09 June 2010 | General, BMBS, CMST, ESSEM, FA, FPS, ISCH, ICT, MPNS, TUD, TD, President
A Farewell from the COST CSO President
Dear members of the COST community, my Presidency of the COST Committee of Senior Officials which covered the entire period from the latest COST Ministerial Conference in Dubrovnik in 2003 to the COST Ministerial Conference in Spain in 2010 will end on 21 June 2010 and I wish to say goodbye to all of you.
It is certainly very satisfactory to note how COST has improved since 2003. Somebody called this six-year period the 'renaissance' of COST. From 180 COST Actions in 2003 to the more than 280 Actions of today. From the 70 institutions from non-COST countries participating in COST Actions to the more than 350 institutions in 2010. From a contribution to COST of 50-80 M€ for the four years of FP6 to the contribution of 210-250 M€ for the seven years of FP7. From 2003 when somebody wanted to give “an honourable funeral” to COST to the present situation in which nobody could dispute that COST is one of the most effective instruments of the European Research Area. From the strong criticism of the “speaking notes” of a representative of the European Commission in 2003 to the “chorus of praises” for COST - as it was reported in the press - during the COST exhibition in the European Parliament in 2006 with Commissioner Potočnik and Professor Buzek or during my presentation of COST to the EU Research Working Party in 2009.
For all this, my deep gratitude to all CSO members, to the members and Chairs of the COST Domain Committees and to the participants in COST Actions, the real 'raison d’être' of COST. My gratitude to Professor Klaus Gretschmann, Director General of the General Secretariat of the Council of the European Union, for his constant support and to the members of the COST Secretariat for their always loyal, competent and efficient support. My gratitude to the members of the COST Office and in particular to its Director and to the representatives of the European Commission.
“If COST did not exist it would be necessary to invent it”.
This was the result of a survey in the European scientific community. COST was certainly extremely important for my scientific career and I understand that this is true for all the young scientists of the COST community. If COST will continue to receive the same high number of proposals for new COST Actions and if the same high number of Institutions of non-COST countries will continue to participate in COST Actions then COST should not have any problem for its future. An extremely efficient mechanism under the direct control of the COST Member States to contribute to decrease the fragmentation of investments in research in Europe coordinating bottom-up initiatives and to open the European Research Area to a global collaboration.
“Parting is such a sweet sorrow”.
This beautiful oxymoron that Shakespeare used for Romeo and Juliet and that combines contradictory ideas of pleasure and pain reflects well my state of mind. “Sorrow” since this concludes my “first” forty years of association with COST. I started in 1970 as Chair of two consecutive COST Actions, then as Chair of the COST Scientific Committee Telecommunications and Information Science and finally as President of the COST Committee of Senior Officials. “Sweet” since I am sure that my successor and you all will keep up the outstanding traditions of COST. My best wishes to the new COST CSO President Dr Angeles Rodríguez Peña and my heartiest congratulations to her: for the first time after 40 years the COST President is a woman!.
“Errare humanum est, sed perseverare diabolicum”.
COST made its first fatal mistake when I was elected President of the COST CSO in 2004 and persisted in confirming me as President of the COST CSO in 2007. Now that finally after 40 years COST will acquire its legal status with the COST Office Association - a non profit Association under the Belgian law - COST made its third fatal mistake electing me as President of its General Assembly and of its Administrative Board.
Consequently, this is not really a farewell but simply a goodbye since it appears that COST will not get rid of me completely.
Best wishes to all of you, keep up the good work and….long life to COST!
Yours sincerely
Francesco Fedi
Professor Francesco Fedi was elected President of the COST Committee of Senior Officials (CSO) in 2004 and re-elected for another three-year term in 2007. His COST CSO Presidency ends on 21 June 2010.
On 8 June 2010 he was elected President of the General Assembly and of the Administrative Board of the COST Office Association.
