European taxonomists join forces

[Wouter Los]

For your information

Following a call from the European Commission on16 June 2004 to
submit proposals for a Network of Excellence on “Taxonomy for
biodiversity and ecosystem research”, the Consortium of European
Taxonomic Facilities (CETAF, www.cetaf.org) has decided to present a
proposal for such a network. The proposal will be co-ordinated by the
Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle in Paris. An interim steering
committee for the proposal has been set up, consisting of Simon
Tillier (MNHN Paris), Marian Ramos (Museo Nacional de Ciencias
Naturales, Madrid, CETAF chair),Thierry Bourgoin (MNHN, CETAF
vice-chair), Mark Chase (Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew), Wouter Los
(Netherlands Consortium of Biological Collections), Henrik Enghoff
(Natural History Museum of Denmark, University of Copenhagen,
CETAF vice-chair), and Claude Oytana (Caisse des Depots et
Consignations). The Interim Steering Committee is currently
preparing the initial plans and identifying the institutional leadership
for the network activities.  A pre-proposal for the network must be
submitted by 26 October. If the pre-proposal is successful, a full
proposal must be submitted in spring 2005 (tentative deadline: 15
March 2005).