Consortium
The Interdisciplinary Centre for Comparative Research in the Social Sciences (ICCR), Vienna, Austria
The Interdisciplinary Centre for Comparative Research in the Social Sciences was founded in 1986 as a private non-profit research organization. The mission of the ICCR is to produce high-quality interdisciplinary research on Europe by carrying out policy relevant research with a network of partner organizations.
The ICCR specializes in strategic policy analysis using applied, multi-disciplinary and comparative research with Europe defining the geographical scope. The ICCR has four thematic research programmes: (1) Society, Technology and Research, (2) Environment and Sustainability, (3) Social Policy Analysis - Social Structures and Integration and (4) Transport Policy Analysis and Evaluation. A fifth research area 'European Developments: Policies and Politics' operates as a think-tank on the basis of the integration of research results from the four thematic programmes.
www.iccr-international.org
The International Social Science Council (ISSC), France
The ISSC is an international non-profit-making scientific organization with headquarters at UNESCO House in Paris. Its aims and objectives are the promotion of the understanding of human society in its environment by fostering the social and behavioural sciences throughout the world and their application to major contemporary problems and by enhancing co-operation by means of a global international organisation of social and behavioural scientists and social and behavioural science organisations, encouraging multi-disciplinary and inter-disciplinary co-operation among the members of the ISSC.
Members include, among others, international, non-governmental organisations, representative national social science councils and the corresponding sections of Academies of Sciences or analogous bodies, and representative regional social science organisations or councils.
www.unesco.org/ngo/issc
Le Centre Interdisciplinare de Recherche Comparative en Sciences Sociales (CIR), Paris, France
The CIR is a private non-profit research institution (established in 2000 as an association under the French law of 1901, and legally registered under the SIREN number 433 416 187) that focuses on European issues in the broadest comparative sense. Its objectives are to conduct research and to organize dissemination of knowledge in its areas of concern. The CIR currently has a research staff of 12, and its activities are organized around four main poles. These are 'Political Spaces', 'Identities and Conflicts', 'Policies and Practices in European Research', and 'Public Services and Social Welfare'.
The CIR has close links with the ICCR in Vienna, which collaborated in its creation. The CIR also works closely with the Fondation Nationale des Sciences Politiques, where its Director, John Crowley, was previously a research fellow, and with UNESCO, where Crowley is currently a principal programme specialist. In addition, the CIR hosts the Secretariat of the European Association for the Advancement of Social Sciences (EA).
www.iccr-international.org/cir
Foundation of European Scientific Cooperation of the Polish Academy of Sciences (FEWN), Poland
The Foundation for European Scientific Co-operation (FEWN) is a venture of the Polish Academy of Sciences, which is the largest state institution for basic and applied research in Poland and the Foundation for Polish Science. The FEWN was founded in 1998 and reactivated in 2004 after locating in the Jablonna Palace belonging to the Academy. The activities of FEWN are focused on monitoring the development of Polish S/TD policy from the point of view of its co-ordination with Community policies, development of strategic policy studies for Poland S/TD especially oriented for implementation of the Lisbon Strategy. Moreover, FEWN supports Poland's governmental and regional institutions in effective use of Community transfers, which are oriented for country's development.
The European Integration Exploratorium is a research unit of FEWN. It is involved in the following research activity: carrying out studies on the European Integration processes of the S/TD and innovation sector (institutional adaptation, financing aspects, preparation of the utilisation of Structural Funds for innovation issues), in close co-operation with European Union research institutions including European University Institute in Florence. The Government engages the Exploratorium in works on defining the National Development Plan and operational programmes (on country and regional levels), which are currently in a process of preparation for years 2007-2013.
Zeppelin University, Germany
Zeppelin University is a state-recognised private institution of higher education bridging Business, Culture and Politics. Zeppelin University defines itself as an individualised, international and interdisciplinary educator of well-rounded decision makers and creative innovators in the fields of business, culture and politics, and as a multi-disciplinary research institution exploring issues relevant to society.
Zeppelin University is a “Pioneering University” which focuses on the special interests and skills of students and researchers. Our objective: the uncompromising pursuit of academic curiosity and excellence.
www.zeppelin-university.de
Zentralarchiv Köln, Germany
The Central Archive archives primary material (data, questionnaires, code plans) and results of empirical studies in order to prepare them for secondary analyses and to make them available to the interested public. The range of the ZA encompasses all technical areas in which procedures of empirical and historical social research are used. The Central Archive is an institute of the Cologne Association for Social Research. There is a close co-operation with the University of Cologne.
www.gesis.org/ZA
University of Gothenburg, Department of Humanities, Sweden
The educational and research activities of the Faculty of Humanities focus on scientific descriptions of ways in which human beings relate to their own lives, to other human beings and to history.
The Faculty of Humanities includes the study of languages and linguistic subjects on the one hand and of historical and philosophical subjects on the other. Though still a classical Humanities faculty with education and research in fields like Archaeology, Art history, Greek and Latin, these subjects are nowadays complemented by contemporary research areas like Language Technology, Corpus Linguistics and Cultural Studies.
www.gu.se
Interdisciplinary Center for Technology Analysis & Forecasting (ICTAF), Tel-Aviv, Israel
Founded in 1971, ICTAF, a leading institute in technology forecasting, foresight, assessment and roadmapping, is involved in strategic and long-term planning, and is very active in the international community. The multidisciplinary center taps the expertise of world-class scientists at Tel Aviv University and other well-known research establishments, to create a core body of researchers with deep knowledge in a diverse range of fields including biology, physics, chemistry, engineering, geography, economics, education and social sciences, information technology and communications. ICTAF functions as a think-tank, working alongside its governmental or business clients to produce far-reaching policies based on these diverse qualities, which are drawn from a unique blend of academic research and market know-how.
ICTAF has been involved in the S&T foresight for Israel addressing issues in education, occupational trends as well as gender issues. ICTAF researchers have also been engaged in the strategic planning and implementation of technology educational material, training programmes for the social sciences as well as policy measures targeting e-learning and e-living.
ICTAF is also a member of the NanoBio Network of Excellence and responsible for foresight and strategy regarding nano- and biotechnologies (www.nano2life.org). It thus has access to many of the leading scientists in this field and this will be of particular importance for the KNOWLEDGE NBIC project. ICTAF is also a member of the European Science and Technology Observatory (ESTO) and a member of European Organization for the Promotion of Energy Technology (OPET).
www.ictaf.tau.ac.il
United Nations University, Comparative Regional Integration Studies, Belgium
The mission of UNU-CRIS is to contribute towards achieving the universal goals of the United Nations through comparative and interdisciplinary research and training for better understanding of the processes and impact of intra- and inter-regional integration. The aim is to build policy-relevant knowledge about new forms of governance and co-operation, and to contribute to capacity building on issues of integration and co-operation particularly in developing countries. UNU-CRIS works in partnership with initiatives and centres throughout the world that are concerned with issues of integration and co-operation.
www.cris.unu.edu
University of Oxford, James Martin Institute, UK
The James Martin Institute for Science and Civilization identifies science and technology issues critical in shaping the future of world civilization. It conducts research to help humanity to shape a brighter future for itself and the natural environment on which it depends. It influences the course of technological and social change through the engagement of highest quality scholarship with key decision makers in business, government, and civil society. Its fellowship programme brings together leading scholars and practitioners around the world.
www.martininstitute.ox.ac.uk
Free University Amsterdam, The Netherlands
The Centre for Innovation and Corporate Sustainability (CIMO) is an inter-faculty initiative of the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (in particular the Faculty of Economics and Business Administration, the Faculty of Social Sciences, the Faculty of Earth and Life Sciences, and the Faculty of Sciences) and Windesheim School in Zwolle. CIMO focuses especially on the promotion and development of entrepreneurship research and education.
www.cimo.vu.nl
