Microsoft Invests in Europe Through EuroScience Initiative

Microsoft Invests in Europe Through EuroScience Initiative

PRAGUE, Czech Republic, February 2/PRNewswire/ --

- New Programme for Accelerating Advances in Science Establishes Centres
of Excellence, Extends Research Into New Areas and Helps Develop Europe's
Intellectual Capital



At the Government Leaders Forum today, Microsoft Chairman and Chief
Software Architect Bill Gates announced the EuroScience Initiative in his
keynote to over 500 government leaders and public officials. The initiative
aims to accelerate fundamental innovation in science and computing through
the pursuit of novel avenues of research by Microsoft and key research bodies
across Europe, driving scientific discoveries into outcomes with economic and
social value.


(Photo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20000822/MSFTLOGO)


The EuroScience Initiative is a multi-year programme for collaborative
research at the intersection of computing and the sciences, focused on new
computing paradigms, computational science and intelligent environments.
Investing a broad range of resources and expertise from Microsoft Research
over multiple years, working in collaboration with universities, partners and
government through new forms of public-private partnerships, the initiative
aims to encourage increased innovation and productivity in support of the
Lisbon Agenda goals to drive growth and job creation in Europe's
knowledge-based economy. The Initiative also encompasses a range of
activities contributing to Europe's intellectual capital, including
fellowships, scholarships, an award programme and a series of scientific
workshops.


"By bringing computing technology and the sciences closer together, the
EuroScience initiative will accelerate progress in key areas such as the life
and physical sciences, engineering and agriculture," said Gates.



Microsoft Research Centres of Excellence


An important part of the EuroScience programme is investment by Microsoft
Research in a network of centres of excellence (CoEs) tied to key research
institutions and groups in Europe that have created a hub of knowledge in a
particular research area.


The first of these, whose opening was also announced today, is a centre
for Computational and Systems Biology, created as a joint venture between
Microsoft, the Italian local and central governments, and the University of
Trento. At the Trento centre, researchers will focus on creating the next
generation of computational tools to enable biologists and others working in
the life sciences to better understand and predict complex processes in
biological systems, which could lead to new and faster insights into the
origin of disease, new therapies and better vaccines.


"This initiative will support the establishment of new kinds of converged
scientific research," said Letizia Moratti, Italian Minister of Education,
University and Research. "An interdisciplinary approach will be used in
selecting the projects for industrial research, technological innovation and
the training of highly qualified researchers, and the creation of new hi-tech
enterprises to be financed. The foundation of this centre in Trento is a very
good news for the status quo of research in Italy, which saw a growth in
public investments (in 2004 expenses for research set at around 0.6 per cent
of GDP) and in the number of researchers, which increased by 7,000 in the
public sector and 4,500 in the private sector between 2000 and 2004."


Additional Microsoft Research CoEs will be established in the coming
months. Discussions are underway with select research institutes in France,
Germany and the UK.



EuroScience Research Programmes



The EuroScience Initiative has three research programmes at its core:



-- New computing paradigms, addressing fundamental problems in computer
science by exploring and applying lessons drawn from nature, chemistry
and biology. This research programme explores new ways to take
computing beyond its current forms.
-- Computational science, aiming to create, in collaboration with the
scientific community, a new generation of computational tools for
accelerating advances in science through enhancing the day-to-day
productivity of scientists.
-- Intelligent environments, research into new applications for the
emerging world of 'ambient intelligence' where sensors, wireless
networks and interactive, embedded computing are invisibly and
seamlessly woven into people's everyday life and the social
environments in which they live.


Microsoft is already working with universities and research centres
across Europe to initiate projects within these programmes. Participating
universities include University College London, Leipzig University, the
University of Southampton, the Technical University of Berlin, the University
of York and plans to significantly extend the existing collaboration with
INRIA, the French National Institute for Research in Computer Science.


"The EuroScience Initiative represents a continuation of Microsoft's
longstanding commitment to innovation in Europe," said Jean-Philippe
Courtois, CEO of Microsoft Europe, Middle East and Africa. "By promoting
investment, broad participation and critical advances in the EuroScience
research priorities, we feel certain that the scientific community, European
industry and government will -- in partnership -- help release Europe's full
potential."



Developing Europe's Intellectual Capital


To support the vital role of scientific research and innovation in
building Europe's knowledge-based economy, the EuroScience Initiative also
includes a Career Development Fellowship Programme. Through this fellowship,
up to ten promising post-doctoral scientists who are establishing a track
record of world-leading research in emerging science and technology will
receive support, including funding up to 250,000 euro.


In addition to the Career Development Fellowship Programme, the
EuroScience Initiative includes three further programmes to help develop and
support Europe's intellectual capital:



-- European PhD Scholarship Programme. Up to 30 awards will be made each
year for some of Europe's brightest scholars to undertake scientific
training in European institutions who want to do research at the
intersection of computing and the sciences.
-- European Scientist of the Year Award. EuroScience will sponsor this
award to recognise the achievements of an individual who has made a
fundamentally important contribution to science and society in Europe.
-- Scientific workshops. An annual workshop series established to bring
together students, researchers, government and industry to discuss key
scientific and societal issues and topics arising from the EuroScience
initiative's research agenda.


For more information about the EuroScience Initiative, please contact the
External Research Office located at Microsoft Research Cambridge:
http://www.research.microsoft.com/ero or +44-1223-479-784.



About Microsoft Research


Founded in 1991, Microsoft Research is dedicated to conducting both basic
and applied research in computer science and software engineering. Its goals
are to enhance the user experience on computing devices, reduce the cost of
writing and maintaining software, and invent novel computing technologies.
Microsoft Research employs more than 700 people in six labs on three
continents, focusing on more than 55 areas of computing. Researchers
collaborate with leading academic, government, and industry researchers to
advance the state of the art in such areas as graphics, speech recognition,
user-interface research, natural language processing, programming tools and
methodologies, operating systems and networking, and the mathematical
sciences. More information can be found at http://www.research.microsoft.com.



About Microsoft


Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is the worldwide leader in
software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realise
their full potential.



About Microsoft EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa)


Microsoft has operated in EMEA since 1982. In the region Microsoft
employs more than 12,000 people in over 55 subsidiaries, delivering products
and services in more than 139 countries and territories.



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Web site: http://www.research.microsoft.com/ero
Web site: http://www.research.microsoft.com
Web site: http://www.microsoft.com





Source: Microsoft Corp.

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