7th EU Framework Programme; Bell Laboratories; Microscience; Dystar; EASAC

  • The UK Government is collecting views for its consultation exercise on the 7th EU Framework Programme for Research & Development (2006-2010/11). The consultation closes on 26 July 2004; response forms are available at the Office of Science & Technology website. The € 19bn Programme funds science and technology projects across the EU and provides approximately € 0.5bn (?0.3bn) to UK participants each year. Responses will be added to a UK position paper in early autumn, which will also be available on the Office of Science & Technology website.
  • The Bell Laboratories researcher found guilty of fabricating data published in high profile journals including Science, Nature and Applied Physics Letters (see Chem. Br., November 2002, p5) has been stripped of his Doctorate by Universit?t Konstanz in Southern Germany. Jan Hendrik Sch?n has been asked to return the diploma that he was awarded in 1998. He has a month to appeal.
  • Microscience, a UK vaccine firm, was due to float on the Alternative Investment Market (AIM) as Chemistry World went to press. The company, which was spun out from Imperial College London, has five new vaccine programmes in clinical trials. Microscience hopes to raise ?40m from the flotation and plans to use the net proceeds to finance the development of its clinical pipeline.
  • BASF, Bayer and Hoechst are selling Dystar, a Frankfurt-based manufacturer of textile dyes, to a US investment firm called Platinum Equity. The financial details of the deal remain undisclosed and the transaction is subject to approval by the relevant antitrust authorities.
  • The European Academies Science Advisory Council (EASAC) has reported that pollutant emission across North America and Asia is responsible for harmful ozone levels across the EU. In some areas, the average annual concentration of ozone at ground level approaches the limit at which damage to crops and human health would be expected.