Petition to protect EU science budget

From: Initiative for Science in Europe
To: European Union (petition)

Dear colleagues,

The discussions at the next summit of the European Union heads of state or government, which is scheduled for 22 and 23 November, will be decisive in determining the EU research budget for the next seven years. Several Member States are demanding severe cuts on the total EU budget and research will have to compete with other policy priorities.

This is a time when we, the scientific community, should act together and make our case to protect research funding, including that of the European Research Council (ERC), from cuts. Decisions will be prepared in discussions among politicians at the national level. All of us must look for opportunities to affect these decisions and send a strong signal to the heads of state or government.

An open letter signed by European Nobel laureates has been published in top European newspapers this week. The impact of this letter will be increased if it is followed by a mobilization of the national scientific communities. To keep the momentum going, an online petition has been launched.

I would like to ask you to sign it and to encourage all your colleagues to do likewise. Note that in the past, less than 30 000 scientists signed the largest petition for a European scientific cause compared to the hundreds of thousands of signatures on petitions from other groups of society. We must do better than that.

This action is coordinated by the Initiative for Science in Europe (email; site), of which EMBO (excellence in life sciences, Heidelberg) is a member. Please contact Wolfgang Eppenschwandtner, Executive Coordinator of the ISE if you have any questions or suggestions.

Open Data in Archaeology
The AIA and Open Access: An Open Letter

From: Open Archaeology Working Group
To: Archaeological Institute of America

A recent editorial by the President of the Archaeological Institute of America, Elizabeth Bartman, made the claim that “the [AIA], along with our colleagues at the American Anthropological Association and other learned societies, have taken a stand against open access.” As might be expected, this has led to a degree of consternation among many of its members. After all, access to information is one of the most significant issues of our age and those who aim to restrict it should expect some opposition. Bartman is not objecting to freedom of speech, however, but ‘free as in beer’, in particular a proposed piece of federal legislation that would make archaeological scholarship ‘available to the public, on the Internet, for no charge’. This is not a simple issue and, as practicing archaeologists from the international community, we respect the AIA’s right to express such views. Despite this, it is our opinion that this proclamation has done both the AIA’s membership, as well as other academics and the general public, a grave disservice. [+]

8th EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation (HORIZON 2020): CH omitted

From: European cultural heritage research community
To: European Parliament and European Council

We, the undersigned, would like to plead strongly for the inclusion of cultural heritage research in the 8th EU Framework Programme for Research and Innovation, HORIZON 2020.

In the proposal of the European Commission for HORIZON 2020 cultural heritage has been omitted completely, thus taking away all the funds previously available for research in this field. This decision has serious consequences, since the whole basis for the conservation of cultural heritage in Europe will be eliminated, probably for many years to come.

Due to continuous EU funding of cultural heritage research since 1986 almost 200 projects have been successfully implemented internationally, making Europe the world leader in this sector. As an example of one of the outstanding projects within the current Framework Programme we mention here “Climate for Culture” (Project No. 226973, period: 2009-2014), which assesses the damage potential of climate change on our cultural heritage, its socio-economic impact as well as the possibilities of mitigation. For the first time ever, high resolution climate evolution scenarios will be coupled with whole building simulation models in order to identify the most urgent risks for specific regions and to develop mitigation strategies.

The research programmes funded in the last decades have built up a unique Europe-wide network for interlinking professional know-how in urgent matters of common interest. Only through research and innovation is it possible to meet the complex challenges involved in protecting our cultural heritage. Research funding provided within the EU Framework Programmes is essential for Europe, as it guarantees the development and implementation of state-of-the-art methods that are urgently required all over Europe not only for the conservation of irreplaceable cultural assets but also for their nurture. Without research, such assets cannot be cared for in the most sustainable manner, leading to the loss of a significant part of our cultural identity and an important economic factor that amounts to 3.3% GDP in Europe and a turnover of 338 billion EUR p.a. from tourism.

Thus, the exclusion of cultural heritage research from HORIZON 2020 would be a disastrous step backwards for Europe as a cultural entity as well an extremely negative signal to the rest of the world.

The signatories of this letter request the EU to acknowledge fully its responsibilities now and in the future, to put cultural heritage research back high on its agenda and to address the topic appropriately in the next Framework Programme. Sign petition

Portugal sem Ministério da Cultura ou Secretaria de Estado da Cultura

Para o sector da Cultura, Portugal apenas tem um Secretário de Estado da Cultura.
O Secretário de Estado da Cultura apenas tem uma área. Bem-vindo à área.

Museum Audience Insight
Computers in Museums: Necessary, or Expensive Mistake?

ICT for Cultural Heritage (CH) - call for papers
18 May – Submission
This ERCIM News special thematic issue invites short articles about ongoing research, development and deployment in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for CH.
The interdisciplinary discourse in CH combines information and reasoning from sciences and humanities probably more than other fields of knowledge, in order to understand our past and present. Heterogeneity, multimodality, incompleteness, dispersion and scale of information are among the great challenges for ICT in this field. New methods of data capture and content presentation allow for unprecedented distribution, cross-correlation and display of material CH, supporting conservation, archaeological and museological processes and the visualization of hypotheses about past reality. ICTs offer opportunities for interaction between experts and laymen and the elicitation of cultural knowledge from the public. Integrated information management is increasing effectiveness and efficiency of the administration and preservation of material heritage, a major social concern and business sector.

Stereoscopic Displays & Applications – call for papers
01 May – Submission
Special section. We are seeking papers on recent advances in 3D display hardware, computer software, system design, algorithms, image acquisition, applications, and human factors.
Key issues: Advances in true 3D display technologies (eg. mobile 3D displays, stereoscopic projection, electro-holography, etc.); Stereoscopic systems design (eg. for 3D TV, 3D web, virtual reality, augmented reality, mobile devices, game systems, interaction technologies); Human factors & user-interface issues, including task performance comparisons between stereoscopic and nonstereoscopic displays, evaluation methodologies; Stereoscopic imaging (eg. image processing, compression and synthesis of stereoscopic imagery, 2D to 3D conversion); 3D image acquisition and generation techniques.