12 Nov. 2003

NATO Science Programme changes course and name News 11/11/2003 - NATO NATO Science Programme Changes Course Links Security through Science website Following agreement in principle by the North Atlantic Council, NATO’s top decision-making body, on 17 October, a new programme for NATO support of civil science has been launched today. To emphasise the new direction the programme will take, a new name was also chosen; the programme will in future be known as the NATO Programme for Security Through Science. The new name reflects more closely the aims and purposes of the revised programme. Support will now be offered only for collaboration on security-related priority research topics, which follow the new directions and objectives of the Alliance. The two priority research topics are: Defence Against Terrorism Countering Other Threats to Security A feature of the new programme is a move away from bringing scientists together primarily to foster partnerships and build a new extended scientific community, which was an imperative of the 1990s. “ In a world changed by the terrorist attacks of 11 September 2001, the programme will now bring scientists together to work on solving problems associated with challenging new security issues of concern to NATO, Partner and Mediterranean Dialogue countries,” said Keith Gardner, Deputy Assistant Secretary General, Science Cooperation.