(Originally sent to the sbnet mailing list 2004-09-10) Dear SBNetters ! We have some good news about the future of SBNet. As of 30 June of this year, the old SBNet has come to an end. However, we have been awarded fresh funds by the Foundation for Strategic Research (SSF) that allow us to continue as a kind of "SBNet-Lite". At the SBNet conference in June, we were still assuming that we would only receive about two-thirds of the amount we had applied for (which would have enabled us to have only one more conference). However, a very pleasant letter arrived in July which informed us that SSF had in fact given us the whole amount (1.2 MSEK, which includes MOMS and overhead). This means that we can have at least two more conferences (and if we manage to find alternative sources of funding, hopefully even more), as well as support a small number of courses and workshops in 2005 and 2006. In addition, we will continue to operate this mailing list and the SBNet website during the lifetime of SBNet-Lite. And at least until the end of this year, Henrik Hansson will be continuing as SBNet Coordinator. SBNet Conference 2005 --------------------- We have already begun preparations for next year's annual conference (the ninth in succession - see http://xray.bmc.uu.se/sbnet), having decided on the topics for the sessions and recruiting session organisers as we speak. In so doing, we hope to be able to attract a couple of top speakers to the meeting, which in turn may help us in secure additional financial support (e.g., from the Nobel committee for chemistry at KVA). Information about the conference will be posted on the website as it becomes available. A number of you responded to our questionnaire earlier this summer, and Henrik will send out a summary of the response and conclusions soon. Already during next year's conference you will be noticing some changes as a result of the response to the questionnaire (such as the abolishment of evening lecture sessions; these will be moved to the slot after lunch, and the evenings will be used for poster sessions instead). SBNet Courses & Workshops 2005 ------------------------------ The new SBNet has (limited !) funds to support the organisation of a few courses or workshops. For 2005 we had originally allocated 50 kSEK, but we can probably stretch this to 100 kSEK. If you want to organise a course or workshop and would like to apply for SBNet money to co-finance it, send us a brief proposal (~2 pages A4, pure text or PDF files only, no Word documents etc.) containing: - description of the course (subject matter, level) - organiser(s), place, instructors/lecturers, dates, etc. - how many participants, and how will they be selected ? - budget and how much money is requested from SBNet (max 25 kSEK for a short workshop, max 50 kSEK for an intensive course) If any money is awarded, you must send an announcement to SSF (through us) prior to the event. Within three months after the event, you must send SBNet a report that includes: - written account of the course/workshop - financial account of how the SBNet money was used - program/schedule of the course/workshop - list of participants Any money will be awarded as lump sums, i.e., if your institute charges overhead it will have to come out of the sum awarded to you. Applications can be submitted at any time, but in order to give everybody a fair chance, we will collect all proposals that come in until 15 October 2004 before we allocate any money. So, if you wish to organise a course next year, send us your proposal no later than 15 October (if you apply later, there may not be any money left) ! --Gerard Kleywegt SBNet Network Director