‘Philanthropy, a growing asset for research’ was the theme of the 2009 annual stakeholders’ conference of the European Forum on Philanthropy and Research Funding, hosted in London by the Wellcome Trust on the 2- 3 December. The conference brought together research stakeholders with input from EU policy makers, foundations and universities from across Europe, as well as hosting special lectures by the Nobel laureate Dr Tim Hunt, a principal scientist at Cancer Research UK, and Dr Neil Turok, director  of the Perimeter Institute and  founder of the African Institute for Mathematical Sciences.

Discussions focussed on the issues facing research foundations, scientists  and research institutions, and explored the ways in which they can create partnerships that can meet the challenges ahead and foster an enabling environment for curiosity driven, cutting edge research. The conference report is in its final stage and will be published at the end of March.

Presentations from the event are now available online here.

On 1 February Carl Dolan joined the EFC team as the Research Forum coordinator.  For further information on the activities of the Forum in 2010, please contact  Carl  at: researchforum@efc.be