Our blog is where you'll find all our project updates, highlights and achievements, as well as other news and events related to iMENTORS
Issue 12 is now available! You can view it booklet style or download the PDF. Printed copies are also available from
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
A 2012 e-IRG Roadmap outlined a vision for the future of e-Infrastructures in Europe. Now, the e-IRG has published its 2013 White Paper, which takes the discussion one step further and proposes specific next steps.
She Figures 2012 is the fourth publication of a key set of indicators that are essential to understand the situation of women in science and research. The She Figures data collection is undertaken every three years since 2003 by the Directorate-General for Research and Innovation of the European Commission, in cooperation with the Helsinki Group and its sub-group of Statistical Correspondents.
Read more
‘A Study on the Prospects of the Internet for Research and Education 2014-2020‘, the final report of the ASPIRE study, is now available in pdf and printed paper format.
This report is the formal deliverable of ASPIRE (A Study on the Prospect of the Internet Research and Education), a foresight study to provide strategic recommendation to policy and decision makers. It marks the end of an 18-month study carried out by TERENA and funded by the European Commission as part of the GN3 (GÉANT) project. The final report is based on the four ASPIRE Topic Reports published in September 2012.
Jean-Luc Dorel, Project Officer, Unit C1, DG CONNECT said: "The results of the ASPIRE study funded by the GN3 project couldn't come at a better time – they are relevant for the discussions on GN3plus;, on Horizon 2020 and on CEF (Connecting Europe Facility). I expect that the overall conclusions and recommendations of this report will inspire some new actions for the future.”
The outcome report of the Broadband Commission’s Working Group on Education.
Supporting and promoting scientific research and innovation, as well as enabling access to scientific information, have always been key priorities for the European Commission and the Member States. It is widely acknowledged that Authentication and Authorisation Infrastructures (AAIs) play a crucial role in supporting research and in providing a distributed virtual environment where scientific resources can be stored, accessed and shared. More interactive, collaborative approaches to research in conjunction with the deluge of data are opening new frontiers to data processing, storing and preservation; this also poses new requirements and challenges for existing AAIs across Europe.
David Foster, Chairman of the Programme Committee for the 2013 TERENA Networking Conference, writes in the Call for Papers for that conference: National Research and Education Networks are facing a period of change and evolving their business models and service offerings. With increasing emphasis on international collaborations, user communities need innovative approaches to exploit the rapid evolution of technologies that are increasingly reliant on excellent networking.
This edition of the Compendium documents that evolution in several different ways.
Technological innovation remains at the heart of what National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) are about. Due to the advent of highcapacity networks, congestion at the levels of campus, backbone and external connections seems to have been largely resolved for the time being.
In recent years, two key innovations have shaped NREN developments:
• NRENs have started to develop and deploy new Authentication and
Authorisation Infrastructures;
• The spread of ‘dark fibre’ networks has enabled novel network architectures that are both more cost-effective and better able to meet changing user demands.
This report explores the important aspects of data handling and storage in the context of future research networks and the associated services. The study encompasses networking requirements, storage, middleware, data policies, and data origin, each of which is considered from the standpoint of five disciplines: Genomics, High Energy Physics, Digital Cultural Heritage, Radio Astronomy, and Distributed Music Performance.
The NREN Futures study is a sub-study of the ASPIRE project and was set up to look at the current state of NRENs in Europe. From this, recommendations can be made as to how the NRENs should develop to take advantage of developments in technology and business practice in the next five to ten years.
The study used a variety of methods: questionnaires, surveys, interviews and the expertise of the panel members, to collect and analyse the current status, and then to predict how the NREN environment is likely to change in the future. A remarkably consistent view of future developments emerged from the different parts of the study and a range of recommendations and findings are detailed in the study. Because the state of development of the NRENs differs widely, the list of recommendations will be applicable to individual NRENs in different ways and should be adapted and adopted by the NRENs, as they deem appropriate.
The recommendations are:
›› The European Research and Education (R&E) Networking Community (NRENs, DANTE, TERENA, and user stakeholders) need an efficient, strategic management body to act as a single point of contact, capable of responding quickly and with authority.
EU support for research infrastructures in environmental and earth sciences
March 2012
It is widely recognised that environmental issues have been at the top of the agenda for several years already and climate change and global change still remain the most difficult societal challenges to confront. These topics have also wider implications related to food and fresh water supply and energy supply, i.e. access to essential resources and today's discussions also includes various mitigation strategies. The environmental societal challenges do not respect any borders and these issues naturally have to be solved from a sustainable global perspective.
This project has received funding from the European Union's Seventh Framework Programme for research, technological development and demonstration under grant agreement no 313203 