Brussels, 05/11/2001 (Agence Europe) - The European Week of Science and Technology 2001 began on Monday and will continue to 11 November in over 20 countries. 7 projects have been financed by the Commission to the tune of 1.73 million euro. These are EuroPAWS (European Public Awareness of Science), involving Belgium, the United Kingdom and France to provide the general public with better information; - Life in the Universe, kind of competition open to secondary school children (14-19 year olds) with a visit to the ESA launch site in Kouruou (Guyana) and another to ESO (European Southern Observatory) in Cerro Paranal (Chile) which has the largest telescope in the world; - Europe Biotech, presentation of a documentary on the challenges of biotechnology, followed by a conference-debate in the science museums of Brussels, Munich, Bristol and Madrid: - Infoplanet, in the form of four education exhibitions simultaneously in Rome, Thessaloniki, Barcelona and Oporto; - Push 2001 which, under the patronage of de Vinci, Darwin and Linnaeus, will train 150 teachers and students of the Darwin Centre (Pembrokeshire, UK), the University of Florence and that of Upsalla in the world of living sciences (genetic engineering, expression of a fluorescent protein in bacteria, enzymatic activity by bio-luminescence, immunology, etc.); - Small is beautiful, conference in Manchester on the performance of micro-systems; - Energetic Friends, competition on energy open to teams of young scientists aged 12 to 18 of Estonia, Latvia and Finland.