The Historical Archives of the European Union (HAEU) is pleased to announce that 366 additional files from the European Science Foundation (ESF) fonds have been inventoried and are available for consultation at the HAEU. The ESF fonds covers the period from the Foundation’s creation in 1974 until 2005. They were transferred to the HAEU in October 2015.
The files originate from the ESF’s Standing Committee on Life and Environmental Sciences (LESC). LESC was set up in 1995, with the Physical and Engineering Sciences Committee (PESC), to succeed the former European Science Research Councils (ESRC). The newly inventoried files concern the activities carried out by LESC with regard to what were known as the ‘Scientific Programmes’, as well as the activities of a few ‘Associated Committees’, between 1988 and 2004.
The Scientific Programmes and Associated Committees affiliated with LESC focused on more than 25 research areas in the life and environmental sciences, such as climate, pollution, volcanology, ecosystem ecology, functional genomics, the impact of genetically modified plants on the environment, and more. The research conducted under LESC’s coordination was often carried out by international, multi-country teams and scientific networks.
The newly inventoried series consist of research proposals and exploratory projects, minutes from committee meetings, reports, working documents, correspondence, grant applications, scientific papers, and application and programme evaluations. They also document the workshops, seminars, conferences, summer schools and other related activities organised within the framework of each programme.
The documents permit interested researchers to explore the ESF’s research priorities and shed light on the variety of projects supported by the ESF. They also illustrate the development of joint research programmes and collaboration in the European area to further scientific knowledge—yet another dimension of European integration.
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