Trento, Italy - 16 December 2004 - Microsoft Research Cambridge (MSRC), Microsoft's research facility covering Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), and the University of Trento, Italy, today launched the first Converging Sciences Conference with the aim of building a new framework for collaborative scientific research in Europe. The groundbreaking two-day event in Trento, Italy, will bring together members of the European academic, political and corporate communities. They will discuss new mechanisms to achieve and accelerate the long-term social and innovation potential of the "new kinds" of science emerging in Europe from the convergence of computing and the sciences. Through a series of keynotes from speakers representing a huge range of scientific and policy-making disciplines and a number of group discussion panels, participants will outline a road map and a strategic vision for the future of research in the fields of life sciences, information technologies, computational physics, bio-engineering and pharmacology.
"As the lines between basic and applied research become blurred giving rise to new forms of scientific innovation, we need to investigate new mechanisms of working together to expand the impact of our results outside the tradition fields of research," said Professor Corrado Priami, head of Bioinformatics Research Program, University of Trento, Italy.
"This conference is a clear indication that there is a need and a desire by the wider European research community to begin to address these issues and drive together towards a common goal for innovation that bridges the existing gaps between the various disciplines represented here today. We hope to use this forum to identify new sciences and technologies that can have a huge impact on the socio-economic development of Europe."
The Converging Sciences Conference will aim to cover a range of topics that highlight the need for new forms of collaboration across a number of scientific disciplines; from the economic and social importance of converging sciences and the coming together of applied and basic research through to new methods of training tomorrow's scientists and even discussions around the urgent need to work as a single unit to understand the extent and effect of the damage to the planet's life support system. Key figures from the European worlds of politics, academia and industry will play a role in a unique scientific event in the European calendar. Attendees include representatives from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA), The European Commission bodies for New Emerging Sciences and Technologies (NEST) and Future and Emerging Technologies (FET), Microsoft Corp., Hewlett Packard, IBM, the Centre for Computational Genomics and Systems Biology, the University of Trento, the University of Cambridge, the Weizmann Institute of Science of Israel and INRIA of France. Together with over one hundred other delegates, the event attendees aim to deliver a proposal for a new framework for research and innovation in Europe that will accelerate the potential for science across EMEA.
"The potential for this event to form the basis for new types of scientific collaborations in Europe, creating greater benefit to science and to Europe's future in an era of 'new kinds of science' is truly exciting and hugely important", said Professor Stephen Emmott, director of the External Research Office at MSRC. "A well-orchestrated new research strategy in the fields outlined above could lead, on one hand, to a more rapid realisation of predictive, preventive and personalised medicine, a huge challenge for life sciences, and on the other, it could completely change the way that computation is embedded in science and even create entirely new building blocks for the next century of computing."
About the University of Trento
The University of Trento, founded in 1962, is organized into 7 faculties, 13 research departments that serve more than 15.000 students and almost 500 professors. The campus is located in the beautiful centre of Trento, town renowned for its art and history, and situated right in the point where Italian and Central European cultures meet. The most distinctive feature of this young and dynamic university is its particular emphasis on international relations. By means of several joint projects above all with European universities Trento is extending its network of cooperation in both teaching and research, in order to offer international education and research and to create opportunities for vocational training and professional careers. The University of Trento has recently introduced new study and research programmes in emerging area such as Cognitive Sciences, Neurosciences and International Studies. One of the most active areas of the University of Trento is the ICT sector within the DIT department, that recently established a research program as well as a master and graduate curricula in Bioinformatics. More information can be found at www.unitn.it/index_eng.htm.
About Microsoft Research
Founded in 1991, Microsoft Research is dedicated to conducting both basic and applied research in computer science and software engineering. Its goal is to develop new technologies that simplify and enhance the user's computing experience, reduce the cost of writing and maintaining software, and facilitate the creation of new types of software.
Microsoft Research employs more than 600 people, focusing on more than 40 areas of computing. Researchers in five facilities on three continents collaborate with leading academic, government and industry researchers to simplify and enhance technology in such areas as speech recognition, user-interface research, programming tools and methodologies, operating systems and networking, graphics, natural language processing, and mathematical sciences. More information can be found at www.research.microsoft.com.
Microsoft
Microsoft (NASDAQ: MSFT) is opgericht in 1975 en is een bekend innovator op het gebied van software, diensten en technologie voor zowel zakelijk als persoonlijk computergebruik. Het bedrijf levert een brede reeks aan oplossingen en diensten die mensen en organisaties overal ter wereld in staat stelt hun ambities te verwezenlijken.
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