GÉANT – 93m euro more for European research communications network

GÉANT-2, an upgraded version of
the current GÉANT will give researchers their own
‘wavelengths’ across the continent.

GÉANT

, the European communications network designed
exclusively for research and education use, will receive
93 million euros from the Commission to upgrade its
services. The upgraded version will provide faster and
more powerful services and end-to-end connectivity for
the scientists. It will also allow scientists to stay
connected to the network wherever they are
working. 

GÉANT connects 29 
National Research and Education Networks

(NRENs) across Europe and allows over 3,500 research
institutes, universities and other educational
establishments across Europe to share and distribute
research data using the fastest and most advanced network
of its kind in the world. 

The network was launched in 2001 and represented the
first step towards establishing the foundations for the
European Research Area (ERA). GÉANT has a ‘dual
role’. It provides an infrastructure to support the
advanced communication needs of the scientific community
and an infrastructure for research on state-of-the-art
communication technologies. In recent years, the network
has played an important role in boosting the take-up of
IPv6 and research on grids. 

Read more with Euractiv

Scientists welcome FP7 consultation

The Commission's consultation process on the new Research Framework Programme is now under way, and many scientists are optimistic that their views will be heard. Others are more sceptical.