On 27 January 2017, IAU General Secretary Piero Benvenuti and IAU Assistant General Secretary Teresa Lago met the European Commissioner for Research, Science and Innovation, Carlos Moedas, in Brussels. The purpose of the meeting was to present the IAU Strategic Plan 2010–2020 — in particular the Astronomy for Development strategy — and to discuss prospective avenues for collaboration between the EU and the IAU.

The IAU Strategic Plan has been implemented since 2011 by the Office of Astronomy for Development (OAD), a joint venture of the IAU and the National Research Foundation of South Africa, hosted by the South African Astronomical Observatory in Cape Town. A network of eight Regional Nodes (Andean, Arab World, East Africa, East Asia, Southern Africa, South East Asia, West Africa, and Western Asia) and three Language Nodes (Arabic, Chinese, and Lusophone) has since been established under OAD coordination, pursuing the strategy of building global capacity through training in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).

The OAD activities agree with the priorities of Horizon 2020 Open Science and Science for Diplomacy. Horizon 2020 is the EU Research and Innovation programme for 2014 to 2020, the largest of its kind with nearly €80 billion of funding available over the seven year period.

Contacts

Lars Lindberg Christensen
IAU Press Officer
Garching bei München, Germany
Tel: +49 89 320 06 761
Cell: +49 173 38 72 621
Email: lars@eso.org