Dear Professor Brandström
As a result of the bid document and forward plans that we submitted to you in 2003, the Fund kindly made an award to the Academia Europaea of a grant of 800,000 Swedish Crowns, for each of 2004, 2005 and 2006. I am pleased to report that for 2004, we made rapid progress towards achieving most of the objectives that were set in that bid document. In particular we have played a significantly more prominent role in the debates surrounding the European Research Area and the European Research Council. The most recent, was an event that we organised in December to bring together major Academies and funding bodies for the Humanities, to debate the Role of the Humanities in the emerging ERC. The report of that event is enclosed and as with all of our events, full details can be accessed from our website archives. Of particular interest, will be our 2005 annual conference. This will take place at the Telegrafenburg in Potsdam, as a contribution to the International year of Physics and the Einstein year. I have enclosed the provisional draft programme. Finally, I also enclose a brief summary of events completed in 2004 and those already planned for the coming year. You will see that your support is essential in our efforts to continue to develop the Academia Europaea role in Europe. The Academia Europaea, is extremely grateful for the support that the Fund provides, and I hope that the enclosed documents reassure you that we are striving hard to continue to develop a real and lasting position at the European level.

Programme of events 2004/2005

1). Events completed in 2004

q First meeting of the HERCULES planning group (January)
q Brain Plasticity meeting (with Tschira Foundation) - Medicine & Physiology Section
q Potsdam planning meetings (2)
q Workshop on Risk (Brussels) - New initiatives fund
q Liege meeting (April) on "the Europe of knowledge 2020: a vision for university-based research and innovation". President presented a paper.
q Post- colonial literature workshop - Theatrical and Literary Studies Section.
q ESOF 2004, Stockholm. August. Workshop on "Moral Challenges to Science". Co-organised (AE (President) and Max Planck Society).
q Islamic Art in the periphery of Europe, Berlin, September. Prof. Kellner-Heinkele.
q Academia-Estonian Academy one day meeting in Tallinn. September. "European Research Policy".
q Role of Humanities in Europe - one day meeting, Brussels. December (with the ESF, Royal Belgian Academies)
q Annual conference, Helsinki. September. "Europe in Change"

2). Events in 2005

q Basic concepts in Science (number 1): Symmetry (January)
q Fifth, joint Academia Europaea/Klaus Tschira Foundation Workshop on 'Reactive Oxygen Species in Health and Disease'. Thursday 10th - Saturday 12th March
q "Topo-Europe" - Exploratory workshop (with ESF) Budapest, March. Earth Sciences Section
q "Science: an essential dimension of culture", Venice (jointly with UNESCO and the Istituto Veneto ), March
q "Common values in the European Research Area". Workshop. Amsterdam, May (joint with ALLEA and EUROSCIENCE)
q XVIIth annual conference, Potsdam 22 - 24 September
q The Lisbon Earthquake: the shockwaves of culture (workshop) September. Literary and Theatrical studies section.
q "Why the World needs Chemistry". September, Krakow (Chemistry Section, with the ESF/COST)
q Basic and Applied Research (November)
q Formative years of Scholars (with the Wenner Gren Foundation) Stockholm, November.
q Earth system Modelling: Geomotion. Workshop (with Tschira Foundation), November/December. Earth Sciences Section.

Yours sincerely
David Coates, Executive Secretary