appears to play a central role has led to theorganization during 2005 of a large awareness campaign inEurope under the theme:

“The 2005 ‘Researchers in Europe’ Initiative The Initiative will be launched in Luxembourg on 8 June 2005

and last until end November.

Objectives

• to improve and promote a better public understanding of the contribution of researchers to society, in terms of innovation, job creation, competitiveness and economic growth;

• to encourage more young people to embark on careers in R&D and contribute thereby to increase the number of researchers in Europe

• to contribute to the overall attractiveness of the EU as a reference area for research talent from all over the world and raise awareness of the potential of the European Research Area as a European Employment market for researchers.

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• Students

• Teachers

• Parents

• Businesses

• Academic institutions

• Research organisations

• Public authorities

• Foundations

Main Stakeholders

2005 ‘Researchers in Europe’ Initiative’ main pillars: 1st Pillar

Events organised at European level, including :

• a European launch event on 8 June, under the Luxembourg Presidency

• a pan-European Researchers’ Night on Friday 23 September

• a large scale closing conference and event bringing together the conclusions and recommendations put forward during the Initiative

• Activities put forward by organisations acting at local, regional, national and international level. These activities have been proposed in the framework of an open call for proposals (FP6-2004-Mobility-13), which was published in the European Community Official Journal on 11 September 2004, with a closing date of 2 December 2004

2005 ‘Researchers in Europe’ Initiative’ main pillars: 2nd Pillar

2005 ‘Researchers in Europe’ Initiative’ main pillars: 3rd Pillar

• Activities organised in the context of large scale events (science festivals, science weeks etc), which have agreed to devote part or all of their 2005 session to the themes of the Initiative. Partnerships created under this group of projects may take various forms – exchange of information, stands, conferences, scientific cafés, granting of the Researchers in Europe Initiative label. Specific attention will be devoted in this respect to the establishment of synergies with events organised under the International Year of Physics

Impact

The idea of proposing a European-wide Initiative focusing on researchers is expected

to attract considerable attention and impact. The current interest generated by thehuman resource debate paves the way consequently for a potentially considerable

outreach, with extended discussion opportunities and policy implications. It concerns

above all a large range of possible actors and opens the opportunity to engage thepublic at large, including the media, in this debate