KO WP1
Contents |
Presentation by Elke Lemmertyn
The practices for the operation of the SOTERIA consortium were discussed by Elke Lemmertyn. She covered issues related to the financial operation and financial responsibility of each beneficiary. She further commented on how the reporting to the EC and the auditing from the EC is done. Each beneficiary is invited to read carefully her presentation and send her and the coordinator any questions they might have.
Presentation by Mats Ljungqvist
The PO (Mats Ljungqvist) expanded on some of the same operational, reporting and auditing issues covered by the KU Leuven management team and especially stressed the expectations of the EC with regards to the goals, deliverables and milestones of the Soteria network. He stressed especially the need to establish a collaborative environment above and beyond the specific tasks set in the milestones and deliverables of the Annex I. He asked to be contacted for questions only via the coordinator. If anyone has requests for him, please, contact the coordinator or the coordinating team at KU Leuven and they will collect all the questions and channel them to the PO. In further discussions, in following days, the PO has further clarified:
- The need to reach the milestones and goals and to not let the time pass without any reporting or supervision also for milestones to be reached in the later years of the project. He indicated the need for internal reporting on the status. V. Bothmer suggested a monthly reporting by a few lines for each leader of each milestone or deliverable. The Coordinator will set up a process for this to be done seamlessly online minimizing the waste of time for all while allowing a effective check of the progress of all tasks.
- The possibility to modify the details to improve the overall success of the program. He made the point that the important result is to establish what was our initial vision: to create a new collaborative effort on space weather. If changes within this scope are needed, we can make the point to him and he will be receptive. In summary the details of the deliverables and milestones should pave the way and not not become hurdles to reach overall success.
One beneficiary asked the PO for some proof that funding is forthcoming. The PO agreed to write such a statement with the cautionary notices that are legally required in this phase of the project. If anyone needs such a letter, please contact the coordinator who will collect all requests and ask the PO only once with the list of all beneficiaries needing this.
Additionally during the discussion emerged the need, supported enthusiastically by the PO and by all in attendance, to encourage personnel exchanges between beneficiaries (e.g. visits of various durations to foster collaborations) and new hires synergistically coordinated between beneficiaries (e.g. one beneficiary can hire a student from another beneficiary).
NOTE: Both Elke and the PO covered important financial and operational points, so all beneficiaries are invited to read their presentations carefully. You can find them on our web site(https://cpaserv.wis.kuleuven.be/~u0052182/SOTERIA/), by clicking on the menu "presentations".
Discussion on WP1 led by Giovanni Lapenta
The coordinator then illustrated some first business needs and the following points were discussed:
- The decision was made unanimously (with all beneficiaries present) to name the Soteria web site (www.soteria-space.eu). The PO stressed the need to use the EU flag and the FP7 logo on all our presentations and in the web site. He further indicated the preference for the web site to end in .eu
- The logo for Soteria needs to be selected. All the world is invited to send the coordinator their proposed logo. a democratic vote will then be taken on the logo.
- The decision was reached unanimously to have the first Soteria Steering Board (SB) Meeting at the Space Climate School and Symposium in Lapland (http://spaceweb.oulu.fi/spaceclimate/). Details of the meeting will be worked out by the UOULU beneficiary hosting the event.
- A Steering Board needs to be proposed and the Coordinator will wait for suggestions before asking for a vote on the composition. Please send him your nominations by Dec 10.
Presentation by Alexi Glover
During the Thursday morning session, Alexi Glover from ESA discussed her view of how Soteria can be best meshed with existing European and especially ESA projects. While more details of her talk can found reading her presentations, we summarize here the main points:
- Soteria can collaborate with ESA on the review of the use requirements for space weather services and products
- Soteria can communicate with the space weather community via the space weather working team (SWWT). Several members of Soteria and the coordinator are already attending the SWWT meetings.
- Connecting with the ESWW (which we have already done and will continue for the upcoming years by organizing a splinter meeting) and with SWENET
- Collaboration with ESA efforts was suggested in identifying the space weather index to focus on
- Provide recommendations on services and prototyping practices for tools
During the discussion of Alexi's talk, the PO further stressed the importance of linking effectively with ESA efforts. Comments from the audience suggested to connect also with projects in the USA and with the new COST effort.
Need for a meeting in the near future
During subsequent discussions at the rest of the meeting, the need was brought up (primarily by T. Dudok de Wit) for a general discussion to take place also at the Lapland meeting. The decision was made by the attendees of the last session (on Thursday afternoon) to expand the SB meeting into a extraordinary general meeting, lasting 3 days with 2 and a half days devoted to work packages and other general issues. The SB will then meet for the remaining half day. The Coordinator proposed that the discussion be organized not only in WP sessions but also in other more collaborative sessions, giving the examples of:
- One session on the selected space weather events followed from photosphere to terrestrial impact (and thereby covering all WPs)
- One session on modelling capabilities: what we have and what we need more
- One session on trans-beneficiary observational tools and practices (e.g. how all ground based observations can be made in a more coordinated way so that data from various centers covers better the solar evolution).
Since this would be a extraordinary meeting, people will not be "required" to attend but we definitely hope for a wide participation. Thierry noted with the agreement of all attendees of the session that in the first stages of the project the need is paramount for extra time for general discussion, making a compelling argument for holding this extra event. The Uoulu team will report on the organizational issues raised, focusing especially on travel and accommodation that are key given the remoteness of the location. The PO has been informally invited by the Uoulu beneficiary to attend and has not ruled out coming.
