A Belgian Member for ERCIM

Belgium is officially part of ERCIM since January 2004. After a decade of effort, this finally closes the curious 'hole' in ERCIM's map of Europe.

Research in Belgium is mainly concentrated in universities, which are responsible for both education and research. While there are a few specialized research centers, such as CETIC (Centre d'Excellence en Technologies de l'Information et de la Communication) and IMEC (Interuniversity MicroElectronics Center), there are no truly general centers similar to CWI, SICS, or INRIA, and nothing similar to the 'grandes écoles' in France. The universities are organized independently by the French and Flemish communities. Research is coordinated by the FNRS (Fonds National de la Recherche Scientifique) for the French community and the FWO (Fonds voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek) for the Flemish community.

The Belgian membership is jointly sponsored by FWO and FNRS. This enables all Belgian research institutions to participate fully in ERCIM activities. The FWO has designated Bart De Moor of the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven as Belgian member of the Board of Directors, for an initial two year term. The FNRS has designated Peter Van Roy of the Université catholique de Louvain (UCL) as Belgian member of the Executive Committee, also for a two year term. Benoît Michel of UCL will be the first Belgian local editor of ERCIM News.