โ Scribed by Dr. Claudio Battistoni
No coin nor oath required. For personal study only.
For many years, scientists, industrialists and politicians have recognized material science and technology as an area of vital importance if the European industrial system is to be competitive with those in America and Japan.
Therefore, specific programs have been developed both at European (EEC Programs; Brite-Euram, ESPRIT, etc.) and national levels, giving rise, in all the european countries, to tumultuous activity in this field.
In this situation, the pressure provided by the need for continuous technological development of the industrial system and the short-term international competition has forced most of the political authorities to strongly implement the "near to the market" character of European and national research. This trend has been, up to now, only partially balanced by small financial resources specifically devoted to cooperation between universities or public research groups.
On the other hand, European countries are rich in very highly skilled personnel and well-equipped laboratories working in up-to-date fields, and these usually cooperate with other European laboratories on the basis of long-term scientific views and mutual scientific interests.
From this short analysis, it becomes evident that there is a need for some sort of organization intermediate between the "market-oriented research" and the basic research, and that this should be provided at European level in order to take care of the medium-term developement of the field. The first debate on this topic took place during a meeting organized at the Milano Fair in April 1989 by the National Research Council of Italy (CNR) and was devoted to both the national and European efforts undertaken in the field of Advanced Materials. Many leaders of European national programs took part. During this meeting several proposals were made: a Researchers should participate in European national research programs as foreign temporary visitors, in order to participate in the research activities carried out in other European countries 0 To create an informal meeting place for those responsible for the European national programs on advanced materials.
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