The following will soon be appearing in RSS News and Notes. Anyone
interested in participating in this EU funded research is welcome to attend.

European Plan for Research in Official Statistics
Fifth Framework Programme (FP5)

Information Day to be held at the Royal Statistical Society
on Friday 27 November 1998 at 2 PM

Organised by the Office for National Statistics, Eurostat and the Royal
Statistical Society

R&D in official statistics is an important activity for the future
development of the European Statistical System. The fifth European
Framework Programme (FP5) for Research and Development will present further
opportunities for such research at EU level. The European Plan for Research
in Official Statistics (EPROS) was formulated by Eurostat under the Special
Programme "Creating a user-friendly information society". Eurostat will
launch invitations for proposals in early 1999 for participation in EPROS.
This will be open to a wide variety of institutions, ideally forming
networks, including in particular:
* the official statistical services of EU countries
* the mathematics, statistics, operational research, econometrics and
computer science departments of universities and other centres of higher
learning
* research institutes in both the private and public sectors
* software houses and computer hardware firms

The aim of this half-day event is to provide more information about making
proposals for such projects and to provide an opportunity to discuss
possibilities with potential partners.

The provisional programme is as follows:
* A scene-setting presentation by Eurostat, introducing FP5, the procedures
and timetables for proposal submissions and the tender evaluation and
selection criteria.
* A report on current plans of the Office for National Statistics.
* Presentations from others interested in making proposals (also possible
through poster sessions)
* An opportunity to discuss ideas with Eurostat, ONS or other participants.
* A round-up question and answer session
The meeting will start at 2.00 pm and end at 5.00pm, with tea and biscuits
at 3.30 PM.

Please contact Brian Salerno, Office for National Statistics, 1 Drummond
Gate, London SW1V 2QQ (Tel 0171 533 6246. Fax 0171 533 6249. Email
[log in to unmask]) if you want to:
* make a brief presentation or display a poster, not later than 21 October
* book a place or receive more information

Further information is also obtainable through VIROS (Virtual Institute for
Research in Official Statistics) on the World Wide Web,
http://europa.eu.int/en/comm/eurostat/research/viros/.
or by contacting: Eurostat - Research and development, methods and data
analysis
Jean-Louis Mercy, Jean Monnet Building, Room C5/94, L-2920 Luxembourg,
Phone: +352 4301 34862 or +352 4301 32023. fax +352 4301 34149





%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%