14 July 2005.- The European Science Foundation (ESF) today announced the appointment of Dr. Martin Grabert as the new Director of the ESF-COST Office, the intergovernmental framework for European co-operation in the field of scientific and technical research.

Dr. Grabert is currently Managing Director of the European liaison office of the German scientific research organisations (KoWi), and in his new role he takes over from Tony Mayer, who recently retired after two years at the helm of this Brussels-based organisation. Dr. Grabert was selected from a shortlist of several high level applicants by a selection committee which included COST President Prof. Francesco Fedi and Prof. Bertil Andersson, CEO of the European Science Foundation.

“I’m very much looking forward to this new challenge,” Dr. Grabert said. “The ESF-COST Office has an important role to play in the co-ordination of large, pan-European projects in the fields of science and technology. Its mission is to foster closer co-operation between the various national bodies of its 34 Member States, which it does by being science-driven rather than focusing on political concerns, and this science-driven focus is something I fully intend to continue and build on.”

Dr. Grabert added that he would also be working to encourage even closer collaboration with the European Science Foundation. "Joint action is without a doubt the only way forward for scientific achievement in Europe. I want to help create a climate of mutual trust between our two organisations, an essential ingredient for the success of the kind of pan-European projects that we’re involved in. I’m already very impressed by the high quality of the COST Technical Committees and how they interact with the ESF Standing Committees, and my predecessor Tony Mayer has put an efficient and talented team in place here at the ESF-COST Office that provides an ideal basis on which we can all build for the future.”

Born in Berlin and an aircraft engineer by training, Dr. Grabert has worked in Brussels since 1991, and he expressed optimism that his experience and good contacts in the European Commission would prove helpful when it comes to securing additional funding for the ESF-COST Office and its projects.

Dr. Grabert takes up his new position in September 2005.

ESF, Reference URL
http://www.esf.org/esf_pressarea_page.php?language=0§ion=6&year=2005&newsrelease=91