1. COST at the 6th European Space Weather Week
Dr. Carine Petit
ESSEM Science Officer
Brussels, 16 November 2009

2. What is COST?
The first and still the widest EU intergovernmental framework for R&D cooperation was created in 1971 to coordinate nationally funded research activities
Still a member state initiative, COST is now funded via the EU's Framework Programs (FP7 – 210 M€) and delivered via the European Science Foundation
In 2009, ~ 230 on-going Actions
60 new Actions per year selected from 2 Collecting Dates (end of March and of September)

3. COST does NOT fund R&D directly, but networking activities!
What is the objective of COST?
COST aims at building international networks of nationally-funded research projects in 9 scientific domains, that work together to resolve clearly-defined scientific challenges, and to deliver:
new knowledge, position papers, standards (inter-comparison, cross cal/val), harmonisation, new systems of reference or cooperation to develop new technologies.
COST does NOT fund R&D directly, but networking activities!

4. COST main characteristics
“Bottom-up” – no fixed programmes / priorities
À la carte participation
Focus on multidisciplinary cooperation
Enabling agent – Promotion of Early Stage Researchers
Pan-European dimension
Open to global cooperation in the mutual interest
Coordination through cooperation in networks
“Non-competitive” (pre-normative; public utility)
Networks based on funded (research) projects – national responsibility
Equal access / Open Call
Building bridges

5. 36 COST Countries  The 27 EU Member States
 EFTA Member States  Iceland  Norway  Switzerland
 Acceding & Candidate Countries  Croatia
 FYR of Macedonia (FYROM)
 Turkey
 Potential Candidate Countries  Bosnia and Herzegovina
 Republic of Serbia
 COST Co-operating States Israel

6. COST and the Neighbouring Countries
COST countries
COST neighbouring countries
Special budget line in the COST system to facilitate collaborations
Specific exchange activities (Short Term Scientific Missions, focus on Early Stage Researchers)
Belarus (1)
Russia (41)
Ukraine (17)
Moldova (5)
Georgia (5)
GEORGIA
Albania (1)
Armenia (2)
Azerbaijan (1)
Lebanon (1)
Morocco (2)
Tunisia (7)
TUNISIA
Palestinian auth. (1)
Algeria (3)
Egypt (4)
In 2009: 90 participations in 45 Actions

7. COST Actions: global participation (status: May 2009)
BELARUS
EGYPT
ALGERIA
TUNISIA
GEORGIA
SRI LANKA
MALAYSIA
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
Australia (42)
Japan (14)
Canada (19)
New Zealand (26)
Russia (41)
USA (22)
Rep of Korea (6)
Algeria (3)
India (3)
Hong Kong (2)
South Africa (4)
Cuba (1)
Argentina (4)
Brazil (3)
Vietnam (1)
Malaysia (1)
Colombia (1)
Morocco (2)
Palestinian auth. (1)
Andorra (1)
Egypt (4)
Georgia (5)
Azerbaijan (1)
Ukraine (17)
Moldova (5)
China (4)
Armenia (2)
Albania (1)
Lebanon (1)
Belarus (1)
Mexico (1)
Pakistan (1)
Singapore (1)
UAE (1)
Tunisia (7)
COST countries
Neighbouring countries
Reciprocal agreements countries
251 participations in 103 Actions (36 countries)

8. 9 COST Scientific and Technical Domains
Biomedicine and Molecular Biosciences (BMBS)
Chemistry and Molecular Sciences & Technologies (CMST)
Earth System Science & Environmental Management (ESSEM)
Food & Agriculture (FA)
Forests, their Products and Services (FPS)
Individuals, Society, Culture & Health (ISCH)
Information & Communication Technologies (ICT)
Materials, Physical & Nanosciences (MPNS)
Transport & Urban Development (TUD)
+ Trans-Disciplinary Proposals can be submitted to Open Calls

9. ESSEM studies major Earth compartments and how they interact with human activities
Science and technology to better understand, observe, model and predict the Earth System and thereby to improve the Management of Environment and Natural Resources
Key aspect is to assess natural and human-induced trends, hazards and impacts on:
Earth System
Natural Resources
ESSEM scientific fields
Biodiversity
Climate Change
Instrumentation networks and technologies
Hazards forecasting and detection
Hydrology
Meteorology and meteorological operational capacities
Oceanography
Soil processes and land degradation
Water, air and soil pollution

10. Why is ESSEM interested in Space Weather ?
Today, disturbances generated by mankind affect all compartments of the Earth System
We have reached the carrying capacity of our Planet:
For some non-renewable resources, scarcity exists already and will increase => Exploration of Mars and the Moon, but by robots or humans?
The physical environment, terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems are threatened and must be monitored by EO satellite constellations supported by robust telecommunication systems and global navigation systems

11. What do we need ?
Among others, we need better knowledge, continuous monitoring, improved forecasting and modeling of space weather for anticipating the impacts of solar-terrestrial interactions on health, materials, global navigation satellite systems, telecommunications and signal propagation, troposphere weather (interaction with Global Climate Change?)
Mitigating these impacts require reliable space weather data

12. Need to inform the stakeholders and the public at large on
Status of early warning systems, forecasting and nowcasting of space weather events
Existing techniques to mitigate the impacts of space weather on the Earth system, humans and human activities
Infrastructure needed to develop a permanent SW service (hosted by a European agency or by WMO?)
Is there any common European policy to contribute in GEOSS with any SW data archiving? Is there a common approach on quality assurance of SW data?

13. COST in Space …
ICT
284 ( ) Innovative Antennas for Emerging Terrestrial and Space-based Applications
296 ( ) MIERS – Mitigation of Ionospheric Effects on Radio Systems
IC0802 ( ) Propagation Tools and Data for Integrated Telecommunication, Navigation and Earth Observation Systems
MPNS
MP0905 ( ) Black Holes in a Violent Universe
CMST
D27 ( ) Prebiotic Chemistry and Early Evolution
CM0805 ( ) The Chemical Cosmos: Understanding Chemistry in Astronomical Environments

14. COST in Space …
ESSEM
724 ( ) Developing the Basis for Monitoring, Modelling and Predicting Space Weather
Among other results, COST 724 initiated the European Space Weather Week … which has been continuously supported by ES0803
ES0803 ( ) Developing Space Weather Products and Services in Europe
Thank you to ES0803 for the support in the organisation of the 6th ESWW!

15. ESSEM team Mr Kent Hung Senior Administrative Officer - Cluster
Ms Aranzazu Sanchez
Administrative Officer - ESSEM
.org
Ms Chandrasa Sjamsudin
Dr Stefan Stückrad
Junior Science Officer - ESSEM
Dr Carine Petit
Science Officer – ESSEM
Senior SO – Natural Sciences Cluster