26/03/2007 (Agence Europe) - At its meeting in Strasbourg on 20 and 21 March, the Committee of Senior Officials of COST (Cooperation in the field of Scientific and Technical Research) re-elected Professor Francesco Fedi as its president. COST is an inter-governmental organisation, bringing together 35 countries. It promotes cooperation among researchers through a bottom-up approach. Professor Fedi stressed the need to consolidate the relationship and to strengthen ties with the European Commission and the European Science Foundation (ESF). During his term of office (2007-2010), he will work to maintain and develop the role of COST in the European Research Area and its complementarity with the EU 7th research framework programme. He also wants to strengthen the synergy with the EUREKA network, and to raise the profile of COST. The committee also approved requests for participation in on-going COST actions from Canada, China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Russia and Vietnam. (oj)