Conference: Making Europe more attractive and accessible to researchers, 29-30 September, The Hague

The Hague, 17 Sep 2004

How can we make Europe more attractive and accessible to researchers from the rest of the world? This will be the focus of the EU conference on European research policy, 'Brain gain: the instruments', to be held in The Hague on 29 and 30 September 2004. This conference is organised by the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science, the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Nuffic, in close collaboration with the European Commission.

Researchers, policymakers and representatives of the business community will discuss the effects of existing EU instruments and new developments in this area. One of these developments is the achievement of the Lisbon and Barcelona objectives to make Europe the most dynamic and competitive knowledge society in the world by 2010, in which an average 3% of GNP is spent on research and R&D. To achieve this, an additional 700,000 researchers will need to be recruited by 2010, both within and outside Europe. It is therefore extremely important to ensure that Europe becomes and remains attractive to researchers.

On 29 September, the Ministry of Education, Culture and Science will hold workshops on improving researchers' career prospects. On 30 September, the entry requirements for researchers from third countries and elements of the 'brain gain' and 'brain circulation' will be among the topics discussed at the Nieuwe Kerk in The Hague.

The Dutch presidency will aim for conclusions that contribute to the political decision-making in the Competitiveness Council.

Ministers Maria van der Hoeven and Laurens Jan Brinkhorst will give a press conference on the conference results at the Mercure Hotel opposite the Nieuwe Kerk in The Hague on Thursday 30 September, from 17.00 to 18.00.

More information: http:///www.braingain-instruments.nl

Dutch Presidency
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