International
European Science Foundation takes shape Its main task will be to promote fundamental research in West Europe by fostering closer scientific cooperation A European Science Foundation, a long time in coming, seems to be on the verge of becoming a reality. Preparations leading to the setting up of the organization have now been hammered out in Paris. Next May, representatives of the supporting bodies from 15 European countries plan to meet in Stockholm to discuss the first draft of its statute and to decide where it shall have its headquarters. The foundation is expected to come into being by 1975. The principal task of the new European Science Foundation (ESF) will be to promote fundamental research in western Europe by fostering closer cooperation and collaboration among research workers there. This will be done mainly by stimulating an exchange of ideas and information, by making it easier for researchers to move among the various countries, and by generally harmonizing the research programs and activities of ESF members. These members will consist of a large number of academies and research councils in the 15 cooperating
Walker: collective projects 8
C&ENOct. 22, 1973
countries—Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, West Germany, Greece, Ireland, the Netherlands, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, the U.K., and Yugoslavia. The member organizations won't be limited to one for each country. Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, for instance, each will have six societies within ESF; the U.K. will have seven. All told, there will be about 50 learned national bodies associated with the foundation, at least initially. Similar societies in other European countries may eventually elect to join. "We don't envisage ESF as becoming an executive body as such," comments Raymond (Henry) Walker, secretary of Britain's Science Research Council, who chaired the international working group leading to the recent Paris session. "We expect to harmonize activities rather than take executive action. We visualize ESF as providing a forum or a marketplace, so to speak, where scientists of the member organizations can exchange ideas and harmonize their efforts by exploring, for example, the possibility of undertaking collective projects." ESF eventually may develop to where it could make grants toward supporting collaborative programs, Mr. Walker thinks, though this is unlikely in its early stages. "The most important step that we have taken at this point," Mr. Walker says, "is the decision to set up a formal preparatory commission rather than continue as we had been doing pretty much on an ad hoc basis." This eightmember committee will be chaired by Dr. Hubert Curien, principal scientific adviser to the French government and, until recently, director general of France's National Center for Scientific Research. .It will meet frequently in coming months to draw up details of the new organization to prepare for the Stockholm meeting next summer. Initially, ESF probably will have an annual budget of about $600,000 to fund a small secretariat. Dues will be contributed by the members, probably on the basis of each country's gross national product. The president will be a prominent scientist elected for a set period. If, as now seems likely, ESF gets off the ground, it will have succeeded where the European Economic Community so far has failed. The need for EEC machinery to promote closer cooperation among science programs of the community members has been discussed for some time. A blueprint of
action was drawn up by the EEC commissioners in June 1972, largely at the instigation of Dr. Altiero Spinelli, who at that time was the commission member with special responsibility for industrial affairs and science. It suggested establishing three groups within EEC—a European Research and Development Council, a European Science Foundation, and a European Research and Development Agency (C&EN, July 10, 1972, page 20). And at their summit meeting in Paris just a year ago, the heads of state of the nine EEC countries stressed the need of defining and developing a common communitywide policy in science and technology. Earlier this year, Dr. Ralf Dahrendorf, Dr. Spinelli's successor, proposed broad guidelines for EEC to follow in areas of education, scientific information exchange, and research. Dr. Dahrendorf says he welcomes the emergence of the new ESF, which, he notes, fits in with EEC aims for research cooperation. Moreover, the foundation's member organizations will include several from eight EEC countries. (Organizations in Italy have expressed interest in joining but to date haven't committed themselves to do so.) ESF will embrace all branches of science, including health sciences, economics, and social sciences, and also the humanities. Its stress will be on advancement of knowledge through collaborative fundamental research. Study areas in which it may arrange such collaboration include geophysics of the oceans, epidemiology, physical chemical analytical methods, special strains of plant and animal cell cultures, and special facilities for millimeter-wave astronomy. ESF also will maintain close liaison with other international scientific bodies to help ensure that work is not duplicated.
Hoechst plans big spending abroad Farbwerke Hoechst's plans for a massive worldwide investment program during the coming 10 years (C&EN, Oct. 8, page 4) call for nearly half its total capital spending of about $800 million annually to be invested in projects outside West Germany. The program will center mainly around three broad sectors of the company's activities: dyes and pigments, synthetic fibers and their raw materi-
als, and plastics and waxes. "These three sectors account for about half of all the new projects that we intend to start next year," according to Dr. Rolf Sammet, Hoechst chairman. In the case of dyes and pigments, he says, about half of the sum is intended for expansion of existing capacities in West Germany and the erection of new plants. In the case of fibers and plas tics, most of the capital expenditure will be concentrated abroad. The U.S. will come in for a major slice of the investment cake. According to Dr. Sammet, more than $83 million annually will go toward facilities in North America, mainly in the U.S. Elsewhere, $166 million will be spent yearly in European countries other than West Germany, $73 million will be spent in South America (most of it in Brazil), and $52 million will be spread among Africa, Asia, and Aus tralia. Dr. Sammet notes that sales of Hoechst's products are growing at a faster rate outside West Germany than they are in the country. Moreover, fac tors such as rising German labor costs and the drop in the parity value of the mark relative to the dollar and other major currencies are making it increas ingly difficult for West German exports to compete in foreign markets and still show an adequate profit. Dr. Sammet points out, for example, that during the first eight months of this year, his company's exports to the U.S. "have risen at a below average rate. In the case of some of our prod ucts, we have ceased exporting alto gether." He singles out synthetic fibers and pharmaceuticals as having dropped in export sales to the U.S., while exports of dyes "are stagnating." According to Dr. Sammet, there are three reasons for this development— reductions in sales revenue attribut able to parity changes, cessation of noncompetitive export business, and replacement of exports by expansion of production facilities in the U.S. On the other hand, profits being turned in by wholly owned American Hoechst Corp. "can be really described as good," he observes. American Hoechst, headquartered in Somerville, N.J., is thriving, with sales last year amounting to $260 million and a staff of more than 5000. This year, the sales are expected to grow to around $310 million. The company has two principal production centers. At Bridgewater, N.J., the company makes a range of products, including dyes and pigments, drugs, organic intermedi ates, polyvinyl chloride film and sheet ing, and polyester monofilaments. And at Spartenburg, S.C., the company makes polyester staple fibers and fila ments in a $150 million complex. Hoechst's consolidated sales of its West German operations during the first eight months of this year, Dr. Sammet notes, advanced 15.4% to around $2.85 billion compared with the
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Sammet: U.S. gets major slice
same period last year. Domestic West German sales increased by 12.1% to $1.54 billion, while exports moved up 19.6% to $1.32 billion. "On the other hand," he says, "we have experienced during these first eight months a fur ther net reduction in the price of our company's products. At home, losses in sales revenue due to price reductions amounted to more than $11 million. Losses of almost $38 million in our ex port business were also attributable to this cause." A rise in labor costs, which moved up nearly 13% per employee in West Germany this year, also has eroded profits, as have increased costs of raw materials and feedstocks. Partially offsetting these adverse conditions have been cost reductions made possible by operating plants at full capacity. And, Dr. Sammet adds, expansion of sales has been achieved without a corresponding increase in personnel. Hoechst's global sales this year likely will exceed $6.2 billion and the compa ny's management is looking to a dou bling of total sales in the next 10 years, an overall annual growth rate of 7.2%. But this growth won't be evenly dis tributed throughout the world. Dr. Sammet expects that the rate of sales increase will be 25% higher in other European countries and 50% higher in countries outside Europe than in West Germany itself. This will mean that the company's domestic sales by 1983 will account for less than the current 40% of total income. However, Dr. Sammet adds that the expansion plans being contemplated don't represent a shift away from pro duction in West Germany. "According to our current thinking, in 10 years' time some two thirds of our world sales will still come from production units in Germany," he notes.
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