SCAR XXXV Paper 55: SCAR Development Council Popular

SCAR XXXV Delegates Meeting, Davos, Switzerland, 25-26 June 2018

SCAR XXXV Paper 55: SCAR Development Council

Agenda Item: 13.6.

Person Responsible: P. Convey

Executive Summary 

Authors

Peter Convey (UK), Karin Lochte (Germany) and Jose Xavier (Portugal)

Summary of activities from 2016-18 and other important matters

This report provides a short update on matters relating to the Development Council (DC) since the previous report given in Kuala Lumpur, updates in Brno. The major activity has been the composition and sending to all SCAR Delegates and Group Leaders of a letter setting out our view of their key role in identifying and pursuing possible avenues of funding or other support at their national level for the benefit ofSCAR activities. This generated a number of supportive responses, and very welcome new funding contributions towards the Visiting Fellowship and Professorship programmes, from India, Norway and Switzerland. Plans have been made to reconnect with other positive responders who were unable to support at the time, but these have yet to be actioned.

Recommendations that EXCOM and Scientific Group Chief Officers should consider

• DC has been in discussion with SCAR Capacity Building, Education and Training (CBET) to initiate a review of the Visiting Professor programme to date. In particular, we ask EXCOM to consider if and how a more active role could be taken in identifying real value capacity building contributions the programme could make to newer and less established programmes.

• DC requests to maintain the current budget allocation for pamphlet preparation and creation of funding database (dependent on new website), and to enable responsive engagement with new funding opportunities identified, as well as coordinating contributions to new SRP development.