Starts: Mar 18, 2010 11:00

Ends: Mar 18, 2010 13:00

Two years ago a few European research groups from various countries ranging from the UK to Greece ganged up to apply for a STREP (Specific Targeted Research Project) in the FET (Future and Emerging Technology) OPEN domain of the Seventh Framework Programme of the EU. The proposal, called e-Flux (Evolutionary Microfluidix) had been granted and it passed its first year evaluation with excellent marks. I, as coordinator of e-Flux, shall present an overview of the structure and highlights (the evolution machine and new approaches to the origin of life) of the project. We shall see how in such projects forefront science combines with pioneering technology to obtain synergistic results, ranging from theoretical insights and experiments to applications. Far from being prostitution in any sense, such research projects can make things happen in Europe that would otherwise be difficult or even impossible to achieve.

Eörs Szathmáry is Permanent Fellow of Collegium Budapest, Professor of Biology at the Department of Plant Taxonomy and Ecology of Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest, Member of Academia Europaea and Corresponding Member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences.