ESF mourns loss of colleague
The ESF is mourning the death of Irma Vogel, Senior Administrator in the Humanities and Social Sciences Unit, who passed away in the early hours of 10 December. Irma lost the battle against cancer, which she had been fighting since early 2011. Her courage and strength during this difficult time have been an inspiration to all those around her, as was her ability to remain positive throughout.
Irma started working at the ESF in 2006 and closely worked with the ESF Standing Committee for the Humanities, where she was much appreciated for her professionalism, dedication and her thoughtfulness which made her work much more than ‘just’ a job. At the same time Irma invested her energy in the construction of an eco-friendly building with a group of people sharing the same environmental beliefs, which became her home in 2010. Irma will be missed, professionally but, especially, personally.
ESF staff are extremely sad but will keep wonderful memories of her, of her kindness, her energy, her optimism and her remarkable spirit. Our thoughts are with her loved ones, particularly her family, her three sons and partner during this difficult time.
17. February 2010
Listen to the natives for better environmental monitoring
Modern methods can answer a multitude of questions, but sometimes traditional techniques are superior. Authorities in northern Quebec, Canada, found this to their cost, when they relied upon statistical data to monitor moose populations. For many centuries the Cree, an indigenous group of people... [more]
29. November 2009
Big freeze plunged Europe into ice age in months
In the film, ‘The Day After Tomorrow’ the world enters the icy grip of a new glacial period within the space of just a few weeks. Now new research shows that this scenario may not be so far from the truth after all. William Patterson, from the University of Saskatchewan in Canada, and his... [more]
29. September 2009
Evidence that animals can think about thinking
There is growing evidence that animals may share humans’ ability to reflect upon, monitor and regulate their states of mind, according to a study published in Trends in Cognitive Sciences this month. Dr David Smith, comparative psychologist at the University of Buffalo, makes this conclusion in a... [more]
27. August 2009
80,000 year old shells point to earliest cultural trend
Shell beads newly unearthed from four sites in Morocco confirm early humans were consistently wearing and potentially trading symbolic jewellery as early as 80,000 years ago. These beads add significantly to similar finds dating back as far as 110,000 in Algeria, Morocco, Israel and South Africa,... [more]
10. June 2009
ESF works with Scopus to expand arts and humanities coverage
First citation database to offer access to Arts and Humanities journals from over a thousand different publishers and content providers. [more]
23. December 2008
Muslims embrace performing arts to heal cultural rifts and reach out to their people
The Danish cartoon affair was an important milestone in Europe’s ongoing integration of its fast growing Muslim population. The fallout from this affair, along with other events such as the July 2005 bombings in London, has increased the urgency of achieving a long lasting accommodation between... [more]
19. December 2008
How mirror neurons allow us to learn and socialise by going through the motions in the head
The old adage that we can only learn how to do something by trying it ourselves may have to be revised in the light of recent discoveries in neuroscience. It turns out that humans, primates, some birds, and possibly other higher animals have mirror neurons that fire in the same pattern whether... [more]
18. December 2008
Humanities research key to the future of European policy making
Research and debate at the "European Diversities - European Identities" conference in Strasbourg on October 8-9 has reinforced the importance of humanities research in helping to deliver social policy in the next few years.The fourth annual HERA (Humanities in the European Research Area) conference... [more]
7. November 2008
ESF launches “Humans in Outer Space” book - focusing on humans
New book to examine humanity aspects in space explorations [more]
31. October 2008
Europe seeks consensus over “living wills”
The question whether a common European position on advance directives, or “living wills” is ethically required and practically feasible was discussed at a recent workshop organised by the European Science Foundation (ESF). Just as a conventional will allows people to specify how they would like... [more]
ESF provides the scientific, administrative and technical secretariat for COST (European Cooperation in Science and Technology).