New Call for Proposals « Researchers’ Night 2006 »

In line with the « Researchers in Europe 2005 » (R.i.E.), which lasted from June to November 2005, the European Commission launches a new call for proposals aimed at the organisation of “Researchers’ night 2006” on 22 September 2006.

The main objective if this action consists of contributing to the reinforcement of public recognition of researchers and their important societal role.

The events to be organised on 22 September 2006 should aim at offering the public at large an opportunity to directly meet researchers in a festive and relaxed atmosphere, in order to illustrate the fact that researchers are “normal people” , whose unique specificity is their curiosity and passion for research, which they are willing to share with any European citizen.

The target audience of these events should be the public at large, including all different groups of population, such as children, teen agers, students, teachers, parents, and therefore activities suitable for each of these groups should be planned, keeping in mind that these activities should look sufficiently appealing to mobilise public on a Friday night, traditional time for entertainment before the week-end. They should therefore be foreseen in an informal, pleasant, and attractive way.

Further details regarding the very concept of the “Researchers’ night” are available on the Researchers in Europe website, as well as “tips for success” and examples of activities that were organised last year in the frame of the Researchers’ nights 2005 which were associated to the R.i.E.

Detailed queries may also be addressed to the following mailbox: researchersineurope@ec.europa.eu

2005 'Researchers in Europe' Initiative

A Specific Support Action has been launched with the publication of a call for proposals for the 2005 ‘Researchers in Europe’ Inititiative

This Specific Support Action scheduled for 2005 is a large-scale awareness raising campaign conceived to:

• increase public awareness and understanding of the importance of researchers to our society and their vital role in stimulating competitiveness, job creation and economic growth through innovation
• encourage more young people to embark on research careers and help shape the European Research Area and transform Europe into the most competitive knowledge-based economy by 2010
• raise the overall attractiveness of the EU as a reference area for research talent from all over the world and make foreign researchers perceive Europe as an attractive employment market

To help achieve this goal, the European Commission will launch a global platform to encourage all the relevant stakeholders to express and exchange views. This platform will run for six months (from May to November 2005).

Events and activities will be organised both at the European and national level.
National level activities are the purpose of the Call ‘FP6-2004-Mobility-13’ published on 11 September 2004 (closing date: 2 December 2004) - CLOSED -.

The call is open to all interested actors, including schools, libraries, science museums, laboratories and research organisations, academic institutions, businesses, public authorities, associations, and the media. The activities proposed must be geared towards contributing to the overall objectives of the initiative.

More information:

• Presentation Note (ZIP file - 20 Kb).
• Guide for Proposers (ZIP file - 137 Kb).
• Frequently Asked Questions (ZIP file - 40 Kb).
• Additional information on the progress of calls and the status of proposal evaluation, as well as guidance on how to apply and manage your project can be found at the new Marie Curie information service on CORDIS
• For more information, please visit the ‘Researchers in Europe’ dedicated website.