Tag Archives: SEA-EU-NET

European and Asian science get cozy

The Euroscience Open Forum (ESOF) meeting scheduled July 11 – 15, 2012 in Dublin, Ireland features a session on titled ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) – EU (European Union) Partnership Symposium: A Year of Science. Few details are available in the programme but I have found more information in a Feb. 23, 2012 news item on Nanowerk about Thailand’s NANOTEC,

NANOTEC researchers participated as speakers during the visit of science journalist from 8 European nations. The visit is organized under the umbrella of the FP7 funded SEA-EU-NET project, in which NSTDA [Thailand’s National Science and Technology Development Agency]  is a partner, and the ASEAN-EU Year of Science, Technology and Innovation 2012.

I guess it makes a certain kind of sense that I found out more about ASEAN in a news item originating from Thailand as it turns out that ASEAN was founded in Thailand in 1967. Meanwhile, the SEA-EU-NET website provides some insight into this ‘alphabet soup’ of international scientific cooperation (from the home page),

We are deepening S&T [science and technology] cooperation between Europe and Southeast Asia in a strategic manner by identifying opportunities for S&T cooperation, creating a policy dialogue between the countries of Europe and Southeast Asia on S&T cooperation, and increasing the participation of researchers from Southeast Asia in the EC’s Seventh Framework programme (FP7). FP7 is the European Commission’s €53 billion programme for funding research and is open to Southeast Asia partners across research institutions, universities, and industry (including SMEs).

Here’s a bit more about the Association of Southeast Asian Nations’ and European Union’s Science and Technology Year 2012,

The EU-ASEAN Year of STI 2012 is a SEA-EU-NET activity which was launched in November 2011 and will be carried out during 2012. Offering a plattform for the bi-regional STI dialogue, this activity coordinates a wide variety of joint scientific and technological events.

I hope I can get to Dublin to hear more about this ASEAN – EU effort.