Programa Europeo para consultar colecciones de museos europeos

El proyecto Syntesis es un programa europeo que pretende favorecer la consulta de las colecciones de los museos europeos, mediante ayudas económicas y facilidades. Es un proyecto que viene funcionando desde hace varios años y al que están adheridos algunos de los principales museos de ciencias naturales europeos. Os adjuntamos la información que nos ha llegado de la nueva convocatoria.

Research funding opportunity for European natural history scientists. Europe's foremost natural history institutions invite scientists based in European member, candidate, and associated states to visit and access their collections and analytical facilities. Twenty institutions, including museums and botanical gardens, have joined together to form SYNTHESYS. The ambition is to create a single 'virtual' museum service consisting of many physical collections and analytical facilities, together with integrated databases of information about those collections. Main beneficiaries are the European research communities in the biosciences and geosciences, and particularly those researchers with an interest in biodiversity.

The co-operating institutions are organized in 11 national Taxonomic Facilities (TAFs). As one important element, the project comprises a visiting researcher programme. It enables European scientists to access more than 337 million specimens housed in the partners' collections, state-of-the-art equipment, and internationally renowned expertise, and provides training and supervision in relevant fields. The institutions also collaborate in network activities aiming to improve the coordination, accessibility and high-standard preservation of natural history collections. The SYNTHESYS visiting researcher programme covers costs for research and accommodation whilst based at the institution, plus international travel costs, and offers a per diem to contribute towards living costs during short visits (maximum of 60 working days) at one or more TAF.

Please visit www.synthesys.info for full details on how to apply for funding including a list of all SYNTHESYS partners and their facilities, applicant eligibility criteria, and the application form (available 15 July). NEW: Researchers from Croatia, FYR Macedonia and the Republic of Serbia are now eligible for SYNTHESYS funding. The second last deadline will be Friday 28 September 2007, 17.00 GMT. A FINAL call will be arranged in approximately six months in spring 2008.