Researchers supported by Marie Curie Actions fellowships explain their research to commissioner Vassiliou (Image: Maximilien Brice/CERN)
Today Androulla Vassiliou, commissioner for education, culture, multilingualism and youth, is visiting CERN to meet young researchers supported by the EU Marie-Curie Actions fellowship programme.
Since 2007, CERN has been coordinating 35 research-training initiatives thanks to the Marie Curie Actions. After 2014, the programme will be maintained under a new scheme, Horizon 2020, and will be renamed the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions.
"Investing in research is a necessity for Europe to build a strong knowledge economy," said Vassiliou in a speech to CERN representatives and Marie Curie researchers this morning. She stressed the strong track record of collaboration between the EU and CERN. "We must invest in research; we must invest in you."
Marie-Curie financial support has secured research and training activities in diverse fields, from safety systems for extreme environments to the application of advanced accelerator technology. In addition to providing training in research fields, these EU actions promote mobility and development of young researchers by fostering collaborations between research institutes and companies across Europe and beyond. An example is the European Particle Physics Latin American Network (EPLANET) that promotes sustainable collaboration between Europe and Latin America in high-energy physics and associated technologies.
In the field of medical physics, CERN has been coordinating several training and research programmes for the advancement of hadrontherapy. A Particle Training Network for European Radiotherapy (PARTNER) successfully finished last year, while the Union of light ion centres in Europe (ULICE) coordinated by the Italian Research Infrastructure Facility CNAO, will conclude its programme in August 2013. The European Novel Imaging Systems for Ion therapy (ENVISION) also serves as a training platform for ENTERVISION, the research training in 3D digital imaging for cancer radiation therapy. The project, coordinated by CERN, brings together ten academic institutes and research centres of excellence and the one leading European company in particle therapy. It will provide training for 12 Early-Stage Researchers and four Experienced Researchers.